Shell Oil Co. had a sales meeting on April 25, 1957, with approximately 100 people in attendance. Participants enjoyed a catered meal from Wellman's. These sales meetings were used to inform employees of new products and sales techniques. View of lecturer demonstrating the use of the new X-100 premium motor oil. The X-100 was a heavy duty oil which adjusted automatically to extreme temperature changes in modern engines. A nearby chart explains the contaminant balance for gasoline engines. Photograph ordered by Shell Oil Co.
Shell Oil Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Petroleum industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Construction continues on the new Tacoma Savings & Loan Association building located at 101 So. 9th St. in April, 1957. A massive concrete circular staircase is in the process of being completed. The building was designed by local architects Lea, Pearson & Richards with Ketner Brothers as the contractors. It would feature extruded aluminum and insulating glass with black granite trim and blue Spandrelite glass panels. The savings & loan would open in later that summer. Photograph ordered by Tacoma Savings & Loan Association.
Building construction--Tacoma--1950-1960; Stairways--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Savings & Loan Association (Tacoma);
Exterior of new Leed's Shoes at the Villa Plaza Shopping Center. This is believed to be the back entrance to the shoe store; most of the stores in the new Villa Plaza had both back and front entrances. Leed's was located on the Rhodes and Grant department stores side of the promenade. In the Villa Plaza's first few months of existence, Leed's and Fashion Shoes were the only major shoe stores there. It celebrated its grand opening on Thursday, April 4, 1957.
Leed's Shoes (Lakewood); Shoe stores--Lakewood--1950-1960; Villa Plaza Shopping Center (Lakewood); Shopping centers--Lakewood--1950-1960;
Associated General Contractors, convention. Over 100 delegates, contractors from all parts of the Northwest, and their wives gathered in Tacoma for the first annual convention of the Pacific Northwest Branch of the Associated General Contractors February 3-4, 1955 at the Winthrop Hotel. A full schedule of luncheons and social activities were planned for the delegates' wives. The Thursday schedule featured cocktails at the University Union Club followed by lunch at Johnny's Dock and the evening reception at the Crystal Ballroom of the Winthrop Hotel. Friday's schedule was lunch at the University Union club and a dinner dance at the Crystal Ballroom. The Ladies' Day Committee consisted of Mrs. James W. Purvis, Mrs. Robert Earley and Mrs J.A. Woodard. (TNT 2/3/1955, pg. A-8 and 2/4/1955, section D)
Associated General Contractors, Tacoma Chapter (Tacoma); University Union Club of Tacoma (Tacoma); Meetings--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Associated General Contractors, convention. Group picture of women, wives of convention delegates, from all parts of the Northwest gathered on the steps of the University Union Club following Thursday noon luncheon. A full schedule of luncheons and social activities were planned for those wives attending the first annual convention of the Pacific Northwest Branch of the Associated General Contractors of America held February 3-4, 1955 at the Winthrop Hotel. (TNT 2/4/1955, pg. D-5)
Associated General Contractors, Tacoma Chapter (Tacoma); University Union Club of Tacoma (Tacoma); Meetings--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Titus Motor Company, exterior of building with 13 men and one woman posing by fleet of new "Ranch Wagon" 2 door station wagons. Neon and painted signs on facade of Elizabethan style brick building by Roland Borhek, Architect, circa 1926. TPL-10140
Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1950-1960; Titus Motor Co. (Tacoma)--Employees; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Ford automobile;
Curt's Shell Service Station. Curt Christensen owned two Shell station locations, 2701 S. Bridgeport Way and 801 Division Ave. (alternate address 102 No. Yakima Ave.) His 801 Division Ave. station was one of 35 national finalists in the gasoline service station catagory of the 1954 Brand Name Retailer of the Year competition. The award recognized achievements in efficient merchandising of manufacturer's brands and selling the brand system to the public. Curt was married to Dorothy and lived at 802 No. Pine. This station has an attached repair shop. The surrounding tires are made by Firestone. The News Tribune has a self serve news stand right at the corner of the building. Photo ordered by Allen Electric Equipment. (TNT 1-30-1955, pg. A-19)
Curt's Shell Service Station (Tacoma); Automobile service stations--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Exterior of Farley's Florists, owned and operated by William B. and Theresa Farley. The florist shop was located on the corner of 6th Ave. and Grant St. The 2001 phone book lists Farley's as still operating at this same address. This location, designed as a modern floral shop, had its Grand Opening on February 2, 1955. William B. (Bill) Farley was a native of Tacoma and worked in the florist business most of his life. He started delivering flowers while a pupil at Mary Lyon, spent 16 years working in the wholesale side of the business and then opened his first floral shop on 6th Ave. This shop was part of a long range program to expand his business. Theresa Farley was his active assistant and specialized in floral design. (TNT 2/1/1955, pg. 7)
The Twistick Co.; interiors. The woman appears to be working with hot dogs or sausages, putting them on a square rack object with pull out shelves. The square rack object then rolls into a large square metal object.
