Artifact of the Month: December 2018

Sledding on Main Street Hill

With winter comes snow and ice-and opportunities to sled or "coast" down one of Ketchikan's many steep hillside roads. In the 1920s and 1930s, Ketchikan saw a dramatic increase in automobile owners and traffic. All the new motorists worried the parents whose children were wildly careening down hills. Police occasionally roped off sections of Main Street to allow children to sled without obstructions during designated times approved by the City Council. This month's featured photograph was taken by Elliot L. Fisher, who operated Fisher's Studio from 1924 to 1934.

Fisher came to Alaska as an employee of the U.S. Immigration Service. Upon his resignation from the service, he followed a lifelong dream and started a photography business in Ketchikan. During the ten years that he lived and worked here, he embodied the Fisher Studio motto: "We photograph anything anywhere." In addition to studio portraits, he did photography for newspapers, magazines, travelogues, high school yearbooks, and local advertisers. He traveled widely with his photographs, introducing the wonders of Alaska to audiences throughout the country. In 1934, he sold his business to Al Milotte and moved to North Carolina.

Ketchikan Museums: Tongass Historical Society Collection, THS 61.8.1.230