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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
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| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 3 |
50 stories matching peddl
- The Hidden Killer in Tacoma's West End
A local health inspector finds a dairy operating in conditions 'too filthy for belief,' threatening a typhoid epidemic for families across the district.
- The Gloves Scandal of Front Street
A bitter public dispute erupts in 1886 Seattle between dry goods merchants over the authenticity of French-imported kid gloves.
- The Mysterious Hardware Peddler
A man arrested at Front and Pike streets offers a flimsy excuse for the odd assortment of hardware in his possession.
- The Ghost Railroad Through Cowlitz Pass
Booster papers are peddling impossible surveys for a transcontinental line that exists only in the imagination of speculators.
- The Feeding Frenzy of 1889
Before the city’s meteoric rise, land developers in Seattle were already peddling the 'next big thing' across the water, promising smelters and shipyards to anyone with cash in hand.
- The Farmer and the One-Dollar Fee
A Stanwood farmer’s struggle to sell his own harvest in Seattle triggers an impromptu protest against city bureaucracy.
- The Fortune Teller's Change of Heart
A local clairvoyant, weary of peddling fake love charms to desperate women, finds an unexpected path to a simpler life.
- The Copper Bubble of 1899
A classic 'get rich quick' advertisement disguised as financial journalism, peddling stock in a speculative Seattle mining company.
- The Tramp Who Tried to Outsmart the Law
A wandering man thought he had convinced a police captain to buy him a free meal, only to find the ‘restaurant’ was the city jail kitchen.
- The 'Cast Iron' Registration of Chinese Residents
New, highly restrictive federal regulations under the Geary Act require Chinese laborers to register with the government, using photographs for 'complete identification.'
- The Tightening Grip of Exclusion
A new federal bill further complicates the lives of Chinese residents by redefining 'merchant' status and enforcing strict registration requirements.
- The Butter Swindler's Comeuppance
A clever farm wife turns the tables on a traveling salesman peddling a fraudulent 'miracle' churn.
- The Shadowy War for the Yesler Fortune
Attorneys, doctors, and secret witnesses clash in court over the lost will of a Seattle pioneer, exposing a trail of bribery and paranoia.
- The Book Agent's Quick Exit
A traveling book salesman avoids a long legal ordeal by pleading guilty and leaving town immediately.
- The Mystery of the 'Swamp Angel' and the Ship Olympia
A century-old newspaper advertisement disguised as a news report used the haunting tale of a lost vessel to peddle a patent medicine for rheumatism.
- The Fight to Keep Olympia's Public Works Money in Olympia
A local editor takes credit for shaming the city council into hiring home labor — and warns that out-of-town contractors are bleeding the capital dry.
- The 'Messenger' Drug Ring Exposed
Detectives charge that a Tacoma messenger service was a front for a widespread cocaine and morphine trafficking operation.
- The Great 'Puget City' Real Estate Scam
Promoters are peddling worthless 'paper towns' to investors by falsely claiming the Northern Pacific Railroad will build its western terminus there.
- The Milk War of Kennewick
A local columnist blasts City Council's new dairy ordinance, warning it will bankrupt farmers and drive the regional creamery business to rival towns.
- The Clam-Seller and the Street-Car: A Seattle Reckoning
When a man was killed by a train on a Seattle street, a bystander's callous comment sparked a confrontation that exposed the deep-seated tensions of the city's growing industrial landscape.
- The Struggle for the Curb: Seattle's 1892 Market Fight
A local letter to the editor highlights the class divide between city planners and the peddlers struggling to feed the city's residents.
- The Skagit Gold Rush Mirage
When the promise of easy riches on the Skagit River sparked a frantic, ill-fated mining boom, Seattle’s local press faced accusations of peddling a dangerous myth.
- The Wholesaler Tells the Growers the Truth: 'We Don't Love You'
Sixteen years in the Seattle commission trade and no patience left, R. Merchant tells a room of fruit growers that no middleman has ever cared about them — and that neat, uniform packing, not grievance, is the only thing that ever got a farmer paid.
- Who Should Keep Olympia's Money?
On the eve of the 1891 municipal election, a dozen anonymous Olympians argued over the city treasurer's race, a regular nominee, a new brick block, and a saloonkeeper's ten-dollar joke.
- A Missing Man, a Dead Wife, and a Sewing Machine Full of Money
Joseph Von Lingenau vanished after his wife died in childbirth. His friends fear murder; his neighbors remember a man coming apart.