The Seattle Freeze
Ever since I moved to Seattle (which, admittedly, wasn’t that long ago), I’ve heard about the Seattle Freeze.
For those who don’t know, or can’t be bothered to click a link, the Seattle Freeze is the idea that Seattleites, while generally being nice, friendly folk, have a tendency to be distant and unwelcoming to newcomers.
Some blame the recent influx of introverted tech geeks. Some blame the Norwegians. Some deny it exists. Given the sheer number of people who’ve experienced it, those people are probably wrong.
The crazy thing is, this isn’t new. Nearly 100 years ago, Seattle newbs were complaining about the same problem.
The picture above comes from an article in the March 26, 1920, issue of the Seattle Times. Nestled into the front page, among articles about the Wobblies inciting miners to strike in Arizona and a Civil War vet being appointed Superintendent of the Seattle Department of Public Utilities, readers were treated to an article admonishing Seattleites for not opening themselves up to their new neighbors.
After a few paragraphs about some new holiday called “Neighbor’s Day,” the article reads:
Seattle people have been accused of being too cold and distant. The conversation of today on board any street car, it is said, is similar to the following:
“This is what I call real weather, isn’t it?”
“Maybe.”
“My wife’s sister’s cousin got in from Peoria, Illinois, yesterday and she says that down there they’re paying twenty cents for a loaf of bread. Can you believe it?”
“Nope.”
“I’ve only been here six months myself and believe me, I am kicking myself that I didn’t come here six years ago. This is some city, believe me. Have you lived in Seattle very long?”
“Twenty years.”
By that time the six months’ old resident becomes discouraged. He tried out the weather, his wife’s relations and Seattle in general and didn’t get to first base. And, it is charged, such conversations are typical in in the street cars and jitneys.
“People act as if you’re going to steal their pocketbooks if you remark about the weather,” said one lonely soul from Croswell, Mich. “This wasn’t the friendly, hospitable West I was led to believe existed.”
Now, given the blogger-esque writing style employed by this early 20th century journalist, it’s hard to tell if he’s commenting on a trend or airing his own frustrations.
Who knows? Maybe he’s the poor, lonely unnamed soul from Croswell.
However, the news peg of the article is that the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce felt strongly enough about his city’s attitude toward newcomers that he created a dumb holiday to promote friendliness over frostiness. That’s evidence enough of the phenomena, wouldn’t you say?
The article states the point of the holiday was just to promote basic courtesy like making small-talk with new residents. He hoped they could avoid the exasperating experience of Joe Schmoe whose sister-in-law just arrived from Illinois.
The inaugural “Neighbor’s Day” of 1920 was set for June 24.
After nearly a century, the freeze is still on, if you believe the anecdotal evidence, news reports, and the fact that there’s a Meetup group called “Seattle Anti-Freeze.”
Seattle History 