From: J.A.M To: Warren Bullard 1909
Seattle 9/10/09
Warren,
I am still taking in the sights and am not half through. Seattle day was a hummer. There was 117,013 tickets sold the racket on the “Pay Streak” was fiene(sic), they kept going all night.
I suppose you are busy fishing by this time. Who is running the the lower ground this year.
(615-12th ave N.)
J.A.M
In 1909, William Howard Taft was president, the NAACP was founded, Alice Huyler Ramsey became the first woman to drive across the United States, and the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opened on June 1 — running until October 16.
And J.A.M was there.
This is one of my favorite postcards, partially because it provides so much information on such a small canvas. I’ve posted this card before, but I didn’t feel like I did it justice, so I wanted to re-post now that I’m a little better at this blog thing.
First, I want to talk about the Seattle World’s Fair — or the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition. The exposition was huge, and on opening day attracted 80,000 people. However, “Seattle Day” brought in a crowd of 117,013. I’m amazed that this piece of information is immortalized in JAMs letter. I’m also thrilled about it. As a historian, it’s amazing when you can get real data from a source. And this source provides a ton of information.
The “Pay Streak” was sort of the fair’s answer to a midway. There were a variety of things that one could do on the “pay streak”. There were babies in incubators, machines that could slice a salmon in half, and even an orphaned baby that was “auctioned” off. Yes. That was a thing that happened. However, the winner never collected their prize. Apparently, historians are still trying to figure out what happened to the child. Suffice it to say, just because technology was progressing, doesn’t mean humans were.
And what of Warren Bullard and JAM? Well, I found Warren almost immediately. Warren Bullard was born January 20, 1884, which made him 25 at the time the postcard was written. A year later, in 1910, he married a woman with the best name possible, Leafy May Kendall. They had three children, and remained together until Warren’s early death in 1940. Warren registered for WWI, but I can’t find records that he fought. Leafy lived another 38 years after his death. She taught school and lived to be 90. She’s buried next to her husband.
And as for JAM? As you know, without a full name it’s almost impossible to find the person, unless they happen to be a relative of the recipient of the postcard. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find JAM. He’s not a cousin or brother that I can see — which must make him a friend or school mate. Alas, thems the breaks sometimes.
This postcard is more than just a connection, it’s a true primary source that chronicles the Seattle World’s Fair. It’s an exceptional find and I’m thrilled to at least have found Warren. I hope he took as much pleasure in reading the card as I have taken in talking about it.
Front of Postcard, Mt. Rainier, Washington
Hipstory 