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64 stories matching mock
- The Riotous Mock Legislature of 1886
A railroad-backed lobby, frustrated by their political losses at the Olympia legislative session, staged a rowdy mock government to harass and demean King County representatives.
- A Mock Legislature and a Midnight Meltdown in Olympia
In the final hours of Washington's 1893 session, lawmakers cut a railroad freight rate, fought over a harbor commission, and staged a mock legislature as the clock struck midnight.
- The Great Welcome: Seattle Plans a 'Rousing' Ovation for Returning War Heroes
Mayor Humes and city officials rally behind a public subscription to fund fireworks, banquets, and even a mock battle at Lake Washington to greet the Washington Volunteers returning from Manila.
- The Conductor, the Widow, and the Mock Marriage
A streetcar conductor's scheme to juggle two fiancées collapses in a dramatic confrontation on a Seattle trolley.
- The University Revolt of 1892
A campus protest against mandatory military drills ends in a courtroom, where students face suspension and a professor takes to the chalkboard to mock them in verse.
- The Cleopatra of Tacoma and the 'Mock Marriage' Scandal
A prominent society man and insurance broker found himself at the center of a public scandal after a fake marriage to a theater 'box rustler' was exposed in Tacoma.
- The Mock Wedding Scandal
A Seattle bride files for divorce, revealing her husband tricked her into a sham ceremony before marrying her for real under the watch of a constable.
- The Cruelty of a Mock Marriage
A young woman is left destitute in Seattle after a man used a fake marriage ceremony to steal her savings and abandon her.
- The Kangaroo Court’s Cruel Joke
J.J. Sander, acquitted by insanity, was mocked by jailhouse 'kangaroo court' with forged love letters.
- The Sad Story of a Rancher's Heartbreak
After being jilted by his neighbor's daughter and mocked by locals, a Swiss rancher arrives in Seattle to mend his broken heart and his foot.
- A Mock Dress Parade at the Armory
Seattle militiamen trade drill precision for satire and pipe-mounted 'artillery' to the amusement of a capacity crowd.
- The Finley Grange's Mock Divorce Trial
A local organization stages a fake courtroom drama to serve as a closing act for a years-old, real-life legal grudge.
- The Open-Air Slumber of Seattle's Waterfront
When the summer heat turned tenement apartments into 'human lumber-boxes,' thousands of Seattle residents—men, women, and children alike—sought respite by camping overnight on the exposed, city-owned piers.
- The 'Deep, Dark, Damnable Conspiracy' Against Women’s Votes
In 1887, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer mocked the 'absurd' suspicion that the Territorial Supreme Court, the President, and local newspapers were conspiring to disenfranchise women through judicial appointments.
- The 1892 Race for Seattle: A City in Construction
As Seattle geared up for the 1892 mayoral election, local candidates debated debt, expansion, and the 'moral' cleanup of the city while the railroad industry reshaped the landscape.
- The Fever and the Fall: Life in a Frontier Boomtown
A vivid account of the psychological and physical intensity of rapid urban growth—and the devastating silence left behind when the bubble bursts.
- The Minstrel Show of High Society
Tacoma’s social elite perform in blackface for charity, reflecting the normalized racial appropriation of the 1890s.
- The Political Feud Over Adam Schmidt’s Perjury Conviction
A fiery local editorial clash exposes the bitter rift between competing political machines in Walla Walla.
- A Duel of Words in Olympia
A simmering political feud between an old soldier and a newspaper editor erupts into a public challenge to settle scores in the streets.
- The Tragedy of Martin Ware
A quiet citizen driven to suicide by the relentless taunts and cruel pranks of his social circle.
- The Employer's Trap: Spokane Laborers Mock Plan to Union-Bust
As local merchants and manufacturers plot a new association to counter union power, Spokane’s labor leaders see through the scheme, citing stable wages and predicting failure.
- The Great Debate: Freethought vs. Orthodoxy in Snohomish
A fiery public debate pits local skeptics against orthodox believers over the nature of God, the morality of the Bible, and the necessity of eternal hellfire.
- The 'Lingerer' and the Moral Purge of Tacoma
A fiery 1885 editorial spat reveals the tension between town boosters and a 'Law and Order' movement intent on policing the morality of the emerging city.
- The Political Battle for Washington’s Future
As Republicans rally in Olympia, party leaders McGraw and Winston defend their state financial management and launch sharp attacks against the rising Populist movement.
- The Ghost Funeral of Old Tacoma
When the municipal board of the newly consolidated Tacoma decided to spend their final surplus on a booze cruise to Seattle, the 'Queen City' prepared a mock-funeral reception that never materialized.
Also about this, in other words
- A Noisy Surprise for the Newlyweds
Local residents revive the old-fashioned 'charivari' tradition to celebrate a neighbor’s recent marriage with a cacophonous midnight parade.
- Political Heckling at the Madison Street Grounds
A local political orator attempts to rally support against the Post-Intelligencer's stance on silver coinage, drawing a crowd of 150.
- The Jailhouse Mimic
A soft-hearted jailer is driven to madness by what he assumes is a distressed feline, only to find a prankster in a cell.
- Mike O'Brien's Irreverent Grand Jury Testimony
A witness summoned regarding a city water scandal mocks the grand jury as a collection of the 'blind and the mangy.'
- The Funeral Faux Pas
A daughter’s confusion during a somber Seattle funeral creates a moment of awkward levity in the midst of mourning.
- The Telephone Dust Prank
A creative hoax in a small town fooled local housewives into wrapping their telephones in rags to 'blow out the dust.'
- The Jury's Defiant Verdict
A Port Townsend courtroom is stunned when a jury ignores the judge's instructions and acquits a defendant, leading to an immediate judicial rebuke.
- The Practical Joke of the Frontier
A settler’s terrifying encounter with two armed Indigenous men concludes not with the massacre he feared, but with a surreal—and expensive—demanding of his household supplies.