Mrs. Donald McLean and Mrs. Frank James, Jr., react with apparent surprise to Kenneth Fleming, who is holding two hand-puppets. The trio, part of the Boulevard Players, may have been rehearsing for a performance at the Unitarian Church at So. 12th & Bantz Blvd. on January 28, 1958. They will be presenting "The Toymaker" for the Saturday Explorers at Jones Hall on the campus of College of Puget Sound on February 8, 1958. The fantasy concerns two clowns who discover they are not exactly alike. Photograph ordered by Tacoma Art League. (TNT 2-2-58, D-11)

Tacoma Art League (Tacoma); Theatrical productions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Fleming, Kenneth;

This photograph of the front of Stadium High School was taken in January of 1958 for the Mark Mitchell Roofing Company which was located at 662 East 11th Street. Built in the "Chateauesque" style used for the Canadian Pacific Railroad's resort hotels, with steeply-pitched hipped roofs, cone-shaped towers, turrets and pointed spires Stadium H.S. posed special problems for roofers. The section of North E Street that ran past the front of the high school at the time of this image is no longer open to traffic. (Photograph ordered by Mark Mitchell Roofing Co.) TPL-9499

Stadium High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Aerial photographs of South Fort Lewis were taken on January 26, 1958. The carefully laid out design appears symmetrical, with identical buildings and parking lots on both sides of the wide field. These may have been newly constructed buildings. The view taken from the air gives the appearance of a architectural model setup. Forested lands are abundant on the property; there is plenty of space for expansion. Photograph ordered by Donald L. Drake Co.

Aerial photographs; Building construction--Fort Lewis;

The Cornell Meek family posed with a brand new Ford Edsel, the first in Tacoma, in front of the Tacoma Building on January 23, 1958. Floyd, Tom, and Marsha Meek lounge on the hood while Louise (Chase) Meek, whose father was formerly mayor of Puyallup, leans her elbow out of the passenger's door. Cornell Meek and older daughter Merry pose close to the copper-colored car. After much fanfare, the Ford Motor Co. revealed the distinctive looking Edsel, on September 4, 1957. The car was named after the late Edsel Ford, son of founder Henry Ford. Although the company had predicted first-year sales of 200,000 units, production and sales of the vehicle fell far short. Ford discontinued the Edsel on November 19, 1959. Pictured in the background, the Tacoma Building, 1017-21 A St., was the corporate headquarters for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. The new Annex, 1015 A St., was built in 1956 and opened in 1957. The Weyerhaeuser Corporation built a new headquarters building in Federal Way and moved many of their employees in 1971. ( www.edsel.com) Sepia photograph ordered by Titus Edsel Sales Co.

Meek, Cornell; Meek, Cornell--Family; Meek, Louise; Meek, Merry; Meek, Floyd; Meek, Tom; Meek, Marsha; Ford automobile; Tacoma Building (Tacoma);

Customers could dine from 12 noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays and weekdays and until 1 a.m. on weekends at the Branding Iron restaurant. The neon cactus and the restaurant name itself gave some indication of the type of food it served--dishes from the American West, including lots of beef. Parking facilities were available in front and on the side of the brick and wood building. A broad porch would shelter patrons from inclement weather. The Branding Iron restaurant was located at South 84th and Pacific; it was owned by Leo Balistreri and Ernie Zarelli. See A112067-4 for interior of restaurant. Photograph ordered by the Branding Iron.

Branding Iron (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma--1950-1960;

A distinctly Western motif greeted customers of the Branding Iron restaurant in January, 1958. Horseshoes, pistols, gates, and even a steer's head decorated the walls. Jukeboxes would be readily accessible for patrons to play their favorite tunes. Owned by Leo Balistreri and Ernie Zarelli, the Branding Iron was located at 8413 Pacific Avenue across the street from Puget Sound National Bank. Sepia photograph ordered by the Branding Iron.

Branding Iron (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma--1950-1960; Horseshoes; Jukeboxes;

Women mobilize in the fight against polio with the Mothers March of Dimes annual campaign. Ten women pose on the steps of the Tacoma Athletic Commission's headquarters on Ruston Way on January 20, 1958. They each hold large posters with letters on them; together, they spell out "Mother's March." The Pierce County region was very active in collecting funds for the March of Dimes; the area was divided into several sections and campaigns were carefully planned to solicit donations. Those pictured above were invited by Betty (Mrs. Robert) Drost as representative of the 2000 Pierce County women who would join women across the nation on January 30, 1958, for the traditional grand finale of the drive. They would be calling on neighbors for donations for the continued care and rehabilitation of polio patients. Mrs. Drost is holding the letters "M" and "A" at the top right hand corner. Other names are listed in the News Tribune article of January 26, 1958. Sepia photograph ordered by the March of Dimes. (TNT 1-26-58, D-6)

March of Dimes (Tacoma); Fund raising--Tacoma--1950-1960; Drost, Betty;

Employees of the Commonwealth Title Co. gather around a modern metal desk set containing new IBM equipment on January 17, 1958. The men appear to be waiting for the young woman who is holding a pile of papers, perhaps prior to passing them out. There is at least one IBM typewriter on the extended desk, and possibly two. The metal swivel chair would enable the secretary to have more than one document ready to type. Photograph ordered by IBM.

