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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.

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3379 results for: Seattle Photographic Co.

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Image of Fire at Ray's Boathouse, Seattle, May 26, 1987
Photograph

Fire at Ray's Boathouse, Seattle, May 26, 1987

One of Seattle’s landmark waterfront restaurants, Ray’s Boathouse, burned in a spectacular fire on May 26, 1987. A wiring problem beneath Ray’s pier caused plumes of smoke, which spread up into the restaurant through the kitchen floor and prompted the evacuation of customers and staff. Some 50 to 60 fire fighters, plus 20 fire trucks and boats fought the four-alarm…
ID Number:2000.107.185.24.04
Date:1987
Image of Boat being moved from the fire at Ray's Boathouse, Seattle, May 26, 1987
Photograph

Boat being moved from the fire at Ray's Boathouse, Seattle, May 26, 1987

One of Seattle’s landmark waterfront restaurants, Ray’s Boathouse, burned in a spectacular fire on May 26, 1987. A wiring problem beneath Ray’s pier caused plumes of smoke, which spread up into the restaurant through the kitchen floor and prompted the evacuation of customers and staff. Some 50 to 60 fire fighters, plus 20 fire trucks and boats fought the four-alarm…
ID Number:2000.107.185.24.05
Date:1987
Image of Chef serving diners at Rosellini's, Seattle, December 5, 1975
Photograph

Chef serving diners at Rosellini's, Seattle, December 5, 1975

The Tacoma-born son of Italian immigrants, Victor Rosellini (1915-2003) founded a string of acclaimed and successful restaurants in downtown Seattle, beginning with Rosellini's 610 in 1950, and Rosellini's Four-10 in 1956. Well-known as Seattle's premiere host, Mr. Rosellini maintained a reputation for treating all diners with equal elegance and non-partisanship despite his relation to cousin Albert Dean Rosellini (1910-2011), the…
ID Number:2000.107.185.25.01
Date:1975
Image of Sambo's sign on Aurora Avenue, Seattle, July 29, 1976
Photograph

Sambo's sign on Aurora Avenue, Seattle, July 29, 1976

The first Sambo's restaurant opened in Santa Barbara in 1957 as a low-priced pancake house catering directly to blue-collar customers. The name, a mash-up of the owner's names, was exploited for its "excellent promotional potential” in association with "Sambo," the main character of the controversial 1899 children’s book by Helen Bannerman, whose name came to be a racist slur for…
ID Number:2000.107.185.25.02
Date:1976
Image of Diners eating at Scandia Cafe, Seattle, June 8, 1981
Photograph

Diners eating at Scandia Cafe, Seattle, June 8, 1981

First opened around 1910 on Howell Street at Eighth Avenue, the Scandia Cafe was located on the street level of the Howell Hotel, a by-the-week hotel patronized by mostly Swedish seamen and off-season loggers. Owned since 1947 by Esther Johanson (1898-1989), the cafe moved to the Soames-Dunn Building at the Pike Place Market in September 1976 when the original building…
ID Number:2000.107.185.25.03
Date:1981
Image of Interior of Trader Vic's restaurant at Washington Plaza Hotel, Seattle, July 6, 1969
Photograph

Interior of Trader Vic's restaurant at Washington Plaza Hotel, Seattle, July 6, 1969

Trader Vic's was a Polynesian-themed chain restaurant founded in 1934 by Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (1902-1984) in California. The first franchised Trader Vic's opened in Seattle in 1940, and the chain expanded quickly during the Tiki culture fad of the 1950s and 1960s. The Seattle branch moved to the Washington Plaza Hotel (now the Westin) in 1969, however it closed…
ID Number:2000.107.185.26.01
Date:1969
Image of Supporters of the Turf Grill and Smoke Shop gathering for protest, Seattle, November 28, 1984
Photograph

Supporters of the Turf Grill and Smoke Shop gathering for protest, Seattle, November 28, 1984

The Turf Grill and Smoke Shop opened in Seattle in the 1920s at 1407 Third Avenue. In addition to food, it sold beer and wine, cigars and cigarettes, and also had a barber shop. The Turf moved to Second and Pike in 1984 when 3rd Avenue was closed for the building of the Bus Tunnel (now the Transit Tunnel). In…
ID Number:2000.107.185.26.02
Date:1984
Image of Surfside 9 listing on Lake Union, Seattle, July 23, 1966
Photograph

Surfside 9 listing on Lake Union, Seattle, July 23, 1966

Seattle's floating restaurant Surfside 9 opened about 1960 on a converted ferry originally built in 1900 as the steamer City of Everett, a member of Puget Sound's Mosquito Fleet. Docked at the south end of Lake Union from about 1950, the restaurant was initially known as the Four Winds, famous as the headquarters of the Seafair Pirates. This image of…
ID Number:2000.107.185.26.03
Date:1966
Image of Friends dining at Vito's, Seattle, May 16, 1989
Photograph

Friends dining at Vito's, Seattle, May 16, 1989

Opened in 1953 at 927 Ninth Avenue in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood by Vito Santoro (1921-2000) and his brother James "Jimmy" Santoro (-1971), Vito's historic bar had slowly deteriorated after Vito retired and sold the restaurant in 1994. The bar was reopened and restored to its mid-century glamour and style in 2010 by new owners Greg Lundgren and Jeff Scott.In…
ID Number:2000.107.185.26.04
Date:1989
Image of Exterior of Von's Café on 4th Ave., Seattle, July 1, 1955
Photograph

Exterior of Von's Café on 4th Ave., Seattle, July 1, 1955

Begun by Frank Rippe (1871-1934) in 1910, Rippe's Cafe catered to Seattle's upscale late-night crowd with mahogany and brass booths and 24-hour service. Purchased in 1940 by movie theater magnate John Grey Von Herberg (1877-1947) and renamed Von's Cafe, the restaurant remained a local favorite until its closure in 1963. This image of Von's Cafe at 1421 Fourth Avenue was…
ID Number:2000.107.185.26.05
Date:1955
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