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Tacoma is full of History, so much so that an entire website could be created and only touch the surface. Lacking that much webspace at the present time, this small portion shows just a few and varied subjects. Perhaps this catagory will be expanded in the future, e-mail your thoughts & comments at the Home page e-mail link.
Here are a group of early lumberjacks chopping down what the Northwest was known for- trees. The region was plentiful in lumber, at least that was the common belief, so cutting & logging became the big industry. Planting replacement forests was not part of the plan until The Weyerhaeuser Company led a later effort to recover what had been removed.
Logging took a lot of manpower- and most of it was hand-done. This old photo shows a large group of men that have just finished felling a very large northwest tree. So large that many men could sit on it, and also so large that it took huge saws such as the one seen here, to cut thru the immense tree bases.
It was a popular theme to carve into huge trees for different purposes. Many Northwest trees were 20 to 30 feet across, which allowed for some radical cutting. Some were cut through at the base, as this one was- to have autos pass thru, some trees were actually felled and the remaining base was cut so as to make a house out of it.
This is the front page of the Tacoma Daily Ledger when Washington was still a Territory- not a State in the Union. The paper is dated April 27, 1884, and it shows the waterfront with some proposed improvements. At the top of the sketch, on the right side is the Puyallup River with both the channels drawn; the river flowed to the north and west towards Brown's Point, but it was re-directed to the south and west where it flows today. The Northern Pacific Railroad was fresh on the scene, and most of the structures on this map were mills.
Here is one of the early fire stations in Tacoma, this being Station No. 2, which was located at 2701 Tacoma Avenue South. The photo is an original panorama view which was popular around the turn of the century, with the horse-drawn equipment and crew in full uniforms. The photo is circa 1913, and the firestation itself was renovated in 1935. It is still being used today. To the left side of the station is St. Paul's Lutheran Church, which is also still in existance today.
The horses look to have been arranged by colors, the top view, left group pulling what was probably the Captains & higher ranking men, the white horses pulling the old type pumper hose equipment, and the automobile was a new addition to the firestation. The ladder truck was enormously long, carrying a number of ladders stacked one on top of the next. Tacoma downtown buildings were many stories in height, and too many were made with combustible materials which resulted in large & hard to extinguish fires. Some spread to adjacent structures, and in extreme cases an entire city block would burn.
Another Fire Station is shown in this vintage panoramic photo. This is the famous Station No. 6, which was located at 823 "A" Street. What was then modern equipment was often photographed with the respective crews. This photo is circa 1913. The station was built in 1890, and lasted until it was torn down in 1974. The area is now known as Fireman's Park.
Horse-drawn equipment was being replaced with more reliable automotive equipment, and these rigs look to be either set up for traction in the snow, or perhaps for going up & down Tacoma's muddy streets. Note the tire chains on two of the vehicles.
A vintage post card is seen here, circa the 1910's showing the same Firestation No. 6 at "A" Street. The city had many firestations across the city, and a number of them were located in the downtown area as those buildings were susceptible to fire & needing protection. One of the problems that early buildings had was they were made with creosote timbers in their framing, even though many had brick exteriors. A small fire might start inside a structure from workers smoking a cigarette, or doing work that involved a kiln or flammable chemicals that ignited- but then the fire would go uncontrollable because the creosote timbers burned rapidly.
A post card from the 1950's with fire trucks by the famous Totem Pole, advertised for many years as the World's Tallest Totem Pole. This being located next to the "A" Street firestation and the popular Tacoma Hotel that ironically burned down in 1935.
The Tacoma Hotel was "the spot" for tourists, and visitors. It was an extravagent hotel with sweeping views of Commencement Bay and Mount Rainier. Here is a matchbook cover from the hotel's tavern, that features the statement; For nearly half a century Travelers have sung this tavern's fame.
This is the cover from an advertising brochure promoting the Tacoma Hotel. One of the bigger fires that happened in Tacoma took this historic building down to the ground in 1935. Ironically, the brochure states on page 7 that each floor has 3 fire hose reels, fire extinguishers, fire axes, and "all the paraphernalia of a complete fire dept." The closing statement on the subject says "It's (the hotel) safety from fire is by no means it's least commendable feature."
