Tacoma Public Library in Washington

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

1951

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

9986.jpg
 
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.

 

20214.jpg
 
1969

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

32302.jpg
 
1954

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

 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. 

 

23602.jpg
 
1932

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

 

23258.jpg
 
1935

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

508.jpg
 
1935

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

507.jpg
 
1939

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

7844.jpg
 
1952

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

21910.jpg
 
1952

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

21754.jpg
 
1951

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

21518.jpg
 
1951

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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

 

20397.jpg
 
1936

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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. 

 

3148.jpg
 
1949

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

17679.jpg
 
1948

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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

 

15721.jpg
 
1958

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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. 

 

26016.jpg
 
1955

***What a Cool Refrigerator!***

 

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

24171.jpg
 
1955

<strong style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 12px;">[COLOR=#006699; font-size: x-small] [/COLOR]</strong>

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.

 

24634.jpg
 

Latest posts

Back
Top