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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1917 | 1 |
25 stories matching tab
- The Tall Tale of 'Bluffier Ben'
A boastful trapper spins wild, bloody yarns for free drinks in a Seattle saloon, leaving the barkeep to settle the tab.
- The Great Oyster Heist of 1876
Two hungry gentlemen vanish into thin air, leaving their tab and their fried oysters to a couple of unsuspecting strangers.
- Tacoma’s Twenty-Year Tab
The state government threatens legal action over unpaid saloon license fees dating back to 1890.
- Tacoma Merchants Declare War on 'Dead Beats'
Fed up with unpaid tabs, Tacoma retailers organize a boycott committee and a $20 fine system to discipline customers who buy on credit.
- The Price of Staying at the Hotel
In an era of credit-based commerce, a local hotelier takes a debtor to court to settle an unpaid tab for board and lodging.
- The Case of the Martin Creek Bartender
A friendship soured by a missing $20 and a suspicious bar tab reveals the perils of saloon-based bookkeeping.
- The 'Kid Committee' Faces Its Election Tab
Democratic party campaign workers and local publishers spar in court over unpaid bills for 1892 election advertising.
- The Cost of a Bed and Board
A legal dispute from 1877 highlights the precarious nature of early pioneer housing, where unpaid tabs for room and board could lead to courtroom showdowns.
- The Price of Survival: A Snohomish Debt Crisis
A legal summons from 1877 reveals the precarious reality of early Washington life, where a simple tab for board, lodging, and basic goods could land a resident in district court.
- Pool Hall Altercation Ends in Shooting
A disagreement over a bar tab leads to a violent confrontation in Old Town Tacoma, leaving one man in critical condition.
- The Bold Fish Market Heist
A local man is robbed of nearly $500 in a busy market, leaving police scrambling to track a group of elusive pickpockets.
- The Cold-Blooded Murder at the Copper Chief
A Seattle bartender is gunned down over a dispute about drink tabs, leading to a grim scene at the local undertaker's.
- The Cost of Survival in Early Snohomish
A legal summons from 1878 reveals the precarious nature of life for transient workers, as one man is sued for his unpaid tab for basic food and shelter.
- The 'Two Per Cent' Shylock of Tacoma
As Tacoma voters head to the polls, bitter memories of the 1885 anti-Chinese expulsion flare up, branding a mayoral candidate with a nickname that still stings.
- The Treasurer’s Tab: Taxpayers Pay with Promises
A Whatcom County official faces heat for allowing local elites to pay their taxes with IOUs, sparking a public naming-and-shaming campaign.
- The Persistent Barber Who Conned the City
A petty swindler known as 'Clark' or 'Rieff' spent weeks running up tabs at local drugstores and shops by impersonating city employees and prominent businessmen.
- The True Cost of a Store Tab in 1872 Seattle
A young couple's struggle with 'monthly accounts' reveals how merchant credit traps were the predatory debt cycles of the 19th century.
- The Daring Lunch-Hour Heist in Richland
While the butcher was away for his midday meal, thieves carefully bypassed his security and cleaned out the till.
- A Good Samaritan’s $10 Went Straight to the Bar Tab
Woodinville’s A. G. McLean stepped between a bully and a smaller man at a Seattle hotel saloon. The bully thanked him by lifting a $10 bill and buying the house a round.
- The Fast Runner and the Stiffed Innkeeper
A local foot-racing celebrity thought he could dodge his hotel tab, only to be caught in bed by a constable.
- The 'Reverend' Who Fed on Seattle’s Faith
A man posing as a Universalist minister charmed the city’s socialites, ran up massive tabs at the best restaurants, and vanished into the night.
- The National Theater Manager Skipped Town With the Glassware
H. H. Kline vanished from Olympia's National Theater, leaving unpaid salaries, a bar tab, and empty beer bottles—while police took charge of the building.
- The 1909 Legislature Went Home With a $10 Million Tab and an Unfinished Scandal
Washington's eleventh session adjourned with record spending, a sweeping new criminal code, a local-option liquor law, an equal-suffrage referendum — and an insurance investigation the House only agreed to after the acting governor threatened to drag them back.
- The Ship Canal Double-Cross at the Democratic Convention
Seattle's delegates went to Olympia ready to die on the canal plank. Their own campaign manager had already sold them out.
- The Judge, the Stenographer, and the $2,000 Bill the County Refused to Pay
A Yakima County water-rights trial dragged on for weeks. When the judge tried to stick taxpayers with the stenographer's tab, the state Supreme Court stepped in and said no.