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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
35 stories matching robe
- The Electric Robe Wars: A Spokane Doctor’s Patent Battle in Walla Walla
Two physicians engage in a public spat over who invented the 'electric bath robe,' turning a local newspaper's letters page into a courtroom for medical innovation.
- The Electric Robe Wars: A Spokane Doctor’s Threat and a Walla Walla Professor’s Defense
In the early days of electrical therapy, two men clashed over patents and health claims in the pages of the Evening Statesman.
- The Patent War Over the Electric Bath Robe
A public spat between a Spokane physician and an local 'professor' reveals the cutthroat market for pseudo-scientific wellness devices.
- A Banker, a Stolen Watch, and a Servant Girl’s Accusation
Herman L. Chase—already accused of assaulting his servant girl—is arrested in Tacoma after a silk robe and gold watch vanish from a hotel. His friends cry blackmail.
- The Lumbermen Who Worshipped a Black Cat
Seattle initiates into the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, a new fraternal society for lumbermen, complete with black robes, mock titles and a banquet.
- The Jailbird Who Refused to Leave
After serving sixty days for grand larceny, a Seattle man found freedom so underwhelming that he immediately tried to steal his way back into a cell.
- She Rode 2,000 Miles from Wisconsin to Seattle — Alone, in a Dress
Emma Larson, a 31-year-old Seattle woman, crossed the continent on horseback with only her mare Kitty for company, sleeping under the stars and going days at a stretch on nothing but water.
- The Poet-Waiter Who Drowned in Seattle Harbor
C. W. Chantrell came from a noble French family and carried a love poem in his pocket. He died broke, alcoholic, and alone on the steamer Idaho—and Seattle's coroner called it an accident.
- When General Sherman Told Spokane Falls It Would Be a Great City
The Civil War hero arrived with Generals Miles and Tidball, drew a packed house at Canaan's Hall, and told the young town its water power could make it another Minneapolis.
- The Roslyn Mine Disaster of 1892
A devastating gas explosion in the Roslyn coal mines claims 44 lives, leaving a community in grief and raising questions about industrial safety.
- The Suffragist in the Hall: How One Woman’s Plea Shook Washington’s Constitutional Convention
In the sweltering heat of 1878, a delegation from Seattle petitioned the territorial convention for women's voting rights. Mrs. Dunaway was invited to speak, delivering an eloquent appeal that momentarily softened the hearts of the 'sage' delegates before the vote closed.
- Two Preachers, One Real-Estate Boom, and a Referee’s Biblical Burn
In 1892 Seattle, ministers sold Ravenna Park lots from the pulpit—then sued each other over the commissions.
- The Final Preparation at the Grand Pacific Hotel
A Kentucky native obsessed with order cleanses himself and meticulously arranges his affairs before ending his life.
- The Opium Dream of Lee Fook Bow
After surviving a suicide attempt on a train, a Chinese man is convinced he has died, visited heaven, and been reborn as a different man.
- Seattle's Church Basketball Rivalry Was Already a 500-Person Spectacle in 1895
St. Mark's Episcopal beat First Baptist 4–2 at the YMCA gym, in a game so physical that a few spectators objected.
- Barristers Take the Field for Charity
Tacoma lawyers traded their robes for uniforms to play a baseball game for the benefit of the Roslyn miners.
- The Dedication of St. Joseph's Hospital
Bishop Junger officiates the opening of a state-of-the-art infirmary meant to serve the sick regardless of creed.
- The Queen Anne Fire That Nearly Took Mrs. Geddes
A lamp explosion before dawn sent Professor Geddes into a smoke-filled house to rescue his unconscious wife.
- The Cold Night’s Lesson: A Dream of Seattle Charity
In an 1889 holiday-season allegory, a young girl is taken on a spectral tour of Seattle's elite charity ball, only to discover the cruel indifference hidden beneath the city’s performative philanthropy.
- A Sinking Buggy, a Borrowed Team, and a Reservation About to Open
In 1892 a newspaperman packed his wife and infant into a rickety buggy to cross the soon-to-open Colville Reservation, fording the Kettle River and leaning on Native families along the way.
- The Judge Who Kept His Robes
A House committee found Spokane's Judge Jesse Arthur 'grossly improper' for the bench. The legislature then voted 21 to 47 to drop the whole matter.
- Night Fire on C Street: Tacoma's Laundry Goes Up in Flames
A predawn blaze destroys the Tacoma Steam Laundry and nearby shops, sending two women into the street in their nightclothes.
- The Seal-Skin Obsession: Why Seattle Ladies Wear More Fur Than Any Other City
A local furrier reveals that the city's obsession with expensive sealskin sacks is driven by climate, fashion, and a secret supply chain from London.
- The False Alarm at the Tacoma Regatta
Two young Seattle women return home from a weekend of festivities only to find themselves arrested and cleared in a bizarre case of mistaken identity.
- Petty Theft Rises During Times of Want
Mayor Richardson warns Kennewick residents to secure their property as economic desperation drives local petty crime.
Also about this, in other words
- The Rat in the Wardrobe
A lady’s attempt to light a dark closet leads to a terrifying, fire-starting encounter with a persistent rodent.
- The Raggedy Ball: Seattle’s First Great Social Scandal
In September 1876, the city’s elite donned rags for a masquerade at Yesler’s Hall, turning social climbing into a contest of who could look the most destitute.
- The Great Victorian Trouser Debate
As women seek relief from restrictive fashion, the Yakima Herald explores the radical movement to adopt 'bifurcated' garments.
- The '$11,000 Gold' Sack That Held Only Tire Chains
A suffrage lobbyist carried a bank sack labeled with a fortune through Spokane and Olympia, letting fellow passengers believe she was transporting the campaign fund. It was full of automobile chains.
- 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.'
- "Great Scott! Is That Dr. Mary Walker?" — Two Seattle Clerks Ditch Their Skirts on a Dare
A druggist's cashier and stenographer appear on Front Street in bifurcated skirts, betting their boss they'd do it. The town stares; the women report no other inconvenience.
- A Dispute Over a Cleaned Dress Ends in a Brawl
A woman allegedly strikes a dyer with a brass lamp after a heated disagreement over a laundry bill.
- A Haven for Working Women
A newly opened, elegantly furnished hotel designed to provide safe, dignified housing for the city's growing workforce of stenographers, dressmakers, and clerks.