Innovation Lab Unfreezes History and Embraces Dynamism

Hotel de Paris Museum’s affiliation with the National Trust for Historic Preservation is helping build a preservation movement.  As a site of the National Trust, I recently participated in a cross-divisional meeting of the Trust’s senior staff.  HdPM has a seat at the table when it comes to discussions about how to integrate the Trust’s historic sites into the overall work of the Trust.

Hotel de Paris Museum is involved in a project known as “Innovation Lab,” which is working to re-imagine historic sites by probing deeper into the topic of sites integration into the Trust and its efforts to make the organization ten times more effective.  The work Hotel de Paris Museum and the National Trust are engaged in is, in the words of Executive Vice President and Chief Preservation Officer David J. Brown, “… thoughtful, forward looking, serious in tone, yet reflective of our values of collaboration and innovation with the goal of making a difference.”

Over the last couple of years, HdPM has worked to unfreeze history and embrace its dynamism.  Instead of being stagnate, we are accentuating multiple points of view to tell a wider range of stories that reflect the diversity of American history.  We believe this layered approach creates a larger audience for the museum and broadens our base of support.

The removal of physical barriers, development of secondary stories, distribution of information beyond our “period of significance,” and participation of our visitors in the tour experience have all begun to change the traditional house museum model found at HdPM just a few years ago.  Our tours are more vibrant and engage the senses beyond sight, to include sound, touch, and sentiment. 

Hotel de Paris Museum is an ideal stage for the Innovation Lab.  Our small size allows us to be nimble and move forward with strategic ideas.  This shift in preservation thoughts and practices, and implementation of “active engagement” has been well-received by the public and is increasing HdPM’s on-site visitation, on-line visitation, museum shop sales, and donations.

For more information about Innovation Lab, go to http://www.aam-us.org/resources/center-for-the-future-of-museums/projects-and-reports/innovation-lab-for-museums
 

Street Numbers: Addressing Modern Requirements within an Old Context

Historic preservation is primarily about slowing down the inevitable progress of time, so when Hotel de Paris Museum was contacted by the Town of Georgetown’s code enforcement officer and Clear Creek (County) Fire Authority’s fire chief about adding street numbers, we quickly realized we had some important decisions to make. 

You see, it does not appear Louis Dupuy's Hotel de Paris ever had street numbers, perhaps because it has been a Georgetown landmark for over a century.  However, modern safety practices dictate buildings be identified in order to reduce response time in cases of fire, or ambulance and law enforcement issues.  Fire Chief Kelly Babeon explains, “The time lost looking for locations missing an easily read address number is time lost correcting situations that could well end up with fatal results for the occupants as well as adjacent occupants.”

Mock-up of 4" street numbers using Helvetica typeface

Georgetown Municipal Code regarding street numbers requires all buildings be numbered according to the Town’s addressing system, and the numbers be “distinctly legible, of contrasting color, at least three (3) inches high and prominently displayed on the building so as to be readily visible from the street of the address.”  These qualities are helpful and clear, but when dealing with an historic site one should also consider historic sensitivity, without blurring the present with the past.  And, in the case of Hotel de Paris Museum, making sure the addition of street numbers does not compromise the historic preservation easement administered by the Colorado Historical Foundation or create conflict with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Buildings.

Historic preservation practices allow for the installation of new signage at historic sites.  It is preferable to be sensitive to each site’s particular past while indicating the addition of a new sign is not of the past.  Therefore, in the case of street numbers for Hotel de Paris Museum, painted numbers would continue the tradition of painting on the hotel’s stucco exterior, as was done with Louis Dupuy’s crossed flags and banner mural and the Burkholders’ dining room and office sign.

Louis Dupuy's painted mural
(Courtesy of Synergy Photographics)

The Burkholders' painted sign

When introducing new informational signage (like street numbers) to an historic façade, it is best to choose a typeface that is clearly modern (after 1950) in order to indicate the sign is not historic or a reproduction of something that once existed.  In other words, we needed a typeface that could be identified as a creation of the mid-20^th Century, after the hotel became a museum in 1954.  

Helvetica typeface, a Swiss creation from 1957

Therefore, research of modern choices indicated the sans serif typeface Helvetica was an acceptable choice, as it was “a neutral typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of signage.”  In the potential absence of documentation of the project (through a loss of records), researchers in the future would be able to figure out the museum’s street numbers were added sometime after 1957 (the creation date of Helvetica) and during the hotel's "museum era."

Hand-painted numbers continue a tradition at Hotel de Paris

If you are intrigued by Helvetica, you may enjoy a documentary about this very interesting (and surprisingly familiar) typeface.  Please see movie trailer below:

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution at hoteldeparismuseum.org.

