Archive for December 2020

Patricia Fatland, age seven, suffered from a nervous disorder which prevented her from being able to talk. She had a longtime dream of sailing ever since seeing a boat in books. The Tacoma Yacht Club invited Patricia and her family to ride aboard the "Principia," the official boat in the annual Tacoma Yacht Club New…

Charles Mattson, on right, tied to a telephone pole while playing "G-men" with another boy. According to the Tacoma Times, FBI men were Charles' heroes and he and his friends often played "kidnap" where Charles doubled as the victim and the G-man. Later, in December of 1936 at the age of ten, Charles Mattson was…

Busy as he was on Christmas Eve day 1925, Santa took a few moments from his scheduled rounds to "stop and smell the roses." The day had dawned in Tacoma with uncharacteristic gentle sunshine and springlike weather. Santa was caught by the camera as he dropped by the front yard of Mrs. Elizabeth Durgin, 709…

On December 22, 1937, Tacoma Postmaster George P. Fishburne (right) personally helped unload a truck stuffed with bags of Christmas mail. The feet sticking out of the sack he is holding with his right hand indicate that someone in Tacoma was receiving their Christmas turkey by first class mail. Hopefully it hadn't traveled too far…

Nine women, some wearing Civil Defense armbands, posed in December of 1942 with a huge pile of old silk and nylon stockings donated to the national hosiery recycling drive. Pictured left to right are Myrtle Gehri, Amelia Havens, Norma Armstrong, Edna Rutherford, Marguerite Valle, June Althuser, Sara Cram, Selma Carlson and Hulda Ramser. The drive…

On December 14, 1944, Red Cross volunteers could barely be seen behind the mountain of wrapped Christmas gifts destined for military patients at the Madigan General and McChord Field Station Hospitals. Pierce and Thurston County chapters of the Red Cross coordinated the gift program. Surveys were conducted to find out what the servicemen wanted most…

Posing with a small artificial Christmas tree, eight girl scouts from Troop 37, St. Francis Cabrini School, displayed both their homemade cakes and the toys they were donating to Tacoma-Pierce County Opportunity & Development, Inc., 1138 Commerce Street, on December 13, 1968. The cake and toys were collected for the O.D.I.'s annual Christmas party for…

This striking tableaux is a scene from a three act play called "It Will Be All Right on the Night" presented by the Physical Education Department of Gault School in their Auditorium on December 16, 1938. The play was directed by Gordon E. Tatum. The eighteen pictured boys obtained their glistening silver appearance by covering…