Juomarahojen välttämättömyys 1910-luvun Helsingissä

Turun Sanomat
31.7.1913

Yhdysvaltain juomarahakäytäntö on usein kummastelun kohteena ja sitä verrataan Eurooppaan, jossa asiat ovat paremmin. Tavat eivät kuitenkaan olleet ikuisia siellä tai täällä. Yhdysvaltalainen Helen Gray teki tutkimusmatkan Suomeen kesällä 1913 ja harmitteli kirjassaan Finland, a little land that is true to itself; a study of Finland under Russia in comparison with the South of the United States (1914) Helsingin Fennia-hotellin juomarahavaateita. Ne perustuivat tarkoituksellisen alhaiseen palkkaan, aivan kuten Yhdysvalloissa nyt. 

Among the first things you notice after you have landed in Finland is the number of Russian uniforms, and you will observe, too, that the streets have Finnish, Swedish, and Russian names. To one who cannot afford to ride in carriages in her own land the Finnish drosky is an ever delight; often for twenty cents, and sometimes for ten, you may be transported to your destination. There was no room at the Societetshuset Hotel-Society House being a designation frequently used for hotel in Finland,-so I engaged quarters at the Fennia Hotel, across a wide space from the railway station. My single room cost me sixty cents a day, -cheap enough,-but feeing is a nuisance that you cannot escape, in these northern countries in particular, for the "portiers" often pay, instead of receive pay, for their posts and the maids and other attendants are paid very little, and expect you to remember them. At the Fennia Hotel one is served faithfully, and I can recommend it, for the "portier" speaks English and the attendants are obliging.