Their feet resting on a snow bank, the employees of the Sepic Electric and Furniture Company store at 1301 South K Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Way) posed for a group portrait in February of 1950. Sepic's advertised that they had qualified, experienced employees in each and every department. They had recently completed a modernization of their store and had 10,000 square feet of floor space with complete stocks of both furniture and appliances, and a new floor covering department. Fred Sepic is seated in the front row next to a young woman employee, second from the left; Stan Sepic is seated second from the right. Ordered by Stan Sepic. (TNT, 2/14/1950, p.D-14) TPL-8364

Sepic Electric Co. (Tacoma); Furniture stores--Tacoma--1940-1950; Appliance stores--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Pickup trucks delivering small drums, Griffin Fuel Company, Otto Salverson. Heavy trucks were banned on county oil mat or gravel roads because of poor road conditions after winter damage. To provide needed fuel oil Griffin Fuel Company brought out an emergency "thaw" service with a fleet of pickup trucks served by tanker trucks stationed at strategic points to deliver oil to rural homes cut off by the ban.Two Griffin employees are placing a large drum in the back of a panel truck. (T.Times, 2/20/1949, p.36) TPL-9844

Griffin Fuel Co. (Tacoma)--Employees; Trucks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Streets--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Pickup trucks delivering small drums, Griffin Fuel Company, Otto Salverson. Heavy trucks were banned on county oil mat or gravel roads because of poor road conditions after winter damage. To provide needed fuel oil Griffin Fuel Company brought out an emergency "thaw" service with a fleet of pickup trucks served by tanker trucks stationed at strategic points to deliver oil to rural homes cut off by the ban. Seen here is a 1912 model White truck with a large barrel in the back being filled by Griffin employees. (T.Times, 2/20/1949, p.36) TPL-9960

Griffin Fuel Co. (Tacoma)--Employees; Trucks--Tacoma--1940-1950; White trucks; Streets--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Crowd at Selden's Rug Show, Selden's, Mrs. Selden. Selden's took part in the nationwide rug fashion show held in early March 1949. The carpet fashion show coincided with Selden's 9th anniversary. Two members of the staff hold a rug sample board and drapery fabric on the right.

Selden's, Inc. (Tacoma); Rugs;

Crowd at Selden's Rug Show, Selden's, Mrs. Selden. An organist plays while a member of Selden's staff shows rug and drapery samples to a crowd at Selden's rug show. Large rolls of carpeting hang against the far wall.

Selden's, Inc. (Tacoma); Rugs;

Mrs. Longstreth Curtis and four children, (l to r) Carolyn Ketring, Nancy Long, Jay Smalling and Penny Long, gaze in wonder and admiration at the "Snow Maiden" created by Tacoma sculptor Andrew Bergaloff in February of 1949. Mr. Bergaloff, a student of Kenn Glenn at the College of Puget Sound, had been hired by the Tacoma Junior League to chisel an ice statue to be used for a children's theater production of the Grimm story "The Snow Maiden." He created the statue in a zero degree room at the Tacoma Ice Company building at 2602 Holgate. The ice maiden was kept in storage until March when she was transported to the Temple Theater for unveiling. (T.Times, 2/20/1949, p.25) TPL-9389

Tacoma Ice Co. (Tacoma); Bergaloff, Andrew; Ice sculpture--Tacoma--1940-1950; Junior League (Tacoma); Curtis, Longstreth--Family; Ketring, Carolyn; Long, Nancy; Smalling, Jay; Long, Penny;

Selden's interior of model kitchen, Selden's, Mr. Plat. Selden's displayed a model kitchen showing all that was modern in post-war America at the end of the 1940s. An electric range and refrigerator stand side-by-side. Cupboards with a shiny, bright, white surface line two wals.

Selden's, Inc. (Tacoma); Kitchens--Tacoma--1940-1950; Stoves--Tacoma--1940-1950; Appliances; Refrigerators;

Seldens Rug Display, Times Display Ads, Dick Tilton. Walter Kelly, the rug buyer at Selden's, is showing customers the newest carpet fashions. Selden's had been specializing in floor coverings for years and had made extensive plans for celebrating the first annual National Carpet Fashion Week opening Marcn 1, 1949. (T.Times, 2/27/1949, p.6)

Selden's, Inc. (Tacoma); Rugs; Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1940-1950; Showrooms--Tacoma--1940-1950; Furniture stores--Tacoma--1940-1950; Home furnishings stores--Tacoma--1940-1950; Kelly, Walter;

Mystery Farm Winner, Mrs. O.H. Stevenson, Times, Frank Herbert. Mrs. O.H. Stevenson was the happy winner of the Tacoma Sunday Times "farm identification" contest. She is seen here accepting a cyprus azureum plant from L.H. McGuire, superintendent of Puget Sound Nursery and Garden Shop at 9201 Pacific Avenue. Mrs. Stevenson chose the plant from 10 acres of stock maintained at the nursery, known as "where you see the little house". The Stevensons had a 20 acre farm on Route 9, Orchard Road, where they raised some young stock and had laying hens. (T.Times, 2/13/1949, p.18)

