September 21st, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Old Sport | 
No Comments »
I know this isn’t directly Mariner related, but they are playing the last game today
at Yankee Stadium before it is torn down. I grew up on the east coast going to games at the 85-year old “House That Ruth Built” and wondered why in the world this wasn’t a protected historic landmark. Turns out, the 1970’s
got it (alternate article
here). The Stadium’s 74-75 renovation has been called “unsympathetic.” The Yankees themselves have never asked for a landmark designation because to people like George Steinbrenner, profit will always trump history. Now with that bit of negativity out of the way, let’s check out our Vintage Seattle Player O The Week: Skip Jutze. He was part of the first Mariners season of baseball in 1977 and is known for having hit the first grand slam in M’s history. (Hard) Hats off to you, Skip.
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| Skip Jutze, Seattle Mariners, Catcher, Topps, 1978. |
September 17th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Vintage Ads | 2 Comments »
From the same copy of the 1902 Seattle Mail And Herald that brought us
this West Seattle property ad comes a similar ad for
Rainier Beach. It’s called “the place to live” — complete with electric car line service, sidewalks, street lights, schools, churches, stores. All the good stuff, as well as some steals on property values. Check it out by clicking for more resolution.
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| Rainier Beach. The place to live. Beautiful location on shores of Lake Washington, within 30 minutes ride of Seattle, on 5 cent electric car line. Service from 5:45am to 12pm. Lots average in size 50 x 113 and a 15 foot alley. Prices: $50, $75, $85 and $100. The Seattle Mail And Herald, 1902. |
September 16th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 1 Comment »
September 15th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | No Comments »
Had my brother and his wife in town for the weekend, visiting from Reno. It was their first trip to the Pacific Northwest so we hit the usual “first timer” spots like Pike Place. The super nice weather also allowed for a hike around
Mount Si and quick stop by Snoqualmie Falls. Dogs are banned (cue “nanny state” rant) so we just went for a short photo op. I’ve been to the falls so many times now, but every time I see them I’m amazed all over again. Check out this 1903 Lowman & Hanford hand tint card.
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| 1015 — Snoqualmie Falls near Seattle, Wash. Copyright, 1903, by Lowman & Hanford S. and P. Co., Seattle. |
September 11th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 3 Comments »
During the speeches at this year’s RNC you could hear the louts in the audience chanting
“drill baby drill!” at every mention of offshore drilling and ANWR. I came across these photos of a Detroit Electric car in 1919 taking a promotional trip from Seattle to Mount Rainier and they could not be more timely. These electric cars were produced from 1907 through 1939 by the
Anderson Electric Car Company and boasted 80 miles between charges (though they’d top out at 20 miles per hour). Maybe this November we’ll elect a president who prioritizes the real national security threat: dependence on foreign oil. And maybe soon we’ll be taking a trip from Seattle to Rainier in our
Chevy Volt, faster than 20 miles an hour. Kill free (or close).
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| Detroit Electric auto on promotional tour through mountains from “Seattle to Mt. Rainier.” Circa 1919. Image courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. |
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| Detroit Electric auto on promotional tour through mountains from “Seattle to Mt. Rainier.” Circa 1919. Image courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. |
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| Detroit Electric auto on promotional tour through mountains from “Seattle to Mt. Rainier.” Man standing in front of auto, which is parked on mountain road. Circa 1919. Image courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. |
September 10th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Historic Buildings | 2 Comments »
September 9th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | 3 Comments »
This 1907 postcard shows Hotel Arlington — also known as The Gilmore and Kirkman Building. Located at First and University, it was designed by Fisher and Clark and completed in 1890. Click
here for an early illustration of the project. Construction began a year earlier in 1889 and since it was just beyond the burn zone, it was not subject to the fire. It is a fairly tradition building for its time, except for the round corner turret (the projecting story of which had been removed by the time this photo was taken). Sadly, The Gilmore and Kirkman Building is no longer with us — she was torn down in 1974. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.
