The Skagway Commercial Club
added that the upcoming 1916 schedule would not change from previous years .
In 1916 , the Club became active again , planning for the upcoming tourist season . Because the meeting notes are not extant , the specifics of the meetings are unknown , and it is not clear who submitted summary articles to the Daily Alaskan because there is no by-line . It is possible that Dr . Keller , the paper ’ s editor , wrote the summary articles for the paper as no other staff is listed . 46 In this same edition calling for the meeting on the upcoming season , an unsigned editorial , Tourist Trade , outlined how to meet the expectations of the tourist . Since Keller also owned a shop that also sold curios for the tourism trade , he did have a vested interest in the promotion of Skagway to increase visitation . “ It behooves us to make preparations for this moving ride of summer tourists ,” the article exhorts , and offers suggestions such as “ Merchants should see that employes ( sic ) are well informed about Alaska . Be ready and willing to give information and a helping hand to our visitors .” 47
One of the last promotional contests sponsored by the Club was advertised in March 1917 for the “ two best discriptive ( sic ) articles describing Skagway and vicinity .” 48 The article must be descriptive of the gardens , climate , hotels and restaurants , accommodations , trains , “ and other features of merit and interest to tourists .” 49 The manuscript became properly of the Club for use in future promotions . The newspaper would become silent on promotional efforts for the rest of 1917 , despite the importance of the fiftieth anniversary of Alaskan ’ s acquisition .
By 1919 , the Skagway Commercial Club is rarely mentioned in The Daily Alaskan . It is not known if the Club disbanded or simply failed to meet and faded from importance in the promotion of Skagway due to the abundance of cruise line literature or individual promoters . The most well-known Skagway promoter at that time was Martin Itjen . As local historian Frank Norris states , “ Itjen ’ s interest in the tourist industry developed slowly over the years . Skagway has enjoyed some summer tourism ever since 1898 , and Itjen worked as a hack driver as early as 1915 . He liked tourists and had such a facility for describing the area to visitors that his services were in increasing demand on the few summer days when tourist steamers called at Skagway .” 50
Itjen visited actress Mae West in California to promote his streetcar services in 1935 and operated his streetcar tour , converted from a truck wagon used for transporting coal for President Warren G . Harding ’ s 1923 visit , until 1942 . His tour included sites such as Skagway ’ s beautiful gardens , the Gold Rush cemetery ( Itjen was the caretaker ), and Pullen House , which was one of the best hotels in Alaska , and the notorious Soapy Smith ’ s tavern . Norris roundly credits Itjen with saving some of Skagway ’ s historic past through his entertaining and educational streetcar tours . 51
The only issue that was concerning the Club in 1920 was the passage of the legislation known as the Jones Act ,
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