Found on page 37 of this 1937 AAA travel guide.
Prior to World War II, the swastika did not have a negative connotation.
From the Matchcover VaultMatchcover Vault:
There were actually a number of „Swastika‟-named hotels, lodges, etc. around the country at one time. Here, we‟re concerned with the Hotel Swastika in Raton, NM. It opened in June 1929, and the name „Swastika‟ was chosen because it was a symbol commonly used in the area by many of the local Native American Indian tribes. There were many businesses in the Raton area that also used the Swastika symbol and name in their corporate logo and masthead. The hotel operated for ten years as the Hotel Swastika until it changed its name to Hotel Yucca in 1939.
City of Bartlesville (OK), October 20921
Understandably, the swastika creates a broad range of emotional responses; so, perhaps a brief history lesson will ease your concerns.
Osage Nation Minerals Council Chairman, Everett Waller says, “There was much Native American influence in embellishing the Johnstone Park Bridge with the swastika and the symbol of good luck for centuries is covered by symbols of water blessings and prayers.
Originally, the northern part of Johnstone Park was only reachable by a rustic wooden pedestrian bridge. Then in 1917, Park Superintendent William Trautman built a wooden wagon bridge for better picnic area access. As park improvements were made, the dirt park roads were paved and the wagon bridge was replaced with a Dewey Portland Cement bridge in 1920.
Details of the decorative embellishments have eluded history books and area newspapers. However, Ernest Dewar Kirkpatrick was the City Engineer from 1911-1925 and his March 1920 drawings detail the specifications for the auto traffic bridge requiring 94 cubic yards of Portland cement with sixteen Native American good luck swastikas and water blessing symbols deeply recessed.”
The building in downtown Raton is no longer a hotel. It now houses a bank on the 1st floor.
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