Photograph

Retailers manning booth at Pure Food Show, Seattle, February 19, 1908

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The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was the first of a series of significant consumer protection laws which required manufacturers meet certain standards of purity, and that information printed on food or drugs labels be accurate and true. One of Seattle's finest department stores at the time, Bon Marche, began hosting an annual food show where suppliers could demonstrate their products to customers.

In this image, employees of Jean S. Hama's Paris Cake Company staff a booth at the Pure Food Show, where they served the company's ice cream, cream wafers, and marshmallows. The man in a chef's hat, probably J.S. Hama, is working at Hama's patented "Cake Baking Apparatus," also known as the "Multiplicator," for making mulitple waffle cones at one time. The woman standing in front of the booth is 17-year-old Sarah Ruth (Everitt) Trimble (1891-1958), hired by the Bon Marche to hand out waffle cones filled with ice cream. Hama was originally from Syria, and moved to Seattle around the time of this demonstration.

Handwritten on photo: Bon Marche Pure Food Show. Seattle Wash. / Paris Cake Co. Feb, 19, 1908. / A.Y.P. Wafers. / Pat[ent] Sept. 17, 07.
Handwritten on verso: To Miss Ruth Everitt, Seattle, Wash., J. S. Hama, Wm. [S. Yankus?].

Caption information sources: The Seattle Sunday Times, February 25, 1908, p. 18;
https://patents.google.com/patent/US866273A/en
ID Number: 2004.61.1
Date: 1908
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard : b&w ; 6 x 8 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant.
Credit: MOHAI, 2004.61.1
Copyright: No Known Copyright