Becker Building exterior — circa 1928 — #2035_1
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Photograph Copyright Anderson & Middleton Company
United States — Washington (State) — Aberdeen
Becker Building
Image includes Wilva Hotel and Painless System Dentists.
Thanks to Sam Talley, who adds: "I was reminded by Gordon West, manager of the Aberdeen Associates' Becker Building that this building was constructed by Greene Engineering Co. for Frank Becker. Work started in 1924 and finished in 1926. There was an elevator operator named Leona Norby who ran the building elevator from the mid-1950's until about 1969 when it was changed over to an elevator that no longer used the old safety gate system with a metal gate that was pulled across the front of the elevator. The operator also controlled a lever which raised and lowered the elevator. If the elevator was not perfectly level with the floor she would tell the customer to 'Step up (or down) please.' She always wore black shoes, black slacks, black blouse and black leather gloves. She memorized which doctor or dentist everyone was seeing. I heard that she recently [2009] passed away."
Additional thanks to Susan Larson who notes: "During the 1950's, when Leona Norby had time off, and was not operating the elevator, she was replaced by Larry Kehn. He wore a uniform that looked somewhat like the 'Philip Morris boy' in the television commercials for Philip Morris cigarettes, with double breasted buttons down the front. Leona had striking red hair, a color unknown to man. It was a short, curly, maroon, and there was never a hair out of place. She also wore a neat little triangular hat that matched her outfit. In those days almost all the doctors and dentists were located in the Becker Building. When you got off the elevator at the floor of your choice, there were doors on both sides of a hall. Each door had a pane of pebble glass with the number of the room and the doctor or dentists name painted on the glass. Above each door was a transom, a small window that could be opened in case the waiting room became too stuffy, In those days, it was not uncommon for a doctor appointment to entail a 2 or 3 hour wait in the waiting room before being able to see the doctor."
