The Waley Home In Fife Circa 1960s
Grandpa and Grandma Waley, my maternal Grandparents, were upholsterers. When I was very young, I remember visiting their shop near Greenlake and Woodland Park, in Seattle. There they catered to the general public, upholstering furniture, car seats and such. Once they obtained the contract to build and upholster all the seats for Bell Boy and Sabre Craft boats, a contract they held until they retired, they moved their business to the Port of Tacoma, where military buildings were converted to industrial businesses after the War.
With the move of their business, some thirty-plus miles to the south, they also moved their home from Lake City, an area in North Seattle, to Fife. I spent a week or two for several summers in this home. Actually, I spent my days at the shop, creating things out of the pile of scrap wood and riding carts and dollies around the spacious storeroom. We went home at night to eat, watch a TV show and sleep. I remember the smell of the pulp mill on the waterfront and to this day, when I smell pulp mills, I don't complain - I think back to the good old days at the shop.
About seven or eight years ago, I tracked down the long lost Fife home. I thought I took photos but I can't find them. So, on a recent trip to Seattle, my wife and I stopped by again. This time, the property was not kept up as well as before and there was a large truck parked in front of the garage. I wish I had the old photos, if they ever existed.
This image is of the long, inclining driveway to the house. There it is, at the top, behind the truck body. I think the house is the same color it was when it was new. The style is a split level with the single car garage downstairs. There is a concrete bulkhead with a set of stairs through it between the garage and the front door due to the rise of the land. And the entry door is level with the grade in the front yard.
One evening, Grandma had gone out and come home smelling like skunk. I was supposed to be asleep but I remember her making a big deal of it when she got in the door and taking a tomato soup bath. I also remember the smell when she opened the front door. This may explain why I also enjoy the smell of skunk, from a distance, of course. Because, these are part of wonderful childhood memories.
This home was new in the early 1960s. Everything was in much better condition and display back then. Instead of this junkie van, my Grandma parked her new T-Bird and Grandpa parked his '56 Ford F100. You will notice the garage door is walled off and they have built a rickety garage attached to the side of the house, which you cannot see.
My siblings and cousins used to camp outside, in the front yard, in our sleeping bags and listen to the trucks on the highway. During the day, we sat high enough and watched the construction of the freeway (I-5) in the valley. We didn't know what a freeway was, but we heard they were roads with no traffic lights. How they were going to rig that was a mystery to me.
If I find the early photos, I will be sure to post them here - probably with a little re-write of the story to go along with it.