Category: Tacoma History

In 1955 Kaiser Aluminum decided there was no better way to promote safety on the job than to have models—in bikinis—demonstrate proper equipment handling. That’s how the woman seen in the photo below came to pose holding a gas hole bar while wearing fireproof covers over her shoes, thick gloves, safety glasses, a hard hat,…

It’s now been 78 years since the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed, but it was just a handful a months ago one local resident discovered he’s now living in the former home of one of the most notable figures from that day. During the process of remodeling, owner Ben Strutin discovered Leonard Coatsworth’s car insurance…

Parking in downtown Tacoma wasn’t any easier in the late 1930s than it is today. In fact, that decade was filled with disputes between shop owners who wanted spaces to be available for customers and “parking hog” employees that stayed all day. After years of fighting in city hall, 1,200 meters were installed during the…

Every 60 years or so the tale of Tacoma’s electrified version of the Loch Ness Monster manages to find a way to be told once more. Here, we present the 1960 retelling of the event that terrified local fisherman in 1893, as found filed away in the Tacoma Public Library’s Northwest Room archives… Sunday, August…

Well before the online era, promoters and performers went to great lengths to capture the attention of Tacomans. A look back at some of the creative lengths businesses, and the city itself, have gone to as catalogued and in the Tacoma Public Library‘s online archives… On April 27, 1915, the Tacoma Publicity Committee sponsored a race…

From the ‘you can’t make this stuff up files’ comes a look back at the 1955 Tacoma Home Show, where there was plenty for guests to see at the College of Puget Sound’s field house (now the University of Puget Sound).