Manufacturer: John Maddock & Sons – England
User: Hotel Kaiserhof – Denver, Colorado
Distributor: Burley & Company, Chicago
Date of plate: 1913
Notes: The Hotel Kaiserhof, at 17th Street and Welton Street in Denver, Colorado, opened as the Hotel Albert in 1890. In May 1909, while the Albert was being remodeled and enlarged to become the Hotel Kaiserhof, there was an arson attempt by warring labor factions that were on strike. After the expansion, the hotel had 150 rooms and four cafes.
Because of the anti-German sentiment prevalent in the country due to World War I, in 1917 the German name Kaiserhof was scrapped and it was renamed the Kenmark Hotel (see postcard above).
According to a January 1996, article in Westword.com: "The Kenmark Hotel, built in 1910 at the corner of 17th and Welton streets, hit the dust several weeks ago. The Kenmark's German owners didn't want to pay to maintain the building and weren't interested in renovating it. They decided to clear the site and wait for the right time to sell the property, playing the speculative Denver real estate game."
White body plate with a black band on the outer rim. Underneath this band is a red pinstripe and another red pinstripe at the verge. At the top of the plate, starting near the center of the rim and spilling down into the well, is a drawing of a rampant eagle facing left in black and white with touches of red. There is a shield on the eagle's breast with stylized letters "HK" in red. Underneath the eagle is a small banner with the word "Denver" in red block letters.
Source:
Westword.com – 1996 article about the Hotel's destruction
For additional info:
Kaiserhof Hotel – Chicago by Syracuse China
Atlantic Hotel by Buffalo China
Contributors:
Plate photos: Kathleen Perrin
ID and research: Kathleen Perrin and Larry Paul
Author: Ed Phillips