Tag Archives: music

…Full of Missed Opportunities

The Paystreak at the A-Y-P, where the Dixieland Troupe played.

Did you know Seattle’s legendary rock musician Jimi Hendrix wasn’t the only performer in the Hendrix clan to work in Seattle? Ross and Zenora “Nora” Hendrix, Jimi’s paternal grandparents came to Seattle for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition (A-Y-P) in 1909. Though each had talent to burn and big dreams, none of them found the professional opportunities or freedom of movement they hoped for, and eventually left not only Seattle, but the US to pursue their lives elsewhere. Continue reading »

…Tickling the Ivories

Thursday Hidden Treasure

Seattle’s First Piano(?)

Brought Here in the Late 1870s by Mr. David Kellogg as a Gift to His Wife

Note: Dark mahogany wood construction, wood lace design, maroon silk backing, porcelain castors, octagonal legs.

From Catalog Card: Piano. Plate “Seattle’s 1st piano, brought here in the late 1870′s by Mr. David Kellogg as a gift to his wife Anna”, upright, dark mahagony stain, wood lace design with maroon silk backing in front, Royal London Model, mnfd. by Ralph Allison and Sons, London, covered keys, yellowed keys, torn silk backing.

In the Seattle City Directory, D. Kellog was listed as a bookkeeper at corner of 4th and Columbia. From directories of 1885 and 1886 he was manager of Puget Sound Hide Co, wool pullers, dealers in wool and tanners, on Yesler’s wharf. Residence was South East corner of 5th and Madison. 1889 through 1891 directories show that Kellog, D & Co. owned by D. Kellog and A.E. Goetz, hide dealers and tanners and their factory in Fremont on Lake Union. Their office was on Yesler’s Wharf, with his residence at 5th and Madison. In 1894 and 1895 city directories, he was manager of Yesler Wood, Coal and Lumber Co. on Yesler’s Wharf. In 1897-1900 he was in the real estate business with offices in the New York Block. Home still was at 426 Madison Street.

Piano was gift of donor’s father, David Kellogg, to his wife Anna. Donor asserts piano was “Seattle’s 1st.” Review of accession file and biographical research of David Kellogg, however, appears to refute donor’s claim.

David Kellogg born in Maine in 1835. His family moved to Illinois in 1847, and David moved to Chicago in 1851. From 1856-57 he was quite active in abolitionist activities related to admission of Kansas to the Union. From 1857-59 he spent time traveling across America, spending documented time in Memphis, Tennessee, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Boston, Massachusetts. In July 1859 he left Boston, Massachusetts and arrived in San Francisco, California in November 1859. From there he left for Victoria, British Columbia in 1861 and eventually landed in Seattle in 1862. In 1862-63 he founded Kellogg Brothers Drug Store with his brother Gardner Kellogg, who later became Seattle’s first auditor, postmaster, fire chief, and fire marshal. In 1863 David returned to Chicago, where found work as a traveling salesman. In 1868 he married Anna Tull of Monroe, Michigan and then returned to Seattle. From 1868-79 he worked for Yesler & Co., and in 1886 he founded Seattle Hide & Leather Co. Some of David Kellogg’s manuscripts (dated 1852-1916) are stored in the Sophie Frye Bass Library at MOHAI.

Thursday Hidden Treasure highlights artifacts in MOHAI’s collection that are not on everyday display.

…Black and Tan

Sunday Quote

“At the southeast corner of the intersection of 12^thand Jacksonstands a one-story brick building which formerly housed the Black and Tannightclub, an after-hours club which was known coast to coast for its superbjam sessions. It was a favorite gathering place for local musicians as well asfamous visiting artists traveling the theater circuits. Musicians such as DukeEllington, Sarah Vaughn, Louis Armstrong, and Lionel Hampton came to the clubto play sets after performing in downtown performance halls. 

The building at this corner, and those which formerlyoccupied the half-block directly across the street at the northeast corner,were owned by Russell ‘Noodles’ Smith, a well-known sporting figure in Seattlein the first part of the 20^th century. 

Smith came to Seattle about 1907, after parlaying fivedollars into seventeen thousand dollars in a weekend of gambling at Goldfield,Nevada. The origin of his nickname ‘Noodles’ remains a mystery.  He was a hard-headed businessman, tirelessworker for the rehabilitation of young African American men who had been inprison, and a philanthropist. A local newspaper reported in his obituary thathe supported fifty families during the Great Depression of the 1930s, althoughmuch of his philanthropy was performed anonymously. 

Smith operated the Golden West Hotel, which once stood at 710 7^th Avenue,and the Coast Hotel at 9^th and King, which was demolished for theconstruction of the I-5 Freeway. After the 1930s Smith retired from the hotelbusiness, but he operated the Ubangi nightclubwith its African décor and lavish floor show and revue at the old Golden Westat the same time he operated the Little Harlem nightclub and cabaret, and the Blackand Tan. During the late ‘20s and ‘30s, Smith’s uptown Little Harlem Clubbroadcast a short jazz program to radio cabs tuned to a certain frequency. 

