65 results for: European Immigrants
Buttonhook from Nordstrom's shoe store, ca. 1900
Nordstrom began as a shoe retailer established in Seattle in 1901 by Carl Wallin and Swedish immigrant John Nordstrom (Wallin & Nordstrom). By 1929, both Nordstrom and Wallin had retired and sold their shares to Nordstrom's sons, Everett and Elmer. In 1930, when the newly remodeled Second Avenue store was reopened, the name changed to Nordstrom and eventually opened stores…
ID Number:1956.1056.64
Date:Circa 1900
Aluminum comb engraved with "Bina Mortenson", 1907
Harold and Bina Mortenson were Swedish immigrants who married in Boston in 1898 and came to Seattle in 1901.
ID Number:1956.1056.71
Date:1907
Buttonhook from Wallin and Nordstrom, ca. 1900
Nordstrom began as a shoe retailer established in Seattle in 1901 by Carl Wallin and Swedish immigrant John Nordstrom (Wallin & Nordstrom). By 1929, both Nordstrom and Wallin had retired and sold their shares to Nordstrom's sons, Everett and Elmer. In 1930, when the newly remodeled Second Avenue store was reopened, the name changed to Nordstrom and eventually opened stores…
ID Number:1956.1115.34
Date:Circa 1900
Brass cornet with rotary valves, ca. 1850
This cornet belonged to George Frederick Frye (1833-1912), a German immigrant who came to the US at 16 years of age and arrived in Seattle in 1853. He brought this instrument with him and played in the first Seattle band.
ID Number:1957.1234.4
Date:Circa 1850
Sign from Manca's Café in Seattle, ca. 1900
Manca's Café, established by Victor Manca and located in Seattle, was a popular family-run restaurant from the late 1890s until the 1950s. The café was famous for its Dutch Babies, a sweet breakfast popover or pancake baked in a metal or iron pan and served with powdered sugar and fresh squeezed lemon juice.
ID Number:1958.1507.2
Date:Circa 1900
David Denny's pocket watch, ca. 1805-1829
This pocket watch, made by a watchmaker in Liverpool, England, was owned by David Denny. Like all immigrants to the Pacific Northwest, he brought his most precious belongings like this watch, a compass, a flute, a fife, and other mementos. If you look closely, the center of the watch face features a tiny etching of what appears to be a…
ID Number:1961.2230
Date:Circa 1805-1829
Metal pail of "Dan's famous home rendered pure lard," ca. 1928
Polish immigrant Dan Zido came to Seattle in 1906. He had been an apprentice to a sausage maker while in Poland, and when he arrived in Seattle he worked at a meat packing plant. He opened Dan’s Market at the north end of the Pike Place market in 1924. Zido retired in the 1940s and died in 1953. The business…
ID Number:1962.2684.1
Date:Circa 1928
Waltham pocket watch, ca. 1890-1900s
This pocket watch belonged to Benjamin Gustav Bergstedt, who immigrated from Germany to New York, then arrived in Seattle in the fall of 1889. He worked as a house painter and lived in this area until his death in 1944.
ID Number:1963.3017.17
Date:Circa 1890-1900
Iron level, ca. 1910
This decoratively designed iron level was used by a Swedish immigrant blacksmith who came to Seattle in 1907.
ID Number:1964.3350.14
Date:Circa 1910
Oil portrait of Moritz Thomsen by Roman Fekonja, 1895
Moritz Thomsen (1850-1932), a former Dutch sea captain, arrived in Seattle in 1896 and co-founded the Centennial Mill Company (now Krusteaz brand). A tireless industrialist, Thomsen at one time was president of fourteen corporations, including the Centennial Mill Company, and the Denny-Renton Clay & Coal Company. Little is known about the artist, Roman Fekonja (1868-1910), except he was born in…
ID Number:1965.3758.4
Date:1895