Group posed behind entries in the flower show held at the Tacoma Armory. The women wear large corsages. (T. Times).

Flower shows--Tacoma--1930-1940; Flowers; Exhibitions--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Tacoma's Armory has been transformed by the lavish displays of the flower show sponsored by the Northwest Florists' Association. (T. Times 4/12/1937, pg. 3)

Flower shows--Tacoma--1930-1940; Flowers; Exhibitions--Tacoma--1930-1940; State Armory (Tacoma);

Eleven years before she made history at the 1948 Winter Olympics, Gretchen Kunigk (later Fraser) was the skiing double for Sonja Henie in the filming of "Thin Ice" at the Paradise Inn in Mount Rainier National Park. This close up of the eighteen year old Tacoma native focuses her blonde Nordic beauty. Mrs. Fraser would later be known as "America's First Lady of Skiing." She turned the competitive world of skiing upside down by becoming the first U.S. skier to ever win an Olympic gold medal. Her medal came from her outstanding performance in the slalom competition in St. Moritz Switzerland in 1948. After her retirement from competitive skiing, she continued to volunteer in programs focused on amputee skiers. She was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1960.

Fraser, Gretchen Kunigk, 1919-1994; Skiers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Motion picture industry--Tacoma;

Horace Mann school teacher Mrs. Lorraine W. Pike poses with students Stanley Nelson, left, and Gordon Brunswick, right, and the miniature ancient German village constructed by her sixth grade students. The village replica dates to 410 A.D. Stanley Nelson holds a thatched roof cottage. Gordon Brunswick holds a model ship. (T. Times, 4/1/1937).

Horace Mann School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1930-1940; Pike, Lorraine; Nelson, Stanley; Brunswick, Gordon; Models; Miniature cities & towns; Model ships;

Tyrone Power and Sonja Henie had plenty of extra time on their hands between takes during the filming of "Thin Ice" in April of 1937. On location in Paradise Valley on Mount Rainier, intermittent snow squalls and gray skies made things difficult for the visiting stars from Hollywood. The 20th Century-Fox crew was on the mountain for three days before they were able to shoot a single foot of usable film.

Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.); Actresses--Tacoma; Henie, Sonja, 1912-1969; Skaters; Actors--Tacoma; Power, Tyrone; Motion picture industry--Tacoma;

Actors Sonja Henie (left) and Tyrone Power pose on skis at Paradise Lodge, Mount Rainier National Park, during filming of the motion picture "Thin Ice". Shot on location at Mount Rainier in 1937, the film was Scandinavian skating star Henie's second movie. Heavy snow fall made production difficult. Tacoma skier Gretchen Kunigk Fraser served as Henie's double. (T.Times, 4/6/1937, with Power cropped out)

Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.); Actresses--Tacoma; Henie, Sonja, 1912-1969; Skaters; Actors--Tacoma; Power, Tyrone; Motion picture industry--Tacoma;

Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power on skis at Paradise Lodge, Mount Rainier National Park, during filming of "Thin Ice". (T.Times, 4/6/1937).

Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.); Actresses--Tacoma; Henie, Sonja, 1912-1969; Skaters; Actors--Tacoma; Power, Tyrone; Motion picture industry--Tacoma;

Members of the production crew for "Thin Ice" with camera at Paradise, Mount Rainier National Park. Two men are playing cards while others stand beside the motion picture camera. (T.Times).

Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.); Motion picture industry--Tacoma;

In April of 1937, this sweeping photograph was taken of the new Union Avenue Viaduct. It shows a general view of the viaduct with workmen looking over the guardrail. The viaduct was constructed with federal relief funds and formally opened to traffic on April 30, 1937. It was built to carry traffic over the Northern Pacific railroad tracks. Autos are parked under the bridge, hill and buildings in background. (TDL 4/25/1937, pg. 1; T.Times 4/30/1937, pg. 2-alternate photograph)

Union Ave. Viaduct (Tacoma); Bridges--Tacoma--1930-1940; Bridge construction--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Union Avenue Viaduct opened to the public in April of 1937. It extended over the Northern Pacific railroad tracks on So. Union Ave. A view of the new viaduct roadbed and workmen doing clean-up work; Chevrolet pickup truck on bridge in the background. The viaduct, built from federal funds, formally opened on April 30, 1937. The ceremony included music by the WPA band and speeches from leaders in the communities joined by the concrete span. (T.Times 4/30/1937, pg. 2-picture; TDL 4/25/1937, pg. 1)

Union Ave. Viaduct (Tacoma); Bridges--Tacoma--1930-1940; Laborers--Tacoma; Trucks--Tacoma--1930-1940; Bridge construction--Tacoma--1930-1940;

One of the biggest events in the Spring of 1937 for the high school set in Bremerton was the Junior Prom, held April 28th at the Masonic Temple ballroom. For the dance, the ballroom was transformed into Venice, with gondolas in a setting of silver stars and blue skies. This transformation was due to the hard work and planning of the decoration committee, including the pictured young ladies, left to right, Mae Wilbur, Sana Benedict, Kathleen Johnson and Barbara Jean Hamer. (Bremerton Sun 04-28-1937, pg. 3).

Wilbur, Mae; Benedict, Sana; Johnson, Kathleen; Hamer, Barbara Jean; Students--Bremerton--1930-1940; Balls (Parties);

Tacoma Country Club tea. Candid portrait of five women engaged in conversation in April, 1937. Dorothy (Mrs. Bertrand E.) Buckmaster is on the right. Mrs. Buckmaster was active in the Girl Scouts and a close friend of Lou Henry (Mrs. Herbert) Hoover. (T.Times, Society).

Buckmaster, Dorothy G.; Conversation; Tacoma Country & Golf Club (Tacoma)--1930-1940;

Dorothy Buckmaster, far right, engages in conversation with four other women attending an April, 1937, tea at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club. Mrs. Buckmaster's husband Bertrand was the president of the North Pacific Bank Note Co. Mrs. Buckmaster was active in the Girl Scouts movement and the Tacoma Philharmonic.

Buckmaster, Dorothy G.; Conversation; Tacoma Country & Golf Club (Tacoma);

On April 16, 1937, St. Paul Methodist Church held a double "Tom Thumb" wedding to raise funds for their missionary society. "Tom Thumb" weddings were held in the early 1900's as a social event; they were recreations of the 1863 wedding of P.T. Barnum's most famous attraction, the midget Charles Stratton (exhibited as Gen. Tom Thumb) and the equally tiny Lavinia Warren. Children doubled in the Tom Thumb pageants as the tiny couple. The St. Paul event starred, left to right, Eddie Goodenough as the minister, Curtis Killian as Tom Thumb, Shirley Clark as the bride Jennie June, Billy Goettling as the second groom Fred Finger and Barbara Ann Bowen as the other bride, Nellie May. The couples were four years old. All together, over 100 children, ranging in age from 4-11, took part in the event, impersonating the wedding party and its famous guests. (T. Times 4/16/1937, pg. 8)

Children playing adults; Weddings--Tacoma--1930-1940; Brides--1930-1940; Wedding clothing & dress--1930-1940; Grooms (Weddings)--1930-1940; Goodenough, Edward; Killian, Curtis; Clark, Shirley; Goettling, William; Bowen, Barbara Ann;

Mid April 1937, Tacoma General Hospital bested their old record when 37 babies were born there in one week. Eighteen of the little ones posed for this picture from inside their glassed-in ward. Student nurse Maxine Balschley, left, held two of her charges up for the camera while Lorraine Greenough, supervisor of the maternity ward, held two more. The usual bundle production in a week at the hospital was 20-25. There were no multiple births in the week's bumper crop. (T.Times 4/15/1937, pg. 1) (filed with Argentum)

