In response to my blog entry about the old Tenney Hotel, I received this photo from Sherry Swan (Al Manthie’s granddaughter). It is an invoice to the Village of Tenney for dray services to various points in town. The invoice is on letterhead from “The Hotel Tenney,” George Vitalis, Proprietor. (To see it more clearly, double click right on the image, and it will enlarge).
Now, for you young ‘uns that may not have heard the term “dray,” let me explain. In this time period in Tenney, a dray was a heavy, four-wheeled wagon pulled by a horse. The wagon would haul goods, often to or from the railway platform, to wherever they needed to be delivered. The dray was generally stored in or worked out of the Livery Stable which was, in most small towns, located somewhere near the railway depot and the hotel. This way, travelers fresh off the train could hire out a horse or later, sometimes an automobile, and goods that arrived on the train could be delivered to their appropriate destination.
In much of the 19th century, it was an unwritten “rule” that all inns and hotels would offer a dray and livery service. Based on this invoice, apparently this was the case with “The Hotel Tenney.” Across the hotel logo on the paper are written the words “Buffet and Livery in Connection.” So the hotel either owned the livery and dray service, or at least had some sort of business arrangement with them.
Now, for you young ‘uns that may not have heard the term “dray,” let me explain. In this time period in Tenney, a dray was a heavy, four-wheeled wagon pulled by a horse. The wagon would haul goods, often to or from the railway platform, to wherever they needed to be delivered. The dray was generally stored in or worked out of the Livery Stable which was, in most small towns, located somewhere near the railway depot and the hotel. This way, travelers fresh off the train could hire out a horse or later, sometimes an automobile, and goods that arrived on the train could be delivered to their appropriate destination.
In much of the 19th century, it was an unwritten “rule” that all inns and hotels would offer a dray and livery service. Based on this invoice, apparently this was the case with “The Hotel Tenney.” Across the hotel logo on the paper are written the words “Buffet and Livery in Connection.” So the hotel either owned the livery and dray service, or at least had some sort of business arrangement with them.
On this invoice, we see that the dray service was delivering goods primarily to the Town Hall which, in Tenney, is approximately 1 block—or less—from the depot. It cost the Village of Tenney 25 cents to deliver coal, 50 cents to deliver “fixtures” and 75 cents to deliver chairs, all to the Town Hall, as well as one dollar to deliver coal to the school and 25 cents to return a plank to the lumber yard. The total bill for this dray service came to $2.75.
There is no date on this invoice, but I am thinking that it must be in the 1912 or 1913 time frame. Given the nature of the items being delivered to the Town Hall from the railway—chairs and fixtures—I am surmising that this could very well have occurred at the time the Town Hall was being built, which was 1913. How exciting!
The advertising slogan on the letterhead is hilarious and fits in well with the many Tenney stories I have heard through the years: “Nothing First Class But the Price.” Now where, but Tenney, would one see such an advertising slogan!??! Now, I’m being facetious, since it obviously had a different meaning at the Turn of the Century. But if I would use today’s logic to interpret this slogan, the slogan could be translated as, “EVERYTHING HERE IS LOW QUALITY BUT THE PRICE IS REALLY HIGH.” Oh what fun to see these old treasures. Thank you, so much, Sherry, for sharing this!
There is no date on this invoice, but I am thinking that it must be in the 1912 or 1913 time frame. Given the nature of the items being delivered to the Town Hall from the railway—chairs and fixtures—I am surmising that this could very well have occurred at the time the Town Hall was being built, which was 1913. How exciting!
The advertising slogan on the letterhead is hilarious and fits in well with the many Tenney stories I have heard through the years: “Nothing First Class But the Price.” Now where, but Tenney, would one see such an advertising slogan!??! Now, I’m being facetious, since it obviously had a different meaning at the Turn of the Century. But if I would use today’s logic to interpret this slogan, the slogan could be translated as, “EVERYTHING HERE IS LOW QUALITY BUT THE PRICE IS REALLY HIGH.” Oh what fun to see these old treasures. Thank you, so much, Sherry, for sharing this!
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