Office equipment & supplies; Typewriters; Offices--Tacoma--1950-1960; International Business Machines (Tacoma); Commonwealth Title Co. (Tacoma);

Gordon Gilbertson directed both the 27-piece orchestra and the 48-member concert band at Pacific Lutheran College in 1958. He is standing to the extreme left of the January 14, 1958, photograph, next to the bass player. The PLC Concert Band added to the spirit at football and basketball games with cheerful, colorful tunes. They also performed at the Rainier State School, McNeil Island, and the First Presbyterian Church in Seattle. Occupants of Eastern Washington, Idaho and Oregon were privileged to hear the concert band during its nine day tour. The band concluded its year with participation in the graduation ceremonies. Names of band members are listed in the 1958 SAGA yearbook. Photograph ordered by Pacific Lutheran College. (1958 SAGA yearbook, p. 97)

Bands--Parkland--1950-1960; Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960; Gilbertson, Gordon;

Bright lights illuminate the vast 4,000 car parking lot at the Villa Plaza Shopping Center in January, 1958. It appears that it is bright enough for the four men standing beneath a light pole to easily read their clipboard. Neon signs add other areas of light as they beckon customers to Penney's, Weisfield's, Fashion Shoes & Woolworth's. The shopping center opened in 1957 on the former site of Visitation Villa, a Catholic girls school run by the Sisters of the Visitation. A large aluminum stepladder was borrowed from the Penney's store so that these night exposures could be taken from an elevated level. Photograph ordered by General Electric Co.

Parking lots--Lakewood; Lampposts--Lakewood; Villa Plaza Shopping Center (Lakewood); Shopping centers--Lakewood--1950-1960; Electric signs--Lakewood;

View of new hangar at South Tacoma Airport on January 10, 1958, shows how plywood was heavily utilized. The narrow, slightly bent pieces of plywood above the plywood forms are box beams. They were probably put together at Weber Lumber Co. a few days before. These are believed to be some of the ten new "T" hangars built by C.E. Munson, contractor. Planes would be hangared five to a side. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. (TNT 2-2-58, A-14)

Plywood; Hangars--Tacoma; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

Box beams are being erected in the new hangar at South Tacoma Airport on January 10, 1958. These plywood products were probably constructed at Weber Lumber Co. A small lifting machine has hoisted a box beam while three workers maneuver it into place. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Plywood; Hoisting machinery; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

Cupid, victory cigar in mouth, draws back his bow to attempt a fifth arrow at the telephone target on January 10, 1958. He has already successfully hit the target four times. He does appear to be rather close to the designated target. The archer is dressed in a towel covering his waist and part of his suit wound around his shoulder and hip. Photograph ordered by Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Archery--Tacoma; Bows (Archery); Targets (Sports); Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. (Tacoma);

Cupid retrieves his arrows in a January 10, 1958, photograph. He has apparently hit his target, a telephone in a circle, with all four arrows at a rate of 100%. The smiling archer has a towel wrapped around his waist and perhaps part of his suit draped over his shoulder. He is clutching a large bow. Photograph ordered by Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Archery--Tacoma; Bows (Archery); Targets (Sports); Telephones; Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. (Tacoma);

Students at the Parkland Elementary School do their part to help in the drive to conquer polio by assisting in the 1958 March of Dimes campaign. Each child has a palm sized collection card with slots for coins. Parkland Elementary, in the Franklin-Pierce School District, had led all schools in the county in March of Dimes contributions for several years. Parkland Elementary School principal Paul Larson holds up a poster urging all to help stamp out polio by bringing in dimes. Dale Phillips, chairman of the March of Dimes drive for the Parkland area, stands next to Mr. Larson. Teacher Elsie Blandau is at center rear. Despite the discovery of the Salk vaccine, polio was still infecting many Americans. Money collected through the March of Dimes would not only help fund further research but also aid those already afflicted. Photograph ordered by the March of Dimes. (TNT 1-12-58, A-13)

Parkland Elementary School (Parkland); School children--Parkland; March of Dimes (Tacoma); Fund raising--Parkland; Larson, Paul; Phillips, Dale; Blandau, Elsie;

A series of photographs were taken on January 8, 1958, of workers at the Weber Lumber Co., 1744 N. 30th St. They appear to be nailing together box beams. Stacks of plywood are in the background. Weber Lumber is absent in the 1958 City Directory; at its site remained the Timber Fabrication Co. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Plywood; Weber Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

Only a craftman's hands can be seen carefully using a Skilsaw on plywood boards at Weber Lumber Co. Bits of wood shavings are scattered close by. The portable table saw cuts the plywood into the desired length. Photograph ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association.

