April 24th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | 
5 Comments »
Anne Forestieri let me know about
an upcoming lecture by Alan Hess on Googie architecture held on May 21 at the Swedish Club. Here are the details below and I’ve coupled two postcards of some modern Seattle buildings, Washington Plaza and the Norton Building. Thanks Anne, we’ll see you there.
A Second Look: Googie Architecture and the Modern Ideal
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Docomomo WEWA presents a lecture on Googie architecture. The event will be held at 6:30 pm at the Swedish Cultural Center (1920 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle). California architecture critic Alan Hess will examine how Googie architecture successfully combined Modernism and popular culture and why it is important today. Docomomo WEWA thanks our co-sponsors for the event—360 Modern, Historic Seattle, Seattle MODERN, the Swedish Cultural Center, and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. For tickets ($10 each) and information, visit Docomomo WEWA’s website at
http://www.docomomo-wewa.org/events.php.
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Front: Washington Plaza Hotel Seattle Washington. This 40-story circular toward — 96 feet in diameter — is Seattle’s newest hotel. Combined with the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, the entire complex provides a total of 715 guest rooms; an adjacent seven-story garage accommodates 415 cars. The unusual building and beautifully landscaped plaza give an entirely new concept to the downtown section of Seattle.
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Front: The Norton Building. 1st and Columbia, Seattle, Wash. The new, unique 21-story office building has 200,000 square feet of office space and a 300 car parking garage. This building has the appearance of being built completely of glass and aluminum. It has complete air conditioning throughout and was built at a cost of $12 million. It has the finest elevators in the country and all elevator cars go directly to the parking area. On the top floor is the Harbor Club, a membership men’s club.
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April 23rd, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 1 Comment »
April 22nd, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Vintage Ads | 2 Comments »
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.
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“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.
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April 21st, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 3 Comments »
For those of you who’ve been following our features on the historic George Carmack House located at 1522 E Jefferson (see the original
post here,
first floor photos here, and
2nd and 3rd floor photos here), I’ve got an interesting update on it. You may remember that
we were speculating in the comments about how recently someone might have lived there. I fired off an e-mail to Sabey’s Jim Harmon and he was kind enough to provide some information about the last owner of the home. Check his reply below — really interesting!
Irena Jewdoschenko lived there until her death in late 2005 or so. She has an interesting story. Word is that she was brought to the US by the Sisters of Providence as a domestic worker. Soon after she arrived, they no longer had need for her. I think it was that she was to work in the dormitory and cafeteria of the Nursing School on campus in a building located on the corner of Cherry & 18th (since torn down by the Sisters). The Nursing School had been sold or transferred to Seattle University (Seattle College back then) I think around 1950 or so. The Sisters felt badly for Irena and she stayed with them on campus living in the bell tower for several years. Eventually Irena moved out and bought the house at 1522 East Jefferson along with a number of other parcels. I got the sense that she was the proverbial millionaire next door. However, she was fairly incoherent, at least near the end. Our folks started planning on the garage that is under construction back in 2003 or 2004. They met with Irena and her attorney to see about an easement to pin our east wall into the hillside under her house through an easement (later this was approved by Irena’s estate after her death). Apparently Irena was fairly out of it in the meeting until she asked to see the plans. Our guys knew something was up when she asked for the sectional drawings (a buzz word in the biz). After asking, we came to find out that she was an engineer by trade and seemed fairly talented. She asked good, insightful questions. After the guys got through the technical stuff, she seemed to wander back to her distant self. Upon leaving, she asked if she could keep the drawings to review later. She seemed to be a savant!
For years, head of security for the campus, first as an employee for the Sisters of Providence, then after 2000, of Swedish Hospital, kept a close eye on Irena and made sure she was OK. He was one of the few people she would allow into her life. She lived in a house of squalor even more “rugged” than what you show. She was an interesting woman with an interesting life story.
Jim Harmon
Via E-Mail
3/31/08
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Inside the George Carmack House, living room looking into the dining room. Photo by Jess Cliffe.
