Snoqualmie Falls Postcard By Smith-Western Co. Inc. – P13999

I can’t get enough of vintage Snoqualmie Falls postcards, especially when I learn about a long-forgotten company in the Pacific Northwest. This Plastichrome postcard Smith-Western Co., Inc. of the 268-foot waterfall in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington was taken by Western Ways, an aerial photography company once located in Corvallis, OR-E-GON.

SNOQUALMIE FALLS POSTCARD BY SMITH-WESTERN CO., INC. – P13999

This postcard features Snoqualmie Falls with the Cascade Mountains in the distance. A faint rainbow is seen at the base of the falls. Snoqualmie Falls Lodge before the 1988 renovation to Salish Lodge & Spa is seen perched above this iconic spot. You can also part of see the Weyerhaeuser sawmill just below Mount Si on the left side of this card.

The back of this postcard, with catalog number P13999, provides some additional information including a description of the front image:

SNOQUALMIE FALLS, WASHINGTON
This spectacular view of these falls, which are just 26 miles east of Seattle, shows the town of Snoqualmie in the background and the magnificent Cascade Mountains form a beautiful backdrop.

The card was distributed only by Smith-Western, Co. Inc., the nation’s premiere supplier for the tourist and attraction industry. After World War II, Kyle Smith (1917-2014) founded his postcard and tourist merchandise company in 1947. He began by selling postcards adorned with images of towns and landmarks found in the Washington and Oregon from the trunk of his car. In 2000, his son Skip would assume leadership of the company which is still in business today.

According to a postcard collecting website, Colourpicture Publishers, Inc. was a “prominent publisher and printer of linen view cards in the United States. From 1938 to 1969, the company was based in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the 1950s, it expanded its offerings to include photochromes and small spiral-bound picture booklets under the trade name Plastichrome.”

So when was this photo of the falls taken? One more detail on the card may help us identify the approximate date.

WHAT IS WESTERN WAYS FROM CORVALLIS, OREGON?

Eugene “Gene” Terway married Louise McEldowney on Nov. 7, 1939, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. A year earlier, Gene began flying and received his flight instructor’s rating three years later. He taught Army and Navy cadets before entering the U.S. Army Air Force in 1944. He served as a flight officer in the air transport command for a year.

In late 1945 after V-J Day, the Terways moved to Harrisburg, where Gene and his brother-in-law, James McEldowney, started an airport and founded Valley Flying Services. a flight school and aerial photography business. The family then moved to Corvallis in 1952.

On Jan. 29, 1953, Terway submitted papers for incorporation, dropping the flight school and changed the name to Western Ways, Inc.

The company was once located at 275 Vera Drive in Corvallis, about 50 minutes south of Salem, Oregon.

“We have aerial photographs of every town of any size in Oregon and many states around Oregon,” Terway explained in an article published in the Corvallis Gazette Times on June 26, 1957 “We actually have covered seven western states with our service, which is available to industry and private operators. The government jobs we have had are the result of bids for the service.”

Western Ways maintained two airplanes at the Corvallis airport and had a regular crew of seven to 10 persons carrying out the aerial photography service.

Every male employee was required to have a commercial pilot’s license and also be proficient in aerial photography. The women employed were color artists who worked on the printed photographs.

“[The] photography equipment is the best money can buy,” Terway said in 1957. “Some of the cameras were electrically operated while others had manual controls.”

In 1968, Gene changed occupations and became a real estate developer. He built several apartment complexes in Corvallis, including the Corvalla and Park Plaza apartments, and two apartment buildings in Bend. After Gene’s passing, their son Bill joined the family business and together Louise and him built Cobblestone Square in Corvallis.

Gene died on Jan. 2, 1985 at the age of 69 while Louise passed on Jan. 8, 1997 at age 79.

Western Ways, Inc. operated from about 1953 to 1968, which means the aerial photograph of Snoqualmie Falls must have been captured during that time. The Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum dates the postcard photo between 1940 to 1990, but a similar postcard from eBay.com has an cancelled stamp dating to July 25, 1968.

The image was most likely taken before 1968. It could have been in the mid-1950s like this postcard with a photograph by Josef Scaylea from around 1955-1956.

Smith-Western Co. would recycle Western Ways’ image on another postcard complete with a green and blue border. It’s a slightly wider shot than what was originally presented, the second card shows more of the viewing path of Snoqualmie Falls along the left side.

The back of the Plastichrome card printed in Ireland has the catalog number CT-291 and a number in the stamp box – 20P329943. Most likely, this card was produced after the P13999 card.

Download a high-resolution image of this postcard and many others from my Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72177720331531617