The Bettman family were merchants in Olympia from very early days. Their men’s clothing store was in business downtown on Capitol Way until the 1970s (see also Bettman First Store, Bettman Block, and Bettman-Oppenheimer House for more sites associated with this family). In this photograph from June of 1949, a gentleman is trying on a suit. Assisting him is Charles Lyman, long-time employee. (Thank you to Charles Lyman’s granddaughter Mollie Lyman Hall for this information.) The profusion of floral arrangements in the photo suggests that this may have been the grand re-opening of the store following the earthquake of 1949.
Vibert Jeffers photograph, June 1949, Susan Parish Collection, Southwest Regional Archives
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian