Spokane’s History To Be Highlighted In Ksps Package

Anyone interested in Spokane history or Spokane memories might want to catch “Remembering Spokane,” a KSPS-7 documentary this weekend.

Writer-producer-narrator Tom McArthur has collected home-movie footage of Spokane from 1924 through 1974 - everything from streetcars to Expo - and tied it all together in a one-hour package airing at 8:05 p.m. Friday and repeating at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Among the scenes viewers will see:

The Manito Zoo, in use until the 1930s.

Two memorable Spokane institutions, the Crescent and the Davenport Hotel.

Downtown Spokane through the decades.

A family picnic, circa 1924.

Bing Crosby, in his home town.

Dave Cyrus Page, the former TV kid’s show host known as Cap’n Cy.

McArthur, a former Spokane TV newsman, first conceived the project when he was doing an earlier documentary on Natatorium Park. He received so much fine home-movie footage, he decided to do another show with a broader scope.

Among the footage he found was the collection of Wallace Gamble, a Spokane cabbie in the 1930s who would grab his movie camera and shoot street scenes between fares.

The show also includes interviews and reminiscences, including one from a man who remembers being sent home from school in the ‘30s for wearing long pants.

In those days, knickers were required.

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