[Women at Work:] A Working Manual for Floor Clerks.

Unrecorded guide book for women working as floor clerks in hotels


Unrecorded C.1928 manual for women hotel floor clerks issued by the United Hotels of America, a chain of upscale hotels in the United States headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York and with executive offices in New York City. At the time this manual was published, the chain operated 25 hotels.

The manual, subtitled What to do…Operation, How to do it…Standards, Why it is done…Service, describes the training, regulations, and duties of female floor clerks:

The scope of their work is indicated in this manual; the supervisor of floor clerks finds her greatest responsibilities in selecting employees, training them, and following up to see that clerks perform their work as directed. (p1)

The work entailed desk duties and handling of room and pass keys, arrivals and departures, accounts, and various duties concerning telegrams, laundry, and baggage. Contemporary annotations in the latter two sections indicate changes to hotel procedures. In the laundry section of the manual, for example, four sections are crossed out and over written upon them is the note “Refer to Benjamin Franklin Rules,” almost certainly referring to The Benjamin Franklin Hotel in Philadelphia, a prominent hotel in the United Hotels of America chain.

An unusual manual governing the labor practices of women hotel employees.


Description: [Women at Work:] A Working Manual for Floor Clerks.

New York: United Hotels of America (1928). [I]–IX, [X (blank)], 1–28pp. Booklet. 5¾ x 4½ inches. Flexible, paper laminated cloth covers; stapled. Some contemporary manuscript annotations. Upper corner bumped; some staining to final leaves and back cover; very good.

[3727079]

Not in OCLC.


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