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April 20th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Old Sport | No Comments »
Vintage Seattle Player O The Week Jerry Don Gleaton is back from the 1982 season showing us that it’s ok for major league ballplayers to go ahead and use that middle name. Jerry Don was only with the M’s from 1981-1982 and after retiring from playing in 1992 he went on to scout for the Detroit Tigers. He is currently coaching at Howard Payne University and
still has the ’stache.
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Jerry Don Gleaton, Seattle Mariners, Pitcher, Topps, 1982.
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April 17th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 3 Comments »
April 16th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 3 Comments »
Now that’s urban progress! It’s not Seattle, but it’s a vintage 1962 photo showing Tacoma’s “escalades” — touted as the nation’s first publicly-owned moving sidewalks. According to
this article, they led from Pacific Avenue up to Commerce and Broadway and were out of service by the early 1980’s. Every time you’re at Sea-Tac whisking by those poor chumps who decided not to take the “escalade,” thank Tacoma! Click on the image for more res.
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“Escalades, the nation’s first publicly-owned moving sidewalks, typify the progress of bustling, beautiful Tacoma. The Escalades were part of a vast improvement program passed by voters in 1958, which won for Tacoma a National Public Relations Award for urban progress.” Seattle World’s Fair Official Program, 1962.
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April 15th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | 3 Comments »
Today’s Past Postcard has traveled 100 years to arrive at your desktop. In May of 1908 it was sent to
Stow, Massachusetts showing a look down Cherry Street. Scope out the text and card.
A long time since I have sent you any postal. But I do get careless at times. I am well and having a fine trip around the world. Hope you are all well with best wishes.
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Front: Cherry Street, Seattle, Washington.
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Back: No. 5026 Publ. by Portland Post Card Co. Portland, Ore. and Seattle, Wash. (Made in Germany.) Postcard sent May 27, 1908.
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April 14th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 2 Comments »
Julie Kerssen, archivist at the Seattle Municipal Archives, wrote in to let me know that they’ve
just launched a Flickr site. If you love the Seattle Municipal Archives like I do, then you’ll want to
check it out for the offbeat items they’re posting. Julie and her colleagues are also looking for some help in identifying the women in their
Sails and Trails Club collection. Julie writes:
One of our Flickr sets is of the Sails & Trails Club. This club organized low-cost recreational outings for adult (mostly working) women in the 1930s and 1940s. We recently acquired a set of photos of club activities, but we don’t know who the women are or where they were. We’re hoping that by putting the photos “out there,” perhaps someone will recognize a mother or aunt and be able to tell us more about the photos. I’m not sure if this is appropriate for your blog or not, but if so, we’d really appreciate your help in getting the word out that the set is there and that we’re looking for help with identifications.
Sails and Trails Club Flickr Collection
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Possibly at Hyak. Photograph courtesy Dorothy Brekke Sails and Trails Photograph Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives.
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Possibly at Hyak. Photograph courtesy Dorothy Brekke Sails and Trails Photograph Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives.
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Possibly at Hyak. Photograph courtesy Dorothy Brekke Sails and Trails Photograph Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives.
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Possibly at Hyak. Photograph courtesy Dorothy Brekke Sails and Trails Photograph Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives.
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Possibly at Hyak. Photograph courtesy Dorothy Brekke Sails and Trails Photograph Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives.
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Possibly at Hyak. Photograph courtesy Dorothy Brekke Sails and Trails Photograph Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives.
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April 9th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Vintage Ads | 2 Comments »
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.
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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.!”
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April 8th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | 6 Comments »
April 7th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Old Sport | 2 Comments »
Fetching Vintage Seattle Player O The Week honors this week is Seattle born Tom House. He pitched for our M’s in ‘77 and ‘78, which were also his last two seasons in the majors. What’s so special about House, you ask? Well, he has admitted to using steroids in the 1970’s, has a PhD in Psychology, and was born in Seattle. Isn’t that enough to nab Player O The Week? Sure it is. Click on Tom.
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Tom House, Seattle Mariners, Pitcher, Topps, 1979.
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