The Hustle Returns: Seattle’s Economic Pulse Picks Up
After weeks of talking 'hard times,' local merchants report a sudden shift toward optimism and consumer spending.
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.
There is a marked improvement in certain lines of trade within a few days, and especially in hay and feed. C. H. Lilly stated yesterday that the feeling was much better within the past few days. Business was improving right along and people were beginning to get a hustle on themselves. Instead of standing around and talking hard times they were beginning to spend their money, and this made business for everybody. There was another upward jump in provisions yesterday, and breakfast bacon is now wholesaling at 9 to 10 cents. The supply of blackberries is now greater than the demand, with a consequent reduction in price to 10 cents per crate.
“Instead of standing around and talking hard times they were beginning to spend their money, and this made business for everybody.”
In August 1893, Seattle was emerging from the initial shock of the Panic of 1893, a brutal national depression. This snippet captures a fleeting moment of local boosterism—the attempt to 'talk up' the market—that echoes the way Seattle’s business leaders have historically attempted to project stability during times of extreme economic uncertainty.
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