ca. 1937. Puget Sound Feed Co., 302 E. 26th St., Tacoma. The feed store was constructed in 1937. They were authorized dealers for Albers Feeds. Two trucks were being loaded for delivery at right and a worker can be seen through the empty loading dock door front, wheeling feed sacks on a dolly as two men at ground level watch.

ca. 1942. Mull's Service and Garage. Mobilgas.

ca. 1942. Michael Bros. M. A. Martin. Mobilgas. Maxwell station. L Street at So. 12th Street, Tacoma.

Street & Belden Auto Service. Mobilgas.

ca. 1942. Johnson's Service, Mobilgas station. Johnson's Light Grocery.

Puyallup Gardens, Mobilgas station. E. R. Warnica Grocery.

Mobilgas. Maxwell stations. Duke Bennett and Larry Cunningham. Small sign advertising "Socony-Vacuum Credit Cards".

Mobilgas station. Kneeland Street at South First, Shelton, Washington.

Bill Ostrem. Mobilgas station. Edgewood, Route 1, Box 550, Puyallup, Washington.

Mobilgas station.

Mobilgas. Maxwell station. Federal Tires.

Mobilgas, Maxwell station. Mac's Grocery. Fresh meats and groceries.

Mobilgas, Maxwell station. Maxwell Super Service 36.

J. D. Jones station. Mobilgas, Maxwell station. Groceries; Meats; Hay, Grain and Feed. Waller Road at East 62nd Street, Tacoma.

In this photograph dated December 15, 1946 the interior of the Old St. Louis Tavern at 1110 Commerce Street shows stools in front of the long bar on the left and booths along the right. The walls over the bar and the booths have been painted with scenes of cowboys and cowgirls riding on the plains. (1110 Commerce was located in the Williams & Rowland Building, common address 1109 Broadway) For Bruno Lavorini and John Lenc.

Undated photograph by Chapin Bowen of a Mobilgas station that also served lunches and where groceries could be purchased. The automobile service station was located in Riffe, Washington, southwest of Morton in south central Lewis County. The town of Riffe no longer exists. It was buried with the construction of Mossyrock Dam.

Undated photograph by Chapin Bowen of Mobilgas station, seller of Norwalk Tires, located on Meridian Avenue South at Fourth Street, S. E., Puyallup. Mohr's Sausage truck is parked at the three pumps.

Stan's Corner. Mobilgas. Waller Road at 96th Street, Tacoma. The service station, in this undated photograph, had three gas pumps. In addition, Stan's Corner sold groceries for the passing motorist.

Undated photograph by Chapin Bowen of a Mobilgas station that also served lunches and where groceries could be purchased. The automobile service station was located in Riffe, Washington, southwest of Morton in south central Lewis County. The town of Riffe no longer exists. It was buried with the construction of Mossyrock Dam.

Organist, Miss Esther Stayner sitting at the organ of the Broadway Theater. BU-11246

ca. 1927. This handtinted photograph of the Tacoma Hotel was taken circa 1927. Built in 1884, and considered by many Tacoma's showcase, the elegant hotel had welcomed many distinguished guests over the decades including Presidents of the United States, actors and sports idols. Magnificent views of The Mountain, Commencement Bay and the City Waterway greeted these visitors. The massive modified Tudor structure occupied an entire block in downtown Tacoma. It was destroyed by fire on October 17, 1935 and not rebuilt. The Tacoma Hotel Annex at 904-06 A St. was remodeled after the fire to serve as the new Tacoma Hotel but never reached the acclaim of the original.

John A. "Jack" Bolton operated Jack's Lunch, "Home of the World's Largest Hot Dog" in Tacoma's Proctor District. Judging from the crowd, it was a popular local gathering place. Jack and his wife Ethel lived in an upstairs apartment. In 1938, he opened Jack's Tavern next door at 2622 No. Proctor. Soon after, it became known as the North End Tavern under new owners. Subsequent owners operated the Steak House restaurant at the 2624 Proctor location for many years.

This photograph, taken in July of 1931, shows one of the many fruit and vegetable stands that were scattered through South Tacoma. The photograph was taken for Wilton Kean, who owned the Center Street Market at 901 Center, but this is not that stand. The Drive In Market was probably further south - around the corner of 48th and South Tacoma Way. Bowen # 310-255

In July of 1931, the Veterans of Foreign Wars drum & bugle corps posed in front of the RKO Orpheum Theater (now the Pantages,) 901 Broadway. Behind the group was a sign stating "March with the Veterans of Foreign Wars to the RKO Orpheum to see RKO Vaudeville Larry Rich and Marion Sunshine." A ticket at the Orpheum got you into to see a movie, Richard Dix in the "Public Defender," and a vaudeville show, with headliner Larry Rich and his Oompahs. Larry Rich was a comic bandleader who toured the vaudeville circuit with his own show, featuring his band the 14 Oompahs and singer Marion Sunshine. Ms. Sunshine would impersonate Maurice Chevalier and Ruth Etting and then sing her own songs, including the one for which she penned the English lyrics, "The Peanut Vendor." Larry Rich was the father of jazz drummer and bandleader Buddy Rich. A crowd had gathered between the VFW and the theater. Bowen #310-26 ?

On August 6, 1931 a fire, caused by defective wiring, gutted the building at 1140-42 Broadway. The fire started at 5:55 a.m. on the second floor, in the Johnson Paint and Wallpaper Company store, and quickly spread to the third floor and roof. The fire raged stubbornly for nearly three hours despite the efforts of more than three dozen firefighters. Bowen # 310-277

ca. 1931. RKO Orpheum Theater, 901 Broadway. Six ushers posed in front of the movie palace dressed as jockeys. Banners on their chests say "Starting Monday, Sweepstakes." "Sweepstakes" was a 1931 RKO Pathe racetrack movie about a jockey and his horse, starring Eddie Quillan, James Gleason, Marion Nixon and Lew Cody. The playbill advertisement in the background refers to the Burns & Allen comedy act "Dizzy."

ca. 1931. Broadway businesses. This is how one side of Broadway appeared circa 1931. The Warburton Building at 1101-03 (far left) was the first concrete building erected in Tacoma. It housed the French Drug Co. on the lower level and the E.R. Parker Painless Dentists above. At the near right was the equally tall Montgomery Ward & Co. store, in the New York Building (1117-19), the former home of the Horgan-Parker and Fair Department Stores. Between the two tall structures were smaller businesses including the Broadway Electric Co. and Kimball's Gun Store.

ca. 1933. Photograph of the Olympus Hotel, circa 1933. The Olympus Hotel was built in 1909 by Dan Gamer and Leopold Schmidt. It was designed by architects Darmer & Cutting. The hotel closed in 1974 and was remodeled in 1978 into apartments.

ca. 1942. G. S. Jacobson. Mobilgas. Maxwell station. M Street at So. 56th Street, Tacoma.

G. S. Jacobson Service Center No. 2. Mobilgas. Puget Sound at So. 54th Street, Tacoma.