Men holding banners spelling "Welcome to Our City" during the Golden Potlatch, Seattle, ca. 1913

• Main Author: Nowell, Frank H.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Banners; Business districts > Washington (State) > Seattle; Potlatch (Festival) (Seattle; Wash.); Suits (Clothing); Yukon; Pacific; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/5630

The Golden Potlatch was a city-wide festival held in July, organized by civic boosters hoping to capitalize on the success of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The first Golden Potlatch opened in July 1911; the event continued for each of the next three summers before being suspended during wartime. The name reflects the importance of the Klondike gold rush to Seattle and borrows a Chinook jargon term for a gift-giving ceremony. The boosters also used Chinook jargon to call themselves the Tillikums (friend) of Elttaes, (Seattle spelled backward). Thousands of people enjoyed the week-long carnival of parades, aircraft demonstrations and concerts. This photo shows a long line of men in white suits and hats, each holding a letter of the phrase "Welcome to Our City." Embossed on front of print: Frank H. Nowell, U.S.A. Photo from album with "Tillikums of Elttaes" embossed on the cover. Caption information source: HistoryLink.org 1 photographic print: b&w; 9 1/2 x 7 5/8 in.