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Building History

In 1907, the owner of the famous curio and antiques shop, Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Joseph Edward Standley (born 02/24/1854 in Steubenville, OH-d. 10/25/1940 in Seattle, WA), and his wife, Isabella, (born c. 1857 in PA), had a house on California Avenue and Madrone West in the West Seattle neighborhood of Seattle, WA. From at least 1908 through 1930, Joseph and his family resided at 1750 Palm Avenue in the West Seattle neighborhood of Seattle, WA. (See R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1908, p. 1221 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T625_1931; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 328, accessed 11/20/2019) It is not clear if the 1907 and post-1908 locations were the same, although this seems unlikely. The West Seattle Baist Real Estate Map, 1908, showed a "Madrona Addition" that was located bounded by West Wait Street (north) and West Lander Street (south) and on either side of Walnut Avenue.

The Standleys had lived previously in Denver, CO, where he worked in the grocery business. In this line of work, he had occasionally obtained Indian artifacts and curios as payment. Following news of the Klondike Gold Rush, the Standleys resettled in Seattle, WA, by 1899, where he initially opened a store called "The Curio." The Curio sold odds and ends and American Indian goods, increasingly popular with tourists to the American West. The store was renamed "Ye Olde Curiosity Shop" in 06/1904 when it opened in a new location at Colman Dock.

Their daughters, Caroline Standley Chavbreau (born c. 1881 in CO) and Ruby Standley James, (born c. 1893 in CO), and their husbands, Julius L. Charbneau ("Chavbreau" was the spelling in the 1920 US Census, which was incorrect, born c. 1883 in MI) and Russell James (born c. 1888 in OH), lived with Joseph and Isabella, according to the 1920 US Census. Julius and Caroline's daughters, Isabella (born c. 1907 in WA) and Phyllis (born c. 1909 in WA), resided at the house, called by the family, "Totem Place," on a one-acre lot.

In 1907, Julius Charbneau worked as a sales clerk for J.E. Standley's store. (See R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle City Directory, 1907, p. 310.)

By 1930, J.E. Standley had become a widower. Living with him was his daughter, Ruby, her husband, Russell, their daughter Emabell (born c. 1920 in WA), son, Joseph (born c. 1925 in WA), and a servant, Eleanor Boyd (born c. 1906 in CA). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Page: 31A; Enumeration District: 0411; FHL microfilm: 2342235, accessed 11/20/2019.)

Building Notes

Standley's store was not listed as "Ye Olde Curiosity Shop" in the R.L. Polk and Company's Seattle, Washington, City Directories for either 1907 or 1908. It was simply listed as "J.E. Standley Curios."

PCAD id: 23214