I love a nice hotel. In fact, that is half the appeal of going on vacation for me. I want to stay somewhere that is more luxurious than home. More than anything, I want it clean, pristine. And I don’t want to do anything domestic. (That is why camping is out, for me. Too much work, short on luxury.)
One of those places with that foo-foo reputation is The Ritz. It was on this date that the Ritz Hotel opened in Boston in 1927. But that location was late for the show.
The first Ritz Hotel opened in Paris, France, in 1898, the brainchild of the Swiss hotelier César Ritz in collaboration with the French chef Auguste Escoffier. They wanted to create the ultimate luxury experience for their customers. The hotel was constructed behind the façade of an eighteenth-century townhouse.
Things we take for granted today were “firsts” for the Ritz. It was among the first hotels in Europe to provide an in-suite bathroom, electricity, and a telephone for each room. It made its reputation on its own merits. As such, it attracted all the “who’s who,” which included royalty, politicians, writers, film stars, and singers.
Those hotels have been popping up all over the world ever since.
But I didn’t really intend to talk about the hotel. Whenever I hear the name, I think of the cracker. Yes, the Ritz brand of snack cracker was born into the world in 1934, under the care of the Nabisco Company.
It is funny how they came about, really. It was during the Depression, a somber time in America. The people who made crackers figured that Americans “yearned for something exquisite.” An escape, I suppose.
Personally, I would think diamonds or a bag full of money would have been more exquisite back then, but Nabisco was in the game of crackers, so that is the route they took.
One day, the big bosses at Nabisco pulled their adman into their big Nabisco office. They said, “Sit down, son,” as they puffed on their fat, stinky cigars. He sat in the firm leather chair, nervously, trying not to sweat and leave a body print. His name was Syd. Sydney Stern.
The bosses spoke again. “Look, Syd. You have one weekend to come up with a new name for a cracker. We need a new marketing idea to sell more crackers. So make it good. We need you to come up with a marketing idea to compete with Sunshine Biscuits’ most successful cracker. You have the whole weekend to work on this. See you Monday.” And out Syd went.
Never mind that Syndey had big plans that weekend. Sydney’s little secret was women’s dresses. He had an unexplainable hankering to put them on. He loved to see the new looks on the runway. As such, he had tickets that weekend to a big fashion show in downtown Chicago. At the. Hotel. Called the Ritz.
Well, come Monday morning, that was Sydney Stern’s big pitch. He even helped design the box to appeal to consumers. Nabisco introduced the Ritz cracker to the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets on Nov. 21, 1934.
And there it is.
I like a Ritz cracker. Those buttery, salty, round crackers. Everything’s good on a Ritz. They say. And they are fancy, just like the Ritz Hotel.
But when we were growing up, all we ever had were saltines. Those Ritz Crackers were for special occasions, like the big family Christmas Party at Aunt Dee and Uncle Charlie’s house. Back then, we called them Aunt Doty and Uncle Ed. Their real names were Delores Catherine and Charles Edward, but that is all beside the point.
We only got those darn crackers once a year.
And my point to that? Don’t put off doing things that make you happy. Today is a good day to have something you want. Maybe something on a Ritz.
And, ummm. Most of this is true.
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“The beginning is always today.”
― Mary Shelley
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“What worked yesterday doesn’t always work today.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
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“Sing, I tell you
And all the angels will sing with you!”
― Suzy Kassem
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Everything is better on a Ritz.
