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Thank you to R.R. Anderson for the amazing work in creating this poster for our upcoming Dune Screening & Panel Discussion event. To learn more, or get your tickets to attend, visit our website for more details!
On September 23, 1968 Penny Webb (left) and Jocelyn Hunt were learning how to bake pies with the help of Mrs. Royal. They were hoping to take part in the Great Pie Bake of '68 which would occur in December. The pies would be used for the second annual Tacoma-Pierce County Opportunity & Development, Inc., Christmas dinner for underprivileged children. Action Upward members, girls aged 6-18, would be participating in the pie bake; they attended after-school activities sponsored by the Hilltop Multi-Service Center.
Boxing aficionados of all ages flocked to the Liberty Theater (906-08 Pacific Avenue) to watch the controversial Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney championship rematch originally occurring at Soldier Field in Chicago on September 22, 1927. Tunney had decisively beaten the former heavyweight champ just a short year before. For 25 cents, Tacoma fans could watch the "fight pictures" and be part of the roaring crowd.
Kenneth Grover, formerly of New York, and now with the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, issued a challenge to Tacoma's checker players - he would compete against 40 players simultaneously and would even take on 4 of the 40 blindfolded at the U.S.O. club at 415 13th Street. Mr. Grover, author of "Chess" and "Let's Play Checkers" and the US crossboard checker champ, opened the competition to chess aficionados as well. He is pictured (standing, far left) on September 21, 1943, examining the checker moves of Pierce County Sheriff Lee Croft, member of a local checker club. Several other opponents await their turn. Unfortunately, the results of this challenge were apparently not reported in the local newspapers.
It's mystery photo time! Two unidentified art students were pictured working in the studio with their teacher, identified as Jack Swenson, in these photographs taken on this date in 1941. No other information was captured by the photographer, leaving several unanswered questions. Does anyone have any knowledge to share about the names of the students, or the location of the studio?
The staff of Kmart's newest Tacoma store posed for a group portrait before the doors opened to the public for the first time on September 19, 1968. The store, located at 1414 E. 72nd Street, was the second Kmart in town; the first was located on Sixth Ave. next to Busch's Drive-In. Judging by the second photo of cars parked in the store's parking lot on opening day, it was a popular event!
On September 18, 1942, Tacoma officials and South Tacoma residents gathered for the Dedication Ceremony for the new outdoor fireplace and Barbecue pit outside of the South Tacoma USO Club. The fireplace was built with donated money, materials and labor from a design by Silas E. Nelson, architect. Pictured at the ceremony are, left to right, John Lewtas, Bricklayers Union; Paul Lucht, Cement Finishers and Plasterers Union; South Tacoma USO Director Eva Hancock, Tacoma Mayor Harry Cain, and John Meyers, Northern Pacific Railway shops. At the people's feet is a dog named Taffy, described as the event "mascot."
Bill Herdman, gardener at Stadium High School, was photographed with a beautiful bouquet of flowers including dahlias in September, 1948. William (Bill) Herdman was an Englishman who learned his gardening craft on English estates and also in gardens near Newscastle. He came to Tacoma about 1910 and had been the official gardener for the Tacoma school system since 1913. He first started at Lincoln High School and then Stadium High with six intermediate schools in between. Mr. Herdman was also responsible for the district's playfields, baseball diamonds and football gridirons. A bachelor, he lived in the caretaker's home in back of Stadium High since he began working for the schools. Dahlias and gladiolas were his favorite blooms.
Have you been to the Washington State Fair yet this year? This historic fair photo comes from "Tacoma Day" at the 1940 fair, then of course known as the Puyallup Fair. The unidentified young boy, who looks a bit amazed at the carnival game prizes that are nearly as large as he is, was one of the 42,500 attendees that day.

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