What can we learn from a single old photograph? Little details tell a big story

At first glance, this image of an unidentified man petting a dog while sitting on wooden steps isn’t unusual. But by looking closely at the photo, we can find an abundance of captivating local and regional history.

The business is George Thyng’s Confectionary on the north side of Broadway Street, near West Street. It advertised cigars and tobacco in large letters on the façade as well as in the windows, but also stocked a varied selection of goods: candies and nuts, stationery and greeting cards, soft drinks, magazines and periodicals. Not visible in this photo is a Bowser System gasoline pump Thyng installed in front of the store in 1913. He sold 100 gallons in the first week at an average price of 25 cents per gallon ($7.25 in 2025.)

The words Obak and Fatima are clearly visible in the window. Both were popular brands of cigarettes produced by the John Bollman Company (later American Tobacco Company and Liggett-Myers) in San Francisco during the 1910s. At that time, they were called mouthpiece cigarettes to differentiate from plug or chewing tobacco. Ten Obaks sold for 5 cents. Fatimas were a more expensive Turkish blend priced at 20 for 15 cents.

The company put a redeemable coupon in every pack or as a tag on plug tobacco. When customers had accumulated enough, they could turn them in for a wide variety of merchandise: 300 coupons purchased a 3-pint brown pottery casserole or an enamel 8-cup coffee pot. A men’s or women’s taffeta 7-rib umbrella was 200 coupons.

By 1913, the Bollman and Liggett Myers Companies’ premium store on Alder and West Park Streets in Portland encouraged customers to shop in town rather than order from a catalog. Pipes, college pennants, tapestries, jewelry, sporting goods, and many more selections were generally in stock.

In the background at the right side are the letters AL on the side of a building. Gus Rossi’s 1900 Saloon opened at the dawn of the 20th century and closed in 1916 after Oregon voters passed an amendment to the state constitution to enact Prohibition, four years before the ban on alcohol went national.

Within a few years after the photo was taken, Beaverton began to shed its rural image and launch a new period of construction as the economy expanded. Fire-resistant concrete and stucco structures replaced woodframe buildings that are part of the National Register of Historic Places Beaverton Downtown Historic District.

By Ann Koppy, local historian. Visit www.historyofbeaverton.org, or email info@historyofbeaverton.org.