Funny how times change... It seems everyone is talking about Seattle these days, but back in 1968 us locals were enamored with a new television series, Here Comes the Brides. It was a story of the lonely lumberjack pioneer days of the 1860s around Elliott Bay and the Bolt Brother’s scheme to recruit available women from New Bedford, Massachusetts to settle here and marry.
I had to refresh my memory and did a little digging to rediscover the cast included Joan Blondell, Bobby Sherman, and David Soul. I don’t remember the series much except for the fact it was totally corny, but in typical Seattle style, even for back then, it addressed social issues like ecology, business ethics, racism, and discrimination.
The biggest thing to us was it was about our town! Our story was on TV! We hardly missed an episode. Though the series only lasted two seasons the one thing that stuck with us all through the years was Perry Como’s 1969 hit single of the theme song.
Forever and ever until the end of days we native sons and daughters of the Pacific Northwest (from that certain era) share a kind of secret anthem of sorts. We’re known to, on the occasion of a beautiful sunny day, to loudly blurt out the chorus, “The bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle.” Then we hum the verses because no one remembers the lyrics. We are, afterall, getting along in life... :O)
But none the less, it’s the spirit of the thing. It calls us home to more innocent times with lighter hearts. A time when we were unapologetic about our sappy sentimental local sense of humor. It was a uniquely Seattle way of interpreting life back then from a more remote upper left hand corner.
It has been said, however, by mostly transplants and visitors, that those of us whom actually believe the bluest skies are in Seattle only think so because there are so few of them. Maybe so, point taken. Yet, and perhaps ironically that's why we purchase more sunglasses per capita than any other metro area in the United States.
I live in the southend and often drive over Beacon Hill into downtown. I always enjoy this view crossing the Jose Rizal Bridge into the International District. Though the Seattle skyline has changed a lot over the years I love the kaleidoscope of buildings old and new. As a kid, the Smith Tower (at the very left) was the tallest building until the Space Needle was completed for the 1962 World's Fair.
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