The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 9, Number 4, Spring 2021 | Page 30

The Saber and Scroll
Whitehorse .” 15 The booklet ’ s format and information were voted on and accepted at that meeting . An editorial published two days later entitled Advertising Skagway As A Tourist Resort about the first meeting of the Club , its formation is “ most gratifying to those who have stuck by Skagway through thick and thin ” and “ it was decided to have 10,000 booklets printed … set forth Skagway ’ s advantages and attractions as a tourist resort ” and “ should receive the active support of the people of Skagway .” 16
The first three months of 1910 were spent compiling information and asking for block cuts for the publication . The committee responsible for the booklet took subscriptions for the estimated $ 5,000 publication cost . The committee was made up of photographer H . H . Draper , J . M . Keller , W . C . Blanchard ( of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad ), and E . L . Miller , all local businessmen or employees of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad . H . H . Draper served as the chairman in the 1910 for the publication . Places of distribution for the booklet included “ H . D . Kirmse ’ s Jewelry Store and H . H . Draper ’ s Curio Store .” 17 By April ’ s meeting , the Club was discussing the distribution of the advertising booklets , printed by the newspaper office . 18 Residents were encouraged to submit a list of prospective visitors to E . L . Miller so a pamphlet could be mailed to them . H . C . Bundy presented a plan to advertise “ the resources of this district as a resort for tourists ” 19 at a regular meeting of the organization . After late October , only two other meeting notices were advertised in The Daily Alaskan , both delaying any meeting due to a lack of business .
The promotional booklet , simply titled Skagway , Alaska was produced by the Skagway Commercial Club . The second page requests that cruise ship passengers “[ a ] sk the steamship company ’ s agent to tell you all about the stopover privilege on your tickets . You may remain in Skagway a couple of weeks or more to visit the many and beautiful interesting places in and adjacent to our town .” 20 In the first article , the visitor is asked to
… walk

leisurly ( sic ) down the street and we will stare in surprise and wonder at the fine cosmopolitan shops and stores , and the large and well built hotels , fraternal halls , water works , the electric light and telephone system , the daily newspaper , the government cable , which keeps you in constant touch with all the outer world ... Then let us visit the residence streets and see the pretty homes with wellkept lawns and flower gardens , the churches , schools , and the first class hospital , and you will wonder how this little far-away town could improve so rapidly when it did not come into existence until 1898 , at which time it was the head-quarters of many eager gold-hunters and prospectors bound for the Klondike and other parts of Alaska , from 5,000 to 10,000 in number , housed in tents , old shacks , and similar other structures providing but scanty shelter . 21

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