Hotel Dreams: Luxury, Technology, and Urban Ambition in America, 1829-1929
(Part of the Studies in Industry and Society Series)
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Book Overview
Winner, 2012 Sally Hacker Prize, Society for the History of Technology
Hotel Dreams is a deeply researched and entertaining account of how the hotel's material world of machines and marble integrated into and shaped the society it served. Molly W. Berger offers a compelling history of the American hotel and how it captured the public's imagination as it came to represent the complex--and often contentious--relationship among luxury, economic development, and the ideals of a democratic society.
Berger profiles the country's most prestigious hotels, including Boston's 1829 Tremont, San Francisco's world-famous Palace, and Chicago's enormous Stevens. The fascinating stories behind their design, construction, and marketing reveal in rich detail how these buildings became cultural symbols that shaped the urban landscape.
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