Everett Snohomish WA Hewitt Ave Night Postcard c1910s ORIENT Sign Grand Leader For Sale

This unposted divided-back postcard preserves a luminous nocturnal view of Hewitt Avenue in Everett, Snohomish County, Washington, likely dating from the early 1910s. The scene is characteristic of early twentieth-century commercial street photography, with multiple strings of incandescent bulbs suspended across the thoroughfare and festooned along building fronts, their glow lending a soft, almost dreamlike quality to the printed lithograph, possibly hand-tinted. A prominent illuminated sign reading “ORIENT” appears on the right, with a smaller sign below indicating “DRUGS,” while farther down the street a large rooftop advertisement for the “GRAND LEADER” anchors the block. These details make the card an evocative document of the businesses and visual culture of Everett’s main artery during the period. The handwritten inscription “Hewitt Avenue, Everett, Wash.” appears along the lower left edge of the image, and the photographer’s credit “Rigby-Photo” is printed in small text at the bottom right.The verso employs the classic divided-back layout introduced in 1907, with correspondence space on the left and the address on the right. Vertically printed along the left margin is the publisher’s credit: “Sprouse & Son, Tacoma, Wash., Publishers,” identifying the card as a product of the Tacoma-based firm in Pierce County. The stamp box instructs “Place Postage Stamp Here” and notes postage rates of “Domestic and Canada One Cent” and “Foreign Two Cents,” a rate structure that remained standard from ~1912 and helps narrow the manufacturing window to the early 1910s. The reverse is entirely unused, with no message, address, or cancellation marks, a condition that appeals to collectors seeking pristine examples of early Washington state ephemera. The front displays minor age-related wear, including softened corners, light edge rubbing, and slight surface discoloration in the darker sky region, though the central image retains clarity and atmospheric depth. For collectors of Pacific Northwest local history, street scenes, and vintage advertising, this postcard offers a distinctive intersection of place, commerce, and early electric lighting. Its portrayal of a downtown nightscape—complete with identifiable storefronts and strung bulbs—captures a moment when such illuminated streets were still a novelty, and the combined presence of the Rigby-Photo credit and Sprouse & Son imprint adds further documentary value to the piece.