Day 263 of 365 Days of Boulderado Photos ~ 1960s South Entrance

I've decided to show you some old photos from the hotel's collection over the next couple of days. This photograph, provided by June Howard, is of the hotel's south entrance from the early 1960s. There are two items in this photo of the hotel that no longer are there -- the stone portico structure over the south entrance, and the neon sign on the roof.

Videos from the Oral History Luncheon

Back in September of 2008, the Hotel Boulderado hosted a luncheon in our Spruce Room. We invited a variety of people from the community to come in, sit down, and share a memory of the Hotel Boulderado. Here's a rundown of who we talked to and what they had to say:

• Dee Demmon remembers dancing in the lobby and getting her spiked heels caught in the tile floor
• Sandy Hume recollects his impressions of the original stained-glass ceiling -- "It contained every color in heaven."
  
• Don Hume tells stories of his visits to the Boulderado as a young child
• Betty Chronic shares what led to her first visit to the Boulderado dining room
• Virginia Patterson's connections to Boulderado weddings and the old barber shop
• June Howard remembers what it was like running the hotel in the 1960s, with her husband, Ed
• Gwen Winterberger and her husband, Louis, ran the hotel in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and Gwen took some time to call us and share some memories
• Dick Dorman recalled his involvement with restoring the stained-glass ceiling
  
• Frank and Gina Day, our current owners, remember how their relationship with the Boulderado began
  
• Sidney Anderson, our current general manager, and his impact on the hotel
  
• Laurel McKown tells us how she was hired to restore, photograph, and catalog the Boulderado's extensive collection of antique furniture
• Sandy Hale shares the multitude of parties she threw at the hotel
  
• Mary Ann Mahoney recalls the opening of the North Wing and the new meetings market it served
• Silvia Pettem shares her experiences as the Hotel Boulderado historian
• Dan Corson remembers when the hotel was named a historic landmark
• Dorothy Sage recollects a memorable holiday tea at the Hotel Boulderado
  

Check out our collection of videos on our website!

Ed and June Howard

Boulder has long been known as a hippie haven, and no decade conjures up the hippie in the mind's eye more than the 1960s. It was a tough time by then for the Hotel Boulderado. A guest left a note summing up the stay: "Toilet got stuck in night, had a hard time stopping it. Towel rak fell down when I hung up towel. Lamp switch out of order, won't always turn off. Shades too small and don't keep out streetlights. Pillows like rocks. I scarcely slept, all things taken together."

It took a brave spirit to take on a hotel in the condition the Boulderado was in, and that spirit was embodied by Ed and June Howard. The Howards had been friends with the Hutsons for years and agreed to lease the Boulderado from Winnie Hutson beginning in June of 1961. The Howards worked hard to keep the hotel running -- Ed represented management, maintenance, and also worked as a desk clerk, while June also worked behind the desk, connected incoming and outgoing phone calls, and worked briefly in the dining room.

Ed and June cultivated a family atmosphere in the lobby. When the Boulderado first opened in 1909, an orchestra played to entertain guests. The lobby orchestra was replaced by a Victrola, then a radio, and then during the 1960s, a television that guests could gather round and watch. The Howards encouraged the community to come in during the holidays for sing-a-longs. Many of the hotel's guests at the time were permanent residents, mostly elderly folks who could no longer live on their own.

Not everyone in Boulder thought the Boulderado was worth holding on to. City administrators declared it to be a fire hazard because of the cherrywood staircase that stretched from the basement up to the fifth floor and wished to tear the hotel down to make more room for parking downtown. They gave the Howards two options: either encase the entire staircase in sheet rock, or install a sprinkler system throughout the hotel. Ed effectively saved the Hotel Boulderado by deciding to install the sprinklers.

In 1967, just six years after taking over, the Howards had had enough and passed the ownership and management of the Boulderado over to Louis Winterberger, whom we will meet in a future blog post. If you are interested in reading more about the Howards and the Boulderado in the 1960s, check out Ed's oral history or June's Boulderado story.

"You'll Never Forget the Boulderado"

Working in a historic hotel like the Boulderado can be a lot of fun for a history nerd like me. Around every corner, there's another piece of antique furniture, or a pair of shoes left behind by a workman from 1905, or photos that suddenly turn up showcasing a long-gone era. What we do today, in the moment, can lose its significance, but when someone else finds it fifty years later, it's a precious gem.

Take this example: June Howard, who owned and operated the Hotel Boulderado with her husband, Ed, from 1961 to 1967, sent us a copy of a marketing brochure they used. The hotel is still very much recognizable as the Boulderado we know and love -- the staircase leading up to the Mezzanine, the front desk, and the signature exterior architecture. But looking deeper into the pictures in the brochure, certain nuances unique to that time are also visible. Fred's Steakhouse stands where Q's is today. Ashtrays are seen inside the lobby. Guest room televisions are black and white consoles. The ceiling of the lobby is not featured at all, probably because at the time it was red, white, and blue Plexigas, not the exquisite stained-glass that is so familiar to us today.

"Guests at the Hotel Boulderado relax in Western comfort in 80 rooms like the one above. Historical atmosphere prevails from beds to lobby to exterior. . . . Today, under Ed Howard's management, the Boulderado retains its Old West character, but with modern conveniences. Charm and hospitality surround guests relaxing in the lobby or on the wide veranda on a pleasant summer evening. It is easy to imagine the days when ladies and gentlemen drove up in fine livery rigs pulled by sleek horses. It was a time to enjoy life, a time that still exists in Boulder -- at The Boulderado." (Text from the brochure)

CU's Graduation

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2009! Every year, the Hotel Boulderado is packed at this time of year with proud parents and other visitors who are celebrating the achievements of the new graduates. Being just one mile from CU's campus, the Boulderado is a natural setting for graduation parties and accommodations.

Did you know that CU students used to live at the Boulderado? Back in the '60s, the University of Colorado experienced such a rise in registration that they ran out of housing. Administrators turned to the Boulderado for the extra rooms they needed, and students became residents for the duration of their school year. The following was taken directly from a transcript of an oral history taken from Ed Howard, who owned and operated the Boulderado from 1961 to 1967

"There was one more interesting chapter in that hotel in ’60. The university was just absolutely out of bedrooms, and they leased that for thirty women – girls – students. They lived throughout the hotel in different rooms and the manager told me he had the darndest time keeping the male students outta there, ‘cause they would come up the side of the hotel, onto the restaurant roof, up into the fire escape and into the hotel, and they knew where they were headed, and he said they were always in there. I didn’t get them back the following fall. They put those girls somewhere else. I took in boys in ’63, took in about thirty young men, and it didn’t work very good. Course boys aren’t worth a darn trying to cook a meal, and living in a hotel they had to eat every meal out, which was expected. So they gradually moved out during the school term, a few lasted until the end." (To read Ed's transcript, visit the 100 Year Anniversary page on our website.)

June Howard, Ed's wife, sent this photo of the girls who lived in the hotel during school. Wonder where they are today . . .