Medallion in basement of home at 1515 No. Monroe, home of Carl A. Kaman. Photograph ordered by Karl H. Kaman, Monarch Specialty Contractors. Karl Kaman was not only a contractor, he also owned a "Perma-stone" facility. This relief appears to represent an American eagle.
Kaman, Carl A.--Homes & haunts; Medals; Plasterwork--Tacoma;
Port Industrial Waterway. The Port Industrial Bridge, later to be named Blair Bridge, can be seen crossing over the waterway. In the foreground of the photo is Johnny's Dock Restaurant located at Pier 3 Port of Tacoma Rd. and across the water from the dock is Birchfield Boiler, Tacoma Harbor Lumber and Timber Co. and Western Boatbuilding Plant #1. Log booms can be seen in various locations in the water. Johnny's Dock was opened in 1953 by restaurateur John Meeker to educate Tacomans about the pleasures of dining out regularly. Its reputation was based on the quality of the meat, elaborate strawberry deserts and its enormous 16-18 ounce baked potatoes. The restaurant burned to the ground on Christmas night 1961. Meeker first reopened at this location and then relocated to City Waterway in 1978. TPL-8724
Port of Tacoma (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Aerial photographs; Harbors--Tacoma; Port Industrial Waterway Bridge (Tacoma); Johnny's Dock (Tacoma); Blair Bridge (Tacoma); Vertical lift bridges;
University Union Club's annual St. Patrick's Day Steak Fry. Club members joined together at this event to don Chefs' attire and cook their own steaks to their personal perfection. The year of 1955 was the Club's 15th annual Stag Steak Fry. The reservation capacity for the St. Patrick's Day affair was 300 and was usually fully attended. The event included not only steak but also a special salad bar, personalized aprons, games and a "great show." (TNT 3/16/1955, pg. 8)
Saint Patrick's Day--Tacoma; Cookery--Tacoma; Cooks; Men--Clubs--Tacoma; Aprons--Tacoma; University Union Club of Tacoma (Tacoma);
St. Regis Paper Co.- dinner meeting. Kenneth D. Lozier, vice president in charge of promotion and advertising, points out the importance of "awareness of opportunity" and "selling all the way through" as factors in the rapid growth of all five divisions of the St. Regis Paper Co. during a dinner speech to the Sales Executive Club of Tacoma at the Winthrop Hotel. Paper production was the fifth largest industry in the American economy. The Tacoma plant manufactured kraft, pulp, paper and board and multiwall paper bags. Other Northwest plants were located at Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Leandro and Emeryville, Ca. Tacoma pioneered the utilization of wood chips, formerly a waste product of sawmills, in the production of pulp. St. Regis was in the forefront in selling the use of paper as a wrapping product for food and dairy. (TNT 2/8/1955, pg.7)
St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lozier, Kenneth D.; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma);
Informal office photos of John Philip (Phil) Weyerhaeuser Jr., President of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, with the oil painting of Frederick Weyerhaeuser, founder of the company. Executive offices of the company were located on the 10th floor of the Tacoma Building, 1017-1021 A St. The company was founded in 1900 with the purchase of 900,000 acres of Washington timberlands from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. Weyerhaeuser now owns in excess of 1.6 million acres of timberland in Washington, with 4 million acres located elsewhere in the U.S. In 1971, the company moved its corporate headquarters to Federal Way. Phil Weyerhaeuser guided the company from 1933 until his death in 1956 and oversaw its transition from a dealer in timberlands to a manufacturer of forest products and a manager of renewable tree farms. Central to this change was his vision that the only way for a forest products company to operate was to own its own renewable timberlands. ("Phil Weyerhaeuser Lumberman" by Charles E. Twining)
