4450 Fremont Avenue
The Golden Rule Bakery & Dairy was a major employer in Fremont from 1918 to 1964. It started with one production plant at 4450 Fremont Avenue and later expanded into two more buildings, nearby on Stone Way.
The second building was at 3670 Stone Way, built in 1928 with a 1940 addition and designated as the “cake department.” The third building, constructed in 1945-1946, was at 3665 Stone Way and was exclusively the Golden Rule Dairy.
The Golden Rule company was a major employer in Fremont during the 1930s, taking the place of previous industries in Fremont such as the lumber mill.
The Golden Rule Bakery was founded in 1918
Pemberton draft card of June 1918
The Golden Rule Bakery was founded by Irish immigrants William Henry Pemberton and his sister Maud, along with two investors.
Shortly after starting the business in Seattle, in June 1918 Mr. Pemberton filled out a draft card because even though World War One was winding down, the draft was still in effect.
On the last line of the draft card Pemberton claimed “exemption” from duty. When Pemberton was ordered to report to Camp Lewis, he refused deployment because he said he was a conscientious objector. Pemberton was jailed until 1920. His sister Maud Pemberton and the other co-founders of the bakery carried on with the business.
Labor organizing turmoil in Seattle in the 1930s
Beginning in 1925 the Golden Rule company came under intense pressure from the growing labor movement in Seattle. Workers of many kinds, from waitresses to factory workers and delivery drivers, were organizing to create unions. Labor leader Dave Beck and the Teamsters were accused of harassing and trying to intimidate the non-union delivery drivers of Golden Rule and were accused of a plot to blow up the Golden Rule building at 4450 Fremont Avenue.
Pressure intensified in 1936 when labor leaders organized a boycott of Golden Rule products so that stores would no longer carry that brand. At this critical moment, company president William H. Pemberton died at age 47 on May 9, 1936. On June 1st, the Golden Rule employees voted to unionize.
Golden Rule expands
Golden Rule bread was sold at neighborhood grocers like this one at 3414 NE 65th Street.
Under the management of Maud Pemberton, Golden Rule expanded its production capacity in 1928 by building another plant at 3670 Stone Way. In addition to the production facility, the company also needed more space for their 100+ vehicle fleet of delivery trucks. It was during this era that advertisements for the Golden Rule Bakery AND Dairy began appearing in newspapers. In 1937, in addition to delivery of bread to stores, the Golden Rule Dairy offered milk, cream, butter and cottage cheese via home delivery service.
Economic impact of Golden Rule in the 1930s
By 1932 the nationwide economic depression was very much affecting the Fremont neighborhood as its major industries, such as Bryant Lumber, had shut down. There was widespread unemployment. The book, The Boys in the Boat, has vivid descriptions of what life was like in Seattle in the 1930s amidst the struggles of the economic depression of those years. Golden Rule took the place of other companies as a major employer in Fremont.
Joe Rantz 1914-2007
In 1935 the main character of Boys in the Boat, Joe Rantz, was attending the University of Washington in Seattle. He learned that his father, Harry Rantz, whom he had not seen in five years, was working at the Golden Rule Bakery & Dairy. Joe went there and watched for his father to come out at lunchtime.
Although the book doesn’t specify which building this was, it likely was 3670 Stone Way which had been built in 1928 and had capacity for parking the company’s delivery vehicles. Joe’s father Harry Rantz was working as a mechanic for the fleet of Golden Rule delivery trucks. The income of this steady job brought stability to the Rantz family for the first time since the stock market crash of 1929 which started the economic depression of the 1930s.
Golden Rule expands into a third building
In 1945-1946 Golden Rule built a third facility which was to be dedicated exclusively to dairy products.
In an 1954 photo, we see the Golden Rule Dairy building, 3665 Stone Way, at left, and in the 3800 block there was a row of plumbing, electrical contractors, paint and building contractors offices. These all thrived during the home construction boom post-World-War-Two.
Looking southward along Stone Way in 1954, Golden Rule is at far left and there is a row of contractors companies in the block. Seattle Municipal Archives photo #213408.
The Golden Rule Dairy at 3665 Stone Way operated from 1945-1964. The dairy plant was suddenly sold to the Vitamilk company on July 1, 1964, and the bakery division of Golden Rule went out of business about two weeks later. Maud Pemberton, who was still running the Golden Rule company, cited indebtedness to suppliers as the reason for closing the business. They also had found that they were losing money on home delivery of bakery and dairy products. In the post-world-war-two era, small stores and home delivery gave way to supermarkets where customers could browse for a wide variety of products in one place.
Later years of the building at 3665 Stone Way
From 1964 to 1974 several different companies used the building at 3665 Stone Way as a warehouse or a food production facility. In 1974 the Stoneway Electric Supply Company moved in. This was the era when Stone Way was referred to as Home Improvement Row. The street was lined with companies selling paint, home decor, cabinets, bathroom fixtures, plumbing supply, and the offices of building contractors.
There is now an apartment building, built in 2022, at 3665 Stone Way.
Stoneway Electric moved out of the 3665 building in 2021 during the end of the era of “home improvement” on Stone Way. The building was bought by a developer and was presented at the Seattle Landmarks Board in 2019, as to whether the building was eligible for historic preservation. It was concluded that although the Golden Rule company was a significant part of Seattle history, that history was not embodied by or conveyed by the building at 3665 Stone Way. The building was demolished and today there is an apartment building in its place.
Of the three former Golden Rule buildings, the only one still extant is at 3670 Stone Way. It has been renovated into a medical services office. Most of Stone Way from North 34th to 40th Streets has been transformed into rows of tall apartment buildings which may also house restaurants and coffee shops.
Sources:
3665 Stone Way (demolished 2022)
Genealogical and newspaper records for William H. Pemberton (1888-1936) and Maud Pemberton (1885-1966).
Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper references:
February 24, 1931, page 15 and February 28, 1931, page 3: Bomb plot thwarted at the Golden Rule production plant at 4450 Fremont Avenue.
April 17, 1936, page 12: Dave Beck & the Teamsters organization charged with making attacks on the Golden Rule delivery drivers.
May 12, 1936, page 14: Funeral for W.H. Pemberton, president of the Golden Rule company.
Seattle Times newspaper: May 12, 1946, page 51: “Fremont: A District That Thrives,” by Margaret Pitcairn Strachan.
“The Great Depression 1929-1939,” HistoryLink Essay #3717 by David Wilma, 2002.
Historic preservation nomination report on the Golden Rule Company and 3665 Stone Way, presented at Landmarks Board, August 6, 2019.
Pacific Coast Architecture Database, 3665 Stone Way – Golden Rule Dairy building.
University of Washington Civil Rights and Labor History page: The Golden Rule Dairy is not mentioned, but I list the website here because it is the best source for the history of labor/civil rights in Seattle.
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown, 2013.