Shown here is a view of an elegant drawing room in the Tacoma Hotel. The structure had many types of rooms, each furnished & decorated with the latest in style & class. Below is a vintage business card with a beautiful rendering of a romantic hotel & waterfront scene.
Luggage labels were, and are still popular advertising items. Usually obtained from hotels that tourists stayed at during their travels, they were adhered to the outside of luggage. The one shown above was from the Tacoma Hotel.
The Tacoma Eastern Railroad was an important railroad in this area, serving many businesses for decades. Their lines ran from Tacoma to the east, including many logging towns. This is a stock certificate, dated in 1909.
A rare find is shown here, a check issued by the Tacoma Eastern RR to another railroad. This check is dated 1911.
Here is another Tacoma Daily Ledger newspaper from when Washington was not a State in the Union yet, but was a Territory. It is dated January 1, 1886, and the front page drawing shows the Northern Pacific Railroad's tracks thru Tacoma and heading south to Portland, north towards Seattle, and east past Puyallup's hop fields & the Carbor River coal fields, heading thru the Cascade mountain range by way of a 9,850 foot long tunnel, and on to Yakima in Eastern Washington.
Seen above is a popular postcard for Tacoma trolley collectors. It shows the Point Defiance Park run arriving at the station in the Park. The old train station seen in the photo still exists, used for many events such as weddings and social occasions. It was built to be elaborate with what, at the time, was expensive materials.
This is a metal badge from a hat which was worn by a Tacoma Street Car Company Operator. They were quite colorful, and so many were saved through the years.
You might get removed from the trolley if you didn't have your ticket, seen here are a Tacoma Railway & Power School ticket stub, and weekly pass for the Tacoma Railway & Power/ Pacific Traction Company, dated in 1924. The previous statement is not actually true. For many years Tacoma transit systems of many types were slack about removing passengers who didn't pay their fare. In a lot of cases it was 1 conductor vs. a number of men who didn't pay; the conductor decided it was better to just keep going rather than get in a fight the conductor would lose.
These are box car tags from a few railroads. The left side is a Burlington Northern tag for a car needing repair, the upper right & lower right are tags attached to belongings in a freight car; the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern railroads.
This is an original photo from 1946 showing the employees of the Northern Pacific Railroad's Boiler Shop which was located in South Tacoma. It is hard to see, but the person in the middle front row wearing the coveralls & white shirt is actually a woman.
Railroad companies produced many beautiful calendars over the years, this being the Northern Pacific calendar from 1972.
This is a Tacoma Belt Line Railroad give-away ruler. The belt line railway is still in existance today, serving the Tideflats and Port of Tacoma needs.
A quite rare find is shown here, this being a canvas water bag complete with cork stopper, from the Northern Pacific Railway Company. I have not found much info about it, and guessing it is circa late 1800's.
This is a Diploma of Graduation from the famous Stadium High School which overlooks Commencement Bay. The diploma is dated June of 1910, and at that time the school was named Tacoma High School.
Another diploma, this one from the University of Puget Sound. This is also dated June of 1910, and the man who received this diploma married the woman who received the above diploma from Tacoma High School.
This is another High School diploma after the name of the school was changed from Tacoma H.S. to Stadium. It is dated June 15, 1922.
Sheet music was very popular in the early 1900's, many people played the piano or simply enjoyed singing along with their favorite songs. Subjects were as varied as one's imagination, this one being a song about Tacoma, with a steam engine train being the visual focus. The Northern Pacific Railroad was of key importance to Tacoma's birth & expansion, beating out Seattle as their terminus location. The railroads continued to be a livelyhood for many generations.
Here is a Fire Captain's hat from Tacoma. The firemen here had a reputation for bravery & distinction, often risking their lives in overwhelming infernos to save people and structures.
Another hat, this one being from a Marching Band in Tacoma, one of the many bands that performed at City events, as well as places such as Point Defiance Park.
