Tacoma Public Library in Washington

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1958

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On March 30, 1958, customers flocked to the new Sears farm and garden store at 8720 South Tacoma Way, near the outskirts of Tacoma, to examine the products on sale. Besides the usual appliances and televisions, customers could peruse garden items, farm equipment, pet supplies, and place catalog orders. Kenmore floor sample washers and dryers could be purchased at a reduced price with no payments due until June 1st. Several browsers checked out the merits of the appliances while others were more interested in buying a 16 inch chain saw for $149.88. The pet shop portion of Sears was located to the rear of this photograph with tropical fish apparently on display. 

 

 

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1941

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 Interiors of the appliance department of the new Sears store in Bremerton. Photograph ordered by the Bremerton Sun. New Coldspot refrigerators can be seen on the back wall. In the center, are new washing machines with wringers on top. Radios sit on shelves on the left. Sears was in business at this location from around 1940-1985.

 

 

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1932

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"Trade Sales" display in Bon Marche' window featuring Conlon kitchen appliances, two wringer washing machines and a mangle.

 

 

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1932

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Hopper-Kelly Company, circa 1932. Window display of Conlan washer and mangle iron being "used" by two cardboard cut-out housewives. McDonald's Shoe Co. is next door left. "945" in tilework at entrance to Hopper Kelly. 

 

 

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1935

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Hopper-Kelly Company, Electrical Appliance Dealers. View along sidewalk in front of store, showing neon sign with firm name and washing machine, and the words "Washers" and "Radios". Hopper-Kelly had 2 locations, 764 Broadway and 761 St. Helens Ave. The store sold household appliances, radios and pianos.

 

 

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1935 (NEON WRINGER!!!)

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This 1935 neon sign for the Hopper-Kelly Company appliance store features a logo of a wringer washing machine and the words "washers" and "radios." The 1935 City Directory lists the company at 764 Broadway and 761 St. Helens Ave. The store sold household appliances, radios and pianos.

 

 

[lebron]

Wow these photos are awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

[classiccaprice]

No problem!  

 

In reply 21, Does anyone have a maytag display wringer which shows the agitation?

 

It would bug me if I bought the house in Reply 16 and they didn't have the matching washer and dryer... I realize they are all Westinghouse, but just saying.

 

[launderess]

Where's Endora When We Need Her?

Oh imagine if one could "twitch" up all those lovely NIB vintage appliances?

The well equipped kitchen has changed so much. In the Saxon photo towards the front under the counter display am sure those are coal buckets. While they could make good planters or some such today does anyone still haul coal?

 

[mickeyd]

Priceless pics.

Robert has the clear tub Tag with the no-post Gyrator.

 

[bajaespuma]

What a trip!!!!!

Thank you for posting these gems. I will have wallpapers for years to come.

 

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1951

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Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Robinson at home. Couple are washing dishes in kitchen; she is washing, he is drying. Metal kitchen cabinets. Photograph taken in September of 1951.

 

 

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1951

This photograph appeared February 28, 1951 in a News Tribune article headlined "Tots' Togs Imitate Grownups." Sue Florence, at 2 1/2 years old, is learning how to help with the after dinner duties. Sue and her mother, Helen (Mrs. Robert W.) Florence are wearing matching house frocks with puffed sleeves, ruffles and bows.

 

 

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1969

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View of kitchen and appliances found in manufactured home. A large G.E. refrigerator, stove and dishwasher were included in the new manufactured homes located in Federal Way's Westway housing development. There was plenty of cabinet space, attractively constructed of wood, available in the spacious kitchen area. Photograph ordered by McMullen Marketing Associates, Bellevue.

 

 

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1954

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 Advertised as the "World's Most Amazing Dishwasher", the Dishmaster, which sold for $49.50, had an exhibition booth at the 1954 Tacoma Home Show held in the College of Puget Sound Fieldhouse. Also on display in the S.L. Rowland model home built for the Home Show, the Dishmaster could be installed on any sink. Interested home show visitors examine the dishwashers which attached to the kitchen faucet, and was basically a sink spray attachment with a brush head; an unidentified sales representative is demonstrating the "Scraping Time" feature which was prominently advertised. 

 

 

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1932

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For 17 years Al Pentecost, general foreman at the Milwaukee shops, had kept a single bottle of Rainier pale beer on ice in his ice box. He had purchased a case of the beer in 1915 before Washington State went dry. Only a single bottle remained of the case which Mr. Pentecost faithfully kept cool, replacing the ice frequently. With State Initiative 61 effective on December 8, 1932, repealing the bone dry law, Mr. Pentecost decided to finally crack open the beer bottle. He proclaimed it as good as the day he bought it with plenty of suds. Mr. Pentecost resided at 3708 North Madison St.

 

 

 

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1935

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Display of gas home appliances at the Tacoma Hotel for the Washington Gas and Electric Company. Sign stating "Gas is Best" on far wall. Columns are topped with ornate carvings of sea creatures, mermaids and faces. The wall clock is inside a ship's wheel. Upper walls are decorated with stencilling and antlered animal heads. Exposed beams and dark wood give the room a heavy, dark look. Dark leather chairs and sofas are scattered about. Appliances displayed are cook stoves, water heaters and refrigerators.

