Starting in 1935, controversy raged in Seattle over whether people should have to pay to park on downtown streets. New parking meters finally went into operation at 9 AM on February 5th, 1942. The fee was five cents per hour. Nine citations were issued on the first day.

This image shows the new parking meters installed on February 3, 1942 on Third Avenue between Madison and Marion Streets. City parking officials estimated that some 1600 meters would be in service by the end of the following week on First through Fifth Avenues and the adjoining cross-streets. They indicated that more would be added as the city received and tested them.

Caption information derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.