Tacoma General Hospital (Tacoma); Infants; Maternity hospitals (Tacoma); Balschley, Maxine; Greenough, Lorraine;

Photograph of a Mrs. Mary T.Boyle (listed in the City Directory as Boyles) speaking on the telephone in April of 1937. For National Want Ad Week, the Tacoma Times ran a full page of photographs of satisfied Times Want Ad customers. Mrs. Boyle was the manager of the Sound View Apartments at 10 Stadium Way. (WSHS) (T.Times 4/21/1937, pg. 13)

Telephones--1930-1940; Boyle, Mary T.;

Businesswoman Lucille Frantz was one of the Tacoma Times' satisified Want Ad customers in 1937. This photograph of her on the telephone was included in a montage of pictures in a full page ad run by the newspaper as part of the celebration of National Ad Week in April. Prior to opening her Thrifty Beauty Salon at 947 Broadway in March of 1937, Lucille Frantz had been the manager of the Moler Beauty College at 1215 Pacific Avenue. She owned the beauty shop through the following war years. (T. Times 4/21/1937, pg. 13; T.Times 3-1-37, p. 5-article on Thrifty Beauty Salon)

Telephones--1930-1940; Frantz, Lucille; Advertising--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Cigar firmly clutched in his teeth, Clarence Potter ordered his weekly advertising over the telephone in April of 1937. For National Want Ad week, the Tacoma Times ran a full page ad of satisfied want ad customers like Mr. Potter. He was founder and president of the Clarence Potter Co., 1006 S. Tacoma Ave, which sold Harley-Davidson motorcycles and package trucks. (WSHS) (T.Times 4/21/1937, pg. 13)

Telephones--1930-1940; Potter, Clarence;

Martha Graham gracefully lifted her arms in an interpretive dance during a April 1, 1937, appearance sponsored by the Tacoma Junior League. Miss Graham, born on May 11, 1894, was already a major force in modern dance by 1937 having already performed in sixty concerts in New York alone. Accompanied by musical director Louis Horst, Miss Graham and her troupe of twelve American girls were received by an enthusiastic audience in the Jason Lee Auditorium; her dance "Lamentation, " created in 1930, being perhaps the most popular. Proceeds from Miss Graham's performance were earmarked for the Well Baby Clinic at the County Hospital, a project of the Tacoma Junior League. Miss Graham would dance and choreograph for over 70 years and received many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976. She died on April 1, 1991, exactly 54 years after her Tacoma appearance. TPL-5108. ALBUM 8. (T.Times 4-1-37, p. 3, 4-2-37, p. 8)

Graham, Martha, 1893-1991; Dancers--Tacoma;

If you called the Tacoma Times in April of 1937 to place a want ad, your call would be answered by the lovely Thelma Wallace, pictured here with her telephone operator's equipment. For National Want Ad Week, the Tacoma Times ran a full page spread featuring pictures of Want Ad employees and advertisers. (WSHS) (T.Times 4/21/1937, pg. 13)

Telephones--1930-1940; Telephone operators--1930-1940; Wallace, Thelma;

Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power at Paradise, Mount Rainier National Park, during filming of "Thin Ice". Publicized as romantically involved at the time, Henie and Power seem alone although surrounded by a crowd of star-seekers.

Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.); Actresses--Tacoma; Henie, Sonja, 1912-1969; Skaters; Actors--Tacoma; Power, Tyrone; Motion picture industry--Tacoma;

Pacific Lutheran College, May Day. Queen Verna Tegland and her court wearing formal attire and posing beside the school's four-story brick "Old Main" building during the coronation ceremony on April 30, 1937. (T. Times 5/1/1937, pg. 1)

Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland); May Day--Tacoma; Rites & Ceremonies--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Tegland, Verna;

