Archive for January 2021

Bill Edwards plays the piano for Irish tenor Gabe Keith in this photograph from January 1944. Edwards and Keith were two of the performers in a series of shows put on by the employees of the Seattle-Tacoma Ship Building Corp. to support the Fourth War Loan drive. Although most of their performances were to entertain…

Officer Jack Burrell examines a yellow '62 Lincoln Continental owned by George A. Michaels after the parked car was shattered by a blast in the early morning hours of January 30, 1964. The vehicle was parked in the alley behind Mr. Michaels' residence at 615 N "L" St., less than 100 feet away. Besides demolishing…

Master carver Art McKellips's "Victorian Home," part of an eight-piece mural of the styles and periods of house building, is being closely examined by James Turnbull (left) and Gerrit VanderEnde (right) on January 25, 1968. The collection of bas-relief wood sculptures was to be on display at Pacific First Federal Savings & Loan Assn. Mr…

Bobby Hicks, featherweight from the Chemeres Boxing Club of Seattle (in the dark trunks), takes a vicious punch to the head in his bout with Gil Durey on January 20, 1956. He ultimately beat Durey, an Oregon State College student, in the opening bout of the Eighth Annual Golden Gloves held at the College of…

In January of 1953, workers got a good grip on the giant cutout of a woman's head as they prepared to hoist it into place on the Foster & Kleiser billboard at Puyallup and Winthrop Avenues. The giant cutout was intended to focus the passerby's attention on the virtues of saving at the National Bank…

This January 11, 1924, photograph of a section of an unidentified cemetery shows its dilapidated condition. Tall unkempt grass, a fallen fence, and an accumulation of stones marks this pauper's field where the poor and nameless were buried. Numbered markers are the only indication of grave sites. See more featured images and posts…

Winnie Beyer was more than a little surprised on January 6, 1948 when, on her way home, she missed a barricade warning about the flooded roadway and drove into a lake at what should have been the corner of South 96th St. and South Ainsworth Avenue. Although she stepped on her brakes when she saw…

In January of 1949, almost a year before Volkswagen introduced its Transporter (VW bus) to the world's press, people in Tacoma were viewing a strikingly similar vehicle, the Mustang "Teardrop," at Fisher's department store. Made by Mustang Engineering Corporation in Renton, the streamlined, aerodynamic vehicle featured a 4-cylinder Hercules rear engine, hydraulic 4-wheel brakes, swivel…