Collection on Weed's Pharmacy, 1902-1968

Overview of the Collection

Title
Collection on Weed's Pharmacy
Dates
1902-1968 (inclusive)
Quantity
4 boxes plus oversize folder, (1.68 cubic feet)
Collection Number
1971.5098 (accession)
Summary
Materials related to Weed’s Pharmacy in Seattle, including photographs, business documents, advertisements and newsletters
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Melvin Albert (Bert) Weed was born on April 3, 1882 in Jackson, Iowa to Charles Albert and Gertrude Tyler Weed. The Weed family relocated to Seattle around 1890. After finishing high school in 1898, Melvin Weed worked as a clerk at the Bartell Drug Company before enrolling in the University of Washington’s School of Pharmacy. Weed completed the two-year program and graduated with a Ph.G. (Graduate in Pharmacy) degree in 1902. After graduation, Weed partnered with businessman Albert G. Keene, and worked as a pharmacist at Lake Washington Pharmacy, located at 2711 Jackson Street. According to city directories, the store was renamed Keene & Weed in 1904. In 1905, the pharmacy moved to its permanent location at 2601 Jackson Street. The store name reverted to Lake Washington Pharmacy in 1907, and around this time, A.G. Keene sold his interests in the pharmacy to Weed, who was now Keene's son-in-law (Weed married Keene's daughter Mamie Luella Keene in 1906). The store became Weed’s Pharmacy in 1910, and operated in the same location until Melvin Weed’s retirement in 1958.

Melvin Weed was also involved in the pharmaceutical community. He was a member of the Washington State Pharmaceutical Association, and was one of the founders of the West Coast Wholesale Drug Company.

Melvin Weed died in January 1962.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection contains various materials pertaining to Weed’s Pharmacies. Advertisements promote not only the store but the wide array of drugs available. Materials from the pharmacy include prescriptions, photo processing envelopes, stationary, and copies of Weed’s Pharmacy News, a monthly newsletter. Photographs include store interiors, snapshots taken on the 50th anniversary of Weed's Pharmacy, and a UW School of Pharmacy Class of 1902 photograph showing Melvin Weed as a student. Other materials include correspondence, a scrapbook of promotional materials, and notes related to pharmaceutical materials.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format by clicking on the camera icons in the inventory below.

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Collection on Weed's Pharmacy, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Arranged in six series:

  • Promotional materials
  • Business documents
  • Newsletters
  • Photographs
  • Ephemera
  • Scrapbooks and notebooks

Location of Collection

13a.4.5

Location of Collection

13a.4.9

Location of Collection

1a.3.7 (oversize drawing)

Acquisition Information

Gift of Luell Weed Guthrie (Melvin A. Weed's daughter); received in 1971.

Separated Materials

The donation includes a number of artifacts related to Weed's Pharmacy. These items are catalogued and stored separately by MOHAI's Collections Department.

Related Materials

Weed Family Papers, Accession No. 2000.3.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Promotional materialsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
.1: Miscellaneous advertisements for drugs available at Weed's Pharmacy
Includes ads for Medicinal olive oil, Euthymol, Colchi-sal, Hydrozone
circa 1902-1930
1/2
.2: Cards advertising Weed’s Tolu-Turpin Compound
circa 1902-1930
1/3
.3: Cards advertising Wampole’s Creo-Terpin for Coughs and Colds, and Wampole's Preparation
circa 1930-1940
1/4
.4: Miscellaneous advertisements for drugs
Removed from M.A. Weed's University of Washington Toxicology notebook
circa 1902
1/16
.24: Promotional binder
2.5 x 5 inches
Cover for small notepad, printed "compliments of M.A. Weed, Ph. G., Lake Washington Pharmacy" and printed with ads for Weed products.
circa 1910-1930
1/17
.25: Promotional mailing
Single page letter on Weed's Pharmacy letterhead.
circa 1910-1930
folder:oversize
os
.32: Original cartoon drawing promoting Weed's Tolu Turpin Compound
circa 1902-1930

Business documentsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/10-1/15
.18-.23: Prescriptions
5 folders of prescriptions arranged by number stamped on prescription: 21736 through 217948 plus miscellaneous
circa 1919-1930
Box
3
.36: Prescriptions
Burned/damaged
circa 1919
Box/Folder
2/1
.32: Address book
circa 1940-1950
2/2
.33: Address book
circa 1940-1950
2/3
.34: Drug location register
Notebook with alphabetical divisions used to list pharmaceutical drugs and the drawer location of each.
circa 1930-1960

NewslettersReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/20
.28: Weed’s Pharmacy News
Two newsletters
November, December
1926
1/21
.29: Weed’s Pharmacy News
Two newsletters
November, August
1929-1930
1/22
.30: Weed’s Pharmacy News
Ten newsletters
Monthly, missing April and June.
1931
1/23
.31: Weed’s Pharmacy News
Five newsletters
January, February, April, May, June
1932

PhotographsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/9
.9: Children at Weed pharmacy 50th anniversary celebration, Seattle, July 3, 1952
Bert Weed inside Weed's pharmacy, Seattle, July 3, 1952
16 3.5 x 5 inch photographs in Silverton “Fold-A-Pak” album
Photographs of Weed's Pharmacy 50th anniversary, showing Melvin A. Weed, Mamie Luella Weed and customers in Weed’s Pharmacy.
1952
1/9 1952
1/9
.11: Bartell Drug Store interior
Handwritten on verso: Bartell Drug Store // Jackson St. betw. 27th-28th south side 1900 // Melvin Albert Weed First worked there - then purchased store as Lake Washington Phcy
1900
1/9
.12: Man wearing hat
Photograph set in oval frame made of two sheets of Weed's Pharmacy letterhead.
Written on paper: Uncle Bert
circa 1910-1930
1/9 circa 1905
1/9
.14: Soda Fountain in Weed’s Pharmacy
Mounted
circa 1910-1930
1/9
.15: M.A. Weed working at counter with Tolu-Turpin display.
Mounted
circa 1902-1910
1/9
.16-.17: UW School of Pharmacy Class of 1902
1 photograph
1 negative
Weed in front row on right
1902

EphemeraReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/5
.5: Business card for Lake Washington Pharmacy
Card printed with names of A.G. Keene and M.A. Weed Ph. G. Address listed as 2711 Jackson Street.
circa 1902
1/6
.6: Newspaper clippings
Multiple obituaries for Weed, articles on store’s 50th anniversary
1950-1968
1/7
.7: Correspondence
4 items
Thank you letter to M.A. Weed from Garfield High School for giving a talk on pharmacy (1936); personal letter to Bert and Mamie Weed on G.O. Guy Drugs letterhead (1956); letter announcing the death of William W. Warren, from Board of Directors of West Coast Wholesale Drug Co., including M.A. Weed (1941); letter to Luell Weed Guthrie accompanying photos of 50th anniversary of Weed's Pharmacy.
circa 1936-1956
1/8
.8: Weed's Photo processing envelopes
circa 1910-1930
1/18
.26: Blank letterhead
Blank stationery, envelopes, receipts for Weed's Pharmacy and Lake Washington Pharmacy.
Folder also includes letterhead for organizations to which M.A. Weed belonged: Washington State Pharmaceutical Association, Rainier Heights Commercial Club, Sons of the American Revolution, as well as from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.
circa 1902-1930
1/19
.27: Profit sharing coupons
United Profit Sharing Coupons for Wrigley’s (Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company), Smith Brothers, and Union Tobacco Company.
circa 1902-1930

Scrapbook and notebooksReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
2/4
.35: Scrapbook
Scrapbook including a variety of promotional cards advertising Weed's Pharmacy and its products; also a few cards for Lake Washington Pharmacy. Also includes other stickers and ads for Weed's Pharmacy, and a number of blank sheets from Weed's Pharmacy prescription pads, printed with letterhead of various doctors.
circa 1910-1920
4/1
.37: Melvin Weed’s pharmacy notes
Written in address book
circa 1900
4/2
.38: Melvin Weed’s pharmacy notes
Notebook of diagrams describing the effect of various pharmaceutical agents on body systems. Probably from Weed's student days at University of Washington School of Pharmacy.
circa 1900

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Drugstores--Washington (State)--Seattle

Corporate Names

  • Weed's Pharmacy
  • Lake Washington Pharmacy

Geographical Names

  • United States--Washington (State)--Seattle

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographs
  • Scrapbooks

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Weed, M.A. (Melvin Albert), 1882-1964 (creator)