Saucy Fobs Are Not Tokens of a Spicy Past

Without taking a formal poll of our visitors, most of us at Hotel de Paris Museum would agree the public's favorite object on exhibit would be the salesman’s bed (a folding bed that when stowed looks like a desk).  However, there is another object that also receives regular inquiries from around the United States and even Europe.  The surprising thing is that the other object is not on display and has no direct association with Hotel de Paris.

Then why are people calling and writing us about it, you wonder?

They are contacting us because they have found a Hotel de Paris bawdy house or brothel token. However, Hotel de Paris was neither a bawdy house nor a brothel, but, in fact, the finest hotel in town.  Brothels existed in Georgetown, but they were on the far side of Clear Creek Valley from the hotel (about four blocks distant).  There, a person would have been able to find the pistol-toting madame Martha “Mattie” Silks running a fancy parlor house on Brownell Street.

Mattie Silks

The Hotel de Paris tokens are popular, and examples have spread across the country and around the world.  According to people who have contacted us, many fobs have been found in trash dumps, recycling centers, dresser drawers, or jewelry boxes. 

The Hotel de Paris version is known as a “fantasy token” and seems to have been offered as a keepsake souvenir or for collectors of bawdy house and brothel tokens.  Presently, the value of one of these tokens is less than $20.

Tokens are often about the size and shape of a silver dollar.

Unlike many tokens that are the shape and size of a silver dollar, the Hotel de Paris token was executed in the form of a key fob.  It is cast or struck metal, weighty, oblong, squared off at one end, and rounded at the other.  Ornamental motifs include banners, ribbons, four-petal flowers, and what may be a compass.  All lettering is capitalized.

Hotel de Paris fantasy tokens (front and back)

The fobs are high-quality, which adds to the perception they are authentic and original to the hotel. In addition, there is a wide range of variation in the color (from bright brass to black) and clarity of script (well-defined to indistinct).  The front of the fob reads “FROM HOTEL DE PARIS,” “LOUIS DUPUY,” “GOOD FOR 24 HOURS,” and “GEORGETOWN, COLO.”  The back of the fob reads “WINE, WOMEN AND SONG,” “FIRST CLASS,” “ONE HIGH CLASS LAY,” and “MADAME SOPHIE’S MOTTO SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.” 

Also on the front, barely decipherable are the words “COLO. MINTING CO. 1894” (this may or may not be the manufacturer).  The date would have been during Louis' lifetime, further ruling out the likelihood that the claims were true.  Like the use of real names, the phrase “first class” (most likely lifted directly from a familiar advertisement placed by Louis Dupuy) adds to the perception the token is real.

Print advertisement placed by Louis Dupuy

In contrast, authentic Hotel de Paris key fobs were not promotional in nature, but plain and practical.  Fobs original to the site read simply “HOTEL DE PARIS,” followed by a room number (1-14), “IF CARRIED AWAY RETURN UNSEALED BY MAIL POSTAGE 3 CENTS,” and “GEORGETOWN, COLO.”  They had plain backs and were stamped from sheet metal. 

Sophie Gally, Room 3

Louis Dupuy, Room 14

Sophie Gally’s and Louis Dupuy’s fobs have survived and are part of the museum’s collection of over 5,000 authentic artifacts original to the site.  For a time, brass reproductions of Louis’ fob were produced by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Colorado and sold at This Little Souvenir Museum Shop, located in Hotel de Paris Museum.

We have yet to be contacted by anyone who has found or acquired one of Louis’ original key fobs.  However, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that if a key was “carried away” it will find its way back to Georgetown.

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution at hoteldeparismuseum.org.

On-Line Sources Offer Official Images to Visitors

With all of the potential exposure photographers could offer us on their websites, blogs, and social media sites, the staff and advisors of Hotel de Paris Museum made the difficult decision to not allow photography, filming, or recording by non-commercial visitors.

Loss of a revenue stream (the sale of officially sanctioned images) was not a factor for us.  The policy protects the museum’s intellectual property, light-sensitive artifacts, tour aesthetics, and security.  In addition, it helps prevent the stalking of visitors, volunteers, and staff. 

However, we have made a compromise to our policy and accommodated requests for images by creating an on-line press room.  Low-resolution images of our period rooms, artwork, and other furnishings are on view and easy to find at http://hoteldeparismuseum.org/pressroomgallery/pressroom.html or http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotel_de_paris_museum/

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution at hoteldeparismuseum.org.

