The data file was kept by Daniel Smiley from about 1915 to 1930. It consists of tear sheets from the trade press, advertisements, trade literature, trade catalogs and other publications collected by Smiley in the course of planning and executing new projects, maintaining the building and grounds, and purchasing new furnishings and equipments. This material is accompanied by fairly routine letters of request and replies from sales representatives​. There are also some copies of hotel menus and programmes for social events.

The files can be used to trace the evolution of the hotel and its grounds, as many catalogs were solicited for specific projects, such as the concrete garage (1918), the bungalow colony, the reservoir (1926), and improved plumbing and heating systems.

However, the catalogs themselves, many in color, are a gold mine of information on domestic, and to a lesser extent commercial, architecture, its products, appliances, tools and accessories during the 1910s and 1920s. The span of the files coincides with the great boom in home-building during the 1920s, and there are countless examples of standardized or prefabricated house plans of all sizes and information on a wide range of interior and exterior finishes. The catalogs and advertisements are replete with images of idealized domestic life and illustrate changing tastes in both homes and furnishings and in the advertising and graphic styles of the period.