File:Suess Art Glass employees standing in front of store, Seattle, 1910 (MOHAI 11207).jpg

English:

The Suess Art Glass Company manufactured leaded, plate, and beveled glass and mirrors, as well as a variety of other products, including lenses for automobile headlamps. Headlamps weren't issued standard on cars until 1912, and performance and quality varied wildly. John Suess patented two devices for the rib lenses he sold, which controlled the headlight beam and eliminated "glare and dazzle." The company operated at its original location at 2421 Western Avenue until about 1910, then moved to Virginia Street near 8th Avenue, shown here, where John's son Walter ran the company at least until 1940.

In this image, employees of the Suess Art Glass Company pose in front of the company building, located at 764 Virginia Street in downtown Seattle. The company had begun in 1901, a few months after third-generation glazer and founder John Bernard Suess (1875-1930) moved to Seattle from Chicago with his wife, Bertha (Stumpf) Suess (1876-), and daughter Edna Frances (Suess) Webb (1896-1989); his son John Walter Suess (1902-1951) was born in Seattle. John's parents, John B. Suess (1854-1927) and Marianna (Kestner) Suess (1846-1927), also moved to Seattle, along with at least one sibling, brother Frank Suess (1877-1934), who founded American Art Glass about 1925. The Suess family likely chose Seattle because at the time the city was experiencing high levels of growth and prosperity due to the Klondike Gold Rush, and boosters were promoting the city as a center for business and trade.

Although members of the Suess family are likely in this image, the only individual identified is longtime employee Joseph Auman, seventh from right. Joseph Jacob Auman (1885-1952) was born in Wisconsin, the oldest of four children of Anton Auman (1859-1890) and Anna (Knorst) Auman Veit (1867-1935). In 1904 Joseph moved with his mother, step-father Karl Jacob Veit (1866-1946), and siblings to Seattle, where he began working for Suess Art Glass Company as a glazier. In 1911 Joseph married Sophia M. Lannon (1885-1953), and together they had two children: Evelyn Teresa (Auman) Hannon (1913-1988) and Fredrick Joseph Auman (1920-1994)"

Handwritten on verso of mat: date 1910 on. Joe Auman, 7th from right, standing in front of window with tie. 764 Virginia St., Seattle, Wash. Miss Sophia Lannon, 704 John Str, Seattle. Caption information source: The Seattle Sunday Times: July 13, 1919, p. 6; and November 9, 1930, p. 7. Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, June 5, 1952, p. 24.

• Subjects (LCTGM): Employees--Washington (State)--Seattle; Glass industry--Washington (State)--Seattle; Group portraits