The Potlatch Bug: A Ragtime Song of the Golden Potlatch

• Main Author: Irwin, Frederick
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: Empire Music Publishing Company, Seattle
• Subjects: Sheet music covers Songs & music; Yukon; Pacific; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/11272

1912 The Golden Potlatch was a summer festival held in Seattle from 1911 through 1914. Organized by city boosters, it was designed to promote business interests and keep newly-prosperous Seattle in the public eye after the Alaskan gold rush and the success of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. "The Potlatch Bug," in the popular ragtime style, was but one of several songs written to promote the 1912 festival. The design of the "bug" itself, seen on the cover, was appropriated by the promoters from Native American motifs and appeared on banners, lapel pins, postcards, and a variety of souvenirs. The music and lyrics of "The Potlatch Bug," written for a single treble voice, were written by Frederick Irwin. It was published for the 1912 Seattle Golden Potlatch, July 12-20, 1912, by Frederick Irwin, at the press of the Empire Music Publishing Company, Seattle. An ad for a song for chorus, "I'm going to see my Mary Ann," also by Frederick Irwin, is found on the final page of the score. Caption information source: "Seattle's Potlatch Bug (1912)," by Lorraine McConaghy, HistoryLink.org Essay 8213. 1 score (5 p.) + 1 part 10.5 x 14 in.