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Category: vintage History

Vintage Travel To Do List: Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island

Grand Hotel Mackinac Island

I have started a collection of “Vintage Travel Destinations/Locations” that I would like to visit at some point in my life, over on Pinterest. This collection is slowly growing but one of those places is the ‘Grand Hotel’ on Mackinac Island, Michigan (US), seen above. It’s right out of something from the Great Gatsby and has a history that goes back to 1887.

For today’s post I’m just going to share some of the history with you, stunning images and a cool tidbit about a certain famous female swimmer from the 1940s.

Vintage Mid-Century Grand Hotel Mackinac Island Brochure
Source: Pinterest

Brief Overview of the History of the Hotel: The Grand Hotel has a marvelous page filled with a much more detailed history on the Hotel (then what I will supply you) which you can read HERE.

July 10th, 1887: Grand Hotel opens, billed as a summer retreat for vacationers who arrive by lake steamer from Chicago, Erie, Montreal, Detroit, and by rail from across the continent. It took only 93 days to complete and rates are $3 to $5 a night.

1890’s: Grand Hotel’s Front Porch – longest in the world (880 feet in length)—becomes the principal meeting place for all of Mackinac Island, as well as a promenade for the elderly and a “Flirtation Walk” for island romantics. Grand Hotel Manager James “The Comet” Hayes invites an agent of Edison Phonograph to conduct regular demonstrations of the new invention.

Turn of the Century: The automobile finds its way onto the island. Grand Hotel supports an island-wide ban. A law is passed, but not strictly enforced until the 1930s (there are still no automobiles allowed to this day on the Island).

1919: Hotel rates are $6 per person.

1935: A radio salon where patrons can listen to Jack Benny and other popular programs is added.

1957: Michigan Historical Association selects Grand Hotel as a State Historical Building.

1980: Somewhere In Time, filmed at Grand Hotel and starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer, is released (there are events at the hotel celebrating this very popular romantic movie. The next one is in October).

1989: The U.S. Department of Interior designates Grand Hotel a National Historic Landmark.

There are also 5 suites in the hotel named in honour of former First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush.

Five U.S. Presidents — Clinton, Bush, Ford, Kennedy, and Truman — have visited Grand Hotel.

Images of the Grand Hotel:

1910's vintage photo of the Grand Hotel and Golf Course, Mackinac Island, circa 1915.
Source: New York Social Diary
Grand Hotel Menu 1890 for The Grand on Mackinac Island
Source: Wikipedia

Postcard showcasing the famous porch from Ripley’s Believe it or Not. “Longest Porch in the World at 800 Feet – The Grand Hotel”.

Grand Hotel Mackinac Island Vintage Postcard for the longest porch in the world.
Source: Pinterest
Photo of the Grand Hotel Mackinac Island
Source: Historic Hotels

Interior of the Grand Hotel (it’s Fancy!):

The Dining Room

The dining room at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
Source: Joeybls Photography

Sadies Ice Cream Parlor

Sadies Ice Cream Parlor Grand hotel Mackinac Island
Source: Grand Hotel

Woods Restaurant

Grand Hotel Mackinac Island
Source: Historic Hotels

The Lobby

Grand Hotel Mackinac Island Lobby Photo.
Source: Historic Hotels

Entrance to the grand ballroom…oh my…..

Grand Hotel Mackinac Island entrance to the Grand Ballroom
Source: Joe Braun Photography

Some of the Hotel Rooms & Suites:

Grand Hotel Mackinac Islands Rooms
Source: Historic Hotels

Since the only vehicles allowed on the Island are emergency vehicles and in winter snowmobiles, the only way to reach the dock from the hotel is via horse-drawn Carriage.

Grand Hotel Mackinac Island carriage
Source: Wikipedia

Now which famous swimmer from the 1940s & 50s has a tie to the hotel? That is…

Esther Williams in This Time For Keeps’, 1947:

On site there is a pool called the Esther Williams Swimming Pool (5000 gallons) . It was named this because she filmed the movie ‘This Time for Keeps’ with Jimmy Durante at this hotel.

Full image of the scale of this massive pool.

Esther Williams Swimming Pool Grand Hotel
Source: Style blue print

Visiting:

The hotel is only open between May & October, so if you would like to book just head to their website and begin the fun. And please take loads of photos!

Dear friends, would you visit the Grand Hotel? Or maybe you have? If so please tell me all about it.

Liz 🙂

FURTHER READING: Collection of Vintage Travel posts by the Vintage Inn Blog

Happy Canada Day! Roundup of Interesting Posts about Vintage Canada

Happy Canada Day!! We are celebrating 149 years today and I’m so very excited for my country and to be Canadian on this fantastic day 🙂

vintage Canada image poster

Today’s post is a roundup of some of the interesting vintage posts (1920s-1970s) about Canada that I have found over the last while, that give a bit more insight into the country I call home. Enjoy!

Once Upon a City Women who were unsung heroes of war effort via Toronto Star

ajax-munitions Canadian Bomb girls vintage image
Archives Canada

Jessica at Chronically Vintage (a fellow Canadian) started a Flickr Group called “Vintage Canada” with some super vintage images of the land we both love. Check it out!

vintage canada images
via Flickr

We all know that small towns have some amazing history tied to them. So the next time you visit Canada (or head out onto a road trip) why not check out this blog post on ‘Canada’s Best Small Towns‘ via the ‘Great Canadian Bucket List‘ website.

city of nelson small vintage town

If you follow my blog then you know that I like to post about Toronto & Canadian History, here is one I did awhile back: Vintage Canadian Actors & Actresses in Hollywood.

Fay Wray

Elinor Florence is a writer and blogger (and another Canadian friend) who focuses on Canada’s Wartime Past on her Wednesday blog. Her recent book entitled ‘Bird’s Eye View‘ is excellent and recommend read (I could not put it down) about an idealistic young Canadian woman who joins the air force during the Second World War and becomes an aerial photographic interpreter.

Elinor most recent blog post about a young woman named ‘Ruth Owens’ reminded me very much of the main character in her book. Ruth was trained as a photographer for the Royal Canadian Air Force and served at RCAF Centralia, Ontario, during World War Two. Her photo album gives us a fascinating glimpse into wartime history, crammed with snapshots of life on a Canadian air training. Read Post HERE.

1940s Canadian Woman in Airforce
Source: Elinor Florence

Canada built the first UFO Landing Pad in St. Paul, Alberta in 1967

Canada's first UFO landing page st paul alberta

The Archives of Canada has a bevy of amazing albums on their Flickr Page and one of them that caught my eye was all about ‘Toys and Games in Canada‘. Now this is not exclusive to Canada (as we know) but I just thought it was a fun collection of images of Canadian’s of all ages having fun.

Baseball game between women from the "Eager Beavers" and officers of the Regina Rifle Regiment 1940s

May 28th, 1934-The Dionne Quintuplets are born and are noted as being the only quintuplets to survive for more than a few days. This miracle, plus their baby cuteness, the poverty of their French Canadian parents, and the controversy over their guardianship, made them the sensation of the 1930s (source).

Read all about them HERE.

The Dionne quintuplets

Well friends, I hope you enjoyed some of the Vintage Canadian images and posts I shared with you today. Happy Canada Day!

Liz 🙂