All That Glitters Is Not Necessarily Gold

We've seen that Louis Dupuy advocated the use of art reproductions.  Most of the examples he acquired are found in Hotel de Paris' public and private spaces.  However, Dupuy appears to have been interested in creating a dramatic outdoor presentation as well, and sometime around 1893 utilized five cast “show figures” on his Norman Revival hotel.  These figures were intended to advertise, inform, and ornament.  The statues were by J. L. Mott Iron Works of New York, and were mass produced of cast zinc either bronzed or gilded.  Painted finishes were also available and less expensive.

Justice Unblinded, J. L. Mott Iron Works

Arguably the most dominant of Dupuy’s collection is Justice Unblinded, which stands 6 feet 7 inches tall.  Some believe the figure was inspired by French Neoclassical sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon’s Bust of Napoleon.  The casting was listed in a catalog from 1890 for $950.  Statues with metallic finishes cost about 10% more than those offered with one painted coat.  The statue was placed following the destruction by fire of buildings to the west of the hotel, and may have been a commentary on the slow removal of charred debris that remained after the loss of the McClellan Opera House in 1892 (Dupuy led a group of local citizens to petition the Town of Georgetown for an expedient clean-up of the lots). 

Reclining Stag, J. L. Mott Iron Works

Much like a cigar store Indian, Reclining Stag or Reclining Deer advertised Hotel de Paris as an inn where travelers could eat and rest.  The figure portrays an American white-tailed deer, with one front leg extended.  It stands 3 feet 8 inches tall and was bronzed or gilded.  In 1890, it sold for $70.  The stag symbolizes St. Julian the Hospitaler, the patron saint of innkeepers and travelers.

Boy With Pan, J. L. Mott Iron Works

Flanking the stag is a charming pair of bronzed or gilded water bearers known as Boy With Pan or Boy Fountain.  The statuettes stood approximately 2 feet 3 inches tall and were typically accompanied by a cast iron ground basin decorated by long leaves or shells and frogs.  Dupuy’s figures supported reservoirs above their heads to catch or hold water, and may have served as birdbaths.

Reclining Lion, J. L. Mott Iron Works

Reclining Lion, by Berlin sculptor A. Schiffelman, appeared in Mott’s 1890 catalog.  It stood 2 feet 10 inches tall, was bronzed or gilded and sold for $200.  Dupuy’s copy guards a gateway that leads to Hotel de Paris’ courtyards.  The statue has a plaquette on its self-base with the inscription “J. L. MOTT IRON WORKS NYC.”

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution at hoteldeparismuseum.org.

Dupuy Promoted Use of Art Reproductions

Victorian and Edwardian members of the middle-class substituted affordable and plentiful Parian ware for expensive marble portrait busts and statues.  Parian is a fine, matte, nearly white porcelain that originated in Britain in 1842.  It was made of kaolin, feldspar, and Cornish stone and ball-clay, then poured into plaster of Paris molds, assembled, dried, and fired.  Parian takes its name from fine-grained, semi-translucent pure-white marble found at Mount Elias on the Greek island of Paros.  The Elgin Marbles in the British Museum were carved from this stone.

Dupuy’s bust of Shakespeare is small (approximately 9” tall).  According to his obituary, he would have kept it paired with another Parian ware bust (perhaps a likeness of Charles Dickens) in his bedroom or study.

Most Parian ware was made in Britain by the firms Copeland & Garrett (Copeland & Company), Minton, and T. & R. Boote.  Wedgwood made unglazed white china marketed under the name Carrara, but commonly referred to as Parian.  A bit of Parian was produced in the United States and European countries other than Britain; for instance, Germany made Parian heads and limbs for dolls.

Parian ware was offered as busts, figures, figural groups, vases, jugs, medallions, and other decorative ornaments for the homeowner in search of a status symbol.  “While we cannot have the masterpieces of Michelangelo and Cellini, we can at least have the reproductions,” stated Louis Dupuy. 

Hotel de Paris Museum’s Parian ware and related items consist of one portrait bust of William Shakespeare and five black and white studio photographs of Parian ware statuettes or reductions, perhaps given Dupuy or left behind by a traveling salesman selling items by Copeland & Garrett.  A second portrait bust, most likely portraying a favorite author of Dupuy’s, was lost sometime after 1954, and, it is suspected a sixth photograph has also disappeared, but it is not known when.


Venus with the Apple

By 1898, Dupuy had framed in oak and displayed in his bedroom a 14” by 20” photograph of a Parian ware statuette entitled Venus with the Apple, after Bertel Thorvaldsen’s original work by the same name.  This Neoclassical image of the Goddess of Love enhanced Dupuy’s print collection of tempting female nudes.