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| Hotel Arlington and Scenery, Seattle, Wash. Ben C. Smith, Printer. |
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| Postcard sent Nov. 23, 1907 to Mr. H.H. Parker of Los Angeles, California. |
September 8th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 7 Comments »
Anna and I are on babysitting duty for the next few days, taking care of my co-worker’s feisty black cat Mazzy. The first day did not go well. No matter how many feather toys we tried, we’d get a hiss in return. We’ll try again tomorrow. In other feline related news, our household adopted a stray kitten today from West Seattle’s
Kitty Harbor. He went by Male #50 when we met him, but now he’s Bax. Click
here to view him all dressed up in his tuxedo. Anyway! The point of all this is that cat babysitting duty is at my pal’s Beach Drive waterfront apartment. We stopped by around 7pm and witnessed one of West Seattle’s many amazing sunsets. Today’s photo shows some bathing at Alki Point Beach circa 1918. Click on the image for more res. Keeping it short and simple today because I’m off to pet Bax and show him around his new home.
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| Alki Point Bathing Beach. One of several supported by the Municipality, the balance of them being on the fresh waters of the lakes. This is the place where the pioneers first landed. The point to the right is West Seattle. Photo by Asahel Curtis. The Argus, 1918. |
September 5th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposure | 7 Comments »
Now I know that I posted about a turn-of-the-century Central District house
earlier this week. But when it rains… Vintage Seattle reader Bryan kindly sent in some photos of his handsome 1906 Victorian in the Central District’s Garfield Neighborhood. Also check out
The Bookwalter House from last week. Take it away, Bryan:
I have been meaning to send you some pictures of our 1906 Victorian home in the Garfield neighborhood of the Central District ever since you put the call out several weeks ago. I have dug up a couple of versions of the 1937 records photo, as well as a 1961 shot from the SDOT website. You can see some pretty significant facade changes between 1937 and 1961 — it always amazes me that people thought that faux brick/stone asphalt siding was preferable to the original finish details. But I guess the benefit was that it appears to have preserved the original clapboard and shake siding underneath all those years.
The owner before us bought the house in 2002 from an estate and proceeded to do much of the renovation over ~2.5 years as a “flip” project. He stripped off the 1960’s facade and restored many of the original details, as well as completely re-doing the interior. [...] We have proceeded to repaint the house in more interesting colors both outside and inside and do some re-landscaping since then as can be seen in the 2007 pictures.
We hope to someday restore the curved Victorian bracket details in the four roof gables. The front one was completely missing, the back one was missing a piece, and the two dormer ones were dangerously holding on when we bought the house, so we had them all taken down for now until we can get them re-done.
You can also see in both the vintage as well as the modern pictures that our two 1906 neighbor houses are still around as well. The house to the right is a near identical mirror twin of ours, but interestingly we have found out that originally the foundation was intended for a different house that never got built and instead became a near copy of our house.
Bryan Bucklin
Via E-Mail
9/4/08
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| Bucklin House. 1937 tax photo. |
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| Bucklin House. 1961 photo. |
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| Bucklin House. As seen in 2008. |
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| Bucklin House. As seen in 2008. |
September 4th, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Past Post | No Comments »
These “Greetings From…” postcards were
all the rage back in the 1930’s linen era of cardstock. I’ve always loved them (and Springsteen
did too). Click
here for one that I posted last year. Click on the thumbnail for the full resolution version.
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| Greetings From Seattle, Washington. |
September 3rd, 2008 by Cliffe | Sorted Vintage Ads | No Comments »
To complement the
Vance Motor Hotel postcard I posted in June, this is a circa ‘62 Vance ad. The Vance is now a much hipper place, renamed
Hotel Max. From the ad: “The Vance Motor Hotel affords every modern comfort at moderate rates. Its rooms and meals are moderately priced with special facilities and rates for families.” Let’s hope Max Hotel higher-ups have also upgraded their marketing efforts over time. Click on the images for full res.
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| Vance Motor Hotel ad. The Vance Motor Hotel in the heart of uptown Seattle has splendid facilities for the accommodation of gatherings of limited size. Its group rooms, which can be used for meetings and/or dining will accommodate up to 85 persons. The Mezzanine Room is especially practical and attractive for groups up to 30. The Vance Motor Hotel affords every modern comfort at moderate rates. Its rooms and meals are moderately priced with special facilities and rates for families. Lloyd C. Low, Manager, Telephone MAin 3-2700. From “Beautiful Seattle Offers A Plus Convention,” Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 1962. |
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| Vance Motor Hotel ad. The public rooms in the Vance Motor Hotel are so complete as to afford the delegate or conferee the ultimate in personal comfort and convenience. Four of these rooms are pictured on this page. Lobby; Coffee Shop; Mill Room; Drive-In Lobby. From “Beautiful Seattle Offers A Plus Convention,” Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 1962. |
