Looking Back’s theme for 2026 was Downtown by the Decades. Olympia Knitting Mills was founded in 1909 and moved to its location at Cherry and Legion in 1911; then, in 1929, added a one-story Mission style addition by Joseph Wohleb. The company produced a wide variety of knitwear, including this stylish bathing suit from the catalog of 1920. The building complex still exists.
Jeffers photo, 1920, courtesy State Capital Museum collection, Washington State Historical Society, catalog C1951.250.30
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2026