Tacoma Times Publishing Co. (Tacoma); Puget Sound Nursery & Garden Shop (Tacoma); Contests; McGuire, L.H.;

This photograph of journalism students from Stadium High School was taken in February of 1949 in front of the Tacoma Times building at 919 Market Street. The Stadium High students assisted in all the departments to help get out the five daily editions of the Times. Stadium, Lincoln, Clover Park and Ballarmine each had an opportunity to have their journalism students work at the newspaper office during the spring. The students names are listed in the newspaper. (T.Times, 2/2/1949, p.1) TPL-10470

Tacoma Times Publishing Co. (Tacoma); Stadium High School (Tacoma); Teenagers--Tacoma--1940-1950; Students--Tacoma--1940-1950; Publishing industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Journalism--Tacoma;

Machinery at Northwest Door Company, American Marietta Co., Henry Presessor. Large bags of dry, powdered adhesives are placed near a mixer at Northwest Door Company. The bag in the foreground is being moved by an overhead carrier. The glues used in the manufacture of plywood gave it strength and, as non-soluble glues were developed, plywood became weatherproof.

Northwest Door Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Machinery; Lumber industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Plywood; Glue;

Crowd at Selden's Rug Show, Selden's, Mrs. Selden. A crowd of people stand outside at night looking in through Selden's showroom windows at the rug show. The company's neon sign spells the name of Selden's.

Selden's, Inc. (Tacoma); Rugs; Electric signs--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. The wholesale drug company had completed a new warehouse and offices on the Tacoma tideflats and were now stocking the 60,000 square feet of warehousing. The modern facilities were well lit. On the right can be seen their system for moving goods from the back of the warehouse in large tubs on a counter made of continuous rollers. Empty tubs could be returned to the back of the warehouse using an overhead conveyor.

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Warehouses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950;

The S.H. Kress & Co. store in Tacoma, 934 Broadway, advertised fresh, home-made, butter cream fudge for 30 cents per one-half pound for Valentines Day 1949. In their front window, heart shapes and stripes were made of suckers on a continuous tape. Several large pieces of fudge spelled out the name "Kress," and other candies were made into bouquets at the top and near the edges of the display. S. H. Kress closed their store on Broadway in 1972. (Photo for Martin Candy Inc., Edmonds, Washington)

S.H. Kress & Co. (Tacoma); Window displays--Tacoma--1940-1950; Candy--Tacoma--1940-1950; Valentines; Variety stores--Tacoma;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. The interior of the offices of the wholesale drug company. A view from the back of the common office area shows the entry to the building on one of the exterior corners. The entry way has been walled with glass-block to let available light into the offices. Conduits in the floor made it possible to install power, telephone, or inter-communication outlets at 30 inch intervals. (TNT, 2/15/1949, p.A-14)

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950; Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Office furniture; Office equipment & supplies;

This photograph of the Tacoma Drug Company warehouse at 1815 East D Street on Tacoma's tideflats was taken in February of 1949 shortly after the warehouse was completed; the vast area is crowded with a multitude of tables and boxes, including Bayer and Bromo Seltzer products. The Tacoma Drug Company was founded in 1925 by Chis F. Osmers. By 1949 the company had become one of the largest distributors of pharmaceutical products on the Pacific Coast. Their warehouse incorporated the latest technology so that orders could be filled quickly and efficiently. In 1951, under the corporate leadership of Fred C. Osmers, Tacoma Drug became part of the Northwest Drug Company; in 1984 the company was sold to Pay n' Save.

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Warehouses--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. The interior of the warehouse at the wholesale drug company showing the open shelving used to store the products handled by the company. The company carried 21,000 items from 1,260 manufacturers. (TNT, 2/15/1949, p.A-14)

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Warehouses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. The wholesale drug company had completed a new warehouse and offices on the Tacoma tideflats. This view shows the counter with continuous rollers that runs from the back of the warehouse to the front where shipping an order was handled.

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Warehouses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. The wholesale drug company had completed a new warehouse and offices on the Tacoma tideflats.The interior of one of the individual offices at the new facility. A bank of windows lines the outside wall and the windows are wired for an alarm system. A sign on the desk reminds everyone to "Think". The desk has stacked in and out bins. A copy of the current City Directory sits on the work table together with other books, a lamp and a calculator.

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950; Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Office furniture; Office equipment & supplies;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. A night-time view of the wholesale drug company warehouse and offices on the Tacoma tideflats. Glass-block was used as walls for the entry to the offices at Tacoma Drug. Large windows run in both directions from the corner entry. The alarm system wiring on the windows creates an interesting pattern.

