February 2012

Downtown's Hot New Design House

Downtown’s Hot New Design House

Marta Kappl's combined clothing boutique and designer incubator is giving local fashion a place to g

Couture designer and recent Bay Area transplant Marta Kappl has enjoyed her share of success in the fashion world, tallying up clients such as Keanu Reeves and Carlos Santana over her more than 20-year independent career. Now, the German native is leading others down the path to success at her new House of Fashion (Downtown,…

Moth and Crow's Supple New Handbags

Moth and Crow’s Supple New Handbags

We might cry over spilled milk, but we shed happy tears of joy over spilled paint, thanks to Moth and Crow’s new Marsupial Fold-Over Shopper handbag. Crafted by Capitol Hillster Dawn Smithson, the supple bag has welt pockets (à la its mammalian namesake) and, thanks to detachable straps, can be sported in four different ways,…

North Bend

North Bend

Nestled in the foothills 30 minutes east of Seattle, this charming town is adding to its downtown di

Cruising along Interstate 90, many travelers never bother to search beyond North Bend’s massive outlet mall and fast-food corridor. But those who do go deeper have long enjoyed iconic outdoor destinations such as Mount Si, arguably the most popular day hike in the state, and locally beloved diners such as Twede’s Café (137 W North…

Cruise Ship Control

Cruise Ship Control

Disney Cruise Line pulls into the port on the Seattle waterfront this spring. Do these behemoth boat

They pour into Seattle by the hundreds of thousands: cruise ship passengers from all over the world, clamoring to board floating cities for slo-mo luxury tours of Puget Sound and points beyond. Seattle has become a major launching spot for cruise ships setting sail to southeast Alaska, with its cavorting whales, calving glaciers and staggeringly…

Cool Souvenirs from the World’s Fair

Cool Souvenirs from the World’s Fair

Sure, they’re kitschy now, but back in 1962, these items were hot property.

1. Champagne glasses (with Space Needle stems) used on opening night of the fair 2. A ticket book, with individual tickets for fair exhibits 3. An official Space Needle beanie, whose top shakes like a maraca 4. A commemorative egg timer on a piece of wood (of course!) 5. Porcelain salt and pepper shakers 6….

Vintage World’s Fair Cocktails to Make at Home

Vintage World’s Fair Cocktails to Make at Home

Cocktail expert A.J. Rathbun offers recipes for three retro drinks once served atop the Space Needle

In 1962, stylish guests dined and drank at The Eye of the Needle (now called SkyCity), while slowly revolving 500 feet above Seattle. While the days of a $6.75 three-course dinner are long gone, you don’t need a time machine to sample the drinks from the Needle’s menu. Seattle magazine’s cocktail expert A.J. Rathbun offers…

Seattle Center by the Numbers

Seattle Center by the Numbers

A few fun (and somewhat random) statistics related our city's core cultural campus.

1,000,000: number of dollars the City of Fife offered Seattle to move the Space Needle to its downtown 600,000: number of dollars the City of Seattle paid for the monorail in 1965 500,000: total number of Belgian waffles sold during the six months of the fair. Stacked, they would have been higher than 70 Space…

Back to the Future: Why Seattle's World's Fair Mattered

Back to the Future: Why Seattle’s World’s Fair Mattered

Our own Knute Berger—who is the official writer of the Space Needle—looks back on the 1962 Seattle W

In the winter of 1962, my Cub Scout den had taken a field trip to the top of the Smith Tower, then one of the tallest buildings west of the Mississippi. We went to the observation deck, where we had an unobstructed view across downtown to a strange spire that was rising near Queen Anne…

The History of the Seattle Center: A Timeline

The History of the Seattle Center: A Timeline

The events that shaped Seattle's 1962 World's Fair and, eventually, the Seattle Center as we know it

June 1–October 16, 1909: Seattle’s first world’s fair, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, takes place (see photo above). 1954: City Council member Al Rochester proposes the idea that Seattle host a world’s fair to mark the 50th anniversary of the A-Y-P. February 19, 1957: The World’s Fair Commission receives authorization from Washington Governor Albert Rosellini to hold…

An Art Collection Emphasizing Emerging Artists

An Art Collection Emphasizing Emerging Artists

Kicking off our new series about local art collectors, Seattle mag's arts editor Brangien Davis shar

“I don’t dream big.” Having grown up with art-loving parents on teachers’ budgets, Davis takes a practical approach to buying art, seeking out emerging artists who aren’t yet represented by particular galleries. She often buys work directly from artists at open studio tours and art walks. On a couple of rare occasions she has spent…

Recommended Reading on Seattle's 1962 World's Fair

Recommended Reading on Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair

In case your inner Seattle Center nerd still isn't satisfied, go here for more history and memorabil

BOOKS The as-yet-unnamed Knute Berger history of the Space Needleby Knute BergerTo be released in spring of 2012 Seattle magazine’s own editor-at-large is also the writer in residence at the Space Needle. He penned this history of the Needle in his office on the Observation Deck. The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair And…

Space Needle Trivia!

Space Needle Trivia!

Five things you didn’t know about Seattle’s Space Age icon.

The Space Needle Is Well Rooted (see above photo) The Space Needle has a 30-foot-deep foundation made with 2,800 yards of concrete and 250 tons of reinforcing steel. The above-ground portion of the Needle weighs an impressive 3,700 tons, but the foundation is even mightier, weighing in at 5,850 tons. Thanks to this massive hidden…