The hat shown above is marked Tacoma 8, and on the other side is marked WW I. Assuming it is genuine, the markings denote the Tacoma Rotary Club #8, which was incorporated in 1910. The organization still exists, and it performs many civic & developmental programs for the city.
There have been several ships named the U.S.S. Tacoma, all different vessels. The 1st being built as the Sebago- which was re-named the USS Tacoma during the Spanish-American War in 1898. The 2nd USS Tacoma was a cruiser launched in 1903, and identified as PG-32, C-18, and CL-20. The 3rd USS Tacoma was a patrol escort ship, launched in 1943 and identified as PF-3. This ship earned three Battle Stars in the Korean War. The 4th USS Tacoma was launched in 1967 as a patrol gunboat, PG-92, and she served in Guam and Vietnam. Seen above is a VFW hat of a man who probably served on board one of these vessels, at some point he was a Chief Petty Officer, and it seems the most likely USS Tacoma he served on was the PF-3; as it was involved in the Korean War, which explains the VFW association. The hat has the VFW logo on the other side (Not shown). Below the hat is a post card of the 2nd USS Tacoma ship, PG-32.
This is a vintage postcard of the PG-32, made around 1910. Because color photography was unheard of in the early days of taking photos, color ones such as this were originally black-n-white pictures that were hand-colored to give the viewer a more realistic idea of the colors.
The original photo shown above is of some of the crew, taken on the deck in 1916.
Seen above is the cover of an important booklet that was made to commemorate the crossing of the U.S.S. Tacoma over the equator on December 24, 1918. The event of this, or any ship crossing the equator is "celebrated" by way of a torturous number of initiations done to pollywogs, landlubbers, and sea lawyers into the Royal Realm. These tricks and tasks inflicted upon the first-timers of crossing were perpetrated by the veteran equator-crossers on board. For a week prior to the crossing, the events about to happen were seared into the newbies' minds as being so horrible that some crewmen would not survive. Then, on the day of the crossing the newbies endured numerous humiliating and not-as-dangerous tasks they were forced to perform, as the veterans, who were dressed up as various characters ensured each man completed his tasks.
This is a very rare original Neptunus Rex certificate that was presented to a crewmember who survived his initiation on that eventful day in 1918. The Petty Officer Third Class's (Storekeeper, rank of SK 3c) name was William E. Volz, a man who incidentally had made himself known a few years earlier when he wrote to, and was published in an important East Coast newspaper, stating his opinion that the large number of United States citizens that were, at the time, "stranded" in Europe and wanting to come back to the U.S., should be transported by the military ships which were in the area. This was done some years earlier in Vera Cruz, by none other than the USS Tacoma. Ironically, it was in Vera Cruz that years later- it would meet it's doom, along with it's Captain & 3 crew members.
Above is the autograph of the U.S.S. Tacoma's Captain at the time of it's demise. The ship crashed onto a reef by Vera Cruz in 1924. Herbert George Sparrow perished in attempts to keep communications open after the ship wrecked, in hopes of saving the ship. Captain Sparrow, and three of his crew died in that vain attempt, which was later recognized as a heroic act.
The photos above and below are original January 1924 photos of the PG-32, which at the time was the CL-20. These were taken after the ship had run aground onto a reef near Vera Cruz, and sustained heavy damages. The captain and three of the crew members drown during a week-long attempt to free the doomed ship from the reef. The Navy de-commissioned the ship right after this wreck, and then sold it to Vera Cruz in February of 1924.
The photo below is supposedly of the very spot where Captain Sparrow was killed. Though I have yet to find info on the exact cause & location of his death other than the reported drowning, I can presume that if the caption on this photo (which is contrary to other reports) is correct- he may have been killed by the upper deck collapsing on him, and perhaps three of the crew that were also killed.
This photo shows a side view of the wrecked ship from a distance. The news reports described the ship, even after the storm, as being pounded to pieces by the ocean waves as it sat stuck on the reef. Note the ship's lookout on the foward mast, literally shredded.
Seen above is the original ship bell from the PG-32, U.S.S. Tacoma. The bell is on display at the War Memorial Park in Tacoma, as described below.
