Seattle's Museum of History and Industry

Just outside MOHAI

Remote Control sailboats on the grounds of the museum

If you have the slightest interest in Seattle and its surroundings, its natural resources, its history, its neighborhoods, its struggles and triumphs, if any interest at all, you'll want to visit the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). It just moved into its new home six weeks ago -- on the south end of Lake Union in what used to be the Naval Reserve Armory. Built in 1941-42 but the Works Progress Administration, the building is perfect for the museum with its easy access (unless you are trying to park), its location on the lake, and its natural light. With displays on three floors overlooking the atrium, you can experience the "diverse history of Seattle, the Puget Sound Region and the nation," as MOHAI's YouTube channel says.

Like any city, Seattle has its icons. Remember the "toe" truck that met you as you exited I-5 at Mercer?  Well, here it is, along with replicas of food from the Dog House Restaurant, the huge red "R" that used to identify the Rainier Brewing Company, and a volcano you can make erupt yourself.

At MOHAI you'll discover that UPS got its start in Seattle and will see one of its trucks from 1923; you'll learn about Seattle's lumber industry, its unions and its shipbuilding; you'll see how hobos of the Depression era marked homes in the community with code so that folks would know what kind of help they might receive there. 

While I really liked the entire museum, it was the things of my own era that I most enjoyed. That could have been me under those desks, preparing for an air raid (which, I might add, had me scared whenever an airplane flew overhead). And it certainly was me with that smelly old roller perm in the 60s!

Tom remembers using the drafting tools that we saw on display for the technical illustrations he created for Boeing. And we both remember the excitement of the Seafair hydroplane races on Lake Washington. Slo-mo-shun, the famous hydroplane, was suspended above the atrium, along with Boeing's first airplane. 

No history of Seattle would be complete without Century 21, the Seattle Worlds Fair in 1962. From his classroom on Queen Anne Hill Tom watched the Space Needle being built. (This photo is from a display went from right to left.)

On our way home we talked about what we enjoyed most about MOHAI. Mom thought the museum was well designed so that people weren't crowding each other, and felt there were enough staff and volunteers around to answer any questions you might have. Her father was a lumberjack, so she especially enjoyed the video about the lumber industry.

"They sure salvaged a lot of stuff!" Dad said. I asked him it it stirred any memories for him and he told about the day his dad dashed to the bank with the offering taken for the evangelist who had preached at his church. Grandad wanted to get it deposited so that they could get a check written for the preacher before he moved on. Alas, not long after the deposit was made, the stock market crashed and the money for the preacher was gone.

There was a large machine on display for canning salmon that Tom thought his dad would have liked, as well as the drafting tools that he had also used at Boeing. And seeing the old wood veneer radio reminded him of the Philco his family gathered around on Saturday evenings, listening to the Lone Ranger, while his grandma made oatmeal candy for them.

"In fact," Tom told me, "going through the museum reminded me that people don't really change. Technology is different, but we still deal with the same issues. Seattle shipyard workers went on strike in 1919 for better wages. We're still concerned about the same things. People don't really change."

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MOHAI is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and open until 8 p.m. every Thursday.  General admission (15 and up) is $14, with seniors, students, and military admission is $12. The first Thursday of each month is free (and crowded, but still lots of fun!). It's located at 860 Terry Ave N. For more information, go to mohai.org. You might also enjoy these links: The New MOHAI from Seattle Magazine, today's Herald article, "MOHAI's New Digs Give Seattle History Some Breathing Room," and this or other videos from MOHAI's YouTube channel.

The Hat Sisters

Mary Ruth in red, with friends (l-r) Barbara, Hildred, Dottie and Sylvia

I caught up with the Hat Sisters at their church's monthly senior adult luncheon. They didn't wear their hats to lunch, but they put them on afterwards and posed for me.

My sister Peach and her family attend the same church as the Hat Sisters. Over Sunday dinner a while back my niece Melissa said, "There were several women wearing hats at church today." I was taken aback. We had attended the same church when we lived in Marysville, and it just didn't seem like a wear-a-hat-to-church group.

A week later I ran into the Mary Ruth at a memorial service. She was wearing a hat. "I am letting the color grow out of my hair," she confided to me, "and my friends are all wearing hats to support me." I looked around and there they were, in their hats.

Their solidarity impressed me. But then, they are pretty impressive women.

All born in the 1920s, they share the dubious distinction of being widows. It's what brought them together. It's their love for one another and the fun they have that keeps them together. When Mary Ruth, Barbara and Hildred all lost their husbands in 1999 they found support in one another. By 2003 they had each sold their homes and bought condos in a lovely complex in Everett. The "widow's row," where they sit at church each week, now includes Sylvia and Dottie. After church they usually go out to breakfast. Whoever drives gets to choose the restaurant, they told me. "But we're running out of places to go!" laughed Barbara.

When they are not at church or church events together they just might be at the symphony or attending a Village Theater production or enjoying a game of Dominoes.

Mary Ruth, the eldest, will be 92 in June. She is the only one left of the nine children in her family. She taught music and was a choral director at Spring Arbor College in her younger days. Two years ago the school hosted a reunion for people who had attended SAC in the 50s and 60s and invited her to come and conduct the reunion choir.

When Barbara's kids were growing up she was a stay-at-home mom. She went to work in her 60s -- as a traffic flagger, bright orange jacket and all. She and her husband loved to camp and she was quite a fisherman. She's a writer and a poet.

Hildred (she and Dottie are the youngsters at 88) worked at Boeing as a secretary, an estimator, and later in the Space Division. She painted her name on the door of Boeing's 5000th B17, and left her finger print on the Moon Buggy. She'd love to have some of her family members go to the Moon and see the Moon Buggy. Who knows? Maybe space travel will be available for a future generation!

Sylvia said she, too, was at Boeing when the 5000th B17 was rolled out. She had a Japanese-American friend who had been interned during World War II. After the war ended the friend was wishing for a job so that she could have a paycheck. Sylvia told her about openings at the Fredrick and Nelson department store, and that she'd go with her to apply. Both of the women got jobs there, and Sylvia ended up staying 18 years.

Dottie had worked as a long distance telephone operator during World War II. Her husband's job with Boeing brought them to the Northwest and provided training for her at Edmonds Community College to be an illustrator for the company. I haven't seen her work, but I understand from her friends that she is a fine artist.

Each one of these women had a positive attitude and a spirit of adventure. They are a total delight and I am privileged to know them.

If you're ever at a restaurant late on a Sunday morning and you see five 90ish women hanging out, enjoying themselves, and wearing hats, you just might be watching the Hat Sisters in action!