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1930’s Hotel Morton Grand Rapids Michigan Hotel Room Key #544 Fob
Made by:
W.W. Wilcox Mfg. Co.
Chicago
Your piece is a classic mid-20th-century leather hotel key fob with brass room key:
• Hotel: Hotel Morton
• City: Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Room number: 544
• Feature: Printed graphic advertising a U.S. mailbox and the phrase
“Drop in any mailbox — we guarantee postage”
That slogan was common on hotel fobs from roughly the 1930s–1950s, when hotels encouraged guests to drop outgoing mail at the front desk. Many hotels prepaid postage as a guest service and used it as a marketing gimmick.
About Hotel Morton
Hotel Morton was one of Grand Rapids’ downtown hotels serving business travelers and tourists in the early–mid 20th century. It’s no longer operating under that name; like many regional hotels of that era, it was eventually replaced or repurposed as downtown development changed.
Hotel key fobs like this are collectible in several niches:
• hotel memorabilia collectors
• Michigan ephemera collectors
• vintage travel / advertising collectors
