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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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124 results for: Popular Culture

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Image of Slo-Mo-Shun IV Gold Cup winner certificate, Seattle, June 2, 1956
Document

Slo-Mo-Shun IV Gold Cup winner certificate, Seattle, June 2, 1956

This hand-drawn certificate from the Union of International Motorboating (UIM) declares in both French and English that SLO-MO-SHUN IV, owned by Stanley Sayres and driven by Joe Taggart, won the Best Performance Gold Cup, Unlimited Class on August 7, 1955, during a 15-mile heat on Lake Washington. The boat's speed was recorded that day as 166 kilometers per hour. Stanley…
ID Number:1959.1701.c.1
Date:1956
Image of The Potlatch Bug: A Ragtime Song of the Golden Potlatch
Music, notated

The Potlatch Bug: A Ragtime Song of the Golden Potlatch

The Tilikums of Elttaes were a fraternal, civic organization composed primarily of influential white Seattle area businessmen, who used Native American imagery to promote tourism and the economic development of the city. In July 1911 the Tilikums ("Friends" in Chinook Jargon;" Elttaes" is Seattle spelled backward) organized the first Golden Potlatch celebration. The Golden Potlatch was a city-wide festival held…
ID Number:1963.3018.3
Date:1912
Image of Seattle Dear Seattle: Queen City of the West
Music, notated

Seattle Dear Seattle: Queen City of the West

In 1906, Seattle was enjoying nearly a decade of prosperity that had begun in 1897 with the arrival of the first Klondike gold. The growing city had a new public library and a new railroad station, and boosters continued to promote the city as a center for business and trade in the Pacific Northwest. Songs like “Seattle Dear Seattle,” complete…
ID Number:1964.3309.1
Date:1906
Image of
Ephemera

"Location of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition" advertising card, circa 1909

Singer Sewing Machines, founded in 1851 in Boston, was the largest sewing machine manufacturer in the world by 1860. The company was known for its innovations in installment payment plans and early advertising, as well as creating international markets. Singer had a history of creating trading cards for world's expositions, including an international set of cards for the Columbian Exposition…
ID Number:1964.3317.1.1
Date:Circa 1909
Image of Costumed figures of Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound, Seattle World's Fair, 1962
Photograph

Costumed figures of Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound, Seattle World's Fair, 1962

Visitors of all ages could enjoy a wide variety of entertainment at Century 21. Among the many acts appearing at the fair were Yogi Bear (left) and Huckleberry Hound (right), popular children's television characters. Their show, at the Memorial Stadium, ran from July 15 to 22. Handwritten on verso: Seattle City Light News.
ID Number:1965.3598.25.84
Date:1962
Image of Paul Bunyan's birthday cake display, Seattle World's Fair, 1962
Photograph

Paul Bunyan's birthday cake display, Seattle World's Fair, 1962

Located in the fair's Food Circus, Paul Bunyan's 128th birthday cake weighed 25, 000 pounds (plus decorations) and stood 23 feet tall, with a circumference of 60 feet. The recipe included 10,500 pounds of flour, 4000 pound of sugar, 7000 pounds of raisins, 1500 dozen eggs and a "Bunyan pinch" of salt: 100 pounds. The cake was mixed by Van…
ID Number:1965.3598.27.8.9
Date:1962
Image of Paul Bunyan's birthday cake display postcard, Seattle World's Fair, 1962
Postcard

Paul Bunyan's birthday cake display postcard, Seattle World's Fair, 1962

Located in the fair's Food Circus, Paul Bunyan's 128th birthday cake weighed 25,000 pounds (plus decorations) and stood 23 feet tall, with a circumference of 60 feet. The recipe included 10,500 pounds of flour, 4,000 pound of sugar, 7,000 pounds of raisins, 1,500 dozen eggs and a "Bunyan pinch" of salt: 100 pounds. The cake was mixed by Van de…
ID Number:1965.3689.34
Date:1962
Image of I'll See You (in 1962)
Music, notated

I'll See You (in 1962)

The Century 21 Exposition, Seattle’s World’s Fair, ran from April 21 to October 21, 1962. The fair promoted the worlds of space, science, and the future. “I’ll See You (in 1962),” with the Monorail, Space Needle, and the arches of the Science Pavilion on its cover, was one of the songs written to promote the fair. The music and words…
ID Number:1966.3866.26
Date:1962
Image of The Seattle Girl
Music, notated

The Seattle Girl

According to a statement printed on the back cover of the score pictured here, Mrs. M. C. Robinson was inspired to write “The Seattle Girl” when in Seattle from Tacoma to visit sculptor James Wehn. Mr. Wehn had recently completed a statue of his sweetheart (unnamed), whose portrait appears on the front cover of the score. He asked Mrs. Robinson…
ID Number:1968.4425.2
Date:1909
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." The show almost shut down during the Depression, but in 1934 two veteran circus managers -- Jesse Adkins (1886–1940) and Zack Terrell (1879–1954) --…
ID Number:1975.6159.3.11
Date:1943
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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.
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Phone: 206 324 1126
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