Historic event! Extremely rare signed grand opening menu... Formal Opening Banquet for THE SHAMROCK HOTEL, St. Patrick's Day Thursday evening, March 17, 1949. Signed by GLENN MCCARTHY, famous American oil tycoon wildcatter and owner of The Shamrock.
From The Houston Chronicle...March 17, 1949: On this St. Patrick's Day in 1949, the 18-story Shamrock Hotel, at the intersection of Main Street and Holcombe Boulevard, held a grand opening party that to this day, remains one of the largest social events in Houston's history. Around 50,000 lucky Houstonians gathered outside in hopes of catching a glimpse one of the 175 celebrities attending the dedication ceremony, which included DOROTHY LAMOUR, GINGER ROGERS, AND LANA TURNER. Construction on oilman Glenn McCarthy's hotel began in 1946, and when it was completed in '49, the 1000 room hotel would also boast the world's largest hotel swimming pool – so large, in fact, that you could water ski on it.
From Wikipedia... The Shamrock was a hotel constructed between 1946 and 1949 by wildcatter Glenn McCarthy southwest of downtown Houston, Texas next to the Texas Medical Center. It was the largest hotel built in the United States during the 1940s. The grand opening of the Shamrock is still cited as one of the biggest social events ever held in Houston. Sold to Hilton Hotels in 1955 and operated for over three decades as the Shamrock Hilton, the facility endured financial struggles throughout its history. In 1985, Hilton Hotels donated the building to the Texas Medical Center and the structure was demolished on June 1, 1987.
From Wikipedia - Historic Grand Opening: The hotel opened with fireworks displays on St. Patrick’s Day 1949. Two thousand Houstonians paid $42 a person to have dinner at what was widely publicized as “Houston’s biggest party" which cost an estimated one million dollars. The party was attended by over 150 Hollywood celebrities including Ginger Rogers, Hedda Hopper, Robert Preston and Errol Flynn along with noted Los Angeles business executives and reporters, some of whom were flown in to Houston International Airport on a customized Boeing 307 Stratoliner airplane which McCarthy had bought only days earlier from Howard Hughes. Many more were brought in by train on a chartered Santa Fe Super Chief. With a crowd estimated at 50,000 gathering outside the hotel, newspaper boys dressed in black tie handed out commemorative editions of the Houston Post as guests arrived that evening. The party became very overcrowded, with three thousand people milling in the hotel's public areas, a thousand more than had been foreseen. Houston mayor Oscar F. Holcombe and his wife sat in a hallway for two hours after his chair was stolen. "It was the worst mob scene I have ever witnessed," Holcombe said later. The festivities became so raucous that a radio broadcast from the hotel by actress, singer and World War II pinup girl Dorothy Lamour was cut off by the network; assuming he was off-air, NBC audio engineer Raoul Murphy uttered an expletive heard live nationwide and dead air greeted the audience for a very long twenty seconds. Due to the numerous broadcast difficulties, Lamour reportedly fled the stage in tears. The Houston Chronicle's society editor wrote that the event was "bedlam in diamonds". Life called it "...the most dazzling exhibition of evening dresses and big names ever seen in Texas. Everyone had to concede it was quite a party and quite a hotel." The grand opening of the Shamrock is still cited as one of the biggest social events in Houston’s history.
From Glenn McCarthy... "Almost 113 years ago, at San Jacinto, General Sam Houston and his men created the greatest institution in Texas, the institution of Texas Independence. Tonight we are gathered to dedicate a great enterprise, in the city that bears Houston's name and treasures his contribution to freedom. There is, of course, not the remotest parallel between the historic event of San Jacinto and this ceremony… I simply feel that it is incumbent in these times for Americans to remember their heroes… And I know no Texan will criticize me on this occasion for invoking the memory of the man most responsible for the preservation of our Texas heritage..."
Embossed gold and green hotel crest on the front cover, an embossed illustration of the hotel on the back cover. Tipped-in illustrations of Glenn McCarthy and the hotel.
This menu is 12 inches tall, 18 inches wide when open. Used condition, wear & tear, marks, soiling, etc. Most of our menus were actually used in the restaurant, there may be writing, wear and tear, spots, stains, crinkles and creases, etc., so please ask questions and examine the images closely before your purchase. Sold as is, no refunds. Inventory# 20-11.
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