Edgewater Beech Hotel
I lived in Chicago when this show was filmed and I was happy to see the sales meeting held at the Edgewater Beech Hotel. (see podium where the speeches where given.
At one time, The EWBH (Edgewater Beech Hotel) was a 5 star world know hotel.
But not so much when the "Salesman" got there in the late '60's.
It was designed by Chicago-based architects Marshall and Fox. It had a 1,200-foot private beach and offered seaplane service to downtown Chicago.
During its lifetime, the hotel served many famous guests including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, Lena Horne, Tallulah Bankhead, and Nat King Cole, and U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The hotel was known for hosting big bands such as those of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Xavier Cugat, and Wayne King, which were also broadcast on the hotel's own radio station, a precursor to WGN with the call letters WEBH.
The 1951–54 extension of Lake Shore Drive from Foster Avenue to Hollywood Avenue cut the hotel off from direct access to Lake Michigan, leading to a reduction in business. This roadway was built on landfill in the area that had been the beach for the hotel. After the hotel was cut off from the lake by the new drive, a swimming pool was added. However, this failed to help maintain its attraction as a resort. Newer hotels included air conditioning. The hotel closed in 1967 and the main buildings were demolished shortly after. Loyola University used the buildings as student housing briefly; the buildings were demolished in 1970.
On June 14, 1949, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus was shot and nearly killed by an obsessive fan at the hotel, 19-year-old Ruth Steinhagen; this later would be a large part of the inspiration behind Bernard Malamud's novel The Natural.
The Hotel, had it's heyday...but just like the Bible Salesman, and basically all salesman depicted in this film, things come to an end.
There must have been millions of "Salesman" in the late 1960's in this country.
I can remember the following door to door salesman;
Vacuum Cleaner salesmen
Encyclopedia Sales man
Magazines
Cosmetics
and yes..........bible salesman.
All these sales jobs are gone now. The only sales man we face today is the car salesman.