EVERETT — Keep clam. The photo has returned.
Bob Donegan, the president of Ivar’s, unveiled a new print on Tuesday of a 1960 photo that hung for many years on the wall of the seafood restaurant at 41st and Colby.
When the refurbished Ivar’s Seafood Bar reopened last fall, missing was the black-and-white photo of Everett’s favorite son and former presidential candidate, the late Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson.
“That was a mistake not to get another print up right away,” Donegan said. “The history of Ivar Haglund, including his relationship with Scoop Jackson, is an important part of our culture and something that we truly value.”
The photo is up again, along with numerous other historical photos, all having to do with the chain of restaurants started by Haglund in 1938 in Seattle.
The 41st Street restaurant was opened in 1986. On hand for the photo unveiling was Linda Brust Smith, whose father, Dr. Bill Brust, owned the building and was friends with the Jackson family. Smith, of Mukilteo, brought along a framed sketch of Sen. Jackson to give to his son, Peter Jackson, who attended the event and talked about the historical photo. (Peter Jackson is the editorial page editor for The Herald.)
In the famous photo, Scoop Jackson shows off sample postal stamps honoring America’s seafood industry. The stamps feature a clam from the waters of Washington state. Jackson’s Democratic colleague from the state, Sen. Warren G. Magnuson, is opening a bag of clams sent to Washington, D.C., by Haglund. With them is Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, a Maine Republican, who earlier lobbied to have the Maine sardine printed on the seafood industry postal stamp.
Released by Jackson’s office in Washington, D.C., the photo came with a caption that read something like this: Any stamp honoring America’s seafood industry should depict the clam, not the sardine, Magnuson and Jackson, stoutly maintained today. They urged Smith to amend her “sardine bill” to one exhorting the nation to “keep clam” instead. The Washington senators forwarded to Sen. Smith a telegram received from constituent Ivar Haglund, described as “an outspoken supporter of Puget Sound clams.”
After the clam stamp was printed by the federal government, Haglund, well-known as savvy self-promoter, printed up his own stamps to hand out to his friends.
“That lasted a couple weeks before the postal service came and confiscated Ivar’s stamps,” Donegan said.
In honor of the return of the Jackson photo, Ivar’s on 41st Street is offering a free sample of clam snacks with any entree purchased this week.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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