Comments on: Dapper In Seattle (Or Santa Cruz)

By: Bruce

Bruce — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:06:53 +0000

My favorite part of this photo is the fact that you can actually see the photographer reflected in the window on the far right. I *think* that’s who that is, anyway, leaning over a big 6×9.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:20:41 +0000

Wow, that was superb detective work! These folks are certainly dapper, but I’m most captivated by the far-right lady in the “shoppers in the rain” photo. Get a load of that hat! Very “His Girl Friday,” don’t you think?

http://z.about.com/d/classicfilm/1/0/-/1/-/-/HisGirlFridayDVD.jpg

By: Amy Enns-Ford

Amy Enns-Ford — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:32:55 +0000

It really is a beautiful building.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_Fischer_Studio_Building_pano.jpg

By: Matt the Engineer

Matt the Engineer — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:00:23 +0000

Man you people are fast. I was about to post how it was likely on Pine near 3rd based on an old advertisement and because the metalwork works well with Macys across the street, but was beaten by at least two posts. Amy’s photo definately looks like it has the same metalwork (though getting a higher res picture would help confirm this).

By: Amy Enns-Ford

Amy Enns-Ford — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:42:32 +0000

It seems to me that if you look at this photo of the Winter Garden theatre from 1941 that the edge along the right side of the photo matches the front of the store seen in the back of the submitted photo.

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/seattle&CISOPTR=799&CISOBOX=1&REC=20

By: Loren

Loren — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:07:06 +0000

Ah, a little more searching reveal’s that Turrell’s was located on 3rd Ave between Pike and Pine, next door to the Northwest Mutual Building.

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm-desmo/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/imlsmohai&CISOPTR=1616&CISOBOX=1&REC=2

The building Turrell’s was in was originally called the Fischer Studio building.

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm-desmo/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/todd&CISOPTR=111&CISOBOX=1&REC=19

There’s a nail salon and a Radio Shack on the ground floor there now:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=47.610528,-122.338493&num=1&sll=47.610568,-122.338498&sspn=0.000913,0.001714&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=47.610375,-122.338367&spn=0.000913,0.001714&z=19&layer=c&cbll=47.610286,-122.338287&panoid=AEF_q6RJGsvm3038XCMrEQ&cbp=12,263.14,,0,-18.51

I don’t know for sure this is where the original photo was taken, but there definitely was a shoe store called Turrell’s at this location in the 1940s.

By: Loren

Loren — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:39:13 +0000

This 1939 photo from the Seattle P-I shows a store called Turrell’s in the background. I can’t tell if it’s the same building, or where exactly it is.

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm-desmo/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/imlsmohai&CISOPTR=3757&CISOBOX=1&REC=5

By: JR

JR — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:42:57 +0000

Well, it’s not the Turrel Shoe Company store at 2nd and Madison (http://nooksack.lib.washington.edu/u?/seattle,1541), or the Turrell’s basement shoes on Marion (http://content.lib.washington.edu/u?/seattle,738), but there was also one at 3rd and Pine, according to the December 24, 1921 issue of Boot and Shoe Recorder (on Google books). According to the July 1, 1922 issue of Boot and Shoe Recorder, there was also a Turrell Shoe in Everett, so maybe we need to look beyond Seattle.

The one at 3rd and Pine–is that the Fisher Studio Building (1519 Third Ave)? That once housed a Turrell shop, too.

By: Alan J. Stein

Alan J. Stein — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:58:31 +0000

Turrell’s was in a couple of locations, but I think that this was the one on the west side of 3rd Avenue between Pike and Pine. You can see it off in the distance (note the sign in the upper right) here

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cgi-bin/viewer.exe?CISOROOT=/imlsmohai&CISOPTR=3757

It was right next door to the Winter Garden Theatre, which gives us the only photo clue that I’ve been able to find online. If you look closely at this picture…

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cgi-bin/viewer.exe?CISOROOT=/seattle&CISOPTR=27&CISOMODE=thumb

,,, you can see a little sliver of the Turrell’s storefront off to the right, and the fillagree seems to match up with the photo in question. Not much to go on, but that’s my best guess.

Interestingly enough, both the Winter Garden building and the one that Turrell’s was in are both still around.

Google Maps Link

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:42:21 +0000

I found several references (and some photos) of a Turrell’s shoe store (or “bootery”) in Seattle, but none of the photos look anything like that building from what I can tell…