Traveling can be an adventure, especially with pets.
If you find traveling with your Dog a challenge today, just imagine the difficulties encoutered by pet owners over one hundred years ago. Even the famous stars of the stage experienced problems.
Elsie de Wolfe and her beloved French Bulldog Fauvette toured the country in both 1901 & 1902. Both Elsie and her Dog were stars, each with roles in Clyde Fitch’s play The Way of the World.
Miss Elsie de Wolfe & her French Bulldog.
Image: Detail of Jan van Beers Painting, 1899
While on tour with the play’s production in December of 1901, Elsie de Wolfe arrived in Boston for the play’s opening at the Tremont Theatre, with her pampered Frenchie in tow.
Boston’s Tremont Theatre Image: Wikimedia
Boston did not exactly roll out the red carpet for Miss Elsie de Wolfe, nor her four-legged friend Fauvette.
Upon arriving at the Hotel Touraine and settling in her suite, she was asked to leave.
Hotel Touraine Boston, 1910. Image: Wikimedia
Elsie tried to reason with the hotel.
She offered a deposit for damages, assuming liability for her Dog’s actions and Elsie de Wolfe reminded the Hotel Touraine of her previous visit to their establishment which included her canine companion.
It fell on deaf ears.
Hotel Touraine’s Main Dining Room, Boston, 1899
Image: Detroit Publishing Co. Postcard, Leonard Lauder Collection
Hotel Touraine, owned by J. Reed Whipple at the turn of the twentieth century, had rules, the New York Times explained.
The rules prohibited Dogs.
So did the Young Hotel, another Whipple Property, which refused Elsie de Wolfe & her French Bulldog as guests.
Young’s Hotel, Court Street, Boston, 1906
Image: Detroit Publishing Co. Postcard, Leonard Lauder Collection
One can only imagine the insult & furry felt by Elsie de Wolfe.
Let’s not even speak of the raised hackles on the blue blooded French Bull Dog!
François Nars’ Frech Bull Dog Marcel. Image: NARS
And what about the lovely Parker House Hotel?
The originator of the moist, fluffy, internationally-known Parker House Rolls….
Parker House Rolls. Image: King Arthur Flour
Located around the corner from the Tremont Theatre, the Parker House Hotel had played host to thespians since 1855.
Surely, Miss Elsie de Wolfe the renowned actress and her precious Fauvette could find a room there…
Image: Detroit Publishing Co. Postcard, Leonard Lauder Collection
(Today, the Omni Parker House Hotel welcomes Pets under 25 lbs.)
Nope. Not welcome.
Elsie de Wolfe must have been smiling through her clenched teeth. I’m reminded of her often quoted words:
“Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must,
but be gracious if it kills you.”
The refusal for accommodations must have been killing Elsie de Wolfe. It seems no one in the Beantown was exhibiting any graciousness.
Onward to the Hotel Vendome….
Surely the French styled Hotel with the Mansard roof would find a place to put up Miss Elsie de Wolfe for the night?
Image: Detroit Publishing Co. Postcard, Leonard Lauder Collection
Au contraire! It seems there was no room at the inn for the likes of Fauvette & Elsie.
The trek around Boston could not have been an easy one considering the road conditions of the day, not to mention the size of Elsie de Wolfe’s wardrobe.
Can you imagine the number of trunks?
The Philharmonic had reported:
“Miss de Wolfe enjoys the reputation of being the best dressed actress on the American stage, and perhaps the highest point in the evolution of the modern stage wardrobe has been achieved in the smart gowns which are being worn by the actress and her company in Clyde Fitch’s play The Way of the World.”
Elsie and her entourage moved on to yet another Boston Hotel. Finally, they managed to find one that would accept them…
Westmisnster Hotel. Image: Vintage Postcard
Hotel Westminster. (Oh, the irony.)
Westmisnster Hotel , Razed in 1963 (John Hancock Tower)
Image: 1930′sVintage Postcard
A savvy publicity hound, Elsie de Wolfe told her story to the New York Times.
As all of the society women of the day traveled with their pampered pets, it was not a good news day for Boston tourism on December 16, 1901. The headline read:
Boston Hotel Men Refuse to Harbor Actresses Pet
The dramatic article told the tale of Elsie’s Boston adventure, exclaiming:
“She argued in vain, and even offered to indemnify the hotel in advance against any damage that the canine might do, and after all of her resources were exhausted, she went in turn to Parker’s and Young’s and then to the Vendome, being met everywhere with refusal to accommodate the dog.
At length the Westminster opened its doors to both. Miss de Wolfe said that she stopped at the Touraine three years ago, and had her dog with her, and she is much aggrieved at what she calls…”
“a lack of hospitality of New Englanders.”
O U C H !
It looks like Elsie de Wolfe had a serious bone to pick with Boston.
Later, I’ve got to let the Dog out,
Taffy, our charming 
