Re:Take: Pork Place Arterial Congestion

Re:Take is a weekly look at the Emerald City now and in days of yore through photos dug out of the city archives. This week Seattle's arterials clog with 40k pounds of bacon.

The old photo was taken by the city as it prepared to evict farmers from the bustling Pike Place Market to let traffic flow smoothly. More on that over at Flickr.

This was the quiet before the storm. Two weeks later the city sold 40,000 pounds of bacon in two days from stalls at the market. It was leftovers from World War One, scored from the United States Army Quartermaster.

"This morning the line of waiting customers stretched for several blocks... With virtually all of the purchasers taking the maximum amount of each foodstuffs allowed -- twenty pounds of bacon, twelve cans of tomatoes and two cans of corned beef. All classes of people were in the long lines of waiting, while policemen stood by to maintain order."

The army responded by opening its own store to sell boots, blankets, kitchenware, and the "issue bacon" among other material. The army store was on the waterfront behind where Starbucks Headquarters is today. And it was the beginning of our infatuation with Army Surplus.

Within weeks the quartermaster issued a plea because the bacon was not selling. "The bacon and corned beef are good! Even if those who buy it are dissatisfied they can use it for seasoning purposes." Like in cupcake frosting? Or vodka, perhaps?

(First quote 8/17/1919 Seattle Times page 15; second 10/17/1919 ST p14; photo Seattle Municipal Archives 7/19/1919.)