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At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel
 
 
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At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel [Hardcover]

Curtis Gathje (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)


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Hardcover, Bargain Price $15.98  
Hardcover, November 25, 2000 --  

Book Description

November 25, 2000
At The Plaza is a pictorial record and an anecdotal history of the world's most famous hotel: New York's Plaza. As a story, it traverses the breadth and scope of Gotham's high society during the American Century. As a photo collection, it's like no other, capturing the hotel's remarkable presence on the ever-changing New York scene.

For almost one hundred years, The Plaza has mirrored the social history of Manhattan: its tastes in design, entertainment, restaurants and accommodations, as well as its adjustment to Prohibition, the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Cold War, women's rights, smokers' rights, animals' rights and British rock-and-roll. The first guests to sign the register-Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt-set the standard for the long procession of luminaries that followed: Mark Twain, Diamond Jim Brady, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the Beatles, among many others.

In At The Plaza, the hotel's official historian has compiled a tremendous collection of photographs and vignettes chronicling the colorful history of a building, an institution, and a city.

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About the Author

Curtis Gathje has been The Plaza's official historian since 1994. Also author of the novel A Model Crime, he makes his home in New York City.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (November 25, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312261748
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312261740
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars THE PLAZA=DELUXE, August 8, 2001
By 
MOVIE MAVEN (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel (Hardcover)
When someone mentions The Plaza what do you first think of? Luxury? Eloise? Donald and Ivana? Dietrich or Garbo or F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald in residence? The Pulitzer Fountain? The final scene from "The Way We Were?"

All of them and many, many more are here in this deluxe book about this deluxe hotel. Chock full of blueprints, wonderful photographs and reproductions of menus and paintings and postcards, this book is not just a history of a hotel...it is, truly, a history of New York City which is host to the hotel. You will learn how specific rooms (The Palm Court, The Edwardian Room, The Oak Room, etc.) were "born", how, when and why celebrities like Frank Lloyd Wright lived at the hotel, how various suites came to be decorated by and named after people like Cecil Beaton, what the scandal was caused by Mrs. Patrick Campbell, how the Duke and Duchess of Windsor celebrated their anniversary here and how Patricia Kennedy and Peter Lawford celebrated their marriage here. There are revealing photographs of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with her husband and son avoiding the paparazzi, John and Yoko enjoying an obviously romantic lunch, Truman Capote's Black and White party and so many of the entertainers who performed at the famous Persian Room: Shirley Bassey, Ethel Merman, The Mills Brothers, Kay Thompson (mother to Eloise), Eartha Kitt, Bob Hope, Liberace, Diahann Carroll, etc. There is even an entire chapter on the many movies that were filmed at the hotel, beginning with Hitchcock's masterpiece, "North By Northwest."

All of Gathje's research is well documented and written in a fascinating style: charming, inviting, intimate, warm, classy and yet filled with good humor. RECOMMENDED.

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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book on a beautiful hotel, January 20, 2001
By 
Rob (Durham, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel (Hardcover)
This book is a great buy. If you are a fan of NY, you will haveheard of this hotel, its history, its decor, its beauty. YOU HAVE TOSTAY A NIGHT. Take a stretch limo from the airport, book a mini suite[from airport if arriving in low season - to get the best rate -always speak with "Front Desk" (only)] Your partner willlove you forever and you'll enjoy the trip soo much more.... This booktells the story of the hotel history - did you know there was aprevious hotel of same name on the site? It has many pictures throughthe years, right through the Hilton. Trump and now Fairmont ownerships- it tells the film-makers story, visits from the famous, the stars. Agreat book on a great hotel. Love to hear about your stay, we stayedDec 1999...
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel, March 4, 2009
This review is from: At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel (Hardcover)
I confess, I purchased this book for my mother but when I skimmed through it I couldn't part with it too soon. The pictures are high quality, many you'll never see elsewhere and the stories will keep you turning the pages with a smile. Eventually this unique book made it to my mother, who @ 84 recalled many of the headline moments associated with this beautiful New York landmark.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
The site did not remain a skating rink for long. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
celebrity suites, basement space, scene shot, scenes shot, private functions
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Legend, Fifth Avenue, New York, Persian Room, Central Park, Fifty-ninth Street, Palm Court, Fifty-eighth Street, Conrad Hilton, Oak Room, Trader Vic, United States, Fred Sterry, Oak Bar, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Hardenbergh, Cecil Beaton, Christian Dior, Edwardian Room, Grand Army Plaza, Green Tulip, Pulitzer Fountain, Serge Obolensky, The Great Gatsby, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt
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