GREAT THRONG AT CASEY OPENING
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SCRANTON'S MAGNIFICENT NEW HOTEL IS RUNNING SMOOTH AND EVEN TODAY
If A.J. and P.J. Casey don't shake the hands of their friends they meet today, there's a reason. So many shook their hands at the opening of the hotel Saturday night, that both gentlemen are all in.
It was a great night for the new hotel.
Things opened in a blaze of glory and wound up in a dazzle. A thousand people wined and dined; there were men in evening dress and women in décolleté, and with the lights, decorations and music, made one of the most brilliant pictures in the social history of the city. Thousands who didn't dine dropped into the hotel and drank big draughts of the splendor of the rotunda and the mezzanine floor.
The opening was a grand triumph for the Casey brothers. They were on everybody's tongue as people enjoyed the beauty of the fine dining rooms and the handsome interior of the hotel.
All night the brothers had their arms pumped in congratulation until they were ready to drop with fatigue. To say that they enjoyed it would be putting it mild. They deeply appreciated it.
Under the generalship of Manager Milton Roblee everything went off smoothly. The eyes of the diners were opened by the excellence of the service and the cuisine. Mr. Roblee was congratulated every other minute for one thing and another. Not a hotel in the world could have beaten the way things went under Mr. Roblee's direction.
Lieutenant Henry Kessler and his Hungarian orchestra made a big hit. They gave concerts in the music gallery of the rotunda and in the dining rooms. Added to the music was the gay laughter of the throng, the popping of champagne, the tinkle of ice in the glasses, the hum of conversation and the unbounded praise of owners, managers and artisans whose work made the palace at Lackawanna and Adams avenue. Today things were settled down a bit and the hotel was doing the business it was built for. Half the rooms have already been taken. *
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Click the image at the left to see an ad placed in the 1912 publication "City of Scranton, Pennsylvania" put out by the Board of Trade. The ad states it is "Absolutely Fire-Proof" and contains 250 rooms with bath. The same picture, colored, was used on the old postcard on the right. |  |
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Click here for
a larger version.  |
| The above ad appeared in the 1915 Poli Theater program for the week of May 31, 1915. Again the original architect's drawing was used. European plan $1.50 up. Milton Roblee manager. | This ad, using the newer picture used in the above ads, was in the 1916 Automobile Blue Book. The rest of the ad is the same as in the Poli, except instead of stating "250 rooms with bath" under the picture, it says, "400 outside rooms." | This billboard was by the now defunct Scranton Branch of the General Outdoor Advertising Company of Wilkes-Barre. It was done in the 1930's. It advertises "$2.00 - $2.50 without bath - with bath $3.00 - $3.50." This photograph was generously provided by Albert Kraemer of the Kraemer Sign Company in Scranton. |
 The interior views date from the opening. Above: Dome and Balcony. Right above: Lobby. |
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| Old postcards showing the Hotel Casey on: Lackawanna Avenue showing the Hotel Casey at three different times.. | ||
 Scranton Times, Nov. 6, 1913 (Click the image to view the complete article. Copy from microfilm provided by Norma Reese, transcribed by SWP.) |
Hotel Casey is to be
enlarged more than one-third
its present size. Work on building the addition to the hotel will be
started
in the spring. There are now 250 guest rooms in the hotel. At least 100 will be added. [The 1921 ad below states 400 rooms.] To build the addition will cost in the neighborhood of $200,000. When the work is completed, Hotel Casey will be the largest hotel in Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburg [sic]. The hotel was built about three years ago at a cost of very nearly $1,000,000. It was then thought that it would be large enough to meet the demands for many years. However, the hotel was so constructed that if necessary a large addition could be built at any time. From the beginning the hotel did a big business. That it was beyond the expectations is shown in the fact that the one hundred new rooms are needed. The hotel will now, under ordinary conditions, house between three hundred and three hundred and twenty guests. The addition will give room to one hundred and fifty more. During the traveling season, which is in the winter, the hotel is filled Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights of nearly every week. Guests have to be turned away on those nights and this has prompted P. J. and A. J. Casey, proprietors of the hotel, to prepare for the addition. The hotel is now built in the form of an "L," with the legs on Lackawanna avenue and Adams avenue. The addition is to start at the end of the Adams avenue side and run toward Washington avenue. When the addition is completed the hotel will have a "U" shape. The plan will give plenty of light to each room. Some changes will probably have to be made in the dining rooms. They will be enlarged, but the general plan of the rotunda, mezzanine floor and other public parts of the hotel will remain much the same. The decorating of the rooms is to follow the present scheme of mahogany, white and gold which runs through most of the hotel. The woodwork is all to be in mahogany. Most of the new rooms are to be connected with bath and in those that are not there will be running hot and cold water. A new system of shower baths that is the latest idea in hotel convenience will be installed in the addition. |
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