VintageSeattle.org

As wheat and other grain prices surge upward, we can look back to a time when it wasn’t quite as pricey. Check out this early 1900’s ad for Holly Flour and the Mills of Lilly, Bogardus & Co. of Seattle. It makes me nostalgic for a time when speculators didn’t jerk our lives around so much. Give the image a click while you’re thinking of the old times.

“This is the Flour that makes the Bread that makes the Men of Alaska. Its Holly Flour that’s what it is. From the Mills of Lilly, Bogardus & Co., Seattle.” Early 1900’s advertisement.

Check out this 1952 ad for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from The Argus. The short of it is that here in the Puget Sound area we’re rich and have electricity. Surely that deserves a pat on the back. Click on the thumbnail for the higher-res version.

Only morning newspaper in one of America’s Most Prosperous areas! The State of Washington is one of the most prosperous in the Union… with a per capita income of $1,642, compared with the national average of $1,436. In the western half of this rich, able-to-buy market, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the only morning newspaper, with a heavy circulation concentrating in Seattle and the Puget Sound Area. This area, combining 12 counties, has 60% of the state’s retail sales, 65 % of the state’s effective buying income and 98% of its homes are wired for electricity. For advertising results, remember that “people who buy read the P.-I.!”

Julie from Mid Beacon Hill recently posted a few snapshots of the new building Sabey will be putting up to replace the Stock House. What do you think? Personally, I like it. Seems like a nice meeting of the old and new. Speaking of Sabey, VP Jim Harmon provided me with some further information on the history of the 1522 E Jefferson property that I’d documented here and here last week. More on that later. For now, let’s pop open a cold one and take in another vintage Rainier Beer ad and some shots of the plant from back in the day.

Rainier Beer. An American Product For Lovers Of Quality. Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. Seattle, Wash.

A few snapshots of the bottling department of the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., brewers and bottlers of the celebrated Rainier Beer. Washington Illustrated.

The Frederick & Nelson ghost sign on the Van Vorst Building may be disappearing, but this vintage ad is sticking around. It’s a bit of Century 21 Expo co-branding from a 1962 World’s Fair magazine. You can see an artist’s take on the old Monorail terminal (see here) as well as the flagship Frederick & Nelson store building (now occupied by Nordstrom). Click on the image for a better view.

1962 ad for Frederick & Nelson during the World’s Fair.

Today we’re also serving up this vintage ad from the December 1900 Argus newspaper for Moore Investment Co. Pictured next to the firm’s properties is J.A. Moore, perhaps best known for originally developing most of Capitol Hill. In July of 1900, he paid $225,000 for 160 acres of what would become the hill. Check out this article from the Washington State Historical Society for more on the purchase and naming of Capitol Hill. Interesting stuff! Give the thumbnail a click to investigate.

Moore Investment Co. The Argus, December 22, 1900. Vol. 7 no. 46.

Before Seattle Engraving there was Seattle Engraving Co. This vintage ad comes from said company around 1900. The firm offered “quality, utility, artisticness, and uniqueness” with their plates for printers. From what I can gather, the Hinckley Block was probably on 2nd and Columbia (Thanks BenL). Click on the thumbnail for higher-res.

Seattle Engraving Company. Plates for printers. 5th Floor, Hinckley Block. Seattle, U.S.A. The Argus, 1900.

Along the lines of the Hallidie Machinery Co ad I posted in December comes this vintage 1900 ad from the Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Company of Seattle. In addition to the usual hardcore equipment listing, the ad has a fun little diagram of a typical mining operation in Alaska. Click on the image for a larger version.

Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Co. Seattle, Washington. Mining In Alaska. General Agents For Ingersoll Drills and Compressors, Snow Duplex Steam Pumps, Cameron Mine and Sinking Pumps, Pulsometer Steam Pumps, Ottumwa Mine Hoists, Herules Gasoline Engines, Phoenix and Double Diamond Steam Hose, Belting, Packing, Oils, etc. Manufacturers of Automatic Hoists and Conveyers, Steam Thawing Points and Boilers, Klondike Saw Mills, Engines and Boilers. Dealers in Wire Rope, Drill Steel, Shafting, Oar Cars and Buckets, Ore Crushers. We carry a large stock and can make prompt shipments. The Argus, 1900.

Now this ad is sure to make the modern day “Miss Seattle” groan. The 1952 Seattle Gas Company ad comes from a copy of the 1952 Argus touting the world’s most modern laboratory-size range. Laboratory-size?! They insisted that in ‘53 Miss Seattle would be cooking with gas. Speaking of ads (but hopefully the less groan inducing type), you may have noticed some popping up on a handful of pages. I’ve titled them “Vintage Listings” and hope they aren’t too invasive or distracting. They really just serve to bring some cash back in to cover the money going out for the items I procure for the blog — there will be no profit. Let me know if you have any feedback and feel free to call me a sellout in the comments.

Miss Seattle Cooks With Gas! Yes, this year and throughout the New Year 1953, Miss Seattle will be cooking with Gas on the world’s most modern laboratory-size range. Today Miss Seattle is cooking on “Seattle Miss” — the de luxe school range created especially for cooking classes in Seattle public schools, installed without cost by Seattle Gas Company. Built by Wedgewood to Seattle Gas Company specifications, “Seattle Miss” has all the fine features of Mother’s modern, automatic Wedgewood at home. Seattle Gas Company. 1507 4th Avenue. Main 6767. The Argus, 1952.

