• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

124 results for: Popular Culture

Share:
Image of Cole Brothers Circus and War Bonds poster, August 1943
Poster

Cole Brothers Circus and War Bonds poster, August 1943

William Washington Cole (1847-1915) began "W. W. Cole's Colossal Circus" in 1871 in Quincy, Illinois. In 1904 Cole sold his circus to Canadian showman Martin Downs and his son, James, the name became "Cole Bros. Circus." After the Depression almost shut it down, in 1934 two veteran circus managers -- Jesse Adkins (1886–1940) and Zack Terrell (1879–1954) -- teamed up…
ID Number:1975.6159.3.12
Date:1943
Image of Café Olympus New Year's booklet, 1912
Ephemera

Café Olympus New Year's booklet, 1912

The Olympus Café opened about 1898 at 112 1st Avenue South, "Situated right in the business district of Seattle ... Just South of the Totem Pole." This small booklet, printed with New Year's greetings, includes promotional text and a photo of the cafe's "Venetian Room."On each left-hand page is the emblem of the Golden Potlatch "Bug," which advertised the summer…
ID Number:1976.6296.7
Date:1912
Image of Sarah Price's hair book, March 1853
Album

Sarah Price's hair book, March 1853

The keepsake book pictured here was made in March 1853 by Sarah (Ousley or Owsley) Price (1815-1886) prior to her move from Iowa to Oregon. Sarah was born in Indiana, moved to Iowa with her husband and children, and then together left from there for Oregon. The book contains names and hair clippings, some in ornate braids, collected by Sarah…
ID Number:1976.6375.8
Date:1853
Image of Transit News, May, 1959
Serial

Transit News, May, 1959

The Seattle Transit System was created in 1940 to run the all-bus transit system for the City of Seattle. This department became part of Metro Transit in 1973, serving all of King County. This edition of the newsletter "Transit News" (Volume 2, number 9) covers funding and planning for the monorail, an appearance of bus operator James Wesselius on local…
ID Number:1980.6969.2.1
Date:1959
Image of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Seattle, circa 1907
Photograph

Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Seattle, circa 1907

Ohio-born curio collector Joseph Edward "Daddy" Standley (1854-1940) came to Seattle in 1899 and opened Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on Second Avenue and Pike Street. He moved the shop to the Colman Dock on the waterfront in 1904, and since 1988 the shop has been located at Pier 54. Still a family-run business after five generations, the store attracts about…
ID Number:1983.10.7367
Date:Circa 1907
Image of Ezra Meeker and his oxcart, 1912
Photograph

Ezra Meeker and his oxcart, 1912

In 1852, Ezra Meeker and his family came west by wagon over the Oregon Trail, eventually settling in the Puyallup Valley. As the years passed and cross-country travel became easier, Meeker worried that people wouldn't understand the hardships of the early settlers. Beginning at the age of 75, he made several trips across the Oregon Trail and urged its preservation.…
ID Number:1983.10.9471.1
Date:1912
Image of Amundsen and the crew of the
Photograph

Amundsen and the crew of the "Norge," June 27, 1926

In June 1926, sixteen men crossed the North Pole from Norway to Alaska in the airship "Norge." The group was headed by polar explorers Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth, and the dirigible was designed and piloted by Umberto Nobile. On their way back to Europe, the men stopped in Seattle, where they were greeted by over 5,000 cheering people.In this…
ID Number:1983.10.10847
Date:1926
Image of Andy Gump visiting Seattle, June 1926
Photograph

Andy Gump visiting Seattle, June 1926

The Gumps was an extremely popular comic strip about a middle-class family created in 1917 by Sidney Smith (1877-1935), running in nation-wide newspapers until 1959. Readers anxiously followed the convoluted story lines, and by1919, this popularity prompted an interest in film adaptations. Between 1923 and 1928, Universal Pictures produced at least four dozen Gumps two-reel comedies starring Joe Murphy (1877-1961),…
ID Number:1983.10.11801.2
Date:1926
Image of Teenagers dancing at All-City Teeny-Boppers Dance, Seattle, 1966
Photograph

Teenagers dancing at All-City Teeny-Boppers Dance, Seattle, 1966

Handwritten on sleeve: TEENAGERS, Seattle, Wash., All-City teeny boppers dance.Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): November 23, 1966.
ID Number:1986.5.14926.1
Date:1966
Image of George Burns and Carol Channing during the World's Fair in Seattle, June 1, 1962
Photograph

George Burns and Carol Channing during the World's Fair in Seattle, June 1, 1962

George Burns arrived in Seattle to start rehearsals with his partner Carol Channing in preparation for their variety show at the Orpheum Theatre. Miss Channing lights his cigar with a Space Needle lighter. The celebrities looked forward to visiting the Science Pavilion and getting a larger view of the Worlds Fair from the top of the Space Needle. Handwritten on…
ID Number:1986.5.20502.1
Date:1962
Previous 1 2 3 4 … 13 Next

Land Acknowledgement

MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved