City hustled and bustled in black and white

Slice-meister Paul Turner is taking some time off this month, but don’t despair: In his absence, we’re rerunning some of the tastier tidbits from this date in Slice history. Today’s sampling:

FROM 2001:

Maybe it’s just me.

But when looking at vintage postcards or old photos of downtown Spokane, I’m often struck by the same thought: This city used to buzz.

Picture after picture shows crowded sidewalks. Hustle. Bustle.

OK, that’s an imperfect measurement of civic vitality. The automobile has changed things. Retail activity is spread out now.

And a photo taken on, say, Hoopfest weekend, could compete with any crowd scenes from the 1920s or 1940s.

But it wouldn’t really be the same. For one thing, people dressed better back then. Men wore grown-up hats.

FROM 1997:

Zeptember: Time again for our annual end-of-August reminder.

Despite what lots of people around here seem to believe, September’s arrival doesn’t guarantee the onset of consistent autumn-like weather.

FROM 1996:

You’ll love it here: A friend from out of state was staying in a downtown hotel Sunday night. It was his first time in Spokane.

He found himself in an elevator with a woman he didn’t know. She asked if he wanted a date. She didn’t say how much it would cost.

He declined. But he found himself considering the possibility that perhaps Spokane is more, um, urban than he had anticipated.