Christening of the seaplane "Tilikum" during the Golden Potlatch, Seattle, July 1914

• Main Author: Nowell, Frank H.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Girls > Washington (State) > Seattle; Potlatch (Festival) (1914: Seattle; Wash.); Rites & ceremonies > Washington (State) > Seattle; Seaplanes > Washington (State) > Seattle; Christofferson; Silas (1890-1916); Joslyn; Lois Ruth; Yukon; Pacific; Union Lake; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/5637

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. Aviator Silas Christofferson sits in the cockpit of his "flying yacht" during the christening ceremony on the shores of Lake Union. Lois Ruth Joslyn, daughter of the festival's Chairman of Aviation, prepares to break a bottle of wine on the hull while several girls in Native American costumes look on. 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: The Seattle Daily Times, July 15, 1914; p.2. 1 photographic print: b&w; 9 3/4 x 7 5/8 in.