The street scene below were all recorded by Victor Lygdman during the summer of 1961. Born in Seattle in 1927, Victor live in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle for most of his life, and was an activist there with one of the early food banks. He was also one of a handful of locals who were sometimes refered to as the "Mayor of Wallingford." He explained that he gave the name to himself. "Actually, I went out on 45th and Wallingford one morning at 6:00 a.m. and I said, 'I am the mayor.' I didn't hear a voice of dissent so I declared myself official Mayor of Wallingford." He was a fixture - a moving one. Victor may have got his first camera in his twenties. He also liked to paint and write. Having known him I suspect he may have also once done some acting. Victor had a long and creative life. He died on Feb. 13, 2010. We'll sometimes put up his photographs under the Seattle Confidential tag, although he was pretty good about at least dating his negatives. The above looks to me like a formal high school portrait, which would date it from the mid-40s. (Click Them TWICE to Enlarge Them)
To me the above gent holding a paper looks something like the old Capitol Hill Times Editor of the 40th thru the 70s, Louis Magrini.
The one looks east on Pine toward its intersection with 3rd Ave. The facades of both the Bon and Frederick and Nelson show on the left.
This gent at least resembles Louis Magrini, the long-time editor of the Capitol Hill Times. More likely that it is the newsman tending the sales box for the daily pulps.
Some of these required, it would seem, some snapping with quick withdrawal. When I first attempted to include this, my computer denied me, explaining that the image was withheld for “security reasons.” In the tone or temper of the times, “National Security?” I thought – seeing the sailor. Then checking the file I discovered that the “jpeg” ID had not yet been affixed.