Weyerhaeuser, John Philip; Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
This huge condenser was one of a pair fabricated in the Birchfield Boiler shops, at 2503 E. 11th St., for installation in the St. Regis plant. Each condenser, the largest ever built in Tacoma and among the largest built in the Northwest, weighed more than 15 tons. They were manufactured of stainless steel and were 22 feet long and 6 feet high. Each was valued at $25,000. The condensers were used to recover waste heat from the pulp digesters. (TNT 3/13/1955, pg. B-17)
Birchfield Boiler, Inc. (Tacoma); Boilers; Boiler industry--Tacoma; Paper industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Different views of streets around the Medical Arts Building. This view is from the intersection of 9th and Market looking north. On the right are the Rialto Apartments, the Art Deco Medical Arts building, the parking entrance for Medical Arts, the new home office for United Pacific Insurance Co., the rear entrance of the Berk Apartments and further down the Webster Apartments. On the left hand side can be seen Bertucci & Morris Texaco gas station, the B&B Glass & Paint Co. and further down the brick facade of the YMCA.
Medical Arts Building (Tacoma); Health care facilities--Tacoma--1950-1960; Office buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Young Men's Christian Association (Tacoma); United Pacific Insurance Co. (Tacoma);
Different views of streets around Medical Arts Building. The 17 story Art Deco building was built in 1930 & housed medical professionals. This photograph is looking south down Market St. From left to right are the rear of the Berk Apartments, the new home office for United Pacific Insurance Co., parking structure for the Medical Arts Bldg. and the Medical Arts building itself.
Medical Arts Building (Tacoma); Health care facilities--Tacoma--1950-1960; Office buildings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Berk Apartments (Tacoma); United Pacific Insurance Co. (Tacoma);
System Auto Parks; interiors of motoramp garage. Clarence Espinosa was manager in 1955. The facility was originally built in 1925 as Motoramp Garage with 5 stories and a capacity of 325 cars. System Auto Parks was both a garage and a facility for washing, oil changes and lubrication. Here a man washes a car by hand in the cement confines of the garage.
Parking garages--Tacoma--1950-1960; System Auto Parks (Tacoma); Motoramp Garage (Tacoma);
Polaris Steamship Co.- view of ship "Franklin Berwin" with New York registry. The large ship flies the American flag. It is docked at the grain elevators for loading. The large metal tubes extending from the ship to an area above may be used to fill this ship's hold with grain.
Polaris Steamship Co.- view of ship "Franklin Berwin" with New York registry. Ship is docked at the grain elevators for loading. Long tubes extend from the raised platform on the dock into the ship. These tubes were possibly used to load the ship's cargo holds with grain.
Views of the Tradewell Super Market and its parking lot on 6th Ave., ordered by Carroll Mortgage Co. Leslie A. Gray was manager. The supermarket offered its customers plenty of free parking at this busy location. The stores trademark pylon with the Tradewell name can be seen at the front of the the store.
