The Century Ballroom, with rooftop sign advertising dancing to the strains of Slim Martin and his Orchestra, known as the "Maestro of Mirth and Melody." During the defense industry boom of the World War II years, the Century Ballroom was one of the hottest venues in the Northwest. All of the big bands played there, the Dorseys, Kay Kyser, the Lombardo brothers and Ted Fio Rito. The ballroom was built by developers Rocco (Mac) Manza and Emilio James (Jimmy) Zarelli in 1934. It was their second business venture, the first being "a little hamburger stand in Fife" called the Poodle Dog, now a recognized landmark. The Century Ballroom was located just north of the Dog. It was built by contractor Bonnie MacDonald and the new developers paid him back as they could. The building had 20,000 square feet of floor space and cost $28,000. It consistently lost money for the first eight years. With the boom in wartime industry, the pair struck pay dirt. The ballroom sometimes ran two shifts of dances with the second starting at 1:30a.m. for the swing shift workers. With the 1950's, big band music was out and rock was in. A fire in January of 1964 gutted the interior of what was once the Century Ballroom. The flames swept the length of the building just under the roof and then burst to heights of 20 to 30 feet and were visible for miles. Nine businesses were housed at this siteΓÇöincluding Toppers IGA Market, FujiΓÇÖs Ten Cent Store, and the Fife City Hall. Toppers IGA and Fuji's Ten Cent Store never resumed business in Fife. (TNT 3/23/1980, pg. D9)

Century Ballroom (Fife); Ballrooms--Fife--1930-1940; Musicians--Fife--1930-1940;

Mayor Harold Tollefson exchanged smiles with Julie Reihm in March of 1965, as she was made an honorary citizen of Tacoma. Ms. Reihm, 20, had just presented the mayor with a proclamation making him an honorary citizen of Disneyland. She was a special Disneyland Ambassador who was touring the country to publicize the amusement park's 10th anniversary. Ms. Reihm also made Mayor Tollefson an honorary member of the Anaheim City Council and bestowed upon him a free one-year pass to Disneyland and an official Disneyland color book. In return, the mayor made Ms. Reihm an honorary Tacoma citizen. G67.1-154 (TNT 3-24-65, A-10-article & alternate photograph)

Mayors--Tacoma--1960-1970; Tollefson, Harold M., 1908-1985; Reihm, Julie; Guests--Tacoma--1960-1970;

ca. 1957. A banjo player, believed to be Barney Stallone, deftly picks out a tune as he joins fellow musicians in a jam session in an undated sepia photograph possibly taken about 1957. This tight quartet is composed of drums, accordion, banjo and two guitars. They are sitting close together on a small stage; a piano and instrument case are nearby. The guitarist to Mr. Stallone's right is believed to be a Mr. Naccarto. Photograph ordered by Joyce Kinkela Hergert. (Additional information provided by a reader)

Music ensembles; Banjos;

Groups of men appear to be consulting one another as work progresses on the construction of a new unidentified bridge in late 1957. Plywood has been laid on most of the roadbed with one section of exposed rebar yet to be covered. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Bridge construction; Bridges; Suspension bridges; Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

ca. 1954. The photograph of this very contemporary rambler styled home with many picture windows was probably taken in the summer of 1954. The one-story home had a extended, wide driveway and may have been located in the growing suburbs outside Tacoma city limits. The home, #8803, had a partially fenced yard and was surrounded by trees and shrubs. TPL-8313

Houses--1950-1960; Driveways;

ca. 1904. The old Tacoma Tourist Hotel being rebuilt into Stadium High School, Tacoma, circa 1904. It opened as Tacoma High School in September of 1906 with 878 students and 38 teachers.

Stadium High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1900-1910; Tourist Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels-- Tacoma--1900-1910; Streets--Tacoma--1900-1910; Building construction--Tacoma--1900-1910;

ca. 1978. Northwest Room staff, Tacoma Public Library. Mila Liwanag, Linda Hipp, Roy Ketcheson and Ethel Dobiash (l-r) posed for a group portrait in the renovated Northwest Room located in the old Carnegie Annex (Library) ca. 1978. Mr. Ketcheson and Ms. Hipp had been hired for a federally funded sorting and indexing project of old photographs, glass plates and negatives. Most of these had been taken by two well-known local photographers: Marvin D. Boland and Chapin Bowen. There were about 100,000 items including numerous wide-angle and panorama pictures of old Tacoma and early residents. (TNT 3-07-76 -article)

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1970-1980; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees; Liwanag, Mila; Hipp, Linda; Ketcheson, Roy; Dobiash, Ethel;

ca. 1975. Sadie Uglow in Fine Arts Dept, Tacoma Public Library. The Fine Arts Department was located on the second floor of the Main Library. Each department had large signs clearly defining its specialty. After retiring from Tacoma Public, Miss Uglow would become the librarian for the Tacoma Art Museum.