Smith had an amicable relationship with the Downtown establishmentuntil the 1926 election of Seattle’sfirst female mayor, reform candidate Bertha Landes. In fact, some of thedowntown businessmen are said to have frequented his place. Up until theelection he had operated gaming tables at the Golden West, often for highstakes. Bu the reformed-minded mayor soon began cracking down on such activities,and his business was raided repeatedly. Declaring that he was ‘not going towork for that old woman,’ he shut down the tables, and he never had any use forthe ‘lady mayor.’

Taken from Calabash: A Guide to the History, Culture & Art of African Americans in Seattle and King County, Washington by Esther Hall Mumford. The quote discusses the lively nightclub scene focusing on 12^th and Jackson.


Calabash is available at our giftshop or at the UW Bookstore.

…Music and Dancing

Thursday Hidden Treasure

Isn’t this a fantastic name for a song?

Selections From the Morrison Music Company Sheet Music, Recordings and Other Material, 1920-1983

1-37c: Music composed by Alice, Nellie (Morrie’s sister), Morrie or Lew Morrison
39 items
Some of the songs are written by one of the Morrisons and another composer.
Includes the sheet music for Alice Nadine Morrison’s “My Love Is All For You,” a waltz that became locally popular and was reissued by the Chicago-based sheet music company Forster Publishing (see folder 1/3). The song became a nation-wide hit which eventually sold a half-million copies. Also includes the music for “Love’s Ship,” which sold a reported one million sheet music copies and was included in the score for the 1920 movie Shore Acres; and the music for the show “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” produced by Morrie Morrison. Also includes the orchestration for “Under the Moon of Tahiti,” by Alice Nadine Morrison and Abe Brashen (1945) and professional sheet music copies.

Selection of Songs from the Morrison Music Co.

The ‘Big Red Apple’ was  also a dance.

The dance instructions were on the back.

A close up of the dance instructions.

Howell O. “Morrie” Morrison (1888-1984) and Alice Nadine Morrison (1892-1978) created the Pacific Northwest’s first local popular music empire, the Morrison Music Company. The Morrison’s business began as a sheet music publication company, capitalizing on the success of Alice’s hit songs, the royalties from which provided the company’s start-up capital. The sheet music company evolved into a series of family-run business enterprises which included dance studios, instrumental groups, a recording and record manufacturing business, and a film production endeavor, under such names as: Morrison’s Marimba Xylophone Orchestra, Morrison’s Dancing Academy, Morrie’s Musical Comedy Co., and Morrison Music Company, Electronic Recorders and Associates.



Though the Morrison’s son Lew and grandson Ken carried on the professional music legacy, the Morrison music empire came to an end after the deaths of Alice and Morrie Morrison in 1978 and 1984.

Information about the company: HistoryLink.org

Thursday Hidden Treasure highlights artifacts in MOHAI’s collection that are not on everyday display.

…A Surprise

Friday Hidden Treasure

Ticket to Mudhoney/Nirvana concert, 1992:

Seattle grunge band Nirvana played, unannounced, immediately prior to Mudhoney at this concert. It was at the height of the grunge music movement.

Donor submitted this information at the time of donation (information has been condensed; for complete version see file): “I bought this ticket in September, 1992. I was a freshman at Western Washington University, and I was really into the whole “grunge” music scene. Western had a lot of great, cheap concerts over the years, but this one was special. First, it was an election year, and Bill Clinton was trying to unseat George Bush so registered voters got a special $4 price tag. But mainly, it was Mudhoney! For $4, amazing! I went to the show with my suite-mates and waited patiently through two local Bellingham bands. Then it was time for Mudhoney. First the singer came out. I thought to myself, man, Mark Arm kind of sucks, he’s got the same haircut that Kurt Cobain had in the MTV interview I saw a couple of days ago. Then the drummer came out. Then the bassist came out, a tall, lanky guy with long hair. And suddenly it hit me: this is not Mudhoney. This is Nirvana! I started screaming, jumping up and down as high as I could: “IT’S NIRVANA!!!!” and people were looking at me like I was nuts, trying not to get hurt. I don’t know if I was the only one that recognized them, but certainly no one around me caught on. Finally, with no introduction or announcement they struck their first chord and after maybe half a minute word and tone spread through the crowd and everyone figured it out and went crazy.”

Friday Hidden Treasure highlights artifacts in MOHAI’s collection that are not on everyday display.

…Jazzed

Thursday Hidden Treasure


2009.69.1 “Seattle Beat” record with album cover, produced locally for the World’s Fair, 1961 Continue reading »