Supermarkets; Grocery stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tradewell Stores, Inc. (Tacoma);
Views of the Tradewell Super Market and its parking lot on 6th Ave., ordered by Carroll Mortgage Co. Leslie A. Gray was manager. Van De Kamps Bakery is pictured prominently on the Tradewell pylon. Signs in the windows advertise avocados, oil, MD Tissue, turkey and lowered coffee prices. The suburban grocery store offered plenty of free parking for its mobile clientele. TPL-8315
Supermarkets; Grocery stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tradewell Stores, Inc. (Tacoma);
Sets for different local television shows arranged in a row at the KTNT TV studio. The left hand set has a sign saying "Home Show Hopefuls," the center is the news set and the right hand set is a kitchen for cooking segments. The "Home Show" was a popular Tacoma based talk show that starred Connie Page and Bob Gleason. The station had been sponsoring a contest for a replacement for Ms. Page. She was replaced by Peg Carpenter of Puyallup, a former model who was now a Mom and volunteer. TPL-8239
Television studios--Tacoma--1950-1960; Television production & direction; Television broadcasting; KTNT TV (Tacoma);
In January of 1955, announcer Bob Gleason (left) and an unidentified butcher stood behind a counter on the Shop Rite Food Centers set in the KTNT studio while the production staff broadcast a live commercial into Tacoma's homes. Bob Gleason was the program director of KTNT- Channel 11's noontime homemaker's show. To the far left is the set for Marshall Clink-a-long Clack-a-ty, television's first robot lawman. The robot debuted in 1954 as Marshal of Mechanical City. The robot was made up of dials, batteries & flashing lights and introduced cartoons and kids' movies. When KTNT, owned by the Tacoma News Tribune, went on the air in 1952, they were the second station to take to the airwaves in the Pacific Northwest. TPL-6404;
Television studios--Tacoma--1950-1960; Television production & direction; Television broadcasting; KTNT TV (Tacoma); Gleason, Bob;
ca. 1920. A raft of logs being brought by early day tug "The Black Prince" to the Sedro Box and Veneer Co. plant at Sedro Woolley, Washington. A group of well dressed people stand calmly on this precarious log perch on the Skagit River. The Sedro plant went out of business after a devastating fire in December of 1924, but the individuals involved in its formation and management became the leaders in the growing Northwest plywood industry. ("The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour)
Sedro Box and Veneer Co. (Sedro-Woolley); plywood; Lumber industry--Sedro-Woolley--1920-1930; Mills--Sedro-Woolley--1920-1930;
ca. 1920. The Sedro Box and Veneer Co. plant at Sedro Woolley, Washington. Stacks of completed fir panels sit waiting shipment to door companies such as Wheeler Osgood of Tacoma. By 1920, William J. "Cottonwood Bill" Royse, a legendary millwork veteran with a hearty handshake and a flamboyant air, and Clyde D. Lloyd, the consummate businessman, eased off the production of boxes and crates at their plant to begin manufacturing plywood panels. Business took off and by 1924 orders were piling up. Business boomed until the plant was destroyed by fire on December 4, 1924. ("The Plywood Age" by Robert M. Cour)
Sedro Box and Veneer Co. (Sedro-Woolley); plywood; Lumber industry--Sedro-Woolley--1920-1930; Mills--Sedro-Woolley--1920-1930;
This photograph, taken in April of 1955, shows four carpenters working on custom built plywood store fixtures at the Sutherlan Fixture Co. Two craftsmen are applying wood tape to the edges of the plywood. The wood tape covers the rough edge of the plywood, giving it a finished appearance. The Sutherlan Fixture Co. was one of the largest store fixture manufacturers on the west coast. They did custom work for Albertson's, S. H. Kress Co., Pay and Save, and Tradewell among other well known firms. Their fixtures were even used in Army post exchanges in Asia. The company, which began in 1943, closed in December 1967. TPL-8133
Exterior of rambler at 1343 No. Jackson, the home of Chris and OIive Fredrickson; photograph ordered by Wilson and Wilson Construction Co. The new one story brick rambler appears to have a daylight basement. The foundation appears to be of cement or concrete. The attached portion may be a garage.
