And Charles Anderson
comes through again! He has once again sent over some Seattle area restaurant menu scans from yesteryear.
This time up is the Circle Tavern, just one mile south of the airport. Not only were there extemporaneous hi-jinks, but everyone was happy, and a grand time was assured.
Also check out the tongue-in-cheek anecdote on the second page.
Very nice. Click for higher res. Thanks again, Charles.
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| Circle Tavern menu. Image courtesy Charles Anderson. |
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| Circle Tavern menu. Image courtesy Charles Anderson. |
“On Tacoma Highway One Mile South of Boeing Airport.” By “Boeing Airport” I assume they mean Boeing Field, but what is “Tacoma Highway”? Googling for the latter implies US 99, but I didn’t know it used to carry that name so far north.
I found an address of 9400 E. Marginal Way, which would put it close to Boeing’s Red Barn.
History.org says that this was one of the many places where country bands used to perform. It looks like it was around at least up to the early 1970s, according to the third commentor on this page:
http://iraallen.com/?p=233
“Boeing” field is old enough to have been there around the years those cars were fairly new. Bow Lake opened after WWII, and those cars appear older than that. At least at first glance.
The way it’s worded, it looks like Extemporaneous Hi-Jinks is the name of the “popular Vocal Artist”. Like Thelonious Monk.
HistoricAerials shows something in the 1936, 1940, 1964 and 1968 datasets that acts like a tavern, right at the corner where you now turn in to the Museum of Flight. Big dirt parking area, cars parked willy-nilly around it. Also, some trees in the ’36 and ’40 sets match the location of the tall trees in the photo.
Not sure if this link will work, but it’s here:
No, the link got stripped out. But if you go to http://www.historicaerials.com, find the MoF, then click back through the dates listed on the right, you’ll see it. Gone by 1980.
Matt, how cool is that website?! Wow! Thanks!
Pretty darn, actually. I use it a lot to “triangulate” roughly when things appear or disappear (works only if you have the location fixed already). Did you find the spot and what do you think…yes or no?
Oh, sorry, I was, of course, looking at my own neighborhood in Shoreline–nothing but farmland in 1936! I wonder why there are no aerial photos in the 1970s at all? . . .
I think you’ve got it. Sad how it’s just a dark smear of dirt in the 1980 photo, which, to me, would seem to show that it was fairly recently demolished at that time.
“a dark smear of dirt.” Well said. So it goes.
Yes, odd about the dearth of aerial data in the 70s. Maybe because development flagged in a lot of areas after Watergate/OPEC? Also strange how the quality of aerials was great in the black-and-white 60s, lousy through the 80s and 90s, and then finally better after the turn-o’.
What’s a real trip on HA is to zoom in on Bellevue Square, then click backward through time and watch everything disappear to farmland except the famous madrona tree outside the Crabapple Restaurant. It’ll make ya weep.
I’m wondering what in the heck is going on with the water in front of Gasworks Park in Lake Union in the 1980 photo?! [sorry, Cliffe, for hijacking this thread and getting off topic]
Hijack away. There are no rules here.
Okay, I’m hijacking us back in the other direction, with a wishful plea for Charles Anderson (or anybody): in your gold mine of vintage menus, would you happen to have anything from Seattle’s Igloo Drive-In, circa 1940s? My grandmother was a teenage carhop there during WWII, and I’d give my eyeteeth to get my hands on any memorabilia.
And “Extemporaneous Hi-Jinks” is the name of my new band.
Ah, yes the Circle Tavern — originally known as the Circle Ballroom and located at 9602 E. Marginal Way according to my archives.
Shannon mentioned a reference at History.org — but, presumeably meant Historylink.org — where (as a Staff Historian) I posted a long essay titled “Country Music in the Pacific Northwest” back in 2005. [ Link: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7441
Another interesting fact is that the then-upcoming Country music star, Buck Owens (and his Tacoma-based band), played the room often back in his Northwest days of 1958-1960.
I have a trade token for the Circle Tavern 9400 E. Marginal Way Seattle. On the reverse side it says Good for 10 Cents in Trade. There is no date on this coin. Does anyone know when such a token was made/used?