It’s probably safe to say that in Ellensburg, Labor Day Weekend is one of the most anticipated of the year. While the end of Summer brings shorter days, cooler weather and disappointment to students less than eager to end their vacation, it also brings Rodeo – something nearly everyone can enjoy.

The Ellensburg Rodeo has been a staple in this community since the 1920s. Each year the event draws crowds from near and far, bringing a unique energy to the city.

This week, we went through our cabinet of history in search of rodeo memories past. Its not often that you see a special rotogravure pictorial section featuring Ellensburg in the Seattle Times, so this sepia tone 9 page spread immediately jumped out.

Just one look at the cover is enough to know how important Rodeo is, and always has been. Though the text is not easy to read after scanning these pages, the theme is consistent throughout – Ellensburg has retained the feeling of an Old West town, despite also being very modern. Each picture showcases the rural western culture that remains present here, some 68 years later. The importance of wheat, livestock, city schools and other institutions are described in beautiful detail.

With so much available on the web in terms of Ellensburg Rodeo history, we want to stay true to the spirit of this pictorial section, and let the beautiful photos do the talking. We’ve included all nine pages below, but if you get a chance to stop by the store, we’d love you to take a look in person!

” DEEP BLUE SKY, the flashing water of the Yakima River, rolling hills, a Western wind bringing the scent of pine trees – then you know you are approaching Ellensburg”

We hope you enjoy fair and rodeo safely this year!

When you’ve been in business for over 120 years, it can be difficult to put a date on everything that’s been saved over time. Records and documents are neatly organized and often dated, but vintage and antique merchandise is not always straight forward. These mysteries are the fun ones.

There’s nothing like pulling out an old envelope, contents unknown, and digging into its history. That’s exactly what happened today.

Digging Deeper

While browsing the contents of our cabinet of memories, we found this parcel stuffed with fabric samples. The package, opened, contains four samples of fabric in similar colors and styles. At first glance this seemed like a fun newer vintage find. The quality of this material is still incredibly good after sitting without special preservation. Taking a look at the stamp on the package however; it was immediately clear that this was very old fabric.

Though the parcel is undated, we estimate these samples were shipped to the store between 1922 and 1925, based on what appears to be a 1922 series postage stamp. The stamp commemorating President Lincoln has a value of 3 cents, is lavender in color and bears the horseshoe frame of the 1922 series.¹

Each of these incredible pieces of fabric is still individually tagged and marked with a lot number , price, (ranging from 30 – 70 cents) and the total amount ordered in each style. Over 50 yards were ordered per style according to the paper tags. We questioned what this could have possibly been used for considering the large number of yards. When the possibility of drapes were mentioned (Fitterer’s did work with drapery some years ago, though we no longer do) we looked for more clues.

Since the envelope seemed to hold some secrets, we took a closer look at the package. The shipping label attached to the package notes:

“Carpets, Domestic & Oriental Rugs, Linoleum, Congoleum Drapery & Upholstery Materials, Bedding, shades, etc.”

A closer look at the DN& E Walter packing slip

Its likely, based on this information, that our instincts were correct. This fabric was probably ordered with the intention of creating drapes from the yardage.

The company who sent us the fabric, DN & E Walter was a family business operating out of San Francisco beginning in 1858. It appears that they were in business until about 1958 with an original San Francisco location and additional locations across California³. We even found they had a location in Seattle in 1945². This package however was definitely shipped out of San Francisco, as marked through on the Lincoln stamp. There are traces of DN&E Walter online, including a domain name that’s not currently in use, but nothing that we could find seems to point to present operation.

Style Through the Decades

Even the prints and colors in these samples seem to be in line with our 1920’s estimate. Browsing the web for color and style trends of the time, peaches, soft blues , greens and floral prints were common. It may be difficult to get the true peach and green colors in some of these photos due to web resolution, but we can assure you they are beautiful in person.

Possibly the best part of this throwback, was simply getting to touch this fabric and see it up close. The condition is unbelievable for its prospected age. No tears, cracks or even un-smoothable wrinkles are visible.

These treasures are always a pleasure to research. It’s truly amazing to hold a piece of history and appreciate everything that it represents. These high quality fabrics certainly stood the test of time. A few of the swatches may even hold their own in the world of fashion today.

^{3.http://magnes.berkeley.edu/collections/archives/western-jewish-americana/d-n-e-walter-company-records-and-photographs-1868-1958}

^{2. http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/1127}

^{1. http://civilwar.gratzpa.org/2013/02/abraham-lincoln-on-stamps-regular-issues-of-the-1920s-to-the-early-1950s/}

It’s easy to fall in love with beautiful historical Ellensburg. Just ask the many students and community members who have chosen to call this city home after a temporary relocation or visit! After all, the sun shines often, the seasons are true, the history is rich and the people are friendly. Locals have always known and loved these perks to living in the valley, and history shows that pride in our community is nothing new.

This Thursday, in honor of our weekly throwback, we are featuring a very special edition of the Ellensburg Daily Record. The Record’s “Centennial” edition, printed in 1953, includes historical headlines and stories of reclamation, agriculture and industry in the Kittitas Valley. Additionally , photos and fantastic vintage ads from local businesses operating in the fifties line the pages.

Some headlines taken from the historic paper

‘First Settlers in Kittitas Were Stockmen’

‘Vision Brought Irrigation To the Kittitas Valley”

‘Town Ditch was First Big Canal’

          ‘Beef Producers of Today Have To Be Businessmen’

‘Dairy Cows have Often Saved Farmers of Kittitas’

‘First Impression Of Valley: Large Upturned Hand’

Of course this is a very brief outline of the Centennial paper, and we suggest you browse the publication yourself if you get a chance!  According to the  Library Services Department at CWU ,a copy of this paper lives the Central Washington University Archives.  We also have this copy in the store, and if you head over to the Daily Record across the street, they may be able to point you in the direction of an archived special edition.

We’ll leave you with this excerpt from a front page article:

“Among the most interesting aspects of life of any community are the plans, the efforts and the dreams of its citizens to harness its natural resources for the improvement of community life.”

Until Next week, Happy Thursday!