Tag Archives: Photos
…Winning
Now & Then Photo Quest Winners
First of all, this was difficult, with 270 photo submissions by nine different people! And that’s not to mention the talent and creativity that was shown throughout. If you haven’t had a chance, visit the Photo Quest Flickr Group and check out all the photos. They are pretty amazing. In addition, throughout the week, I will be going back through all the Photos of the Day on our blog and embedding a slideshow of all the submissions for that day, as well as more info about the photo. Be sure to check those out! Continue reading »
…Snowy
Two winters ago, Seattle suffered through the Snowpocalypse. Last year was a very mild winter. This winter is predicted to be one of the coldest and snowiest ever. Being a history museum, this made us think of wintry storms of the past. The blizzard of 1950 hitSeattleparticularly hard, with snow, wind, ice and particularly difficult fuel situations.
Starting early in the morning on Friday, January 13, 1950, snow and wind battered the city, causing auto accidents (including one on what is now the I-90 floating bridge which through a man into Lake Washington, where he drowned.) By the 14th of January, 10 inches of snow had fallen in the city.
By the next day, the snow had slowed, but the cold set in. InSeattlethat meant lows in the low teens and highs barely reaching the mid-20s. Unfortunately, some healthy snowfall kept plans to flood wading pools in the city to create impromptu skating rinks from reaching fruition. That didn’t mean Seattleites didn’t enjoy the weather; sleds and snowmen abounded.
The night of the 18th saw warming temperatures and rain, but the rain froze on the surface of the snow, forming ice sheets that snarled traffic and closed schools. As the thaw continued, the city’s sewer system was inundated and flooded street.
And then it got cold again. Colder than the original cold snap. Seattle fell into the teens during the day and the single digits at night. Parts of Elliott Bay developed ice sheets.Lake Washington nearly froze over. The cold lasted more than a week before the temperature thawed the first week of February.
The photos featured here are from MOHAI’s collection and document one of the worst winters inSeattle’s history. Let’s hope our coming winter doesn’t approach the Blizzard of 1950.
…Always Changing
Flo's Original Kitchen Queens Band, 1957
MOHAI Photo Collections
A few weeks ago, I put up a Rainy Day Roundup of places online to find Seattle history photos. Of course, the online portion of MOHAI’s collection was prominently linked.
Our library staff and volunteers are continually adding new images and metadata (information that helps with searching) to our online photo collections. Here are a few examples, plus a link to a larger selection, that have been recently added. All come from MOHAI’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, which includes a wealth of imagery from the 1930s to 1950s.
Six Boys on Two Bicycles, Seattle, 1937
The complete collection of new photos can be seen Here:
To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@seattlehistory.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.
…Photographed
Rainy Day History Roundup
When I’m feeling in a particularly nostalgic mood, I like to browse through historic photos of Seattle. I can browse through of lot of them at MOHAI’s website, but there are a few other places I like to visit to see the places I love as they used to be.
