That’s the Gatewood house where REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) was founded in Gatewood, 80 years ago. On the afternoon of Sunday, August 5, it will be the site of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s annual “If These Walls Could Talk” home tour. Ticket sales will begin at noon today, the SWSHS says. You’ll have two options – the basic tour, or tour plus a VIP reception and talk – as explained on this page, which is also where ticket sales will be activated at noon. As SWSHS summarizes what happened in the house:
It all started with a $15 ice axe — In 1935 Mountaineers Club member Lloyd Anderson purchased an ice axe from an importer in the United States. The axe was at the same time very expensive for that time-period, and also was poorly made. When the axe broke it set Lloyd on a mission that would lead to the formation of a co-op for the Mountaineers that would eventually become REI.
Guest speaker for the VIP event, noon-2 pm, is Bobby Whittaker, son of Jim Whittaker; the SWSHS says he “will be talking about growing up in a climbing family, and his early memories of hanging out at Capitol Hill store location at the time when his father Jim was involved in the operations of REI” as well as showing clips from “Return to Mount Kennedy,” which we reported on in May.
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