A Sign in a Hotel Room Warns the Occupant That Snoring is Forbidden, ca. 1926

A handwritten sign tacked onto the wall of a grubby hotel room warns the occupant that snoring is forbidden, ca. 1926. The sign reads, “Visitors must not snore. Those addicted to night noises can be transferred to floors 12 to 14 on application to check clerk.”

Snoring bans in shared accommodations, like boarding houses or flophouses, were sometimes enforced in the early 20th century, especially in places where travelers bunked together in communal sleeping spaces. The idea of a handwritten sign warning against it suggests an almost comical level of enforcement—perhaps a frustrated innkeeper or a fellow guest driven to their wit’s end!