Name/Title
Print, PhotographicEntry/Object ID
1869Description
B/W copy of original print of "Washington Hardware Co". Shows store front and neighboring shops. Store was only outlet for sports goods in early Tacoma days.
Washington Hardware was started prior to 1912. The solo owner was H.E. Anderson. F.A. Haines then joined up the Anderson to form a partnership. Subsequently, other individuals bought shares in the business and the ownership group included H.E. "Bud" Anderson, Jr., Fritz Haines (F.A. Haines' son), Allan M. Browne, Dick Wainwright, Bob Gruver, C.M. Johnson, and Stan Anderson.
The partnership continued to grow and in the early 1960s the business was sold to EKCO Products, the largest non-electrical housewares manufacturing company in the United States. Holdings sold by the partnership at the time included Washington Hardware, Washington Steel Products, Northwest Builders Hardware, and Oregon- Washington Hardware.
Washington Hardware in Tacoma was the only outlet to handle sporting goods which was a big part of their overall business. Allan Browne, a top handball and baseball player in the 1920s and 1930s in Tacoma, was in charge of the sporting goods division and it was later taken over by Stan Anderson. Anderson, another local sports enthusiast, was vice-president of the Tacoma Tigers.Lexicon
Search Terms
Sporting Goods, Washington Hardware