The 'Bear of Third Street' Prank
A group of rowdy boys in 1880s Seattle found a cruel way to terrorize women walking home alone at night.
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.
Some boys on Third street have discovered a capital device for frightening unprotected ladies who may be passing along in the evening. They dress one of their number up in a bear’s skin and put a chain around his neck. This sham bear then gets down on all fours and awaits his victim. On the approach of a lady, he will bounce out from behind a corner and utter an unearthly howl, only equalled by a Comanche Indian. Of course, the frightened lady will scream, and then the crowd of youngsters, crouched behind some corner, will shout and laugh at the sport. The police have been complained to, and this thing had better cease, or trouble may ensue.
“On the approach of a lady he will bounce out from behind a corner and utter an unearthly howl, only equalled by a Comanche Indian.”
While Third Avenue is now a bustling commercial corridor in the heart of downtown Seattle, this 1880s report highlights a perennial tension between public safety and the 'sport' of street-level harassment. Much like today’s discussions around safety and street culture, the Victorian-era response reveals the early policing of behavior in a growing frontier town.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.