The Glass Master of Occidental Square
A traveling exhibition of delicate glass artistry offers a whimsical distraction to 1870s Seattleites.
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 celebrated glass blower, Prof. Grower, who carried away the laurels at Vienna in '73, and at the Centennial in 1876, has arrived here and will give exhibitions of glass blowing in his spacious tent on Occidental Square, commencing tomorrow at 10 o'clock A.M. It is more than passing strange to see with what precision and ingenuity the performer shapes every conceivable article out of flimsy glass. To see the two glass steam engines in operation is alone well worth the price of admission. Admission price: 25 cents.
“It is more than passing strange to see with what precision and ingenuity the performer shapes every conceivable article out of flimsy glass.”
Occidental Square, once a muddy hub for itinerant performers and local markets, remains a central, albeit much more landscaped, gathering spot in Pioneer Square. This short announcement highlights the role of traveling 'professors' and entertainers in pre-digital Seattle, offering a glimpse of the sensory spectacle that defined public life in the city's early, rapidly expanding days.
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