On the Sea Shore, Storm

We do not know if the other photographs of Parian ware statuettes were exhibited by Dupuy or not.  At the very least, sometime in the early 20^th Century Hotel de Paris proprietor Sarah Burkholder displayed in Sample Room 2 a 10” by 20” framed Parian ware image of a wind-blown, barefooted girl seated on the beach, a copy after Joseph Durham’s On the Sea Shore, Storm.  Since Storm was one of a pair, it is possible Dupuy owned a complementary print titled On the Sea Shore, Calm, which depicted a seated, barefooted boy holding shells in a hat.  The placement of Storm on the left side of the fireplace mirror implies Calm may have been displayed on the right side of the mirror.

Beatrice

Currently on exhibit in Sample Room 1 are two more 10” by 20” framed photographs of Parian ware statuettes:  copies of Edgar George Papworth’s Beatrice (after Beatrice “Bice” di Folco Portinari, the inspiration for Dante Alighieri’s La Vita Nuova and Divine Comedy) and John Gibson’s beautifully draped Roman goddess Flora, a symbol of flowers, springtime, and fertility.  An unframed 10” by 20” photograph of a Parian ware Venus de’ Medici remains in storage at Hotel de Paris Museum.

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution at hoteldeparismuseum.org.

A Hermit's Hospitable Home

Frenchman Adolphe Francois Gerard was born to innkeepers from Alençon in 1844.  As an adult, he demanded beautiful objects, luxurious accommodations, good food, fine wine, strong spirits, imported cigars...and an appreciative and captive audience.  However, he had a chequered past that included an allegation of plagiarism and his actual desertion from the United States Army.  Therefore, Gerard re-invented himself as “Louis Dupuy,” a miner in Georgetown, a bustling mining settlement located in the wilds of Colorado's high country.


Eventually, a disabling mining injury that left him scarred resulted in a solution for his questionable future.  Along with his false identity, he invented a complementary make-believe world within the walls of his unique creation, Hotel de Paris.  Either out of nostalgia for his past or to add credibility to his character, Dupuy decorated his property with images of the military, innkeepers, and the French countryside.


In only a few years, Dupuy became widely known as an eccentric hotelier and restaurateur.  He employed Chinese laborers to execute his vision of a luxurious Norman inn close to passes near the top of the Continental Divide.  He referred to his hotel and restaurant as "this little souvenir (of Alençon, France)."  For his guests, the property provided some of the best lodging in the Western United States; for Dupuy, it served as his hideout, and, conversely, his stage.


In 1898, The Illustrated American (which most likely wrote a feature about Dupuy at his own suggestion) called him "a singular character," "a host and a hermit," and "a recluse."  Dupuy was known to turn customers away, close for business to visit his ranch “Troublesome Creek,” and spar with guests about religion, philosophy, science, and politics.  Yet, he was thought of as a gentleman and it has been discovered he courted women and looked kindly on children.  In 1900, he died a 56 year old bachelor with no known descendants.


Louis had not planned on dying.  In fact, an illustration from his letterhead showed Hotel de Paris with a sizeable addition of six more guest rooms.  Furthermore, the ornamental wood rack on which he hung his fourteen room keys had the capacity to hold twenty keys in all.  It is apparent Dupuy was going to continue investing in his property, thereby gaining guests, and, theoretically, growing his reputation as “consummate host.”


The bold steps of updating stationery and installing a new key rack before the property was even expanded indicate Dupuy was succeeding as a businessman and showman.  It seems he subscribed to a similar viewpoint as the character Ray “If you build it, he will come” Kinsella in the movie Field of Dreams.


Promotional tools included the key rack, as well as custom key fobs, soaps, bills of fare, and guest registers.  Much like a cigar store Indian, a gilded zinc statue of a stag (representing Julian the Hospitaller, the patron saint of innkeepers and travelers) beckoned from one of the hotel’s high courtyard walls.  Dupuy placed advertisements in the local newspaper, and had a large wall mural expertly painted below a hand-lettered billboard fastened to a prominent exterior wall.  The name of the inn appeared in gilded letters below the building’s elaborate cornice, and a small sign with the dining room’s name “Louis’” hung on the second floor balcony.  Brazenly, the assumed name “Louis Dupuy” was spelled out in capitalized, gilded letters on the lintel above the hotel entrance.


Perhaps the daredevil in Gerard is what pushed him to build his inn and surround himself with an admiring clientele, despite being on the run.  No matter what his reasoning, Adolphe Francois Gerard discovered the best way to hide was center stage and in the spotlight.

Please consider making a tax deductible contribution at hoteldeparismuseum.org.