1970's Seattle (Tacoma: buy, theater, high school)

[Ira500]

Sounds about right to me...and boy was he a character!

The old Seattle seemed to nurture and embrace characters. I'm not sure that's the case today.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Sounds about right to me...and boy was he a character!

The old Seattle seemed to nurture and embrace characters. I'm not sure that's the case today.

Unfortunately I think those days are long gone.

Stan Boreson and his Grandma Torvald and Uncle Torvald, JP Patches, Wunda Wunda , Captain Puget and Ivar, even Dixie Lee Ray, were all characters that could only have come from Seattle...

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by azoria

I wasn't here, but in northern California in the late 70's when Seattle went belly up, I remember seeing a billboard on the news "Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn out the lights."

Those were tough times here in Seattle, nearly everybody knew somebody who worked at Boeing...

[41Willys]

Wow! I haven't had time to look at all the photo's, but it gives the viewer a glimpse into the past. Seattle was an old, dingy place! No offense, the black & white photo's add to the coldness. I will check out the rest later! MAN! Good stuff.

Thank you very much for the pictures!

[41Willys]

Quick question. Would it be safe to say that when tech came about in the 80's it gave Seattle life?

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by 41Willys

Quick question. Would it be safe to say that when tech came about in the 80's it gave Seattle life?

I would say that is quite a stretch, to say that the tech boom gave Seattle life. I think it is fair to say that the tech boom gave it a different kind of life, and it certainly changed Seattle dramatically.

Like all port cities, Seattle had a long history of being sort of a rough place, with lots of prostitution, gambling and other vices, so we have always been a colorful city with lots of “life”.

Also Seattle certainly did not escape the urban decay that was so prevalent in the 1960s, 70s and early 80s, it never got as bad as other, bigger cities, but we did not escape it.

[Ira500]

Seattle had plenty of "life" before the tech boom. In fact, I'm inclined to say that it took away life, and encouraged sterility. The Seattle of 30 years ago might have been a little grittier, but it had character, and characters.
Maybe it's just me, but I find old sailors and fishermen to have more life in them than people who write code for a living.

[41Willys]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Seattle had plenty of "life" before the tech boom. In fact, I'm inclined to say that it took away life, and encouraged sterility. The Seattle of 30 years ago might have been a little grittier, but it had character, and characters.
Maybe it's just me, but I find old sailors and fishermen to have more life in them than people who write code for a living.

lol,,,,


Agree'd, but look at times, if it didn't go tech how big would drugs and violence be in such a rough gritty place? Those pictures are "amazing"!
I'm from Bayshore NY. (Long Island) SAME THING! Fishermans worf for years! I moved in the early 90's and went back to Bayshore before I left and it changed. I used to frequent a few fisherman bars. During the day you can visit, but at nite it's all crack heads and whores & violence.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Woof! What are you doing down here?? Aren't we both missing out on posts from the lone traveler +2?

Oh, hullo there allforcats! It's a shame he gave up the game and confessed, isn't it?

[/tangent]

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Seattle had plenty of "life" before the tech boom. In fact, I'm inclined to say that it took away life, and encouraged sterility. The Seattle of 30 years ago might have been a little grittier, but it had character, and characters.
Maybe it's just me, but I find old sailors and fishermen to have more life in them than people who write code for a living.

I agree, and I agree, and I agree.
Grittier, and profoundly exciting, an important part of the history of the nation and of the continent.

Do you know that Seattle was the major supply port for the prospectors of the 1897 Alaska gold rush? Everything they could need to find and extract the gold, and stay alive while doing that, they bought in Seattle. Without Seattle, it's not likely there would have been an Alaskan gold rush, as there was no other settlement -- within any reasonable, workable distance -- that could have provided all those supplies, packed them on ships, and gotten them to Alaska. And because of that, the population of Seattle soared.

Have you ever taken the underground tour? Peered into the old places in Pioneer Square? The stores are under the ground because that was the street level of Seattle before the great fire of 1889. Why was there a "great fire"? Hmmmm...

Do you know that the term "skid road" started here? Timber was slid, or skidded, down Yesler St. to a steam-powered mill on the Seattle waterfront.

Do you know that in the mid 1800s, pioneers and civic leaders Henry Yesler and Arthur Denny couldn't agree on whether streets should be laid out according to the points of the compass or according to the lay of the land -- so each of them made his own streets, which is why we have streets going in all different directions, and frequently come to 5-corner stop signs.