257 results for: Innovation and Invention
Boeing B-1 flying boat airplane, ca. 1919
The B-1 was the first aircraft designed and assembled entirely by the Boeing Airplane Company for commercial rather than military purposes. The hull was made using laminated wood veneer, and the wings were framed with Washington-grown spruce. Beginning in 1920, the plane was used on the first regularly scheduled international airmail route between Seattle and Victoria. The B-1 could carry…
ID Number:1952.552.1
Date:1919
Model of first gas station at Holgate and East Marginal Way in Seattle in 1907
This model, of which the maker is unknown (possibly Stanley Stretton), features what claims to be the first gas station ever established right here in Seattle. This is highly debatable as it is more widely known that St. Louis, Missouri, holds that title dating back to 1905. The story goes that John L. Mclean, local manager for Standard Oil (now…
ID Number:1954.1698
Date:Circa 1950
Souvenir flag from the launch of the USS Golden Gate, 1897
This souvenir flag is from the launch of the Coast Guard boarding boat, the USS Golden Gate, on February 13, 1897. It was the first all-steel vessel built and launched in Washington State by the Moran Brothers Company in Seattle.
ID Number:1955.880.c
Date:1897
Robert Moran's metal lathe, ca. 1882-1906
Robert Moran was an engineer, ship builder and Seattle city mayor. He arrived in Seattle in 1875 with only fifty dollars and went on to establish the Moran Brothers shipyard in 1889 with his brother Peter, specializing in both wooden and steel designs.
ID Number:1955.970.482
Date:Circa 1882
Portable Edison phonograph, ca. 1903
This portable phonograph was one of the first used to transmit music over radio in Seattle in June 1921 under the call letters 7AD, a Francis Brott-owned station. Brott was a prominent radio and television pioneer in Seattle, known both for his promotion of the phonograph and his role in the first TV telecast on June 3, 1929. Brott eventually…
ID Number:1955.984
Date:Circa 1903
Painting, "The first gas station in the world, Seattle, 1907," by Robert Addison, ca. 1950s
This painting, a copy made from an illustration, claims to feature the first gas station ever established and it was built in 1907 at the corner of East Marginal Way and Holgate Street in Seattle, Washington. This is highly debatable as it is more widely known that St. Louis, Missouri, holds that title dating back to 1905. The story goes…
ID Number:1956.1016
Date:1950-1960
Model of Bellanca Pacemaker airplane, ca. 1950
This model was built by Albert Kotzerke of Renton, Washington. It is an exact scale replica of, and contains parts from, the original 6 place Bellanca Pacemaker flown in the first commercial round trip from Anchorage to Seattle, piloted by Steve Mills in June 1934. Mills founded Star Air Service in Alaska in 1932, which was one of several air…
ID Number:1956.1120
Date:Circa 1950
Diver's helmet and shoulder gear used by Henry Finch, 1890 - 1920
This copper and brass diver’s helmet relied on its weight (about 40 lbs) to keep the diver’s body submerged. The helmet was made by A.M. Morse & Sons of Boston, and used by Henry Finch, who dove in Elliot Bay and was known nationally in his time as the “King of Divers” because of his diving expertise and knowledge about…
ID Number:1959.1816.7
Date:1890-1920
Black plastic model of a Boeing AF54-3079 Bomarc IM 99 US Air Force missile, ca. 1955-1960
The supersonic Bomarc missile, launched in 1955, was the first long-range anti-aircraft missile ever made, and the first one that Boeing mass-produced.
ID Number:1960.1996
Date:Circa 1955-1960
Sound transmitting condenser designed by William Dubilier, ca. 1920
William Dubilier of Seattle, who founded the Dubilier Condenser Company in 1920, made this early form of electronic sound transmitters. This is one of the original "bathtub" designs which established the standard for radio transmitting condensers for many years.
ID Number:1961.2198.5
Date:Circa 1920