A memorial has been made in Tacoma to the Military and Veterans, named War Memorial Park, it is located near the Narrows Bridge on top of what used to be Olympic Boulevard; the road that first led up to the bridge. Shown is the memorial plaque & info on the PG-32 U.S.S. Tacoma. Highway 16 took the place of 6th Avenue and Olympic Boulevard in travel to & from the Tacoma side of the Narrows bridge, and Olympic Boulevard was closed in the 1980's. This park was built on the site of the old road.
The Tacoma Asarco Smelter was a landmark on Commencement Bay since the Tacoma Smelting Company days before the turn of the century. In 1993 the smokestack was brought down and the site has been undergoing cleanup. On the left is a vintage post card showing the stack at it's original height, the middle post card shows the stack after the height of it was raised with more brickwork, and on the right is a commemorative poster of the day the stack went down, the event being witnessed by huge numbers of Tacoma residents both on land and in the Bay. For many it was a sad event, as generations of families were employed at the Smelter.
The photo above is a multi-shot taken as the smelter was taken down by demolition. The first explosions blasted the metal retaining bands from the stack, which made a loud crash as they fell off. The next series of explosions knocked the base off in key places, in order to make the stack crumble & fall where it was suppose to. The after effects (not seen in this series of views) was a huge cloud of dust & debris which rose up & blew across the vicnity, catching many onlookers offguard, and made people run from the area as fast as their legs could take them.
Brown and Haley's Company has been a long-standing chocolate & candy maker in Tacoma, this being a rare counter display card circa 1930's.
The famous Tacoma Union Station underwent a major renovation. The plaque below was made from a piece of the original dome roof.
Here is a section of wood cut, as the attached plaque says; from the oldest utility power pole in Tacoma.
Another cut section of wood, this one being from the Tacoma Dome's flagpole. The original pole stood on top from the opening of the Dome in 1983 until the pole was replaced in 2003.
Here is a neat old map showing Tacoma as it looked in 1891. At that time the Puyallup Indian Tribe still had a large area of land covering all of what is now the Tideflats to & including Brown's Point. Up until the mid-1800's the Puyallup River used to flow north of the Tideflats, entering Commencement Bay by Marine Drive near Browns Point, but it was re-directed to the south where it currently flows.
These are poster stamps, not valid for mailing costs, but often used for decorating envelopes as advertising. The top one is from 1910, encouraging people to Come To Tacoma. The bottom left is also from 1910 announcing the US Army Tournament, which featured exercises & demonstrations by the Military, and which occured in the Stadium Bowl as seen in the center depictions. The bottom right is a commemorative made in 1960 for fund-raising, and done to mimmick the original from 1910.
Stock Certificates are a thing of the past, which is a shame as history can be seen in these old documents. Local businesses, utilities, and various companies sold stock to the public, involving the community in personal interest with growth. This one is from the utility company, Tacoma Light & Water, and it is dated 1887.
Here is a neat stock from the Tacoma Company, dated in 1902.
The same Tacoma Company changed their stocks to look older & fancier, but this is actually newer than the above one. This one is dated in 1903.
This stock certificate was unused, but still a neat one. From the Tacoma Railway & Navigation Company, it features a beautiful engraving of an old-time steam locomotive and passenger car exiting a tunnel. This would also be circa early 1900's.
A common Northwest industry was logging trees, this stock being from the Liberty Logging Company dated in 1918. World War I was foremost in people's minds at that time, so the patriotic theme was used for many business names- i.e. the "Liberty" Logging name.
The Tacoma Poultry Association chose a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln to grace their stock. This one is dated in 1913.
The Big Indian Mining Company is a popular stock for collectors as it has an unusual name, refering to Indians at a time when there was much aggression towards them. The company's logo also was an Indian Warrior, but this stock's engraving shows the company's business, which was mining.
A family-owned local business was Tacoma Boatbuilding, in existence for generations and one of the main industries in this area. Before railroads arrived in Tacoma there were sailing ships, the Mosquito fleet of boats ran up & down the west coast, and across the Sound handling the transportation needs of the region. Even after the railroads, movement on the water was a necessity, with this company and others like it building the ships that made this possible.
