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Native Americans Selling Baskets Outside Frederick & Nelson, Seattle, ca. 1912

A number of Native American families earned money by selling baskets to Seattle’s tourists and residents. In this postcard, several women and a boy sit by their baskets on Second Avenue, outside the Frederick & Nelson department store. This style of twined basket is still made by the Makah people of Neah Bay and the Nootkan people of Vancouver Island.

Caption on image: Indian Basket Sellers, Seattle.

Caption on verso: From the writing room of Frederick & Nelson, Seattle.

Postmarked April 8, 1912, from Seattle; one-cent stamp.

Handwritten on verso: Isn’t this a typical scene? Have been down taking lunch with Millie and have just put her on the car. Aren’t you dying for school to start? I am not. Heaps [of Love?] Rowena.
Addressed to Mrs. A.D. Foster in Quincy, Wash.

Photographer: Unknown

Image Date: ca. 1912

Image Number: 2002.50.41.1

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