A Night of Masks and Memories
A grand masquerade ball at the Armory serves as a time capsule for Seattle's history and social elite.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The masked ball given by the Congregation Ohaveth Shalom at the Armory on Monday night was a large and important affair. It was well attended and passed off well except for the presence of a few disturbers who, upon being remonstrated with, ceased their noise. There was but one exception to this, a prominent official connected with the ticket service of a large railroad company, who was put out of the hall by the police. Many beautiful and unique costumes were worn. Miss Cohn won the prize for most original personation; she appeared as 'Seattle Twelve Years Ago,' with her dress containing painted pictures of Chief Seattle, Princess Angeline and old backwoods Seattle scenes. Her head dress was of fir cones.
“Miss Cohn won the first of these, a gold watch. She appeared as 'Seattle Twelve Years Ago.' Her dress contained painted pictures of Chief Seattle, Princess Angeline and old backwoods Seattle scenes.”
This 1893 event captures Seattle’s obsession with its own rapid development, as seen in the prize-winning costume depicting the city 'twelve years ago.' It highlights how, even at the turn of the century, Seattleites were already romanticizing the frontier era while navigating the growing pains of a railroad-dominated industrial city.
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