<Begin Segment 55>

Photo descriptions

Photo 1

ME: Okay. So what do we have here?

KO: Well this is an early picture of the Greenhouse site. And as you can see, there is a lot of room on each side of the greenhouses so, in some of these open spaces, we now have greenhouses. However, I'd like to point out that at one time there used to be quite a bit more topsoil on the property. But during the war, when this property was turned over to a caretaker, he took and bulldozed all the good topsoil off of the property and sold it. So when the, Mr. Nishimura came back, he had to buy new soil and put in new growing areas so he could start growing his mums again.

RW: That photo was 1938.

KO: This was in 1938? That's quite awhile ago, that's... what? Sixty years ago?

Photo 2

KO: This picture shows the greenhouses a few years later, and as you can see, they've added some more greenhouses. But if you'll note the size of the greenhouses, especially the peak of the roof, they're very low to the ground. Unlike the newer structures where the roof line is considerably higher, giving you more air space in the greenhouse for better air movement. And also, if you'll look at the picture closely, I don't see any way that they were venting the greenhouse, unless they had some fans drawing the air out at one end. But it must have been hard or difficult to operate out of a greenhouse of that size, because it would get so warm in the summer.

RW: That's 1941. And also in that picture, you can see the Interurban trolley line.

KO: Oh yes, I didn't notice that before, but the Interurban trolley ran right through part of this property. And in fact at one time, we had a gentleman come through here filming our property, because he was trying to follow the Interurban from town all the way up into Everett.

Photo 3

KO: Here's a picture of a home that I'm living in at present. This photo shows, was taken in 1906. So it goes back many, many years. Many changes have been made to the structure over the years. It's kind of unrecognizable now, although if you look closely, you can generally follow the lines of the building.

RW: It was built in 1906, but the photo is 1938.

KO: 1938 photo.

Photo 4

KO: This photo shows part of the structures that were on the building when we first came here. The open shed that you see to the left was a place that we used to bring our mums, that were grown in the field right in front of the structure. We thought it was quite an unsightly building so we knocked both of these down shortly after we got here. And I think this had, it was still up in 1958 when he came. So this must have been a photo taken after 1958.

Photo 5

KO: This photo was taken in 1956, and it show the structures before we arrived on the scene in 1958. You cannot get this same picture now because we put taller bushes and trees around the greenhouse to screen it off from the streets, and to give us a little more privacy and protection. That tall chimney is still up but I think it's been lowered somewhat from the pictures that you see here.

RW: What was the chimney used for?

KO: Oh that's for the boilers. The chimney was used for the boilers that were underground.

Photo 6

KO: Here's a picture from 1966. The two greenhouses that you see in the background were put up after we came here and were not part of the original greenhouses. The frames that you see in the foreground of the picture are cold frames that we put up in the field, after we stopped growing mums. Think that's about all I can say about that.

Photo 7

ME: So what is this a picture of?

KO: This is a picture of our crew and it goes back, I imagine, twenty or twenty-five years. Oddly enough, several of the people in the picture are still with us -- I mean, of the workers -- and there are several members of our family there too; including the dog in the front. So we're happy that we kept this picture to remind us of some of the people who worked here and helped us in our business.

...Gee whiz, it's really amazing that you can narrow it down to that extent; oh my gosh.

Photo 8

ME: And who is this?

KO: This is a picture of my mother; everybody calls her "Grandma." This photo goes back maybe twenty years when she was able to come out to the greenhouse, and pull all the weeds and sweep up the greenhouse even though we told her to stay home. People have been telling me for many, many years that my grandmother was rather attractive, and over the years, I should say just recently, I've kind of become --

Photo 9

KO: That's my brother's wife Mary, holding one of our poinsettias.

Photo 10

KO: Christmas we hold a company party, and I get elected to be, to, elected to play Santa Claus every year. And behind that beard, there's just me.

Photo 11

ME: Upper right-hand corner?

KO: That's another picture of myself working in poinsettias. That's before the poinsettia bloomed.

Photo 12

KO: Here is another picture of myself showing, or with poinsettias that we grow and that's the scene that you'll see here at Christmas time. The whole, all of our houses are filled with poinsettias and most of them are red --

<End Segment 55> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.