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Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
15 stories matching apron
- The Great Black Diamond Sewing Bee
In an era before high-tech entertainment, an industrial mining town turned a humble church fundraiser into a test of domestic skill—and a hilarious, needle-pricking contest for the men.
- The Kitchen Apron Rebellion
A satirical, gender-bending protest against the arrival of women's suffrage and the political rise of Jeannette Rankin.
- The Queen City Brass Band's High-Stakes Ballroom Dance
In an era of strict social decorum, a Seattle brass band hosts an 'apron and necktie' ball at the Court House, strictly barring 'disreputable characters' to fund their new uniforms.
- The Tragedy of the Hebrew Dramatic Club
A panicked crush at a local performance in Seattle leaves tragedy in its wake as crowds misinterpret an alarm.
- The Minstrel Show of High Society
Tacoma’s social elite perform in blackface for charity, reflecting the normalized racial appropriation of the 1890s.
- The Last Drop at Our Corner Saloon
A local saloon proprietor turns the tables on two armed robbers by pulling his own gun during a late-night hold-up.
- A Fight for the Right to a Shave in Pioneer Square
H. R. Cayton, editor of a Black Republican weekly, is thrown out of a barber shop after the proprietor demands an old debt, sparking a scuffle and a smashed window.
- The Dignity of the Oyster Bar
A young woman, destitute after her father's death, finds that the labor market is far more welcoming than her former social circle.
- Suspicious Boarding House Fire Under Investigation
A fire discovered in a Seventh Street boarding house basement, complete with kerosene-soaked bedding and abandoned documents, suggests a deliberate attempt at arson.
- A Late Night Kitchen Intruder
A panicked homeowner summons the fire department and police, believing a burglar is loose in his house—only to find his own servant girl.
- The Vanishing of Ida Peak: A Seattle Restaurant Girl’s Disappearance Sparks a Search
Ida Peak, a waitress at the New York Wafer House on Cherry Street, vanished after claiming she was visiting her sister in Bellevue. Her family is left with only rumors and a missing person's description.
- Seattle Buries Bailey Gatzert Under a Grave of Flowers
The ex-mayor, banker and merchant drew hundreds to the Rainier Hotel, where Masons, city officials and civic societies honored a pioneer.
- Seattle's Laundries Form a Combine—and Put the Squeeze on Drivers
Every major laundry in the city unites to end price-cutting, fix a uniform rate schedule, and hold delivery drivers personally liable for the goods they carry.
- The Pioneer Struggle to Pave Commercial Street
Before it was the bustling core of Pioneer Square, Seattle’s Commercial Street was a rough-hewn stretch of dirt and mud in dire need of basic infrastructure.
- The Moss-Cloaked Giants of Bay Center
A teacher’s letter from the Pacific Northwest frontier describes a landscape of colossal trees and lush undergrowth, challenging the myth of the harsh pioneer struggle.
Also about this, in other words
- The Tailor’s Basket: A Drunkard’s Violent Encounter with a Chinese Laundryman
In the tense racial climate of late-19th century Port Townsend, an intoxicated tailor attempted to pick a fight with a Chinese immigrant, only to be knocked unconscious by his own laundry basket.
- The Unseen Labor of a Male Housekeeper
A rare 1888 account reveals a 'male housekeeper' performing the exhaustive, often back-breaking daily labor typically expected of women, in a time when such roles were strictly gender-segregated.
- The Laundry Alibi
A Seattle laborer stands accused of a brutal hatchet attack, but his defense claims he was nowhere near the scene, pointing to his wife’s workplace as his only destination.
- A Close Call at the Buffalo Shingle Mill
A mill worker is lucky to keep his arm after a terrifying accident with a shingle saw.
- A Community Effort for Overseas Aid
Schools across Benton County unite to gather cast-off clothing for Near East Relief orphanages in Armenia, Syria, and Greece.
- The Hatchet-Wielding Cook Who Saved Her Pastor
An Episcopal clergyman’s tendency to deliver fiery lectures almost led to a bloody end until his cook intervened with a carving knife.
- The Rag, the Belt and the Flywheel: A Laundry Hand's Bad Monday
Ray Strong was wiping an engine belt he had no business touching when the cloth whipped him into a spinning flywheel. He was alive, unconscious at times, and the whole town was counting on his 'strong vitality.'
- The Brutal Reality of 'Assumption of Risk' in the Mills
A shingle sawyer loses his hand in a mill accident, only to have his lawsuit dismissed due to legal doctrines protecting corporations.