Pike from First (1930 and 2010)
This ran as a Seattlest Re:Take.
The old photo was taken in late 1930, a year into the the Great Depression. Stores along Pike Street were getting creative to draw in customers.
James & Merrihew, with a billboard on the left, ran a great promotion in 1930. They had a baby photo exhibit, free to visit. Visitors would vote on the cutest baby. And during the exhibit they also had visitors pose their babies for free to be in the next photo contest.
Owl Drug, visible on the right at the corner of First and Pike, merged with United Drug Corp in 1930. They also had a representative of the G. F. Willis drug company in-store throughout the year. The Sargon Man, as he was known, sold the miracle cure Sargon which took care of insomnia, incontinence, general weakness, and all kinds of other stuff. It came with Sargon Soft Mass Pills, and one ad said "Since taking the Sargon Pills my bowels are regular and my liver is not sluggish like it was, nor do those awful dizzy attacks worry me like they did." The Federal Trade Commission cracked down on Sargon after it was revealed to be grain alcohol and the pills a simple laxative.
Proctor's, with the large electric sign on the left, was an aberration. Harry Proctor had been involved in a number of clothiers in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland -- and some gold prospecting in Alaska in between. In July of 1930 he opened up this store, with the ostentatious riff on the Paramount sign up the street. His store was a rare story of success during the Great Depression, and he finally sold it in 1938 due to age and illness.
Today the photography ad is replaced by beer. We no longer have to hide our alcohol in patent medicines now that Prohibition is over. And Proctor's is the new Hard Rock Cafe, another welcome sign of positive business expansion.
Baby winner example, 7/6/1930 p 62
Owl merger 1/7/1930 p 21
Sargon 2/25/1930 p 11
Proctor 8/13/1930 ST p9
Pike from First (1930 and 2010)
This ran as a Seattlest Re:Take.
The old photo was taken in late 1930, a year into the the Great Depression. Stores along Pike Street were getting creative to draw in customers.
James & Merrihew, with a billboard on the left, ran a great promotion in 1930. They had a baby photo exhibit, free to visit. Visitors would vote on the cutest baby. And during the exhibit they also had visitors pose their babies for free to be in the next photo contest.
Owl Drug, visible on the right at the corner of First and Pike, merged with United Drug Corp in 1930. They also had a representative of the G. F. Willis drug company in-store throughout the year. The Sargon Man, as he was known, sold the miracle cure Sargon which took care of insomnia, incontinence, general weakness, and all kinds of other stuff. It came with Sargon Soft Mass Pills, and one ad said "Since taking the Sargon Pills my bowels are regular and my liver is not sluggish like it was, nor do those awful dizzy attacks worry me like they did." The Federal Trade Commission cracked down on Sargon after it was revealed to be grain alcohol and the pills a simple laxative.
Proctor's, with the large electric sign on the left, was an aberration. Harry Proctor had been involved in a number of clothiers in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland -- and some gold prospecting in Alaska in between. In July of 1930 he opened up this store, with the ostentatious riff on the Paramount sign up the street. His store was a rare story of success during the Great Depression, and he finally sold it in 1938 due to age and illness.
Today the photography ad is replaced by beer. We no longer have to hide our alcohol in patent medicines now that Prohibition is over. And Proctor's is the new Hard Rock Cafe, another welcome sign of positive business expansion.
Baby winner example, 7/6/1930 p 62
Owl merger 1/7/1930 p 21
Sargon 2/25/1930 p 11
Proctor 8/13/1930 ST p9