 

 

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1935

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Display of gas home appliances at the Tacoma Hotel, for the Washington Gas and Electric Company. Sign reading "Gas is Best" on far wall. Columns are topped with ornate carvings. Appliances displayed are water heaters, refrigerators and cook stoves.

 

 

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1939

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Mrs. Joyce Syford holds a package of Dewkist fresh frozen baby lima beans which she is ready to place in the freezer compartment of her Hotpoint refrigerator in this photograph from November 1939. Her refrigerator is filled with neatly wrapped packages, and bowls with bowl covers. Note the small bottle of Olympic Dairy cream on the top shelf.

 

 

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1952

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Interior exposure of mannequin and refrigerator for Sears and Roebuck. A mannequin in an apron and fold out penguins advertise the newest Coldspot refrigerator at Sears. The refrigerator has a serve shelf- bonus space in the door to store small foods, a chiller- extra cold storage for meats and a crisper and "vegedrator"- to keep fruits and vegetables firm and flavorful. All three innovations are still used on modern refrigerators.

 

 

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1952

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Spring window display at Cunningham's Electric House at 2803 6th Ave. The store sold household appliances and was owned by Grant T. Cunningham. The window features the newest in Frigidaire refrigerators and ranges, amidst window decorations of crepe paper and spring flowers. The refrigerator has a built in freezer and "cycla-matic" defrosting.

 

 

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1951

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Exterior view of Selden's of Lakewood. Large plate glass windows display Selden's merchandise in the Selden's of Lakewood new store located in the new addition to the Lakewood Community Center. The November, 1951, photograph shows floor coverings, stoves and refrigerators in the Colonial style brick building. Sydney C. Selden, Jr., son of Selden's Inc. founder, Sydney C. Selden, Sr., was the president of Selden's of Lakewood. He began his career in the family business as an apprentice before becoming credit manager. Selden, Sr., saw the business expand from five employees to 180 with stores in Tacoma, Longview, Chehalis, Olympia, and now Lakewood.

 

 

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1951

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A Sears, Roebuck employee demonstrates a new television console to a young Tacoma family in August, 1951. A similar television with rectangular screen is on sale for $259. Sears was having a sale on household appliances and furnishings with low down payments advertised. A sign on the wall indicates that a 15% down payments would be accepted. Several refrigerators are lined up just a few short steps away

 

 

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1936

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In July of 1936, Crawford's Radio Shop, 207 Pacific Ave. in Bremerton, had a very special window display consisting of a Kelvinator refrigerator, penguins, and South Pole scene. The refrigerator was one of two used by Admiral Richard E. Byrd to store biological supplies during a two-year scientific exploration, 1933-1935, of the Antarctic. He spent most of the winter of 1934 alone in a meteorological hut some 100 miles into the interior. 

 

 

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1949

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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.

 

 

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1948

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Tacoma Boat. A view of the interior of the "Defiance" featuring the end of the galley where the crew would take their meals. The large table has a high edge to keep items from sliding off the table when the boat shifted due to waves and winds. The large 2-door refrigerator is seen on the left. There are plenty of cubbies for storage against many of the walls

 

 

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1958

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A large series of photographs on Puget Sound businesses were taken on behalf of Teleradio Advertisers for KTVW. These included automobile dealerships, beauty salons, restaurants, music stores and pharmacies. In this 1958 photograph, an appliance salesman is showing a customer the latest in a Norge refrigerator. The doors on this Norge opened to the right, showing adequate freezer space, and a large refrigeration area, including movable shelves. Milk and other bottled items could be stored inside the door. A Kelvinator freezer nearby is on sale for $419.95, a savings of $150. This possibly could be the Sunset Appliance Co. store. 

 

 

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1955

***What a Cool Refrigerator!***

 

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A beaming unidentified man helped himself to a six-pack of Heidelberg from the serve-yourself refrigerator at the Park Way Delicatessen & Tavern at 313 North I Street on June 7, 1955. The Park Way operated at this location from 1951-1957 and was owned by Al Moody. A counter and stools and a neon sign for Columbia Ale can be seen behind the man. The refrigerator is in the novelty shape of a floor-to-ceiling bottle and holds ice-cold 7up, Bubble Up, Nesbit, Pepsi-cola, Old Colony, Coca-Cola, Can-a-Pop Grape, Heidelberg beer and Squirt. This is currently the location of the Parkway Tavern.

 

 

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1955

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A man points at the bottles inside the serve-yourself refrigerator at the Park Way Delicatessen & Tavern. The Park Way operated at this location from 1951-1957 and was owned by Al Moody. A counter and stools and a neon sign for Columbia Ale can be seen behind the man. The refrigerator is in the novelty shape of a bottle and holds 7-Up, Bubble up, Nesbit, Pepsi-Cola, Old Colony, Coca-Cola, Can-a-Pop Grape, Heidelberg beer and Squirt.

 

 

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1952

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Emily J. Gallucci is washing up a few dishes in the kitchen while husband Joseph and their four children, John, Joe, Ronnie, and Louise, are just finishing eating in the dining nook next door. The kitchen has a Hotpoint refrigerator and gleaming metal cabinets.