Remember that long-ago news event that made headlines way back, can’t remember exactly when, but it was something about a missing sailboat. Or you saw an art exhibit, decades ago at the Puyallup Fair and would like to browse through the catalogue once more. Tacoma Public Library’s Northwest Room’s clippings files may be just the…
Gerald Roslie, 1968
Gerald Roslie posed on September 26, 1968, casually leaning on his Vox Continental electronic organ. He was wearing a Nehru-styled jacket with brocade trim, coordinating brocade slacks, black ankle boots and a scorpion medallion. Billed as the "Gerry Roslie Riot," in September of 1968 he was appearing nightly and on Saturday nights in the newly…
Waiting for Willkie, 1940
When 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie stopped in Tacoma, both Frank Fletcher (left), age 5, and his brother Walt, age 3, were at the Northern Pacific Shops train yard to hear him. Willkie's September 1940 visit to Tacoma was the first campaign stop by a Republican presidential candidate in Tacoma in 24 years. goo.gl/pk2Zvo…
Fall Fashion, 1954
An elegantly dressed Mrs. Wallace Scott is draped with a luxurious fur wrap as she models for the Tacoma News Tribune's annual fall fashion layout. She is wearing a natural royal pastel mink "tripolero" cape as she poses near Don Harter's dry cleaning establishment at South 7th and Saint Helens Avenue on September 23, 1954…
History’s Mysteries: City Directories
Ever wonder who lived in your house before you? Or maybe you heard a rumor that a famous person lived at such and such address. Or you want to know the name of the establishment where your parents met, the one that once was next to your favorite bookstore. City and phone directories to the…
FDR visits Tacoma, 1932
This is what 9th and Broadway looked like in the late afternoon of September 20, 1932, as throngs of people strained to catch a glimpse of presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The democratic candidate's open vehicle can be seen in the midst of the crowd, led and followed by motorcycle police. Mr. Roosevelt had just…
Bunny Prizes at the Fair, 1940
On September 18, 1940, a young fair goer looked up with amazement as he was awarded his carnival game prizes: two inflatable bunny balloons, almost as big as himself. The unidentified boy was one of 42,500 people attending the 41st annual Western Washington Fair in Puyallup on Tacoma Day. In 1940, the fair ran from…
Just Below the Knee Club, 1947
Three unidentified women stand side-by-side while a fourth woman uses a hem marker to mark the skirt worn by one of the women for shortening. Tacoma women formed the "Just Below the Knee Club" in September of 1947 to battle the fashion industry's move to longer skirts. Members of the club felt that the new…
A Busy Teenager, 1972
In 1972, Wilson High School senior Joe Bartle kept himself busy with a vegetable garden that supplied friends and neighbors with zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, onions and potatoes. As a News Tribune article from September of that year reported, Joe had also just finished painting the family home, was planning to work weekends at a…
HeritageQuest: Featured eResource
Are you interested in genealogy? Tacoma Public Library offers access to thousands of records you can use for family history research. Check out HeritageQuest, a popular genealogy eResource you can access inside the library or from anywhere with your library card. HeritageQuest features several large collections with content from the US and beyond. Search for…
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