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Warehouses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. The interior of the offices of the wholesale drug company showing their modern inventory and invoicing equipment housed in a sound-proofed room. The company used a punch card tabulating system for perpetual inventory control and preprinting invoices. This was the latest in equipment of its type and Tacoma Drug was the first drug firm in the northwest to employ this system. (TNT, 2/15/1949, p.A-14)

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950; Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Office furniture; Office equipment & supplies;

Tacoma Drug Company, interior and exterior of new offices, Tacoma Drug Co., Fred Osmers. The wholesale drug company had completed a new warehouse and offices on the Tacoma tideflats. This view of the interior of the offices shows two rows of desks running to the back of the large room. Individual offices with windows into the common area are on the left. The desks had space for telephone order taking, buyers and clerks. (TNT, 2/15/1949, P.A-14)

Tacoma Drug Co. (Tacoma); Medicines; Business enterprises--Tacoma--1940-1950; Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Office furniture; Office equipment & supplies;

Puget Sound Furniture Company was celebrating the grand re-opening of their furniture store in March of 1949. Ben Slotnick, owner, had planned a $100,000 remodeling and expansion project; the business had been at this location for 25 years. Interior view of the newly remodeled Puget Sound Furniture Company; showroom is fully stocked with everything customers may need for their homes (T. Times, 3/31/49, p. 4, 5).

Furniture stores--Tacoma--1940-1950; Showrooms--Tacoma--1940-1950; Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1940-1950; Home furnishings stores--Tacoma--1940-1950; Remodeling--Tacoma--1940-1950; Furniture; Appliances; Puget Sound Furniture Co. (Tacoma);

MGM's "Command Decision" featuring Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford, John Hodiak and Edward Arnold was playing at Tacoma's Music Box Theatre. A "Technicolor" cartoon, "The Cat Who Hated People" was the movie extra being featured. View of window display of jewelry and movie poster at The Diamond Shop on Broadway promoting the movie for the Music Box.

Jewelry stores--Tacoma; Motion picture posters; Motion pictures; Publicity; Advertisements--Tacoma; Merchandise displays--Tacoma; Diamond Shop (Tacoma); Music Box Theatre (Tacoma);

Exterior view of the American Building Maintenance Company; it was the largest janitorial contractors, janitor service, window cleaning, floor waxing and wall cleaning business. Scaffolding is set up on exterior of building, possibly for remodeling, the business is located next to Puget Sound Auto Electric Company; both businesses were located on South 7th Street and Pacific Avenue. Photo ordered by Universal Scaffold and Contractors Supply Company.

Scaffolding--Tacoma; Building construction--Tacoma; Signs (Notices); Street lights--Tacoma; Universal Scaffold & Contractors Supply (Tacoma); American Building Maintenance Co. (Tacoma);

Puget Sound Furniture has added a large store sign, invested more than $12,000 in plate glass and an elevator will be installed soon. The buildings additions were designed by architect Silas E. Nelson and built by the Ben Rome Company. The first 500 women to attend the grand re-opening celebration will receive gardenias. Exterior view of the newly remodeled Puget Sound Furniture Company, view of display windows (T. Times, 3/31/49, p. 4, 5).

Furniture stores--Tacoma; Electric signs--Tacoma--1940-1950; Remodeling--Tacoma; Window displays--Tacoma--1940-1950; Home furnishings stores--Tacoma; Furniture; Appliances; Puget Sound Furniture Co. (Tacoma); Silas E. Nelsen Architects (Tacoma);

Insurance photograph at 19th Street North, United Pacific Insurance. Mr. W.O. Seifert. A view of a residential street showing the curb and the mown area angling up towards a fence covered with a blooming vine. An alley leads off to the right and a garage and house sit on beyond. Other houses are shown across the road and a church with a bell tower is seen further on the left.

United Pacific Insurance Co. (Tacoma); Insurance companies--Tacoma; Residential streets--Tacoma; Sidewalks--Tacoma; Houses--Tacoma--1940-1950; Neighborhoods--Tacoma; Yards--Tacoma; Churches--Tacoma;

Interior and exterior view of new store, Ghilarducci's, Elbert Baker. A view of the interior of Ghilarducci's new florist shop showing the business office and cash register. A counter is located on the left where customers can make out cards to go with their flowers. The company advertised that they had three telephones to accept orders. The office has a file cabinet and safe against the far wall.

Ghilarducci's California Florists (Tacoma); Florist shops--Tacoma; Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Office furniture; Cash registers;

Interior and exterior view of new store, Ghilarducci's, Elbert Baker. A view into the walk-in refrigerated cut-flower cases. Ghilarducci's was owned and operated by Lorenzo Ghilarducci, better known as "Hobo Joe" and his son, Lawrence, "Gilly" to his friends. They had been serving Tacoma for 42 years. In addition to their retail store they had greenhouses in the Puyallup Valley. (TNT, 6/5/1949, p.B-12)

Ghilarducci's California Florists (Tacoma); Florist shops--Tacoma; Flowers--Tacoma;

A "Band Mill" built by I.W. Johnson Engineering Company. I.W. Johnson Engineering advertised they were complete sawmill designers and manufacturers of sawmill machinery. Ordered by Mr. Chuck Rowland. TPL-6629

I.W. Johnson Engineering Co. (Tacoma); Machinery; Milling machines--Tacoma--1940-1950; Machinery industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;