A crowd of several hundred people celebrated the arrival of the Pacific Air Transport Co.'s mail carrier plane at the municipal airport on April 15, 1928. It was the inauguration of the new American Railway Express Co. air service provided for Tacoma in conjunction with Pacific Air Transport's mail carriers. Tacoma Chamber of Commerce president John Dower took his first plane ride during the event as pilot J. Barton Story took him to greet the incoming express plane from the air. (TNT 4-16-28, p. 7, TDL 4-15-28, 8-A)

Ruth DuCharme and Orville Fuller posed in January of 1926 surrounded by Bill Winder (extreme left) and his Hotel Winthrop Orchestra. The pair was taking part in the Southwest Washington Championship Ho-down Ballroom Charleston competition which kicked off on January 23, 1926. The contest was sponsored by the Rialto Theater and the Hotel Winthrop and took place over 4 weeks. It featured dancers from Tacoma, Aberdeen, Chehalis, Centralia and Olympia. Winners were decided by popular applause. When all the shouting was over, Mrs. DuCharme and Mr. Fuller were the Tacoma champions. This was the first big ballroom Charleston contest to be held locally. (TNT 1/22/1926, pg. 8) TPL-466

Posed by the stage doors of the venerable Temple Theatre are the Maylon Players troupe in April, 1926. They were there to welcome a bowling team from Spokane. Tacoma was hosting the week-long North Western International Bowling Congress where a five-man team sponsored by Texaco Oil from Spokane would participate. The Maylon Players stock company would perform "Best People" written by Avery Hopwood at the Tacoma Theatre the following evening.

John MacKessy, 13, smiled for the camera from his stretcher during the trial run on December 24, 1929 for his big Christmas Day outing. It would be his first Christmas Day out of bed in three years. He and 125 other children were guests at a Christmas party on the USS Lexington, which was tied up at Baker Dock helping to supply electricity to Tacoma. The trip was supplied by the Tacoma Sciots, a Masonic social group, that took care of the boy. Pictured, left to right, were Maurice Raymond (club sec.), John G. Thorstenson (pres.), Chief of Police M.D. Guy and officer Dick Rodius who drove the boy. He was transported in a police paddy wagon. Young MacKessy suffered from inflammation in the bones of his feet, legs and hips and his family needed assistance to care for him properly. (TNT 12/24/1929, pg. 3)

Showing off her freckled face and bobbed hair, Margaret Wheeler posed serenely with a Lady Craig rose at the Tacoma Rose Show, which was held at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 5 South G Street, on June 17, 1927. The young miss looked off camera with her large dark eyes, possibly listening to directions from the photographer. The Lady Craig was being shown for the first time at the Rose Show. It was one of 1,000 entries in the 16th annual show, the largest display in years. The event was sponsored by the Tacoma Rose Society. (TNT 6/17/1927, pg. 1)

The funeral for Thea Christiansen (Mrs. Andrew) Foss, founder of Foss Maritime and community leader. Mrs. Foss was so widely admired in the community for her compassion and charity that her funeral was the largest that Tacoma had seen to date. All of the trademark green and white flags of the Foss Co. flew at half mass in honor of "Mother Foss." Immigrants from Norway, Andrew and Thea Foss arrived in Tacoma the spring of 1889. While Andrew took what work he could find, Thea started the family business with the purchase of 1 rowboat for $5, all the money that she had. With shrewd business moves and hard work, the Foss family parlayed that one rowboat into the one of the largest maritime companies in the country. Thea Foss never forgot her origins and continued to aid Scandinavian immigrants offering them food, lodging, work and the family they so sorely missed. Mrs. Foss was never idle, running the company's office, store and boarding house for its workers. She also found time to nurse the sick, help the needy and fulfill her purpose in life- to be of service to others. TPL-8662, BGN 589

For many years, P. T. Barnum-type side shows were main features at carnivals and fairs. In 1921, at the Western Washington Fair, McGunning-Davis was presenting her "consolidated twin alive--one head and two bodies". Also, a "20th Century Enigma--Australia natives captured in the wilds of Western Australia--First time on exhibition in America".