Circa 1918–1922 New Washington Hotel Seattle Illustrated Travel Brochure -- Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, Alaska & Early Motoring

A wonderful original circa 1918–1922 promotional travel brochure for The New Washington Hotel in Seattle, Washington, richly illustrated with an impressive color cover, panoramic photograph of downtown Seattle and Puget Sound, and an extensive illustrated fold-out promoting the recreational attractions of the Pacific Northwest.

Based upon the internal historical evidence and the automobiles depicted in the artwork, circa 1920 is an excellent working date for this brochure.

The striking cover presents The New Washington Hotel illuminated against a deep blue night sky, with early automobiles and pedestrians on the streets below and American flags flying from the rooftop. Inside, the hotel advertises itself under manager James C. Marmaduke, with rooms on the European Plan beginning at $3.00 per day. Marmaduke was closely associated with the hotel from its beginnings and became its manager in November 1910.

The New Washington Hotel & Seattle’s Remarkable Growth

The New Washington was one of Seattle’s important early luxury hotels. Built 1906–1908 at Second Avenue and Stewart Street, it was designed by the prominent St. Louis architectural firm Eames & Young as a large 14-story hotel. Its construction was closely connected with Seattle’s extraordinary growth during the years surrounding the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.

The hotel’s history is intertwined with one of Seattle’s most dramatic engineering projects--the Denny Hill Regrade. An earlier Washington Hotel stood high atop Denny Hill, but the hill itself was substantially removed as Seattle reshaped its terrain to permit expansion of the downtown business district. The old hotel was demolished and the New Washington arose nearby on the newly regraded landscape, roughly 100 feet lower than the former hilltop.

The hotel remained in operation under the New Washington name for decades. It was acquired by Western Hotels in 1937 and operated by Western until 1955. In 1963 it was acquired by the Catholic Archdiocese and renamed the Josephinum. Remarkably, the historic building itself survives today.

Dating the Brochure -- Circa 1920

Several clues allow this brochure to be dated surprisingly closely. Most important is the text describing Seattle as being made accessible by the “recent completion of huge canals and locks second only in size to the Panama Canal.” This refers to the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Ballard Locks, whose official opening occurred in 1917. The brochure therefore must postdate that major Seattle engineering achievement.

The illustrated automobiles provide another useful clue. The touring cars and roadsters shown on the cover and particularly on the fold-out “Seattle’s Scenic Boulevards” illustration have the high, upright bodies, narrow tires, running boards and open/touring configurations characteristic of the late 1910s and very early 1920s. The brochure’s emphasis on motorists being able to drive from the New Washington into the Cascades and Olympics also reflects the rapidly developing phenomenon of automobile tourism during this period.

Taking these clues together, I would date the brochure circa 1918–1922, most likely around 1920. An advertisement for the New Washington is independently documented in The Hotel World in 1922, demonstrating that the hotel was being actively promoted to travelers during precisely this period.

“Seattle -- The Seaport of Success”

The interior is especially interesting for the way it promotes Seattle itself. A dramatic panoramic photograph shows the growing downtown skyline, Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, accompanied by the wonderful booster-era slogan:

“SEATTLE--THE SEAPORT OF SUCCESS”--

Seattle is advertised as the gateway to China, Japan, South America, Australia, Russia and Alaska, reflecting the city’s rapidly expanding identity as a major Pacific port. The text also recalls the Klondike Gold Rush, when Seattle became the principal outfitting and departure point for thousands heading north toward Alaska and the Yukon.

This makes the brochure considerably more than ordinary hotel advertising--it is a wonderful surviving example of early-20th-century Seattle civic boosterism, presenting the city as a modern commercial gateway linking America with Alaska and the Pacific world.

Spectacular Illustrated Pacific Northwest Fold-Out

Perhaps the most appealing feature is the large illustrated fold-out devoted to the recreational possibilities surrounding Seattle. Beautiful pen-and-ink scenes promote:

“Yachting Every Day in the Year” on Puget Sound; “Off to the Golden North” and travel toward Alaska; “Mount Rainier--The Cascades and Olympics”; “Into the Big Game Country”; “A Fisherman’s Paradise”; and “Seattle’s Scenic Boulevards.”

The artwork includes early automobiles winding along forest roads, sailboats on Puget Sound, mountain climbers, fishermen, towering evergreen forests, Native Northwest imagery and totem poles, alpine lakes and dramatic views of Mount Rainier and the Cascades.

The language is a marvelous example of early Pacific Northwest tourism advertising, selling Seattle not simply as a business destination but as the gateway to an almost limitless wilderness of mountains, forests, sailing, fishing, hunting, motoring and travel to Alaska.

Condition--

The brochure remains highly attractive and complete, with particularly strong color on the beautiful New Washington Hotel cover. 

There is expected age toning, handling wear, creasing along the original folds,light top edge and corner wear, all visible in the photographs and consistent with an original travel brochure approximately a century old. There is also a period travel-service ink stamp on the hotel information page, an interesting piece of provenance from the brochure’s original use.

An outstanding piece of Seattle and Pacific Northwest ephemera for collectors of Seattle, Washington State, New Washington Hotel, early automobile travel, Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, Alaska tourism, Klondike history, Pacific Northwest travel, historic hotels, maritime history or vintage travel advertising.

Especially appealing is the historical moment preserved here: Seattle was emerging as a modern Pacific metropolis, the Lake Washington Ship Canal had recently opened, automobiles were creating an entirely new form of tourism, Alaska remained closely connected with Seattle’s identity, and the spectacular wilderness of Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, the Cascades and Olympics was being marketed to a new generation of American travelers. It is both an attractive hotel brochure and an evocative document of Seattle circa 1920 at the beginning of the automobile-tourism age.

Brochure closed measures c. 9 1/4" H x 4" W.

The entire sheet when opened to the pictorial image c. 9 1/4" x 16" W.

B16090