Nellie was Nellie Curtis except when she was Zella Nightingale or Yetta Solomon or Nellie Gray. Mostly, she seems to have been Nellie Curtis. I couldn’t find any pictures of the real Nellie, but the opening image is probably true to life. Nellie was a businesswoman who knew how to give men what they perceived as a good time.

As luck would have it, we sat at a table where Nellie has a permanent reservation. The label read “Nellie’s Table — Nellie Nightingale Curtis was small of stature with a big appetite. Always dressed to a T, she was often seen dining around town with local politicians and businessmen who shared her passion for the finer things in life.”

 Nellie arrived in Seattle and opened for business in 1933 at the Camp Hotel on First Avenue and Virginia. In 1942 Nellie took advantage of the post Pearl Harbor relocation of Japanese-Americans. She bought the lease to the Outlook Hotel located at First and Pike from the Kodama family, and renamed it LaSalle. One source suggests the name was a reference to General Motors LaSalle luxury car.

Nellie remodeled the 1909 four-story, fifty-seven room hotel with new wiring and plumbing, fresh cream paint, and classy furniture. Nellie’s girls dropped off calling cards for sailors coming into town for shore leave. The cards offered an enticing slogan: LaSalle Hotel, Friends Made Easily. Apparently the sailors needed friends and several hundred crowded around the entrance. The military declared the LaSalle Hotel off limits.

The LaSalle Hotel had seventeen permanent guests. Nellie once said, “If they stayed a week, I called them permanent.” Other guests were less rooted. Some rooms changed hands three times a night. Nellie said she didn’t know why guests left so quickly. “I never asked any personal questions.”

Nellie kept two rooms for her own use. She kept her collection of hats in one and her collection of money in the other. In 1951 Nellie sold the hotel to George and Sodeko Ikeda. Sodeko watched Nellie look for the key, and recalled “she couldn’t find the key…I saw a lot of money in every drawer she pulled out…she had a vanity and a dresser. She pulled out the lampstand drawers too. And in every drawer she pulled out she had a lot of cash.”

The Ikedas had a hard time convincing Nellie’s “clients” the new hotel was respectable. Finally they posted signs saying NO GIRLS.

 Nellie left Seattle and settled in Aberdeen, a small town near Gray’s Harbor, where she bought the Cass Hotel for $25,000 and invested another $10,000 in renovations. Nellie called the establishment Curtis Hotel.

Nellie’s life in Aberdeen became even more colorful than her Seattle reputation. More to come next week.

Acknowledgements:

Photos Taken by Author at Pike Brewing Company

Pike Brewing Company. Here.

Walt Crowley and Paul Dorpant. National Trust Guide: Seattle. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998.

William Dietrich. “A Century at the Pike Place Market.” Pacific Northwest Sunday Magazine. Seattle Times. June 3, 2007. Here. 

David Hearn. “Move Over Heidi Fleiss . . . It’s Nellie Time.” Seattle PI. Jan. 14, 2008. Here.

John C. Hughes and Ryan Teague Beckwith. On the Harbor: From Black Friday to Nirvana. Stevens Press LLC. 2001.

“Seattle’s Long History with Prostitution” iwantrest.com March 20, 2013. Here. 

The post NAUGHTY NELLIE – “a madam of legendary proportion” first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Back to visiting Seattle.

Seattle is known for being a rainy, damp, and gloomy place – which it is for much of the year. But when the sun shines, the city glistens and beckons everyone outside. We had a family reunion this year, and on July 23 we decided to “play tourist.” The weather was perfect; the company was delightful, and the day was totally fun. You may want to do some or all of these activities on your own visit to the “Emerald City.”

RIDE THE DUCKS

The large rooftop inflatable duck, not to mention the “ducks in a row,” makes it difficult to miss the Duck location near Seattle Center.  http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com  

Our particular vehicle was built in 1946 – I’m surprised they can get parts any more.

Because we would be spending half the tour in Lake Union, Capt. “Chip A-Hoy” began  with a safety briefing.  Chip was a jolly soul leading his guests in silly songs while he pointed out the sights.

We cruised the shoreline, drove through Pioneer Square, and then approached the boat slip into Lake Union, a fresh water lake within the Seattle city limits – perhaps best known as the site of Tom Hank’s houseboat in Sleepless in Seattle.

Canadian geese were on hand to supervise our entry – the feathered chap in front providing visual instruction.  So, in we went.

Informational Factoid – the wheels keep spinning underwater. Presumably, this is what propels the vessel.   It was a perfect day to be on the water.

And then it was back to Seattle Center and the iconic Space Needle.

SPACE NEEDLE

Seattlites built the Space Needle in 1962 as part of the World’s Fair.  It is 605 feet tall and weighs 9,550 tons.  The elevators take 41 seconds to reach the top, and you can stay on the Observation Deck as long as you like. The rotating SkyCity Restaurant has clean windows and decent food.  The complete rotation takes 47 minutes, and the view was amazing. http://www.spaceneedle.com

MONORAIL  

Another popular attraction built for the 1962 World’s Fair is the Monorail. By now you may have figured out the fair’s theme was futuristic – with a strong dose of The Jetsons.  The monorail runs between Seattle Center and Westlake in downtown Seattle, and it’s been running continuously since the fair closed.  For years, it wasn’t take seriously, but now cities all over the world are turning to elevated fixed rail systems as a way to provide public transportation.

PIKE PLACE MARKET

When we got to Westlake we walked down to yet another Seattle icon.  Pike Place Market.  http://pikeplacemarket.org

This is a truly fascinating place.  Pike Place Market opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continuously operating markets in the U.S.  But the years were not entirely kind – the neighborhood changed. People’s shopping habits changed, and by the 1960’s the market had become a bit of an eyesore, slated for urban renewal demolition until citizens realized how much history would be lost if the market disappeared.  In 1971 voters approved a 17-acre historic district.

The market features crafts, flowers, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and just about anything else you might want. All vendors are local. The original Starbucks Coffee Shop is inside.

But perhaps the most famous shop in the market is the Pike Place Fish Co. http://pikeplacefish.com

Famous because this is the place where the vendors toss fish, crab, and squid from iced display cabinets to the guys in the back who prepare the fish to go home today – fresh or frozen. And no fishy smell.

Pike Place Market was the last stop on our Tourist Day.  We split up – some for shopping, some for relaxing at the hotel.  It was a great day, and we’re already thinking about other things to do on our next Seattle reunion.

Photos by Author.  All Rights Reserved

The post DAY TOUR IN SEATTLE first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.