The Pike Place Market: 100 Years: Celebrating America's Favorite Farmer's Market

This book tells the story of Seattles Pike Place Market from several points of view: the food, the people, the unusual shopping, the history. Started in 1907 in response to a revolt on the part of farmers who were been cheated by middle men, and consumers who objected to the high price of onions, the Pike Place Market is the original farm-to-table source for fresh produce, fish, meats, and other products. Located in the middle of downtown Seattle, it remains a wonderfully sensual, salty, and satisfying retail experience that harkens back to an earlier era. This is the market where fish fly through the air from salesman to wrapper, where Starbucks first tested the crazy idea of high-end coffee shop, where Sur la Table sold their first pot. The scene is positively energized with 10 million annual visitors, musicians and entertainers strategically positioned throughout the 9-acre market, a riot of colorful flower bouquets (the freshest and cheapest in town). There is a 100-year old bakery, a Shoe Museum, the best spice shops on the West Coast, and an honest-to-god hardware store. This book is a visual treat with current and historical images, seasonal shopping lists, pointers to some of the lesser known nooks and crannies. Also told in the book are the stories of how the City of Seattle almost tore down the Pike Place Market in the 1960s to build condos. But the Save the Market campaign prevailed. And earlier, during Word War II, the devastating internment of Japanese Americans removed nearly 70% of the produce vendors from the Market. But through its various travails, the Pike Place Market has survived. And this colorful book celebrates this special Seattle place.