Page 50 - Flathead Beacon // 8.27.14

50 | AUGUST 27, 2014 REAL ESTATE
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LANDMARKS
121 First Ave. E., Kalispell
Kalispell-American Laundry By JAIX CHAIX
ols, the manager of the worker’s union. Later that day, Robert Pauline (who later became a mayor Kalispell mayor and a state senator) got into a bare-knuckled fistfight with a union committee member.
Almost 50 years later, members of the Local 345 A.F. of L picketed outside the building in December 1950. B.H. Paddock, owner of the Kalispell Laundry, declared that if the strike was not called off, new work- ers would be hired to replace the old ones – who were striving for a 40-hour workweek. Ironically, the union workers demanded an increase for apprentice wages from 60 cents to 73 cents per hour – about the same amount paid 50 years before in 1900.
In the last 95 years, this fine brick commercial building has always housed a laundry or dry cleaning operation. Even today, the building is home to High Country Linen – and you can still have your dry-clean- ing done. Thus, the “1919 Laundry” brick inlay atop the front entrance still makes sense.
Today, hundreds of timberjacks seeking to bathe themselves and their clothes after weeks in the woods at a steam laundry no longer visit the laundry. The once dandy men-about-town, and darting modern house- wives of the ‘30s are no longer around. Nonetheless, much like the original tin ceiling, the building remains very much the same.
Jaix Chaix appreciates history and architecture. Share ideas and facts with him at landmarks@flatheadbeacon. com or at facebook.com/flatheadvalleylandmarks.
The Kalispell-American Laundry building adds credence to the adage, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”
The building – with its mostly unchanged exterior – has been a “bystander” of sorts, as social and econom- ic changes have whirled around it since it was built in 1919.
However, the more things change ...
The Kalispell Steam Laundry was founded in 1898 by Phillip Jacoby and William Bowen. The American Laundry was established by the French brothers: Fred- erick E. French and William H. French. The “Kalispell- American Laundry” came about as the two laundries were consolidated in 1918 (much like corporations that consolidate for greater profits today).
In May, 1919, Robert Pauline, an owner of the com- pany, hired Kalispell-architect Marion B. Riffo to de- sign a new, modern building for the laundry operation at 121 First Ave. E. (and appealed to a more refined, middle-class clientèle, unlike the early Chinese laun- dries on the west side).
Life in the early 1900s, was the epitome of “a man’s world” (at the least, since women could not vote). It was a time when men built empires and amassed great wealth. Yet for the “common Joe,” who typi- cally worked 60 hours a week, there was a pervasive hope that wealth and attainment were somehow “just around corner.”
So whether plying his trade at a workbench, or ap- plying his mind at a clerk’s desk, the “modern man” of
PHOTO BY JAIX CHAIX
the early 1900s had to at least appear prepared for his “arrival” – and indeed, the measure of a man accounted for the starching of his collar and the adornment of his cuffs.
Yet businesses would soon ever more solicit busi- ness from women. For example, a 1930s ad for the Ka- lispell-American Laundry implored women to “Pick up the phone and put down the scrub-board, the laundry way saves your time, your strength, and your clothes!”
Also, like other early businesses in the Flathead Valley, the laundry business was not immune to strife among owners and the workers and labor unions.
For example, in 1903 both the Kalispell Steam and American Laundry operations faced the demands of la- bor and unions. The unions demanded a raise in pay for a twelve-hour day from $8.50 to $10. Incidentally, the strike stirred emotions and found then-owner Freder- ick French punching and knocking down Frank Nich-
FLOOR SPACE By Georgia Christianson
What You
Can Buy for About $400,000
NEXT WEEK: $450,000
KILA
660 Browns Meadow Rd.
PRICE: $415,000
WHAT: Five-bedroom, four-bath home SQUARE FEET: 2,933
This newer home has a formal and informal dining room with beautiful hickory cabinetry with slide-outs and double ovens. Enjoy views of the mead- ow and trees. National Parks Realty
MLS #: 328864
LAKESIDE
BIGFORK
WHITEFISH
124 Wulff Ln.
1150 Five Deer Ln.
337 Shady River Ln.
PRICE: $390,000
WHAT: Four-bedroom, two-bath home
SQUARE FEET: 4,135
This home, which features quality construction throughout, has plenty of space and overlooks Lakeside and Flat- head Lake. Sit on the deck and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
Trails West Real Estate/Lakeside MLS #: 329286
PRICE: $395,000
WHAT: Two-bedroom, two-bath home
SQUARE FEET: 1,813
This Montana cabin and shop/studio sits on 40 secluded acres with great views. Home features an open floor plan, wood plan interior and rock fire- place. Dean & Leininger of Kalispell
MLS #: 329129
PRICE: $399,000
WHAT: Four-bedroom, three-bath home SQUARE FEET: 2,426
This home is in a great location on a beautiful dead-end street with river access. Walk or bike to town. National Parks Realty of Whitefish
MLS #: 328745
If you would like your property listed in the Floor Space section, please e-mail [email protected]. Entries are compiled by the Beacon staff and Georgia Christianson, Montana Brokers.
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