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Original January 13, 1934 typed letter on handsome illustrated New Rosslyn Hotels letterhead, Los Angeles, California.
The letterhead features drawings of both the 1914 Rosslyn Hotel and the 1923 Annex at Main & Fifth Streets, plus the Hart Bros. Co. imprint listing Dwight M. Hart as President and Manager. Bottom notes the private auto entrance and the marble subway connecting the two buildings under Fifth Street.
Addressed to Mrs. Nina J. Bell of 4920 2nd Avenue, Los Angeles. Written and signed by Arthur G. Tillinghast.
The recipient, Mrs. Nina J. Bell of Los Angeles, was related to Bonnie Nina Bell Wardman and her husband Aubrey Wardman of Whittier. Aubrey Wardman was a telephone pioneer (Whittier Home Telephone & Telegraph Co.), oil investor during the Santa Fe Springs boom, and major philanthropist to Whittier College. Buildings and the library there still carry the Wardman name; their 1925 home later served as the college president’s residence.
This is a nice piece of Depression-era Los Angeles hotel stationery with a documented connection to a prominent Whittier family and Whittier College history.
Content discusses a financial plan to be handled through her bank and encouragement to finish her book. Tillinghast praises the introductory chapter and especially the final chapter for teaching “high-mindedness and right living” to the younger generation, calling the work something that could confer “a certain degree of useful immortality.”
The Rosslyn Hotels were among the largest and most prominent on the West Coast in the 1920s–30s. Dwight Hart was a former California State Senator and well-known downtown hotelier. The buildings still exist today as historic landmarks.
A nice piece of Depression-era Los Angeles hotel and local history ephemera. Measures approximately 8.5 x 11 inches (standard letter size, folded as shown).
Please examine all photos for condition. There are some minor edge tears along the folds, and yellowing. Feel free to make an offer!
