Selling the nostalgia of Bellingham

STORY BY CAITY WALTHALL| PHOTO BY GRACE SCHRATER

“The Bureau” sign catches the sun’s rays and the gold letters illuminate. Light shines in through the glass door, highlighting the clusters of artifacts and knickknacks carefully displayed on tables and shelves. Throughout the room, postcards, martini glasses and handcrafted jewelry sit, waiting to be discovered.

Tucked away on West Holly Street in downtown Bellingham, the Bureau of Historical Investigation is a place of curiosity and exploration. Its mission is to sell items that evoke a time or feeling; letting customers put one foot in the past without getting too nostalgic. The store is filled with an organized clutter of items from Bellingham’s culture and history, brought to life by women who occasionally dress in Victorian-style corsets and heels.

The Bureau began with a book, a bar and a shared love for Bellingham’s history.

REVEALING THE PAST

Co-owners and founders of the Bureau, Sara Holodnick, 32, and Marissa McGrath, 30, became friends when talking about women’s issues and politics during the 2008 presidential election season. After reading “Brothels in Bellingham,” a book about the prominence of Bellingham’s sex industry during the Victorian age, the two developed a passion for Bellingham’s hidden history.

In the early 1900s, prostitution was a well-known part of society. Bellingham had a distinct red-light district, with 14 brothels along Holly Street and 13 in Fairhaven.

Holodnick and McGrath were inspired by the city’s sinful past and wanted to reveal the covered-up history of the sex industry to Bellingham residents. As a former tour guide for the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, McGrath had a background in anthropology and performing and used that experience to spark the idea of a tour business in Bellingham.

“It never dawned on me that I could teach, and get paid to perform stories,” she says. “Something about that seemed so great to me.”

In 2011, McGrath and Holodnick founded the Good Time Girls, offering tongue-in-cheek historical tours such as the “Sin & Gin” and “Gore & Lore” walking tours through Downtown Bellingham and Fairhaven.

Tour goers are taken back in time to Victorian-age Bellingham by visiting former brothel locations, such as the Horseshoe Cafe, and learning about the city’s significant prostitution business during the 1900s. Each tour guide struts down the streets in Victorian lingerie, including a cinched corset, heels and, of course, a saucy attitude.

Holodnick, McGrath and their fellow guides Hayley Boothe and Kolby Labree, transform into their Victorian characters during tours. Their alter egos, such as Annie Jo and Magnolia Pearl, make walking down the street in flashy undergarments a little more comfortable.

When she puts herself into character, Holodnick becomes more comfortable in her flashy undergarments, which allows herself to see the world through a Victorian’s eyes, she says. Many prostitutes may have used similar character separations to remove their work from personal life, she says.

It’s also great for flirting, Boothe jokes.

“Y’all can call me Louise, if y’all please,” she drawls sweetly in her character, Louise Harper’s Southern accent.

Boothe provides a unique element to the tours through a special family tradition. Her grandmother taught her how to read palms at the age of nine and she has been practicing ever since.

“It was sort of a gimmicky thing for the tours,” Boothe says. “The Victorians were really into spooky stuff like that.”

Critics of the Good Time Girls may think Bellingham’s history of prostitution should be covered up and think that talking about prostitution condones it, Holodnick says, however she and her partners want to enlighten people about the significance of the industry.

“Walking around Bellingham you see all the historic buildings and plaques, but the people we are talking about are not represented here,” Holodnick says. “We wanted to share the stories of those who weren’t always considered important.”

SELLING NOSTALGIA

In order to bring local history to an even wider audience, Holodnick and McGrath were in need of a home base for their tours. Sitting in the Temple Bar in February 2011, they created a plan for the Bureau of Historical Investigation.

“It’s nice having a place to meet and end for tours, although there is something appropriate about meeting on street corners with the kind of things we walk about,” Holodnick says.

The Bureau’s name represents the women’s roles as historical detectives, rather than proper historians, and their dedication to providing historical resources to those curious about Bellingham’s past.

“A big part of what we want to do is to help people find what they are interested in,” McGrath says. “I would like to think we are one of the organizations in downtown that provides a sense of hospitality for newcomers, but also help establish a sense of place for people who call Bellingham home.”

Much of the Bureau’s historical digging can be credited to Bellingham native Kolby Labree, who, according to Holodnick, knows everything you want to know about Bellingham.

She knows every plaque, every building and who lived there in Bellingham, Holodnick says with a laugh.

The Bureau of Historical Investigation uncovers Bellingham’s history and culture way with its assortments of historical treasures and quirky artifacts.

“The gift shop is not about the specific products, but rather creating a feeling that is ‘Bellingham,’” Holodnick says. “Some of the items are antiques, a lot of it is new; even if it’s not from here, if it evokes some kind of time or feeling, it says something about here.”

Most items in the store are vintage, made in an old-fashioned way or are up-cycled. McGrath takes particular pride in representing the local artisans and craftsmen of Bellingham who make their items by hand, the way all crafts were made before the convenience of machines and modern technology.

“It’s an introduction to a way of life that is gone; there is a real interest in how people did things in the past,” she says. “I miss the concept that someone made something with their hands and took pride in their work, that’s something we bring attention to.”

A few of McGrath’s favorite pieces include old fashioned, hand-draped hats by Humperdink, a local woman who works from a studio in the Pickford Theater Dream Space. The hats are made with high-quality felt draped over old wooden hat forms.

McGrath loves watching people try on hats that look like they belonged to their grandparents because it transports you to a different time, she says.

Other items in the store pay homage to Bellingham’s history, including old postcards, historical books and jewelry made from animal bones. A set of candles in paint cans have unique scents, such as “Civil War” and “Dapper,” and some even contain human pheromones.

The items in the shop, Holodnick says, are meant to sell a certain feeling of nostalgia, rather than just an item. She hopes when people walk into the store they feel like they have put one foot in the past.

“It’s interesting to see how people interact with a stereoscope or a typewriter,” McGrath says. “For some, it’s nostalgia. For others, it’s an interactive space where people have an interest in things they’ve never seen.”

Boothe, originally from Illinois, felt a sense of home when learning more about Bellingham’s history and the culture of the people.

“When you move to a place you want to know its history, and want to know more to make it home,” she says. “It’s interesting to see the way this brings everyone together.”

A few items in the store are representative of the women who work there and bring Bellingham’s history to life.

Collections of drinking glasses twinkle in the sunlight on a shelf right inside the door. A self-described cocktail nerd, Holodnick develops cocktail recipes inspired by books, TV shows and, of course, history. A recent batch she created features a drink for each character in the Downton Abbey series.

The gift shop also carries its own special coffee roasts, created for the Bureau by Hammerhead Coffee Roasters. The mention of the roasts, The Morning After and Bureau Private Eye Opener, perks up Boothe at the reminder of caffeine.

“Coffee. I love coffee. I’m a big coffee snob,” she says.

Apart from representing other local businesses and artists, the shop has become a representation of Bellingham in a way Holodnick and McGrath did not expect. The Good Time Girls never imagined the Bureau becoming such a recognizable and permanent part of the downtown community, Holodnick says.

What sparked from a simple curiosity in Bellingham’s sinful past is now a living representation of the history that brought the Bureau of Historical Investigation to downtown Bellingham. The Bureau gives Bellingham the opportunity not only to investigate their own interests, but also to bring a sense of nostalgia with a modern twist.