A large single page menu with blank back. Hotel Oakland Dinner Menu , located in Oakland California and dated June 23, 1935.. Measures about 5 3/4" x 11 3/4"
Due to the size limitations of my scanner, the entire menu may not show in some of the scans.
Hotel Oakland is one of the largest historic hotels in Oakland and an architectural jewel of the downtown area. On December 18, 1979, the Hotel Oakland was designated Oakland Landmark #31, under Zoning Case #LM 79-484, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History Bankers Hotel postcard, circa 1913 The hotel was first proposed in 1906, as Oakland's business community sought to capitalize on the flow of commerce from San Francisco to Oakland following the 1906 earthquake. Many of the initial stockholders were important bankers (including Edson F. Adams and W. W. Garthwaite), and Borax Smith held 20% of the initial stock. The hotel was initially called the Banker's hotel due to involvement of the banking community. A banking panic in 1907 forced several major sponsors to drop out, delaying construction of the project. 9 The initial drawings shown in the newspaper were somewhat different than what was eventually built. 10 See also the Oakland Hotel Company. Construction started in August 1910, and was completed in December 1912 at a cost of over $3,000,000. The architects were Walter Bliss (who also designed the furniture, tapestries, hangings and rugs) and William Faville, who designed the building in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Construction was by P.J. Walker, and the foundation work by the Sorenson Brothers. The grand opening of the Hotel Oakland on December 23, 1912 was celebrated by a dinner and ball with 1,150 invited guests, including Mayor Davie and much of the East Bay's social, financial and industrial elite. 9 According to Oakland Magazine A Hostelry With History "Police blocked all traffic for an entire block between Alice and Harrison streets except for a continuous stream of limousines that all pulled into the same inviting half-moon drive on 13th Street. Out stepped gentlemen in white ties and tails escorting feather- and jewel-studded creations draped in chiffon, charmeuse and Chantilly lace. Hundreds of elegant couples dined at rose-scented tables and danced under glittering, fern-filled chandeliers as notes cascaded down from a marble balcony set into the vaulted, gold-leafed ceiling. At the close of the evening, news of the “most important social event in Oakland’s history” was telegrammed to cities across the country and in Canada." In 1921 the radio station KLX got its start there, broadcasting from high atop the west tower of the hotel. It was originally a "radio operator's training school called the Western Radio Institute [occupying] two rooms on the seventh floor of the Hotel..."7 As part of the school, a small "experimental radio station" was built in the west tower. The batteries for the transmitter were kept charged by the elevator, and "...the two towers rising from either side of the building that were perfect for supporting the station's antenna."7 The station grew to include news, music, and live broadcasts, including a band playing on the hotel roof. In 1923 the station moved to the Tribune Tower.7 According to Ed O'Neil, a research civil engineer in the US Army Corps of Engineers and the author of "Seismic Strengthening of Hotel Oakland Revisited: A Case Study," "During the 1930s, the hotel was forced into bankruptcy several times as the result of the depression and management difficulties." Oakland Area Station Hospital postcard, circa 1946 8 In 1943, the War Department took possession of the hotel for use as a U.S. Army hospital known as Oakland Area Station Hospital. 8 All furnishings were auctioned off, including irreplaceable chandeliers of which only photographs remain. Following World War II, the Veterans Administration operated a hospital in the building until August of 1963. Following the VA's use of the facility, several unsuccessful attempts were made to reopen the hotel for public use. For the next 15 years it stood vacant. Finally, in 1978 a Boston-based developer obtained possession and remodeled it into a housing project for the elderly. It remains in this use today."1
in fair and fragile condition with missing corners,edge chips, folds and fold tears, has punch hole
