Leonard August Gabriel Brand (1902-1969) was born in Seattle to August Niklasson Brand (1862-1950) and Anna Amelia (Erlandson) Brand (1869-1952), both immigrants from Sweden. In 1903, August and Anna bought the Western Hotel (aka, The Michigan), which was built around 1880 and located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and James Street. They renamed it the Hotel Kalmar, after Anna's home town in Sweden, and catered mostly to working men, offering rooms by the day, week, and month. After August and Anna's deaths, their son Leonard, and daughter Beata Viola Maria Brand (1895-1981), continued to run the hotel until it was demolished in 1962 to clear space for Interstate 5.
This photo shows an adult Leonard Brand posing in his Seattle barber shop, a career he maintained from about 1930-1950.
Handwritten on verso: Do you know him? This is my place. L.B.
Caption information source: "Now & Then - Seattle's Kalmar Hotel," by Paul Dorpat, HistoryLink.org Essay 2571 Caption information source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116507718/anna_amelia-brand
ID Number: 1981.7328.68
Date: Circa 1932
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 5 x 7 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv01947
