CHS was performing manual labor recently in the shadow of St. Joe’s near 19th and Aloha when we found this buried in the dirt: a Washington sales tax token —

Wikipedia says:

Sales tax tokens were fractional cent devices used to pay sales tax on very small purchases in many American states during the years of the Great Depression. Tax tokens were created as a means for consumers to avoid being “overcharged” by having to pay a full penny tax on purchases of 5 or 10 cents. Issued by private firms, by municipalities, and by twelve state governments, sales tax tokens were generally issued in multiples of 1 mill (1/10th cent).

You can buy one on Ebay for a $1. Plus shipping and handling.

Meanwhile, a local dendrologist has done some street science to determine the age of the old crooked tree of Broadway chopped down earlier this year.

Wanna go way back? Here’s a visit to Capitol Hill, November 1851.