International hotels around 1900 were filled with inventions lavishly described in their promotional literature. The Teleseme was invented to send instructions to the staff from a guest's room, long before telephones became a standard in every room. Its list of services shows us the standards of a true luxury hotel around 1900. We have added a high resolution picture for our readers to print out. — Photo by The Most Famous Hotels in the World

International hotels around 1900 were filled with inventions lavishly described in their promotional literature. Guests were assured that the air they breathed was the freshest possible, thanks to novel ventilating systems. Doors closed quietly on nonslamming hinges. Services were provided unobtrusively via the 'servidor, a compartment in the room door accessible by small doors on either side (still in use at The Peninsula in Hong Kong, for example).

Communication from rooms became increasingly sophisticated with telegraph devices, such as the Herzog Teleseme and the Telautograph, and finally with room telephones.

The Teleseme was invented to send instructions to the staff from a guest's room, long before telephones became a standard in every room. Its list of services shows us the standards of a true luxury hotel around 1900. We have added a high resolution picture for our readers to print out.

The Teleseme was – as described in historic technical papers – a system of apparatus for electric signals to be transmissioned by moving an indicating finger or index of as many as 104 different buttons, each connected by a separate wire with the push button (at the bottom of the device). The list ranged from a call for an "Attendant for the Fire" to "My Maid", "Hot Water for Basin", "Milk", "Show Up Visitor" to, "Newspapers", "Am Coming Down" to several "Specials" - agreed about before hand..

The HERZOG teleseme SYSTEMS Of ANNUNCIATORS came from HERZOG teleseme CO., 55 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

Andreas Augustin
The Most Famous Hotels in the World