The Famous Shamrock Hotel is now in the UH Digital Library!
Please enjoy an interesting look at one of Houston’s landmark hotels–The Shamrock Hotel!
The Shamrock Collection in the UH Digital Library consists of menus from the many restaurants, bars and lounges in the hotel, staff newsletters, and promotional pamphlets. It chronicles the transition of ownership and highlights of the hotel’s golden years.
The Shamrock Hotel was the grandest hotel in the city of Houston from 1949 until its decline and demolition in 1987. Built by Glenn McCarthy (wildcatter and oil tycoon) between 1946 and 1949, it opened with great fanfare. Three thousand dignitaries, celebrities and the socially prominent were present for its grand opening on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1949, attended by no less than Errol Flynn, Ginger Rogers and Robert Preston. The partygoers were brought in on a customized Boeing 307 Stratoliner and by a Santa Fe Super Chief train specially chartered by McCarthy. Approximately 50,000 people gathered outside of the hotel.
While the hotel was immense, expensive and lavish, it was also considered by many to be garish and more than a little over the top.
The hotel became a destination for Houstonians and played host to numerous social events such as debutante balls, receptions, business meetings, presidential visits and visits from other heads of state. The Shamrock hosted cattle auctions and also was a gathering spot for the Houston Rodeo.
The hotel had 1,100 rooms and many restaurants, bars and lounges. Those who swam in the hotel’s huge swimming pool, which measured 165 by 142 feet, remember it fondly. The swimming pool even hosted water skiing exhibitions, complete with motorboats.
The Hilton Hotels Corporation acquired the Shamrock Hotel in 1954. Burdened with a poor location, burgeoning competition and stagnant occupancy rates, its popularity declined. The hotel described in Edna Ferber’s novel Giant as the “Conquistador,” which saw performers such as Dorothy Lamour and Frank Sinatra grace its clubs, never fulfilled McCarthy’s vision of a destination resort, conference and shopping center.
“Let us consecrate THE SHAMROCK to friendship – the motto of the State of Texas….May that motto be alive here as long as THE SHAMROCK is privileged to serve the great city of Houston as its ambassador of good will to the world.” – Glenn McCarthy
The Digital Services department at the M.D. Anderson Library would like to extend a huge thank you to Mark Young at the Hospitality Industry Archives, Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management, University of Houston, for his generosity and helpfulness in bringing this collection to the Digital Library.
New KUHT Image Collection in the UH Digital Library
Highlights of KUHT-TV digital library collection includes images and video from the early days of KUHT-TV. Located on the University of Houston campus KUHT-TV, HoustonPBS, was America’s first public television station and was one of the founding stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 1969.
From the KUHT-TV HoustonPBS history site:
“According to plan, Channel 8 signed on the air at 5 p.m. on May 25, 1953, with a program called Its Five. Producer/director George Arms’ variety format featured a half dozen attractive college coeds who offered “down-to-earth” advice for women, including tips on make-up techniques, party-giving, flower-arranging, blouse-making, and preparing a child for a tonsillectomy. Dr. Walter William Kemmerer, named university president in 1953, had been instrumental in establishing the University of Houston. Through his efforts as vice president, the university (Houston Junior College began classes in 1927 and progressed quickly to a university in 1934) began holding formal classes in the autumn of 1934. But the student population grew more quickly than university space and personnel, and as a solution Kemmerer theorized that telecourses might facilitate reaching these students.”
Through his and John Schwarzwalder, vocalist, choral director, faculty member, and KUHF-FM manager, work the building of a television station on campus began to take shape. In April 1953 the world’s first education television station was launched in the Ezekiel Cullen Building on the campus of the University of Houston; ushering in a new era in education. The week of May25th marked the first week of full broadcasting with the official kick off (quite literally it would seem) held on June 8th, 1953. This pioneering spirit that started the station over 50 years ago continues today with the production of innovative programming and technological advances. While the station is always looking ahead it has never forgotten its challenging past. This collection of images and video are a testament to the station’s rich history.
Please enjoy these still images. In the near future selected early moving images will be available online. Visit the HoustonPBS history site to find out more about the unique past of the first public television station in the world.
