Seattle Golden Potlach banner, ca. 1911-1940

• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1911
• Subjects: Potlatch; Orleans; Pacific; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/14503

Seattle's first Golden Potlatch was celebrated in 1911. Its organizers, a group of prominent businessmen, wanted to promote the city in hopes of continuing the boomtimes of the Gold Rush, and the attention drawn by the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE). They expected the festival to rival New Orleans' Mardi Gras and Portland's Rose Festival. For a week, residents and visitors enjoyed parades, dances, band concerts, children's play festivals, fireworks, and many other activities. Like the later Seafair, Potlatch events included air shows and visiting naval vessels. The Potlatch continued into the 1940s. The Bug motif was the festival's ubiquitous emblem, meant to symbolize a figure on a totem pole. 1 Banner, Promotional; Materials: fabric --metal; Dimensions: 51.5 in.H x 42 in.W