Day 90: Connecting in the Early Days, Life Before Cell Phones! (Mother's Day)

It was a big deal in 1917 when Baldpate Inn opened with hot running water and a phone line!  From early ads we can see our phone number was 2-W.

Folks in my generation can remember, although I know millennials won’t have a clue, but before cell phones, we all relied on Ma Bell’s phone company to chat! Oh, we were charged for long distance calls, so you always got to the point quickly.  And sometimes, like when we bought the Inn in 1986, you actually had to share a phone line since there weren’t enough to go around.  Can you imagine, we were on a “party line” our first couple of years!

Our Baldpate staff thought it was a great improvement when a few years later, we were able to get a private line and then finally a dedicated Staff Line! When we finally got that second line there was Staff Phone in the staff private dining room as well as one in the Wild (West) Staff Wing.  Now it’s hard enough to imagine having to wait for your turn to make your call but think about keeping track of your long distance charges so you could pay them back. We had some rather pricey bills to collect when there were out of state boyfriends. So next time you complain about “no service,” recall you are not the first to struggle with connecting. We are grateful that with the sometimes spotty service in the mountains of Colorado, we do have cell service at The Baldpate Inn!

Another days gone by item was the pay phone booth which was in the lobby at Baldpate and only 10 cents even in 1986. (The phone company quickly upped that rate once they realized how cheap it was!) Would have to admit there wasn’t much privacy to calls made on that phone. No longer a sensible use of space, it was removed during our lobby renovation in 2011.

And certainly before texting the quick (albeit expensive) method of communicating home was good ole Western Union.  Love this 1938 Mothers Day telegram! 

Written by Lois Smith 

Day 76: Baldpate’s Artwork – Key to the Past and Future

Artistic marketing, as we are so often told, is “key” to business success. We know from the earliest days, Baldpate used seven keys as a logo, and while the look has varied over the years, the key is always in there somewhere.

It is fun discovering some of the old stationery, cards and advertising that captured the evolution of our marketing.  Tag lines have gone from “Best cook in captivity,” to “Where Hospitality is King,” to “Like a mountain lodge of your own where you can go and do just as you please,” to “Enchanting travelers for over 100 years.”

Don’t know about you, but love our newest sketch of the main lodge, graciously given to us in 2007 by our guest, Nebraska artist, William Schlaebitz.

Artistic Christmas cards and letters were a great way to stay in touch with guests during the off season, both for the Maces and later for us. I recall going to the post office (since we do not have onsite mail delivery, we still have a PO Box) in early December one year, when the postmaster made a point to tell me of a loyal local guest who wanted to make certain Baldpate had her new address so as not to miss our Christmas card! Now our holiday greetings, specials and news updates are sent via emailed Keynotes newsletter. 

Perhaps its sort of sad to lose the staying power of printed brochures, but with the popularity of the internet, cost, and today’s means of instant information sharing, printed brochures have mostly gone the way of the past.

Chances are that generations to come won’t be learning about the past by sorting thru boxes of paper memorabilia, what do you think?

Written by Lois Smith

Day 58: Reservations About the Past

Some of us will recall the days of making reservations before the days of the internet. Oh, the hold music and hours spent stuck in the radius of your phone cord… 

But how did it work even before when phones were not as common, and certainly more expensive?   If you can believe it, hotel reservations were completed via US postal correspondence for many years. 

In 1959, for example, if you wished to stay at The Baldpate Inn, you could mail an inquiry letter (stamps were 3 cents), and enclose a self-addressed envelope, so they could mail you back information and rates.

Taking a look at this typewritten letter, it surprised us that there was no form letter or standard copy; each time, the rates and information would be typed out individually. We are quite impressed with the lack of correction fluid (invented in 1956), or typos! Perhaps Mr. Mace had enough practice to type them in his sleep?

By the time we bought the Inn in 1986, at least word processors and computers were on the scene.  My first correspondence was proudly produced on our new state of the art, Apple IIc!  No instant email mind you, but faster and more error proof than a typewriter for sure. 

In those days as well, our local Chamber of Commerce provided a list of interested travelers, and we dutifully mailed our brochure to each of them in hopes they would call or write to make a reservation. Bulk mail was a saver but I was adamant about some personalization, so I hand addressed every one, sometimes 500 or 600 a week! (Jen here: some kids have chores like taking out the trash or helping with dinner, I remember being assigned the weekly task of helping address brochures, taping them shut and then sorting by zipcode!)

Today inquiries and reservations most often come via internet, both for B&B Lodging but many Dining Reservations (after May 1st) as well. Our reservation book is no longer a big ledger with a line and page for each day and room, but a software miracle that can accept input from anywhere in the world (most often correctly!) 

Recalling those early days, we couldn’t resist sharing this phone instruction we discovered from The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, instructing early phone users on phone operation and manners. We will all do well to remember that “Courtesy is the oil that lubricates the wheels of business; it smooths out difficulties and promotes the promptest possible connections.” Sage and timeless advice! 

Written by Lois Smith, Liz Rodgers & Jen Macakanja