all original antique c. 1876 ephemera or stationary from the palmer house hotel with handwritten letter. the header features a detailed rendering of the building, the third iteration rebuilt after the great fire of 1871. the building was designed by john m. van osdel at the southeast corner of south state street and east monroe. the image is labeled underneath "palmer house" and surrounded on either side by vertical text announcing its appealing attributes, "650 guest rooms" and "entirely fireproof." the cursive letterhead is dated in a blank, "chicago, august 4 1876 at 12:08 am" and features a handwritten fountain-penned letter that spans to the back of the paper. the palmer house hotel was a luxury hotel for presidents, dignitaries, and businesspeople visiting chicago. the proprietor, potter palmer, opened the first palmer house with 225 rooms in 1870. a second palmer house was under construction nearby, but both buildings were razed by the conflagration of 1871. palmer quickly rebuilt the next iteration of the venture, even going so far as to employ calcium lights so workers could keep going through the night. the seven-story, $13 million building that resulted was opened in 1875, and boasted lavish interiors with italian marble, rare mosaics, and a purportedly fireproof structure. the building stood for fifty years, until in 1925 it was replaced by the extant $20 million 25-story hotel.