1931 Old Waldorf Bar Days by Albert Stevens Crockett

Old Waldorf Bar Days things that struck the sightseers, overheard by members of the staff, were one night the subject of conversation at a dinner of heads of departments, presided over by no less a person than George C. Boldt himself, pro– prietor of the hotel. When anecdote after anecdote had been told, up spoke Boldt. "I can match any of those yarns and mine is fresher than most of them," he said, in effect. Boldt later on conquered much of the accent then character– istic of his speech. "You all know Mr. Barclay War– burton, who is about to marry Miss Wanamaker, of Philadelphia. They came over here today to select quar– ters for their honeymoon. Naturally, I myself undertook to help them make a selection, and first I showed them the State Apartment. "It so happened that at the same time what was ap– parently a party of schoolgirls was being guided through the building by this O'Reilly. You know the beautiful Fran~ois I bed is in that suite. Well, O'Reilly and his party were in the bedroom when Mr. Warburton, Miss Wanamaker and I reached the drawing-room. The por– tieres were not closed, so that everything that happened in the other room could be heard where we were. I be– came aware that O'Reilly was describing the bed as made of solid gold. •And then, while I was gasping, I heard him add: 'Yes, young ladies, I was thinking what a wonderful nuptial chamber this would make.' "You can guess the eff~ct upon us who overheard. Mr. Warburton, of course, laughed outright, but Miss Wanamaker was very much embarrassed. I thought I should sink through the floor." [ 68]