Once again as a brief intermission between my feature articles, I thought I'd take a look around and see what was happening on Capitol Hill during Thanksgiving 1915 and here's what I found.
Most of you will recognize the above pictured building as the home of The Egyptian Theater at the corner of Harvard and Pine since the mid 1980s. However, as of Thanksgiving day 1915, it was still under construction and would initially serve as a temple, auditorium, and offices for the Free Masons.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1915, the masons organized a parade from their old temple on 1st Ave to their new location where the Washington State Grand Master Robert Sebastian, with the assistance of lodge officers, laid the cornerstone. (And perhaps the dinner that followed went a little something like this?)
Apparently, they placed a "double copper box" inside the cornerstone containing several artifacts include copies of the previous day's Seattle Times and the day's Seattle PI. I wonder if the copper box is still inside...
Seattle Times article about the ceremony
Also of interest!
Paul Dorpat highlights the theater's use by the Seattle Fine Arts Society for their Egyptian-themed annual costume ball of 1921.
And finally a last bit of comic relief:
From Seattle Times dated November 24,1915:
"Don't gorge on Thanksgiving, doctors advise. The small boy will probably be content with four helpings of turkey and a whole pie--as usual."
Happy Thanksgiving!