While we typically are interested in the people who are attracted to hotels for a quick stay, this post is more interested in exploring the types of people who are attracted to hotels for employment. Even more so, how did these hotels staff their buildings? Who were they looking for? Researching through Harrisonburg’s local newspaper, The Daily News Record, reveals some patterns in hotel wanted ads.

Using the keywords “wanted, classified, and hotel” in combination with “porter, bellboy, cook, waiter” revealed over 200 results for possible hotel want ads in the Daily News Record database for newspapers from 1925-35. Many of the hotels used this particular newspaper for posting their open positions, with porters, waiters, cooks, and bellboys as the most common. Requirements would vary from position to position, such as ‘skilled’ being listed more under cook positions than other ones, such as bellboys. Race also came into play with some of these advertisements, with some explicitly looking for either a ‘white’ or ‘colored’ person to fill the position. Out of the advertisements examined from the 1925-1935 era, the want ads that searched for porters were most likely to be looking for a white employee. For example, see this newspaper clipping directly below from August of 1931:

However, there were many situations where people of color were specifically targeted for positions, like in this ad from July 30th, 1926.

It is important to recognize the difference in positions between the two ads. Porters typically focus their duties on the front of the house, performing tasks that require interacting with the guests. A house man is more likely to be in the peripherals of the hotel guests, cleaning and keeping things up to shape in the hotel as a person confined to the shadows. Because this post is covering the late 1920s and early 1930s, it is likely racism played a role in this specificity of race. The hotel may have not had a problem employing people of color and this could very well have only been a precaution on behalf of the guests staying there. However, by studying the hotels themselves, it also seems the Kavanaugh was most likely to hire people of color over any of the other hotels. This could be for personal reasons as the Kavanaugh brothers who opened the hotel were Irish immigrants, therefore likely experienced at being discriminated against themselves. Either way, it is interesting to note how race affected the staffing of hotels.

Gender was also almost always posted within advertisements, reflecting the values surrounding gender in earlier 20th century Harrisonburg. The advertisements could get so specific as to having required the individual to be married, usually directed toward the male sex. Most positions were reserved to men, especially those of porter and bellboy. Cooking and housekeeping positions were most often sought women, although not exclusively.

Skills tended to be specified for women more than men as well. The majority of want ads for cooks focused on skills and/or experience in direct opposition to the majority of ads reserved for men in the fields of bellboy, porter, and waiter. This leads to a better understanding of the double standard that took place in terms of employment as defined by sex. While men were automatically presumed to have a good work ethic and capability of handling new positions, women had to have their experience scrutinized by the employer.

As seen through these advertisements, the two most frequent qualities specified by Harrisonburg’s hotels when seeking employees in the mid-1920s to mid ’30s were race and sex. Today we could hardly be able to imagine sex or race requirements in a newspaper want ad for any job without immediately facing a lawsuit on discrimination. However, we must remember this was a different time with a different way of thinking and living. Certain cultural values determined how these hotels maintained their appearance, and that went beyond the architecture and straight to the service. It is interesting to notice these patterns in newspapers and consider “Would I fit that post?” and if so, “Would they hire me?” Or, “Am I too black?” “Would my female sex prevent me from being a waiter?” Put yourself in the shoes of those looking for service jobs in the 1920s and ’30s and you may be able to empathize. Next time you take a trip and stay overnight at a hotel, look past the fancy lobby area and cool pool and focus on the people instead. You might be surprised with what you see.