By Bradford Hudson Almost everyone understands that fantasy is integral to the thematic elements in a Disney amusement park. Less understood, especially among people who have never visited one of these parks, is that Disney themes are often historical. Occasionally such themes relate to the heritage of the company itself, but in many cases […]
By Bradford Hudson During the early 1920s, the Earl of Grantham traveled from England to the United States. The British aristocrat would appear as a character witness for his American brother-in-law, who was a defendant in a trial related to the notorious Teapot Dome political scandal. Naturally he chose to travel aboard a British ship […]
By: Bradford Hudson Historic hotels are a recognized product type in the lodging industry and may be found in significant numbers throughout the globe. Much of the academic and popular literature about these hotels focuses on their architectural, social, or business history. Less has been written about how such history might represent a value proposition […]
By: Bradford Hudson, Ph.D. The steamship Britannia arrived in Boston Harbor on a July evening in 1840. This concluded the inaugural voyage for the flagship of the newly established Cunard Line, which has since become one of the oldest and most distinguished travel companies in the world. To commemorate the occasion, Cunard will send its […]
By Bradford Hudson, Ph.D. The age of firms and the implications of organizational longevity have been recurrent topics of interest among business scholars. However, attempts to catalogue or quantify the age or number of older firms are relatively rare. Even fewer scholars have investigated the longevity of brands, as opposed to the longevity of organizations […]
By Bradford Hudson A popular cultural narrative suggests that hospitality chains are a product of modern America. Although it seems clear that multi-unit hotel and restaurant brands proliferated in the United States during the twentieth century, historical research demonstrates that the phenomenon is actually much older. The origins of hospitality chains can be traced back […]
By Bradford Hudson Three decades ago, American industry was obsessed with quality management. Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman helped create the enthusiasm during this era with their best-selling book In Search of Excellence. Although the subsequent quality movement was quite successful in the manufacturing sector, it has been less successful in services. Indeed, there is […]
By Bradford Hudson Brand heritage is an emerging topic within the marketing discipline, which suggests that the consumer appeal of products and services offered by older companies may be enhanced by the historical characters of their brands. The partially shared nomenclature with the well-established field of heritage tourism is more than coincidental, as both concern […]
By Bradford Hudson The advertisement for American Airlines that is reproduced on the following pages appeared in national magazines in late 1957. It is a two-page centerfold color spread depicting a couple arriving at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston, after a flight on American Airlines. The discussion below provides a deconstruction and analysis of its […]
By Bradford Hudson The Cradle of American Liberty is a term that has been applied to the City of Boston in general, and Faneuil Hall in particular, since the Revolutionary era. It could be argued that Boston also deserves credit as the Cradle of American Hospitality. An astonishing array of firsts and near firsts in […]