Long before brands like Marriott or Hilton had become household names and hoteliers had their choice of property management systems, there was Hotel Management. The publication launched as Hotel World in 1875, and although it has been through a host of iterations and name changes, its role as a long-standing trusted resource in the hotel industry remains unchanged.
Throughout this year, we’ll be celebrating this remarkable milestone, examining where the industry has been and where it’s going. Expect conversations with industry leaders about how hospitality has evolved over a century and a half, and what lessons we can learn from the past that can help in the future.
Enjoy this excerpt of an article from the July 2015 issue, written by Hotel Management then-columnist Leo Mazow on the early covers.
Perhaps best known for his 1942 painting “Nighthawks,” the American artist Edward Hopper began his career as an illustrator, producing covers for such periodicals as Tavern Topics and, in 1924-1925, 18 covers for Hotel Management.
More than half of Hopper’s covers for Hotel Management depict outdoor activities. Articles in the magazine advocated “building business with sports.” Covers for December 1924, February 1925 and December 1925 depict sledding, hockey and snowshoeing. Several depict various popular entertainments, such as dancing and billiards. Depicting the Hotel Sinton in Cincinnati, the cover for November 1924 is one of the few to portray a recognizable site.
Sparing no expense on the latest, most advanced color printing, the Hotel Management covers achieve a prismatic brilliance not found on the covers he had produced a few years earlier for Tavern Topics, usually printed in two or three colors. Hopper’s covers complement the magazine’s artistic mission in the mid 1920s—pointing to an aesthetic sensibility that might entice subscribers to read further.
It is not entirely clear how Hopper wound up at Hotel Management, but travel editor Edward Hungerford likely figured prominently in Hopper’s receiving the commissions. Hopper also appears to have had a pre-existing relationship with Hotel Management’s publisher, E. H. Ahrens.
Hopper practiced for some 20 years as a commercial illustrator, and Hotel Management would be the last publication for which he would contribute covers. His illustrations constitute a sort of continuation of his artistic education, and, indeed, as has been observed, the earlier commercial works often serve as preliminary drafts for his later paintings. Within five years after his work for Hotel Management, Hopper would come to be known for several paintings and drawings, especially depicting hotels. These works offer an insider’s perspective found in the work of few of his contemporaries, and it is clear that the articles, columns and photographs in Hotel Management gave Hopper a storehouse of themes that would inspire him for decades to come.