Lobby ... for trentsteff by auntietk
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Description
I have another story for you:
Years and years (and years) ago, when my brother and I were small, our grandmother had an office in the 4th & Pike Building in downtown Seattle. She was a self-employed businesswoman in an age when there weren't many around. We would go down to her office and sit (quietly, I'm sure) and wait for her to be done working.
There were glass-fronted mail slots in the wall on each floor. You would put the mail in the slot, and it would fall all the way down to the lobby, where the postman would pick it up each day. We used to beg our grandmother for envelopes to be mailed, and we would put them in the maildrop and watch the envelopes fall through the tube. I remember sitting in the hallway in that building, hoping for someone on the floor above to drop a piece of mail so we could watch it slide by.
The other day I was downtown with my friend Ann, having gone to the flower and garden show. We happened to catch the bus back home right in front of the 4th & Pike Building.
With about ten minutes to kill until the bus came, I went inside and took pictures of the lobby, which I remember like it was yesterday. Even the smell is the same. I wish we'd had longer - I would have gone upstairs and taken more pictures.
The 4th & Pike Building was completed in 1926, and you'll be shocked to hear it's at the corner of 4th and Pike. Hence the name. :) It has ten floors. The lobby floor is polished granite, the walls are marble, the elevator doors are brass, and the ceiling is accented in gold leaf. (I looked it up.)
If you look closely, you can see the mail collection box on the back wall, with the glass-front mail tube coming down from the floors above.
I didn't see any mail drop into the box while we were there.
So this is for my brother Trent, who I'm sure remembers this lobby every bit as well as I do.
Comments (37)
Faemike55
This is a wonderful picture made even better by the story that goes with it! Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your childhood with us!
rudiruth
wonderfull, I can almost smell it too ;)
beachzz
This is so beautiful, the glow is magic. But even better is your story--I want to see that mail drop!!
Susank
What wonderful memories. thanks. Brilliant shot
whaleman
A very classy shot of a very classy building!
mbz2662
I loved the bit of history... It made this gorgeous photo even more special.
valtes
They don't make them like that anymore! Wonderful!!
babuci
Wonderful childhood story to cheerish. You captured a nostalgic atmosphere so well. The warm tone of the light, the pattern of the marble wall is so gorgeous. Sure looks like a posh place to work or visit to take photos.
flora-crassella
wonderful image!!!! Interesting story and great photo!!!!
Kelena
nice shot
bmac62
What a beautiful old building. Since 1926 was in the middle of the roaring 20s, a good three years before the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing depression, this type of oppulence was very appropos for the time. Isn't it neat to return and find this place just the same as you remembered it? I recall old mail shoots like that too. How about pneumatic tubes in department stores?
durleybeachbum
Magnificent! ....the lobby, your photo, your wonderful story...... Fabulous, Tara!
lyron
Excellent image!!
petercp
Firstly I would like to say sorry Auntietk for not giving a mention about the wonderful photos in your gallery in my favorite Artists, I pushed the enter button before commenting on the gallery, sorry. It must have been a real pleasure for your grandmother to walk into the this spendid building day after day, a great capture and it certainly released unforgettable memories of your past.
awjay
super image ..thanks for sharing
helanker
WOW! these are such s sweet memories and such a beautiful capture too. Thanks for sharing this with us. :)))
fredster66
Fine photo. The lighting looks great!
anahata.c
Oh tara, you get these warm glowing shots that just drive me to sing...a beautiful warm inner-glow shot of one of those old American lobbies, you got the gold lights, the gold shadows, those reds that always accompany places like this, and all the deep darks that make this so warm, even mysterious. I know those mail chutes well, we had them in my father's building too (in Chicago), and we too would stand for hours and watch the letters whoosh by (though we didn't ask for 'letters' to mail—you were good kids—we mailed pencils, paper clips, even an old sock, which I'll tell you about once I find the police records)...I read up on this place because I did preservation work a ways back, and this is an old gothic gem! With that beautiful ornament & arches right over the elevators & doors, it's beautiful. But so is the shot, really fine work. You did this place proud... (When I read about it, I found this huge shot of the entrance (here.): Love those arches, love the door frames, and that lettering too, wide & with big fat serifs, really classic stuff! Thanks for posting this!)
flavia49
Great picture!
PD154
What a great shot sweetie, the light is beautiful, and what a great memory for you to find the place unchanged, I bet a wee tear came to your eye?...Come on now fess up! :)
MrsRatbag
Wow, what a beautiful lobby! I absolutely love those...things, whatever they are...at the upper corners of the elevator doors. I remember mail slots too. (and carbon paper, and typewriters with carriage returns, and rotary dial phones...) Wonderful capture!
sandra46
A very beautiful picture and a great story. Thank you!!!
junge1
Beautiful capture Tara and a fabulous story. The building still looks fantastic, just waiting for you to come in and take pictures!
Sea_Dog
I love the atmosphere of buildings of this era. You've captured it beautifully.
CavalierLady
Wonderful narrative and story of your youth, Tara, and what a beautiful capture filled with warm light and memories! Love that architecture! Expect to see Bogie and Bacall come out of the elevators at any moment!
trentsteff
Great shot!! I also remember that each elevator had a gentleman inside who ran the thing by use of levers more like on a ship than the buttons we all are used to now. He would inquire what floor, then manually pull the metal gating across as the outer door closed. Again, upon arriving at the desired floor, he would manually stop the car at just the right place, then fling open the gate with a flourish to allow you to exit.
jeroni
Splendid composition and colors my friend
emmecielle
Interesting story and fantastic shot! :)
frankie96
Try to get something like that built today...impossible...really liked your narrative and the golden glow in the lighting...
moochagoo
Seattle is a wonderful town. Thanks for sharing.