In 1997, John Christensen was in the Pike Place Market in Seattle when he noticed that the employees of the Pike Place Fish Market seemed to be enjoying their jobs. Whaaaattttt?!?! Long hours, cold, wet, surrounded by dead fish and demanding customers all day -how could anyone possibly enjoy that? He investigated and found that the employees made work fun by throwing dead fish around and entertaining customers. Christensen then created the FISH! philosophy for improving organizational structure, put the ideas in a book and a series of films, and it became a big hit. Corporations and schools went FISH! crazy and spent millions of dollars on training materials for their employees. As a teacher from 1998 to 2001 or so, if I was forced against my will to watch that stupid video once, I was forced to watch it a dozen times. Unimaginative principals would throw out stuffed fish to teachers at faculty meetings, and professional learning sessions were all fishy-themed. Then, as is the way in education, somebody repackaged some educational trend from the past, gussied it up, thought up some cute jargon and acronyms, and made millions of dollars by selling it to school district administrators searching for ways to justify their existence.
clip from FISH! video
But I digress. The point is, FISH! put the Pike Place Fish Market on the map, and, by extension, the Pike Pace Market became one of Seattle's most well known tourist attractions, averaging about 10,000 visitors a day. During our recent Seattle trip, we stayed in an Airbnb a little more than a half mile from the market, located in the Belltown neighborhood. There are several available food tours that concentrate on the market, and we chose to take the Secret Food Tour version. ( Website )
We met our excellent tour guide James just outside the market, and he began by telling us the history of the market, established in 1907 as a farmers market, allowing local farmers and Seattle residents to deal directly with each other, eliminating middlemen, making their produce more affordable, and potentially allowing farmers to pocket more money. It thrived for decades, even during the Great Depression, until falling on hard times during the 1970s. When talk of closing and demolishing the market started, community activists rallied to save it, and it was refurbished and revitalized. Today, the complex is home to growers, artisans, craftsmen, fishmongers, butchers, restaurants, antique dealers, other retailers, and literally home to some 500 residents in luxury apartments, as well as low-income senior housing.
As with every food tour, we sampled foods from 6 or 7 food vendors, including a salmon pate roll, chocolate chip cookie, clam chowder, turkey sandwich, and smoked salmon. Honestly, the food was tasty, but not spectacular.
Our tour did cover most of the market, and we got to see the wide variety of goods available, and we even got to see a violin and accordion playing duo of cats, among the multiple buskers who perform for tips throughout the market.
There is one simple, but effective, installation that nods to a bit of dark market history. When most people think of Japanese-American internment during WWII, they immediately think of California, but Japanese-Americans also represented a large proportion of farmers in Washington and Oregon as well. That terrible episode of history permanently affected Seattle's history, and the Market provides a real example. A group of panels illustrate the effects, starting with "In 1941, approximately two-thirds of the farmers' stalls in the Pike Place Market were occupied by Japanese-Americans. Today: none."
Overall, it was a good tour, and James was great. However, I have a few caveats if you're considering it:
1. Bring water. Drinks are not offered anywhere on the tour, although James did graciously buy bottles of water for us.
2. Seattle is anti-public seating. There is almost none to be found. Our meeting place was the gazebo outside the market. The gazebo has benches, but they were chained upright and unusable. The gazebo was next to a long brick wall with concrete niches and ledges an multiple signs saying "No Sitting." There are a few tables and chairs scattered throughout the market, all with signs saying "30 Minutes Only." Why? My theory is it's part of an effort to discourage homeless loitering. Homelessness is a problem in Seattle, so much so that tourism influencers and bloggers warn potential visitors. We saw lots of homeless people, but never felt threatened. Unlike other cities, they didn't approach or solicit.
3. If you don't like crowds and if you actually like to move and breathe, don't even think about going to the market on a weekend. We were there on a Thursday, and it was so crowded, crowded enough to be uncomfortable. I don't even want to imagine a weekend there. Personally, I wouldn't be able to handle it.
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