One of my favorite record covers of all time is this Bo Diddley album from the early 60’s. It partially inspired me to become interested in buying a stylish pair of cowboys boots. However, every time I saw a pair for sale — that price tag! A couple hundred bucks for a pair… it was just too much for me. All the while my girlfriend kept making fun of the idea. A year passed and just last month she ended up buying a very similar looking pair of boots. What’s the point of all this? Well, there was some level of vindication there. But more importantly, this nearly interesting story brings us back to this early 1900’s advertisement I came across. It’s advertising boots from the Washington Shoe Manufacturing Company, one of Seattle’s oldest continually running businesses. L.B. Allain founded the company in January, 1891 opening the city’s first shoe factory at 807 Western Ave. And you can still buy from them today. Check out the ad and click on it for more res.

The Washington Shoe Manufacturing Company. Seattle, U.S.A. Wholesale Mfgrs. and Dealers Boots, Shoes, and Rubbers. Three beauties in tan color. Quality the very best. Fine dress shoes in all popular leathers.

Now this is a fun find — certainly less creepy than yesterday’s images. I’ve always loved looking back at past predictions. Sometimes they’re pretty close, but more often than not are downright humorous. And of course we’re all still waiting for flying cars. But check out this image from the 1914 Cosmogram titled “A Forecast.” It illustrates what they thought Pine Street would look like in 2014 — complete with blimps, oversized lion sculptures, an early stab at the Space Needle, buses, and spiffy architecture that I only wish was actually the modern style. Very cool! Click on the image to study the full res version.

Looking up Pine Street, Seattle, Washington, A.D. 2014.

Hear, hear! Attention, all you fans of iron working tools, wood working machin’y, earth moving machin’y, grinding machinery, dynamos, generating sets, heaters, laundry machinery, brick machinery, saw mills, shingle machinery, gasoline engines, all kinds of boilers, all kinds of engines, air compressors, rock drills, centrifugal balls, rock crushers, mine hoists, mine pumps, centrifugal pumps, triplex pumps, quartz mills, blowers, and exhausters — have I got a vintage advertisement for you. It’s a turn-of-the-century ad for Seattle’s Hallidie Machin’y Co for all you engineers, machinery dealers and manufacturers agents. Perhaps one area where “progress” has actually been made… advertising. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image or just write for a catalogue and prices.

Hallidie Machinery Co., Seattle, Wash.

This vintage advertisement comes once again from a 1900 copy of The Argus. Pictured are “The Old Man” and “The Boy,” owners of Newell Mill and Manufacturing Company of Seattle. The mill was located in what is now the South Park neighborhood. When the town was annexed by Seattle in 1907, Newell Mill was its largest employer. Here’s another high-res image of the mill from Wikipedia. Spy the image below and give it a click for more detail.

Newell Mill & Manufacturing Company. Manufacturers of shingles, fir and cedar lumber. We furnish bridge timbers, cedar siding, lath and all kinds of rough and dressed lumber. The Argus, 1900.

The next time someone in your family gives you a hard time for slamming down yet another cold one, go ahead and tell them this: “There’s new vigor and strength in every drop!” That’s the message this vintage ad is trying to get across in a 1900 issue of The Argus. It comes from the Seattle Brewing & Malting Company’s Rainier Beer and gives a nice example of the packaging of the era. If you haven’t yet seen my feature of the Rainier Cold Storage complex where this libation was brewed, check out Part 1 and Part 2. Click on the image for a full-res version.

Seattle Brewing & Malting Company. Rainier Beer. “There’s new vigor and strength in every drop.” The Argus, 1900.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And if you’re not from the US, happy day! Hopefully you’ve already enjoyed your turkey (or tofurkey) dinner and are settling in, unbuckling the belt, ready to appreciate some Seattle nostalgia. In that case, today’s undated vintage ad features Gardner’s Pepsin Chewing Gum from The Consolidated Chicle Company of Seattle, most likely from the early 1900’s. President Joseph Gardner is right there front and center looking serious. In the late 1800’s, pepsin was used as a digestive aid and was soon also used in chewing gum for the same reason. Check out this turn-of-the-century Beeman’s ad from National Geographic. Perhaps you too could use some pepsin gum with all that tofurkey needing to be digested. Or maybe not. Click on the image for a larger view.

Gardner’s Pepsin Chewing Gum. The Consolidated Chicle Company. Seattle, Washington.

Hot on the heels of our look at the Pacific Northern Airlines ad from the 1964 Seattle Times, we are going back 12 years. This vintage 1952 advertisement comes from the December Argus featuring Pacific Northern Airlines once again, then in their 21st year of service to Alaska. If you’re into long gone aviation, check out this site for a full airline timetable image gallery through the years. Great stuff (but I request more res). Anyone reading who was around to fly Pacific Northern (pre ‘67)? Well, onto the ad. Investigate fully by clicking on the thumbnail.

For business and pleasure trips to Alaska. Non stop service by 4 engine PNA Flagliner. Pacific Northern Airlines — The Alaska Flag Line. The Argus, 1952.