Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 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.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 26 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 9 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 16 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 14 |
| 1892 | 17 |
| 1893 | 14 |
| 1894 | 16 |
| 1895 | 31 |
| 1897 | 7 |
| 1898 | 20 |
| 1899 | 4 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 11 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1914 | 4 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 6 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 1 |
266 stories matching varieti
- The Mother’s Search and the Tacoma Variety Stage
A mother’s desperate attempt to rescue her daughter from a life in the variety theaters leads to a public confrontation in 1887 Seattle.
- The City Clamps Down on Variety Theaters
Seattle authorities arrest variety theater owners for allowing singing in venues where alcohol is served.
- The Miracle Crop of the Duwamish Valley
In 1876, a local farmer touted the 'Hulless Oat' as an agricultural revolution for the Seattle region, promising heavier yields and sweeter grain than traditional varieties.
- The Pioneer Variety Store's 'Clearance' Sale
A shopkeeper at Seattle's Pioneer Variety Store announces an urgent clearance sale to avoid 'carrying' his current stock into the coming year.
- The Dramatic End of a Vaudeville Romance
A former Seattle physician is left in public despair after his wife, a 'Canadian songbird,' ends their marriage for a life in a variety show.
- A Sanctuary for the Yakima’s Winged Residents
A dedicated local conservationist secures a protected refuge for migratory birds along the Yakima River.
- Tragedy at the Sinnott House
A waiter at a variety theater is arrested and charged with manslaughter following the death of a domestic worker.
- The Lonely Life of the Seattle Bachelor
A local writer laments the lack of respectable social outlets for unmarried men, arguing that the city’s saloons and variety shows offer nothing but 'hardening influences.'
- First Execution Under New State Law
C.K. Champoux is executed at the state penitentiary for the murder of a Seattle variety singer.
- Spokane’s Moral Crusade Against Dance Halls
Local reformers and the Ministerial Association launch a petition drive to ban dance halls and variety theaters from the city.
- The Expert's Guide to the Inland Empire Orchard
A federal pomologist warns Northwest growers against over-watering and bad variety selection, while offering tips on pest control.
- The Bloom of Lake Washington
A 64-year-old gardener secures a one-year subscription to the Post-Intelligencer by showcasing 59 varieties of flowers still in bloom during the late autumn chill.
- The Complicated Divorce of John Cort
A local variety theater manager finds his personal life—and marriage—dragged through the courts again.
- A Unanimous Vote to Push Women Out of the Beer Halls
The Washington House backed a bill barring women from working anywhere intoxicating liquor was sold—aimed at waitresses and 'beer rulers' in variety theaters and saloons.
- The Pioneers of Whidbey Island Orchards
A look at the early fruit industry in Island County and the lessons learned by the region's first orchardists.
- A Young Girl Vanishes from a Spokane Variety Theater
A teenage girl is missing after being allegedly coerced into a variety theater, sparking a public outcry and exposing local police corruption.
- The Chief Knew Seattle’s Dance Halls Were Selling Beer. He Had One Question.
A Post-Intelligencer investigation found liquor flowing openly in variety theaters despite state law and police orders—then the police chief asked reporters whether it was true.
- The Palouse Professor Who Helped Rediscover Heredity
Before Mendel's laws were famous, an agriculturist at the Washington State Experiment Station stood alongside three European scientists as a co-discoverer of them — and proved the principle with velvet-chaffed wheat.
- The Orchardist’s Hard Lesson in Elevation
After a devastating May freeze wiped out his peach crop, a local grower shares a hard-won lesson on the importance of topography and variety selection for Pacific Northwest fruit farming.
- The Pioneer Discount Marketplace of Seattle
In an era of high prices, the Seattle Variety Store promised relief by flooding the local market with affordable, second-hand household goods.
- A Night at the 'Mid-Way'
Police raid a notorious variety house gambling den, only to discover the house had been robbed by its own patrons.
- A Parent Asks What Olympia Is Paying to Police Its New Variety Theater
A letter to the editor complains that a new theater below the “dead line” is drawing drunken loggers, running a bar, and selling private boxes—and asks what the city gets for its license and police protection.
- Spokane's Theater-License Fight Gets a Seattle Showman
John Considine, veteran of Seattle's variety district, faces a council wary of minors, dance halls and a man who once wrote the ordinance that shut him down.
- The Alhambra Theatre Scandal
A variety theater proprietor vanishes with thousands of dollars, leaving his troupe and local contractors empty-handed.
- Smallpox Quarantines Hit Everett's Dance Halls
An outbreak of smallpox at the New Zealand dance house has forced the closure of Everett's variety homes as a public health precaution.