J O S T A M O N

The historian Thorkild Jacobsen went to Chicago in 1927 on a fellowship.  He was put up at the Hotel Morrison downtown, of which he wrote:

As you may have realized this was in the Capone years, so it will not surprise you that when we checked in at the desk in Hotel Morrison in the Loop we were told not to go out after dark, as the North Side and the South Side gangs were fighting it out in the Loop and the police did not interfere. The more the gangsters killed other gangsters, the better for the police.

We were assigned a lovely room on the thirteenth floor with a marvelous view of Chicago. There was also a large poster welcoming us on the wall. As I remember it said:

“My dear friend, we realize that you may feel lonely and sad away from your loved ones but the management of this hotel wants you to know that we care and will do all we can make you feel this hotel is your home, to which you can come back always.

For the safety and convenience of our guests, we wish to point out that all doors in this hotel are bullet proof. Moreover, there is a periscope arrangement in the door so you can look out at visitors without being in the direct line of fire”.