Here is a circa 1939 poster stamp showing the 11th Street bridge leading into downtown Tacoma, and portraying this as the Scenic Harbor of the World.
Young boys and their Dads had a common goal when participating in the Soap Box Derbies- to build the fastest cars together, and win the races which were held on the hill near South 19th & Orchard Streets. This is a certificate and patch from the races. The original race track is located to the side of Highway 16 off South 19th Street, mostly covered with vegetation & obscured from sight, but under all that growth, most of the track is still there.
Point Defiance is a popular attraction in Tacoma, as it has been for over a century. The top is a post card from the turn of the century showing the Pavilion and the beach being enjoyed by people. Shortly after this time, it was decided that a way to travel between the Pavilion and what is now named Owen's Beach was needed, because at high tides the beach was underwater. A retaining wall & walkway was built, and is still in use today. The above is a tourist's map of Point Defiance Park's features.
Another popular attraction along the waterfront was the Top of The Ocean Restaurant, shown here from an overhead view. Built to look like a ship, it was "The" place to eat at for decades, until it fell victim to an arson fire in 1977. On the left is the Old Town dock, and the Fish Company store. On the right was the Tacoma Athletic Club.
Paper money has local history in Tacoma, many different types & purposes arose. The above note is a Trade Interchange Certificate from Tacoma. The circa 1930's notes were issued during the Depression in various denominations, and used to spur trading of products to get the economy moving again.
Another attempt at economy motivation were these Clearing House notes, also made in various denominations. Most were failures as people did not trust them to be backed by anything, so they became useless.
Here is an actual government-issued legal tender note from Tacoma. These date from the Depression era, late 1920's into the 1930's. At the time local banks were allowed to print currency, and this was done across the country, with each bank being assigned a number, the National Bank of Tacoma having the number 3417. A city sometimes had more than one bank that issued currency, and these type of notes are called National Currency Notes, as opposed to Federal Reserve Notes (not shown) which are the only type issued today.
Such an example of a different bank within the same city is seen here. The Puget Sound National Bank of Tacoma was assigned the number 12292.
Seen above and below are a different series of National Notes, but still from Tacoma. There were 3 series of Nationals issued, the first series has each note's serial number by itself, the second series shown here has the Bank's assigned number printed next to the serial number, and a third series (not shown) has a letter designation instead of a number designation for the city it was issued from. Tacoma did not have any third series notes, as the Federal government was starting to reduce the large amount of varieties of notes that were in circulation. The 3rd series were limited to big cities such as Chicago, New York, etc.
Below are a few older notes from the series of 1902, which was a larger size than the current size of notes used today. These series of notes were made just after the turn of the century. Still these were Tacoma Banks issues, just from an earlier time when paper was not an economic factor, and incidently, at a time when men's billfolds were larger size. The size of these older notes across the country changed when the Depression hit the U.S. In 1929, the government decided the reduce the size of currency notes to save on paper & printing costs, the result being the size of notes made today.
Here is a higher denomination series of 1902 Tacoma National note. The higher the note's dollar amount, the rarer they are in the collector's market today.
Tacoma had various "themes" over the years to draw interest from other areas of the country. In 1909 the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition was held, and many items were produced with Tacoma's phrase "You'll like Tacoma". This is one of the AYP Expo pinbacks. Many postcards with this same theme phrase were made also.
Here is a metal token from a 1911 presentation that was performed at Stadium High School titled "The Burning of Rome". It was quite a performance to command having a token made for it, most plays & presentations done at Stadium, which was a very popular place for Tacoma attractions, were advertised in the form of paper.
The reverse side of the Burning of Rome token shows that labor unions were powerful & important then.
A common way of advertising downtown businesses were tokens such as the Tivoli Cafe, as opposed to the unusual nature of the Burning Rome token which was made for a perfomance. Businesses would have tokens made in the form of "Good For" amounts, 5 cents, 10 cents, even 12 1/2 cents, with their business name & address as way to get customers to come back, or tell their friends.
Transit tokens are a popular collectible that tells some history. They were used as paid passage from the World War I era on, some even used today for transit systems across the country. Transit systems can be trains, trolleys, and buses. This is one of the larger size tokens, used on buses in the Tacoma School Distrct number 10, circa 1940's.