Marjorie (Mrs. Frederick C.) Shanaman looks up at the camera from the book that she is reading with her sons Fred Jr., age 4 on left, and Dick, age 2, identified in the T. Times as "Robert Lowell." The trio have open, happy faces as they smile at the photographer. Frederick Shanaman, Sr. was manager of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. (T.Times 4/10/1937, pg. 3, Society)

Shanaman, Marjorie; Shanaman, Richard; Shanaman, Fred C.; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982--Family; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982--Homes & haunts; Mothers & children--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Four year old Patricia McLean poses with her loving grandparents, Berthold A. and Wilhelmina Prengel. Using his creativity and scrap lumber, Mr. Prengel has converted their backyard into a carnival playground for "Pat" and her friends. It contains a hand operated ferris wheel, merry-go-round, teeter-totter, slide, swings and carnival games. The neighborhood kids will never be bored on those long summer days! (T. Times 6/4/1937, pg. 3)

Playgrounds; Aged persons; Prengel, Wilhelmina; Prengel, Berthold; McLean, Patricia; Families--Tacoma--1930-1940; Grandparents;

One of the new exhibits at the Point Defiance Zoo in 1937 was a pair of black wolves kept with a lone coyote. The trio are shown here in a screened in cage being viewed by zoo goers. The Richards photographer, shooting for the Tacoma Times, was allowed by Zoo keeper George Jones to go into the cage to shoot the year old animals, obtained from the Seattle zoo on a swap. His only advice was that the wolves were friendly as long as their ears were up. The coyote was a native of this region, while the black wolves no longer inhabited their ranges in Montana and Wyoming but could be found in remote areas of Canada and Alaska. (T. Times 4/16/1937, pg. 4)

Point Defiance Zoo (Tacoma); Zoos--Tacoma--1930-1940; Zoo animals; Wolves;

Berthold Prengel and his granddaughter Patricia McLean pose in the handmade carnival playground built by the grandfather's loving hands. All of the rides were built from scrap lumber for the enjoyment of 4 year old Pat and her friends. They include a ferris wheel, merry-go-round, chute-the-chute (slide), teeter-totter, swing and carnival games. All are painted red, orange, blue and yellow and boldly labeled "Pat." (T. Times 6/4/1937, pg. 3)

Seesaws; Swings; Prengel, Berthold; Amusement rides--1930-1940; Slides; Sliding; Playgrounds; Aged persons; McLean, Patricia; Families--Tacoma--1930-1940; Grandparents; Prengel, Berthold--Homes & haunts;

Marjorie (Mrs. Frederick C.) Shanaman plays a game with sons Fred Jr., left, and Dick, right. Portrait taken in the family living room. Frederick Shanaman, Sr. was manager of the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company. (T. Times Society).

Shanaman, Marjorie; Shanaman, Richard; Shanaman, Fred C.; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982--Family; Shanaman, Frederick Charles, 1901-1982--Homes & haunts;

Union Avenue Viaduct prior to grand opening. The Union Avenue Viaduct, built with federal funds to carry traffic over the Northern Pacific railroad tracks, was formally opened to traffic on April 30, 1937.

Union Ave. Viaduct (Tacoma); Bridges--Tacoma--1930-1940; Bridge construction--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Sonja Henie and Tyrone Power at Paradise, Mount Rainier National Park, during filming of "Thin Ice". Power, with Henie beside him, plays cards under the watchfull eyes of a star-struck crowd.

Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.); Actresses--Tacoma; Henie, Sonja, 1912-1969; Skaters; Actors--Tacoma; Power, Tyrone; Motion picture industry--Tacoma;

Sonja Henie, right in fur-lined hood, leads members of the cast and crew of "Thin Ice" under an archway of raised skiis at Paradise, Mount Rainier Park. The film opened in Tacoma at the Music Box Theater on September 27th, 1937.

Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.); Actresses--Tacoma; Henie, Sonja, 1912-1969; Skaters; Motion picture industry--Tacoma;