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We are in the ‘20s again. This roaring decade left a stamp that has been recognized by every generation.

As Olympians in the 1920s, we were a movie-going, fashion-shopping, capital city-living group in some ways that we continue today.

Now, we are in a new ‘20s – the 2020s – and you can look around Olympia to see that we still have one foot in that decade. We have some genuine centurions among us and a few original bones beneath the facades.

Theater Seat in The Capitol Theater
Holes in the bottom of this seat indicate where hat holding hardware was. Photo credit: Rebecca Sanchez

We are walking the same walk downtown. Olympians were shopping, dining out and going to the movies in the 1920s as well. The Liberty Theater and the Capitol Theater both debuted in 1924. The Capitol theater, still in operation and run by the Olympia Film Society, is still showing films and showcasing musical performers.  

Later, in 1928, the Avalon Theater opened with its debut film “The Winning of Barbara Worth,” accompanied by their new in-house Wurlitzer for sound. Twenty-five cents would get adults an evening ticket. While only remnants of the Avalon Theater’s façade remain, you can still go out on a Saturday night and see a movie at Capitol Theater. Wear your drop waist dress and cloche hat or a three-piece suit with a fedora to match, and you will have a foot in each decade. Upstairs, on the mezzanine level, you will find a row of antique theater seats. The holes in the bottom of each seat are left over from a hat-holder that used to be there, so patrons had a place to put their hats during the film.

Just like today, women’s clothing stores downtown were local sources for the latest style. The Martin building at the corner of Fifth and Washington, which is currently home to Captain Little’s toy store, was once a destination for women’s clothing. This space was the M.M. Morris ladies wear store. In the 1920s, women were wearing long dresses, with long lines and low waists. They wore a variety of hats and added more length to the outfits with a long strand of pearls and long strapped purse.

Mottman Building
Looking east alongside the Mottman building on Fourth Avenue. Photo credit: Rebecca Sanchez

You can still seek out a specialty store downtown. In the Mottman building at Fourth and Capitol, through the corner entry, is Belleza Ropa boutique with its quaint atmosphere, elegant and professional women’s wear, shoes and accessories. This is the building that housed Olympia’s first elevator. A business here previously featured a pully and basket system for exchanging money and receipts. In order to save time, an assistant would transfer money between the salesperson and the cashier via a small basket suspended by a wire.

It is a treat and a wonder to be able to step into the very Olympia buildings, their show room floors and their covered entry ways, knowing they were the very same buildings so important in the lives of Olympians in the 1920s. Stroll along Fourth Avenue in the shadow of the Mottman building and its broad windows, sidewalks wet from rain, traffic splashing by. There is little difference in the last century in these aspects. Some things never change.

We are even living in some of the same houses. Pre-cut, kit homes were selling well, and buyers could have one of their own for under $2,600. One of the companies selling them was Tumwater Lumber Mills. Often one and a half stories, the English Builder style homes were ordered and delivered on-site. And it makes me ponder…

M. M. Morris clothing store exterior, Olympia Washington, 1920s-1930s. Photo courtesy: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
M. M. Morris clothing store exterior, Olympia Washington, 1920s-1930s. Photo credit: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, JEW0667

How would I know at some moments that I am NOT living in 1920? When I walk down the sidewalk in an Olympia neighborhood, by the cozy pre-cut homes with their peaked and swooping roofs that shelter the front door, I am in a time capsule. The towering evergreens, here for ages, know no calendar. The Capitol dome peeks between the chimneys. Maybe a dog barks and the wind blows. A mail carrier walks up to push some mail through a brass front door slot. Olympia High School is just blocks away where its graduating class totaled about 50 a century ago. The students are still passing along these sidewalks to and from classes.

1920 something or 2020 something?

In another part of town, in 2020, a new sidewalk has been poured, a new school built and a pre-constructed home can be ordered up for delivery. Though, the median house price is $357,000, a new school constructed with sustainability in mind, and graduating classes of 2020 are bigger.

We will have our fashion styles, music and movies this decade that will inevitably be unique to us alone, a ‘20s of our own. But in many ways, we are happily tethered to the 1920s. We gather with friends at Capitol Theater to watch a movie or see a concert. We patronize boutiques in the heart of downtown to find that hat or dress that is just right, and some lucky Olympians step through the front door of a Tumwater Lumber Mills pre-cut home. I like having one foot in the past.

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