100 years ago in Spokane: Opera? Wrestling? Records? This city had it all

An ad for the Davenport Hotel noted that a major cultural attraction was coming to Spokane: a Metropolitan Opera company, headed by “the incomparable Antonio Scotti.”

The 125-member troupe was scheduled to play the Auditorium Theater in a week. The Davenport Hotel was running the ad because it expected a surge in reservations.

“Our out of town patrons … are reminded of the advisability of writing us early for the reservations desired at this hotel,” Louis Davenport said.

From the entertainment beat: The Auditorium Theater had also booked an attraction on the opposite end of the cultural scale.

An ad read, “Championship Heavyweight Wrestling Match – Martin Plestina, The Tarzan of the Mat, vs. Mike Howard, The Wrestling Nonpareil, Most Scientific Marvel – Ladies Invited.”

From the music beat: Meanwhile, the Eilers Phonograph Co. of Spokane, “the largest music house in the Northwest,” was touting the modern way to listen to music.

It was offering a Columbia Graf- onola (record player) at only $5 down, with subsequent payments totaling $132. This price included any 12 records, and 300 needles.

“Home, with its happy, comfortable surroundings, is the only place to take your friends,” the ad said. “There is nothing more pleasant than an evening at home with some of your friends and a Columbia to entertain you all.”