Houston: The Magnolia City
Houston: The Magnolia City is now available in the Digital Library!
A collection of 9 published books (one of which spans 12 volumes) from the Houston Chamber of Commerce and other producers showing the progress of the city, its industry, and significant buildings. One booklet describes the building of the Gulf Building and includes lovely watercolor illustrations of the interior and exterior. Another series of books, Art Work of Houston, Texas, Published in Twelve Parts, was intended to describe and provide historical sketches of Houston from a strictly pictorial, artistic and non-advertising perspective. Published in 1904 it contains images of the neighborhoods, residences and buildings that made up the city of Houston at the time. The Souvenir Album of Houston Texas is the oldest book with a known date in the collection. Published in 1891 it give the viewer a historic look at the prominent buildings in Houston.
NEW 1955 Houstonian Yearbook Video
The University of Houston 1955 Yearbook staff undertook the task of creating a 45 rpm vinyl record to accompany the printed yearbook. Their innovative idea was to produce “Á yearbook with sound”. They gathered together recording experts from KUHT-TV and KUHF-FM, Band Leader Ed Gerlach and his orchestra, and “the voice of the idea” Jack Bailey.
Katie Buehner, Music Librarian and I built upon the work of the yearbook staff by creating a video from the digitized recording and images from the printed yearbook.
We hope you enjoy this look at the University of Houston in 1955
Side A (Fall 1954) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myvngwuo9XY
Side B (Spring 1955) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua9gjnjltj4
New Woodcut Collection in the Digital Library!
In 1494, humanist Sebastian Brant published Das Narrenschiff, or The Ship of Fools, a moralistic poem written in the German language. In it, Brant described 110 assorted follies and vices, each undertaken by a different fool. Each sin or vice was interpreted by a stunning woodcut, many believed to be the work of Albrecht Dürer. In 1497, Johann Bergmann von Olpe printed a later edition in Latin, known as Stultifera Navis, which is owned by the UH Libraries.
Listen to the 1955 UH Yearbook!
The University of Houston 1955 Yearbook staff undertook the task of creating a 45 rpm vinyl record to accompany the printed yearbook. UH librarians Katie Buehner and Michele Reilly built upon the work of the yearbook staff by creating a video from the digitized recording and images from the printed yearbook.
We hope you enjoy this look at the University of Houston in 1955!
Stay posted for side B to follow in October or November.
Digital Library on the UH Homepage
Marisa Ramirez recently wrote an article featuring the India Illustrated Collection in the Digital Library! Check out the article and look for us on the front page of the UH website this week!
Want to know what folks ate in the 1850s and 1860s?
The Digital Library published a collection of restaurant and hotel menus from the 1850s and 1860s!
These mid nineteenth century menus located in the Hospitality Industry Archives, located at the Hilton College of the University of Houston reveal a treasure trove of historical information. The menus relate not only the regional cuisine of the particular restaurant but also show some of the cultural and social norms of society. The menus are from hotel restaurants, stand alone restaurants and steamships.
Click here to view the collection!
Visit India with the UH Digital Library!
Click here to view the collection!
This digital collection features fascinating photographs of early 20th century India under British rule. The photographs come from a rare book called India illustrated: being a collection of pictures of the cities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, together with a selection of the most interesting buildings and scenes throughout India.
USS Houston Blue Bonnets Now Available in the Digital Library
One of the exciting features of the Blue Bonnet collection is that it is full text searchable within the image. This will be a real help to researchers.
The Blue Bonnet was the shipboard newsletter of the USS Houston (CA-30), a World War II-era heavy cruiser that was named for the city of Houston. The Houston was sunk in 1942 during the Battle of Sunda Strait, and her surviving crew members made prisoners-of-war. This collection includes the ship’s newsletters from the years 1933 through 1941, although not all issues are available. The newsletters are part of the larger Cruiser Houston Collection, an archival collection that documents the history of the ship and her crew. The Blue Bonnet was revived after the war by the USS Houston Survivors Association and Next Generations, and issues from the 2000s may be viewed online at their web site.