Tacoma Railway & Power was a World War I era train & trolley transit run by the city. In many cases city-owned entities such as this continually lost money, but were kept going due to the needs of the public which they served.
Here is another version of a transit token from Tacoma, circa 1940's.
A newer transit token from Pierce Transit, which are public buses.
The city of Tacoma, and groups of merchants in areas would often hand out tokens to entice people to visit & shop, this Downtown Tacoma Works token being one of them. Some tokens like this would be valid for free parking.
Here is a recent downtown Tacoma token, circa 1990's. It features some famous buildings in the background.
The City of Tacoma Centennial celebrated 100 years as a city, from 1869 to 1969. This token is a larger size one, and made from heavier materials, giving the impression that it is an important quality piece to be treasured. The centennial was a moment of pride for Tacoma, as reflected in this token.
Not to be confused with the 1869-1969 Tacoma Centennial is this 1884-1984 Tacoma Centennial token, which features the newly-built at that time Tacoma Dome.
Another commemorative is seen here from the 1884-1984 Tacoma Centennial, this one features the Seal of The City of Tacoma which consists of the waterfront wharfs in the foreground, and Mount Rainier in the background. The Tacoma Dome is on the reverse side.
Kaiser Aluminum was a large company in Tacoma, similar to the Asarco Smelter in that it employed people who called this their family for generations, and which met a similar fate as Asarco. The Kaiser Tacoma plant was shut down, and in 2006 the tall smokestack that could be seen for miles across the Tideflats was taken down with explosives.
Brewing and bottling were big industries in Tacoma before prohibition. Seen here is a tip tray that was used in taverns, this one being a circa 1900 Columbia Brewing Company tray from Tacoma. This company made a number of highly decorated trays, with colorful graphics.
Here is a different tip tray from Pacific Brewing Company. They made a beer named Tacoma that was popular here, but it was made & bottled in California. This company also had colorful trays that featured Northwest themes such as this one showing Mount Rainier, which went thru a number of name changes; Mount Tahoma, Mt. Tacoma, and finally Mt. Rainier.
Heidelberg Beer was one of the best selling brands of beer for many decades, brewed and bottled in Tacoma. This is one of their jumbo size bottles, for men with a big thirst.
A common advertising item when alcohol was the norm were these cute flasks which had funny sayings on them, usually including the city name in which they were sold. Men often brought a flask of booze with them to work, or when they attended social events.
Another way advertising was done was to have shot glasses either embossed or etched with a business name and logo. Turn of the century shots were made of thin glass, this glass is a newer thick glass with embossed lettering of French Drug Company, Tacoma, Wash.
Many different products were bottled here, chemicals, medicines, food products, and other consumables filled local store shelves. Seen here is a vintage Drug Company product. Most of these types of bottled liquids labeled as Drugs were really just alcohol.
Here is a true chemical bottle, which really contained Citrate of Magnesia. It was bottled in Tacoma for Victor Pharmacy, and it has an unusually fancy label featuring a beautiful engraving of a Heron. This is circa 1890's.
One of the numerous food products made and packaged in Tacoma, this Paulson Table Syrup was probably a most delicious tasting syrup. This is circa 1930's.
Everyone loves a good joke, and just looking at this funny cup brings a grin.
This large size cloth banner was hand-made by a local dance group, the Totem Folk Dancers. This is a group of people that get together to celebrate song & dances, and keep them alive thru the generations, many of which have been lost as they were never written down on paper, but simply passed down through families by example. The banner features a beautiful rendition of a Native American Totem Pole.
These are a set of Depression era 1930's stamps, and a Citizens' Emergency Employment Bureau booklet that they came from. They were made in hopes of fighting unemployment in Tacoma, though the way they were meant to be used isn't clear, so when they are found today they are unused. They have not been found on envelopes, only as unused singles.
In the 1920's & 1930's the Post Office sold Pre-cancel stamps such as these across America. This was a way the Post Office could save a little time & ink from the normal cancelling method, since these were already cancelled before they were purchased.
