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hotel door hangers collected by my grandfather

When my grandfather passed away last year, my family gathered to go through his belongings. He had been in the foreign service and he had filled a whole wall of his study with hotel door hangers from all his travels throughout the world. They're really beautiful, in aggregate, and I wanted to share. Enjoy.

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44 Comments

Aug 13, 2008
Garry Tan liked this post.
Aug 13, 2008
Garry Tan said...
Absolutely remarkable.
Aug 13, 2008
Zach Blank said...
Looking at the English on all of these from all over the world is really interesting. Seeing how the languages translate and more interesting seeing all of the different ways to say 'Clean My Room.' It gives a great insight into the culture of all these different places.
Aug 13, 2008
Kurt K said...
I really enjoy the ones with only graphics, they require no translation
Aug 13, 2008
Dave said...
love these.. just posted on grain edit. Thanks for emailing me.
Aug 13, 2008
Rachael Depp said...
fantastic! a lovely collection from your grandfather...thank you for sharing them.
Aug 14, 2008
VisuaLingual said...
Wow, what an astounding collection; thanks for sharing!
Aug 18, 2008
michael ferdman said...
awesome stuff michael...wonderful collection

as I think you know I grew up with my grandparents and have saved a lot of things as well. you can learn a lot from them

stay well

Aug 18, 2008
ric said...
man, after all the hotels i've been in, this collection would have been one that would have made the experience better. Your grand dad was brilliant!
Aug 20, 2008
wonko said...
Impressive and really awsome! Thanks for sharing this collection...

Greetings from Germany

Aug 20, 2008
Greg Huntoon said...
You know, I've been avoiding doing this for years, but you've inspired me to catalogue my dad's insanely large matchbook collection. Even if it's just the 200 coolest (out of an enormous bowl probably in the range of 3500 books deep), I think there are probably some tiny design gems in there.
Aug 24, 2008
Ed said...
As one of a handful of active "do not disturb" sign collectors worldwide I am always pleased to learn about other people who share the same passion. Get in touch if you'd like to join us.
Greetings from Italy
Aug 25, 2008
Jessica said...
This is a beautiful collection. What a legacy to leave behind...
Aug 27, 2008
Roberto said...
Very nice. Some of them are moving too, like the one from the Beirut Phoenicia International, once one of the most beautiful hotels of the Mediterranean and now a heap of ruins...
Aug 28, 2008
Starr said...
Very cool. Thanks for sharing.
Sep 06, 2008
Tina said...
Thanks for posting these! When I was a child and my father traveled a lot as a national sales manager, he collected do not disturb signs for me. Pretty quickly, we decided to only collect the ones that were creative. Now that most hotels have the key cards, I miss the DND signs, but still get to collect some every once in a while. Some of my favorites are... Disneyland (from a recent trip with my daughter), Blackbeards Castle in St Thomas, Stanford Court in San Francisco, Cashel Palace Hotel
Sep 24, 2008
Shiran - From (south) Brazil said...
[PT-BR]
Caramba! Fiquei com inveja de seu avô! Ele viajou pelo mundo todo! E pelo jeito era um sujeito bem criativo, não?...

Parabéns por esta maravilhosa coleção!

[EN]
Wow!!! I envy so much you grandpa! He traveled around the whole world! And it looks that he was a very creative dude, wasn´t he?...

Congrats for this awesome collection!

Oct 07, 2008
val said...
such a trip... thanks for sharing!
Oct 10, 2008
Indeed it's a nice collection! I saw many original ones as a traveller, like this one I saw that said only "zzzZZZZzzzz"!
Oct 23, 2008
miqitie said...
that's cool ! thank u for giving ~~
Oct 24, 2008
nova said...
love the sleeping tasmanian devil, and I also love the "please wake me for meals / please let me sleep" from israel airlines <- beautiful set
Oct 30, 2008
yvette said...
Amazing collection! Thanks so much for sharing these really cool door hangers. I spent way too much time looking at them. ;o)!
Nov 16, 2008
Sonny said...
Tiny lil pieces of world packed in this wonderful set. These designs are forever I guess... and a reminder for the rest of us that it's nice to collect stuff - you never know.-)
Feb 06, 2009
Jason Jose said...
I just happened upon this post. Maybe I'll start collecting these also. Thanks for the inspiration!
Feb 22, 2009
J said...
This reminds me of when my great grandfather died, he had given lectures all over Europe at various universities his entire career and when he passed we found a trunk full of every single itinerary,ticket stub and reciept from every single trip he'd ever taken! Some might call it being a packrat but I thought it gave a fascinating look into his past
May 08, 2009
Xande Macedo said...
This is great! Thanks Michael. ;)
Jul 24, 2009
Oberdenker said...
Funny and cosy - and practically arranged to rummage in them. Greetings from Austria!
Sep 04, 2009
Valeria Fuso said...
Thank you for sharing this wonderful collection. It made me think a lot on how colours are interpreted in so many different ways depending on the country/culture, and somehow you cannot only rely on them if you are try to communicate something in a global market.
Sep 22, 2009
FOBLOW said...
this is inspiring. thanks for sharing it! :)
Sep 25, 2009
moonlight said...
I found your grandfather's collection on Apartment Therapy. It's wonderful and inspiring, thank you so very much for sharing it with the world! Love from Malaysia.
Sep 30, 2009
Simon Bostock liked this post.
Oct 02, 2009
jm3 said...
love these, man. what a great project.
Oct 05, 2009
Steve said...
Wow! - brought back some memories. I stayed at some of those hotels during the 70s and 80s (New Zealand, Australia, Greece) about the time these were collected. Thanks!
Oct 06, 2009
Cool collection. Really remarkable, thanks for sharing :)
Oct 21, 2009
cirox liked this post.
May 07, 2010
Suphachai said...
Greeting from Thailand!
Greeting from Thai avid collector of DND!!
Very interesting to learn your grand father collection. Any activities concerning these signs, please let me know.
Thanks,
Suphachai Rajaphitr
Aug 14, 2010
micah nova said...
I created a collection of matchbooks inspired by your collection of hotel door hangers. http://nova.posterous.com/matchbook-24
Apr 10, 2011
Sam Sivrag said...
Is it considered stealing to take the hangers that say, "Do not disturb?"
Jun 15, 2011
d.a.w. said...
¡favor de no molestar!
Jul 26, 2011
llixhat diber said...
Impressive and really awsome! Thanks for sharing this collection...Greatings from Macedonia
Oct 03, 2011
Michael said...
Wow, I have to say, this is such a neat idea. I've heard of people collecting stamps, cards, etc, but door hangers? Genius.

I love the ones from abroad.

Dec 19, 2011
Denise said...
What a fantastique Idea, I shared your collection even on the facebook. I'm working in the hotel business and even we have already since years the red and green light on the door , its nice to see the good old times fo the hotel business.
Greetings from the south of turkey !
Mar 28, 2012
Jenna Garson said...
Hi Michael,
These are great. My dad traveled the world as a sales rep for a well known fortune 500 company and he retired a few years ago. I always remember him bringing back all types of toys and trinkets from his travels across the globe that weren't easily found in the US. These door hangers are perfect!
Mar 28, 2012
Jenna Garson said...
Hi Michael,
These are great. My dad traveled the world as a sales rep for a well known fortune 500 company and he retired a few years ago. I always remember him bringing back all types of toys and trinkets from his travels across the globe that weren't easily found in the US. These door hangers are perfect!

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