Plywood; Saws; Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

Weber Lumber Co., on January 8, 1958, was the site of a series of photographs taken on behalf of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association on the usage of plywood for a variety of products. Here an employee appears to be measuring a long sheet of plywood against a box beam. The sheet of plywood may have eventually covered the open box beam. These box beams may have been especially constructed to be used at the South Tacoma Airport.

Plywood; Weber Lumber Co. (Tacoma); Douglas Fir Plywood Association (Tacoma);

Albertson's Food Centers were starting to expand in the Tacoma/Pierce County communities. There were two Albertson's outside city limits: one in the Lakewood Square shopping center and the other in University Place. View of Lakewood Square's Albertson's Food Center also shows the trend of placing supermarkets in shopping centers; customers could then combine grocery shopping with additional browsings and parking would not be a problem. A Montgomery Ward outlet and a Singers store can be spotted close by. Albertson's followed the practice of posting specials on the storefront windows with apple pies selling for 49 cents, chickens at 33 cents a pound, TV dinners for 59 cents, and pork roasts for 29 cents a pound. Sepia photograph ordered by Loveless Brothers, Inc. , investment brokers, of Olympia.

Albertsons Food Center (Lakewood); Supermarkets; Signs (Notices);

Additional aerial photographs of the Tideflats area were requested by Malcolm McGhie and taken on January 3, 1958. Earlier photographs were taken about a month prior. Dash Point can be spotted protruding into the bay on the right with Vashon Island at the top of the photograph. St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co., who in August, 1957, became a subsidiary of St. Regis Paper Co., can be clearly seen towards the middle of the photograph including its loaf-shaped buildings. Its sawmill had provided 35% of the pulp mill's wood requirements. St. Regis is adjacent to its new subsidiary and to the upper right. The City Waterway is the body of water to the extreme left; new developments, with the removal of warehouses, shipbuilding, and mills nearly 45 years later have changed its landscape and revitalized the area.

Aerial photographs; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma); St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;

Work continues on the construction of a new plant for Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel in Seattle on January 3, 1958. The plant's steel frame is already in place while Lorain Cranes are employed to aid in further steel erection. Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel provided the steel necessary for many local projects, including the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge and Alaskan Way Viaduct. A series of progress photographs, some sepia-toned, were taken on behalf of Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel for later usage in the company's annual report. $25 million was allocated for the Seattle expansion program. This included new finishing facilities and two new 100-ton electric furnaces. (TNT ad 1-2-58, B-8)

Progress photographs; Building construction--Seattle--1950-1960; Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp. (Seattle); Steel; Hoisting machinery;

This was how Tacoma's Tideflats appeared from the air on January 3, 1958. The area was crowded with pulp and paper mills, lumber yards, log ponds and warehouses. Tacoma's easy access to rail and water made the transport of industrial and wood products a simpler process. View of, left to right, the City, Middle, St. Paul and Puyallup Waterways. The St. Regis plant was located on the finger between the Puyallup and St. Paul waterways in the buildings with the "L" shape. The St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber sawmill and buildings were close by, at the rear of the waterway in the loaf shaped buildings. In August 1957, St. Paul became an operating subsidiary of the St. Regis Paper Co. Photograph ordered by Malcolm McGhie.

Aerial photographs; St. Regis Paper Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);

New facilities of Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel make abundant use of its product during construction of the new steel plant in Seattle. Progress photographs were taken on January 3, 1958, for later usage in the company's annual report. Cranes would be used to hoist the steel trusses and joists. This construction was part of the $25 million dollar expansion program in Seattle. The first of two new 100-ton furnaces was already in operation; the furnaces would boost steelmaking capacity 70% to 420,000 tons annually. In addition, new finishing facilities were also part of the expansion program. Sepia photograph ordered by Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel. (TNT ad 1-2-58, B-8)

Building construction--Seattle--1950-1960; Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp. (Seattle); Steel; Hoisting machinery;

ca. 1958. Copy of customer's negative. Realizing that student population at Pacific Lutheran College would be greatly increasing in the near future, the Board of Trustees made plans for the buildings and facilities which would be needed to take care of these students. Among other additions and renovations was a proposed College Union Building addition, a social education annex providing more recreation facilities. This addition's cost was estimated at $75,000. The above architectural drawing was done by the firm of Johnson-Austin Associates. It appears that a new fellowship hall, called the Chris Knutzen Fellowship Hall, later opened in the CUB; the hall could be made into a large banquet room or divided with movable walls into three smaller meeting rooms. (1959 Saga yearbook, p. 219, TNT 3-12-58, B-2))

Architectural drawings; Universities & colleges--Tacoma; Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960; Johnson-Austin Associates (Lakewood);

ca. 1958. Aerial view of newly built County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Avenue South, circa 1958, and surrounding neighborhood. The building would be dedicated in April of 1959. Directly behind its left wing is the venerable Pierce County Courthouse, 1012 South "G" St., soon to be demolished and ground transformed into parking for the County-City Building. At left lower corner is the Tacoma Public Library, 1102 Tacoma Avenue South.

Aerial views; Aerial photographs; County-City Building (Tacoma); Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma); Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960;