Published in the Issaquah Press on July 21, 1999
Issaquah & Seattle Freight Co. truck circa 1920
Here’s a look at one of the early trucks belonging to the Issaquah & Seattle Freight Co. The truck is parked along the old Sunset Highway (now State Route 900) near Goode’s Corner circa 1920.
Published in the Issaquah Press on October 6, 1999
Bucking broncos at the Issaquah Roundup 1924
This photograph was taken during one of Issaquah’s early celebrations. A Seattle photographer snapped this shot of a cowboy trying to maintain his balance on a bucking bronco during the Issaquah Roundup, which traditionally took place around Labor Day each year. This picture is from 1924 when the roundup was Aug. 30- Sept. 1. The Issaquah Roundup is generally considered the forerunner of today’s Salmon Days Festival, which marked its 30th anniversary this year.
Published in the Issaquah Press on January 5, 2000
Labor Day Day Parade on September 1, 1924. [IHM photo]
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| Pre-bob Ferol Tibbetts (right) Mary [Tillie] Hayward (left) Full Record |
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| Post-bob Ferol Tibbetts Full Record |
In our collection we have about 10 daily journals kept by Ferol Tibbetts Jess written starting in 1923. While the journals contain a lot of basic daily notes (sewing, washing, visiting friends) they also contain wonderful tidbits about what it was like to be a 20-something during the 1920s.
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| Alice Pedegana (left) Ferol Tibbetts (right) Full Record |
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| Ferol Tibbetts (left) Blaine Boyden (right) Full Record |
Just like Josephine Cornick, Ferol Tibbetts had her share of albums full of snapshots as well. Here are some of our favorites:
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| “Ferol and Dorothy” ca late 1910s Full Record |
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| “Camping at the Lake ca late 1910s Full Record |
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| “Follies Bathing Beauties” ca late 1910s Full Record |
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| “Dad and Ferol Relax at Camp” ca late 1910s Full Record |
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| “Naughty! Naughty” ca late 1910s Full Record |
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| “Twins!” ca late 1910s Full Record |
One of the commonalities we’ve noticed between Josephine Cornick and Ferol Tibbets was their posession of personal cameras. In 1888, the Eastman Kodak Company released it’s first amateur camera. George Eastman’s goal was to make photography “as convenient as the pencil.” By the time Josephine Cornick and Ferol Tibbetts were old enough to shop for cameras, there were at least 8 different Brownie cameras available to the public for $4 or less. The more money you had to spend, the larger the variety of cameras available to you.
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| Studio Portrait of William and Anastasia Cornick, with daughter Josephine, ca 1903 Full Record Snapshot of (l to r) Josephine Cornick, Anastasia Cornick, William Cornick and Emma Cornick, ca 1918 Full Record |
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| Friend of Jo Cornick, modeling her gym bloomers ca 1918 Full Record |
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| Friend of Jo Cornick ca 1915 Full Record |
Thanks to their snapshots, we can make some guesses about what Josephine and Ferol valued most based on the things they photographed — friends, pets, family members, automobiles. Snapshots were also used to preserve moments of good humor shared among friends. Snapshots also provide information about things we would never learn through studio portraits — like what girls’ gym uniforms looked like circa 1915, and how a young lady might have dressed to help with farm work.
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| Jo Cornick and friend at the beach ca 1920 Full Record |
The downside of amateur photography is, of course, the amateur behind the lens. Not everyone was adept with the new gadgets, resulting in the occasional botched image.
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| Jo Cornick and three friends ca 1920 Full Record |
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| Ferol Tibbetts sitting on car ca. late 1910s Full Record |
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| Ferol’s dog Max in front of the Tibbetts garage ca. late 1910s Full Record |
The following are excerpts from Ferol’s journals:
“Went to Rentonwith Walter and then drove the Pierce home. Sure felt fine driving it.” – Book I, Sunday, July 29, 1923.
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| “Unloading Apple Boxes” Most likely Ferol Tibbetts in driver seat ca. late 1910s Full Record |
“Minnie Archembault and I went for a ride with Mr. Kinnybru in a Studebaker Six. We went to Preston, Fall City, and Tolt. I drove home from Tolt. Sure like to drive a Studebaker.” – Book I, Thursday, October 25, 1923
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| Opening of Snoqualmie Pass ca. 1915 Full Record |
“The Chevrolet Company is running an endurance test of a 100 hrs. Clyde [Powell] was to drive from 2a.m. to 8a.m. Ruth was going with him so they asked me to go. I went to bed over to Ruth’s. It is about 10:45 when we went to bed. Got up at 1:15, had coffee and toast and got started about 2:15. Thurs 9. It was raining and blowing like everything and was pretty cold. He went to Renton, Newport, Kirkland, Bothell, Redmond, FallCity, North Bend, back to Issaq. Then from here to Newport, Renton and then home again. It was then 6:30. Clyde went to Rentonand then Kirklandand handed the car over to the Chevrolet man there.” – Book II, October 8-9, 1924.
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| Ferol Tibbetts sitting on hood of a car ca. late 1910s Full Record |
In 1979, Josephine Cornick Ross was 77 years old and lived at the Issaquah Villa nursing home. A student with a tape recorder interviewed her for a school assignment. More than 30 years later, their 22 minute conversation found its way into the collection of the Issaquah History Museums. This recording is the only narrative we have about Josephine’s life that she herself created. Unlike Ferol Jess Tibbetts and Minnie Wilson Schomber, whose letters and journals share details of their lives with us, we have only Josephine Cornick Ross’s photographs and brief oral history. For that reason, we have many more unanswered questions about Josephine.
But, there are some things one can surmise even without a pointed narrative, and a fascination with automobiles is one of them.
Unlike Ferol, Josephine’s family did not have access to their own automobile, as she explained to her interviewer:
Ferol Tibbetts, circa 1920s
Ferol Tibbets was born November 11, 1902 to George Wilson Tibbetts and Mattie Ray Tibbetts. The Tibbetts line had been in the Issaquah area since 1874 when Ferol’s grandparents, George Washington Tibbetts and his wife Rebecca Wilson Tibbetts, relocated here.
Ferol Tibbetts was an only child. Her parents owned an auto shop and were probably considered part of Issaquah’s “upper class” society. A year after Ferol graduated high school in 1921 she attended Washington State College (Now Washington State University.) Judging from her diaries of her time there she focused on meeting boys and spending her time having fun. The few mentions of actual academic activities were mostly theater and drama related. She moved back home to live with her parents after one year at college in 1923 – it’s unclear whether she ever graduated with any sort of degree.
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| “Engagements” of Ferol Tibbetts ca 1922-23 Full Record |
Our closest connection to Ferol and her life lies in her daily diaries. She began keeping journals during her year in college. When she returns home her journals pick up in simple composition books. Ferol is fairly meticulous in her writings, however she often neglects to use last names which can make identification difficult.
The wonderful thing about these journals is that Ferol began writing these while in her early 20s. And since they begin in the year 1922 we’re able to see what “the roaring twenties” were like not only for a 20 year old female, but one who lives and has grown up in Issaquah.
Ferol’s diaries are almost exactly what you’d expect them to be – gossip, discussion of the boys she’s going out with, hair and beauty, friends. But there are unexpected moments – Ferol’s knowledge and experience with cars, her lack of enthusiasm for voting for the first time, and her attendance at the huge KKK rally in Issaquah (and subsequent interaction with the organization.)
The diaries of hers in our collection continue for at least a decade and we haven’t hardly made a dent in reading and cataloging them. We’ll continue sharing our discoveries past the window of LHM. Who knows what we will find!
