The Schwabacher Brothers, Louis (1837-1900), Abraham (1838-1909), and Sigmund (Sig) (1841-1917), were pioneering Bavarian-born Jewish merchants, important in the economic development of the Pacific Northwest. They owned several businesses bearing their family name, and opened an branch store in Seattle in 1869. Within a short time, the firm became Puget Sound's major wholesaler of canned goods, dry goods, and other materials to the logging camps, mill towns, farming communities, and, after 1897, to departing Klondike gold miners.
In 1938, Schwabacher Brothers & Company participated in Seattle’s summertime Potlatch Parade. Here, costumed band members wait on Blanchard Street before the start of the parade. Two sailors carry a banner honoring the arrival of the steamer PORTLAND at Schwabacher's Wharf on July 17, 1897. The PORTLAND carried the first gold from the Yukon, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
Signs in image: Schwabacher Bros. & Co., Inc.; Cornelius Apt's; Windham. Handwritten on recto: Jacobs photo.
Caption information source: "The Schwabacher Family" by Jean Roth at http://www.jgsws.org/schwabacher.php Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, July 30, 1938.
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard : b&w ; 9.25 x 7.25 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.