Many of the Pre-cancels were sold in sheets like this one, from Tacoma.
From the time that Tacoma High School (Stadium High) was finished in 1906, it was a center of attention for celebrations and events. This plate was made in Germany by the Jonroth Studios, and hand-painted, circa 1910.
Another plate celebrating Stadium High School is seen here, this one made by Kettlesprings Kilns of Ohio, and is circa 1970's.
A souvenier of Tacoma plate is shown here, featuring scenes of the city surrounding a depiction of Mount Tacoma, now known as Mount Rainier. This plate was made in England, circa 1950's using 1900 period engravings to make it seem older than it really is.
Another recent plate that was made to seem older is this 1969 City of Tacoma Centennial plate. Made in the USA, it features important downtown buildings surrounding Mount Tacoma.
The Washington Historical Society issued this plate which has engravings of memorable events in Tacoma history. It was made in England for the Rhodes Department Stores, circa 1960's.
Here is a milkglass plate that centers on the Tallest Totem Pole, located on "A" Street in downtown tacoma.
Local companies usually advertised themselves on their own equipment & tools of their trade, this being a brush from the Dickson Company, circa 1915. They were general outfitters and gave a brush such as this one away with each suit purchased.
Here are two popular give-aways from local banks, designed to encourage youngsters to save their money. The left one is from Puget Sound National Bank of Tacoma, the right is from Tacoma Savings and Loan Association. They are metal lockable coin banks, circa late 1920's to the 1930's.
The Hotel Winthrop was a high class downtown Tacoma landmark hotel. Tourists would stop there to enjoy Tacoma, many came by railroad. This is an ashtray from the Hotel, circa 1930's.
This hotel, like most others had matchbooks for advertising give-aways. The patrons would use and save matchbooks, or carry them around to other places. When people would see them, they may ask about that hotel's service & accomodations. The word would spead about how good the hotel was, or so the proprietors hoped.
Eyeglasses were a necessity for some, this pair was made by Kachlein Brothers in downtown Tacoma, circa 1890's.
To facilitate quick & precise marking of documents, notices, and such, stampers did the task nicely. Here is one from The City of Tacoma, Department of Public Utilities, and it is fairly recent. Seeing as stampers are a reverse image of what they print, the photo seen here was reversed, so you can view the design easier.
1976 was the Bicentennial of the USA, and a special train toured the country starting in 1975, making stops in cities to promote America. This is a collectible cover bearing the postmark date when the Freedom Train was in Tacoma. An odd occurance happened that year; America's celebrations started in 1975, even though the 200 year mark from 1776 was 1976, and the yearly coin issuance of the 25 cent piece did not happen. There were no quarters dated 1975, instead special quarters dated 1776-1976 were issued in 1976.
The State of Washington celebrated the Centennial in 1953, this being a cover featuring this event, and it is also marked by the Tacoma Stamp Club.
The military has had a strong presence in the Tacoma area since Fort Lewis expanded in size & capacity around World War I, and ever since then with McChord Air Base being important as well. This being a commemorative banner celebrating the Military in Tacoma.
Here is a tool from long ago. Men used to shave with these straight razors (also known as folding razors), and some still do today. This is a period one named Western Gem, and sold at F.H. Schwan B.S. Company of Tacoma, circa 1900.
It used to be that shoes, or what the younger generation might call boots, had buttons instead of laces. This is a shoe button hook, used to get the loops over the buttons. Of course they were a source of advertising too, this one was from Hedberg Brothers Shoe Store on Broadway Street in Tacoma.
The Fannie Paddock Hospital was the early name for what became Tacoma General Hospital. Quite ironically, this unusual matchbook cover was made, probably circa the 1940's. But at that time, smoking cigarettes was the norm, and cancer was not associated with this, so for a hospital to have matchbooks was not as strange as it is today.
The Tacoma Tigers baseball team has seen many future stars that went on to major league fame. Seen here are a couple of collectibles; a bubble gum trading card holder, and a souvenier cup. Coincidently, the Tacoma Tigers' mascot is also the Stadium Tigers High School mascot.
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