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Chapter Ten: Life Changes
- The University Press of Kentucky
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10 LIFE CHANGES Lodging for a Night, first released in 1938, was an outgrowth of Adventures in Good Eating. This guidebook, while not as popular as its predecessor, was just as vital. It was prepared in response to his readers' many requests that there be a companion volume to Adventures in Good Eating. T. C. Dedman, owner of the Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, knew Hines well. His inn was always listed in both of Hines's guidebooks as an excellent place to eat and sleep. "He was very important to us," said Dedman, speaking ofHines's influence on his industry. Of course, you could not pay Mr. Hines. There was no membership charge. You were in [his book] or you were out, and there was nothing you could do about it except improve your situation to please him....You could not entertain him. Many times he [stopped to eat at] our place, and we'd say "Mr. Hines, we'd like to pick up your lunch" to which he would reply, 'absolutely not.' You could not. He just wouldn't have that at all....He came fairly often. Even when he was in Chicago, he used to come by the inn once or twice a year. And, of course, when he moved to Bowling Green, why several times a year we would always see him. But his books, Adventures in 110 DUNCAN HINES Good Eating and Lodging for a Night were certainly most influential so far as all inns or eating places all around were concerned. In other words, we felt that he definitely help put us on the map. Though little has been written as to how the lodging industry viewed Hines, his opinions and suggestions, according to Dedman, were taken very seriously by inn~eepers. «Those who were not in [his guidebook] pooh-poohed it a little bit, saying it wasn't important. But it was important! It was very important." The reason it was important could be revealed by those who strolled in as guests. Said Dedman, «People would come by and say, (We're traveling by Duncan Hines' books." A plethora of such customers was motivation enough to keep most innkeepers on their toes because such travelers annually put an extra $25,000 to $50,000 in an inn's bank account. Dedman witnessed Hines's lodging inspections. «He stayed overnight a few times at our place-in fact a number of times," he said. ((But when he didn't, he would ask to see" two rooms ((and sometimes three or four." Hines «would ask to see one on the second floor and one on the third floor. Or a couple on each floor. And he would go up and say, (Oh, could I see in this room?' He would pick the room. He wouldn't just take our key." Hines«would look in the bathrooms. He would look around [the room for] cleanliness, feel the beds, and that sort of thing." Though Hines was a frequent guest, Dedman and his family were never sure what the verdict on their inn would be until the next edition of Lodgingfor a Night was published. Their experience was duplicated a thousand-fold by other innkeepers every year.327 Within the pages of his dark-blue lodging guide, Hines developed a criteria that shaped his lodging recommendations, which he asked his readers to adopt while traveling. When the time came to choose a place to spend the night, these «required" qualities, said Hines, made it possible for any traveler to determine an accommodation's worthiness. As Hines's reputation as a trustworthy authority grew, hotels and motels were foolish to [3.209.81.51] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 16:18 GMT) LIFE CHANGES 111 ignore his words, because his readers were soon demanding innkeepers adapt his criteria, which consisted of: cleanliness throughout-not only clean linen but clean bedding; quietness, such as freedom from traffic and other noises, as well as disturbing movements or conversations of other guests; comfortable beds; courteous, adequate and unobtrusive service, and hospitality, which Hines said was the defining ingredient that made "a traveler's sojourn pleasant" and created within him "the desire to return again."328 In the first edition of Lodgingfor a Night Hines acknowledged it was weighted with a preference for hotels. He attributed this prejudice to "habit" because ((a first-class hotel carries an established reputation and offers certain recognized conveniences." But just because he tended to favor hotels...