Uglow, Sadie; Librarians; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1970-1980; Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma)--Employees;

The City Beautification Committee met in South Tacoma on July 29, 1959 for an all day tour of Tacoma to plan projects to glamorize the city for the state's upcoming Century 21 Exposition in 1961. The group posed for this photograph in front of the former San Francisco trolley car owned by Steve Pease of Steve's Gay '90s Restaurant. The landmark restaurant at 5238-40 South Tacoma Way opened in 1941. The Cable Car Room was added in 1954. Steve's Gay '90s closed in 1977. Standing on the cable car, left to right, are Betty (Mrs. Robert) Drost, Mrs. Henry Nordlund, Mrs. W.J. Fahey, Mrs. S.B. Robertson, Etta (Mrs. Lee) Garrison and Maxine (Mrs. Max) Maynard. In the front, left to right, are George Smith, Wilfred J. Brown, Howard Harmon, Steve Pease and Richard Emery. (TNT 7/31/1959, pg. 15)

Cable cars; Steve's Gay '90s (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pease, Stephen O.; Drost, Betty; Garrison, Etta; Maynard, Maxine; Smith, George; Brown, Wilfred J.; Harmon, Howard S.; Emery, Richard;

Workmen are busy laying plywood for the roadbed as construction continues on a new bridge in late 1957. The bridge is not identified. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Bridge construction; Bridges; Suspension bridges; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

ca. 1913. This photograph of the Eggers Fish Co., located at the City Dock at the foot of South 15th St., was taken circa 1913. The company had previously been known as the American Fish Co. which had long been operated by Theodore F. Eggers. By the 1913 City Directory, its listing had been changed from American Fish to Eggers Fish, "Successor to American Fish Co." Mr. Eggers remained as president/manager. The group of people in front of the store are probably employees. The horse-drawn cart was probably used for deliveries.

Eggers Fish Co. (Tacoma); Seafood stores--Tacoma; Carts & wagons--Tacoma--1910-1920;

A Garford delivery truck constructed for W.D. Tucker & Co. Groceries stands outside the Garford Truck Co. at 313-15 Puyallup Ave (now 311 Puyallup Ave.) The grocery company was located at 1113 A Street. Their truck clearly claims "We want your business." Boland B7561 (Filed as BU-13385)

Garford Truck Co. (Tacoma); W.D. Tucker & Co. Groceries (Tacoma); Trucks--1920-1930;

ca. 1937. In June of 1937 John L. "Lee" Kress opened his first malt shop in Tacoma at the corner of 9th and Broadway in the Bostwick Building; he already had operated two ice cream shops in Olympia. Mr. Kress' new Tacoma shop could seat 40 customers at the counter and in booths. While a boy growing up in Tacoma, his father Paul B. Kress worked as a salesman for the Henningsen Creamery Company. Lee Kress died in 1959 at the age of 45.

Kress Malt Shop (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma--1930-1940;

ca. 1948. Protesting the high price of beef, two women in sandwich boards entice a man to sign a petition while a third woman looks on. One sign takes a nostalgic look at steak under 50 cents a pound. A young boy wears a sign stating "I want to grow big."

Demonstrations; Pickets; Meat;

When vandals stole the Star of David and the Cross that were part of the display at the Living War Memorial Park at the foot of the Narrows Bridge, Leon Kleiner (center) joined forces with Earl Hanson (left) and Louis Crivelione (right) to return the religious symbols to the park. In March of 1961 a new plaque was installed at the park; the brass symbols were mounted on sandstone and attached to a block of concrete. Leon Kleiner got the material for the new monument and Louis Crivelione, a Tacoma Public Works Department employee, created the display. Earl Hanson was a gardener for Public Works. This park was demolished in 2003 to make room for the new Narrows Bridge; a new, larger War Memorial Park was dedicated in May of 2006. (TNT 3/28/1961 p.14)

Parks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Memorial Park (Tacoma); Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Tacoma); Kleiner, Leon; Hanson, Earl; Crivelione, Louis; Magen David; Symbols; Crosses; Monuments & memorials--Tacoma;

Here is another view of the progress being made in the construction of a new unidentified suspension bridge in late 1957. Skilled workers are covering wooden slats with sheets of plywood. In the distance cranes and additional workmen are apparently involved in the construction of a bridge tower. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Bridge construction; Bridges; Suspension bridges; Plywood; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

The head of a man peering through binoculars can barely been seen emerging from the rounded turret at the top of Mount Constitution Tower. The stone tower is located in Moran State Park on Orcas Island. The 4,803 acre park was donated to the state by famous ship builder, Robert Moran, who also served as mayor of Seattle for two terms. It is on the east peninsula of Orcas Island, in San Juan County. Photograph ordered by the Commerce & Economic Development Department.

Mount Constitution Tower (Orcas Island); Towers;

Republican candidate for Congress Tony Chase and his family marched down a corridor on June 28, 1968. His two daughters, dressed alike in daisy covered outfits, were wearing large sashes proclaiming them to be a "Tony Girl." The older child was also carrying a "Chase for Congress" campaign sign. Others in the background were also toting similar signs. Mr. Chase was a former cabinet-level state employee under Governor Dan Evans and served as federal-state coordinator. Governor Evans participated in the opening of separate campaign headquarters for himself and Mr. Chase on June 28, 1968, in Tacoma where he was met by assorted teenage "Tony Girl(s)." (TNT 6-29-68, p. 1) ALBUM 4.

Chase, Anthony G.; Chase, Anthony G.--Family; Political campaigns; Signs (Notices);