Waterfront Property Attracts Fashionable Crowd

 

1946: In post-World War II America, Jantzen acquires port property and hires mostly women, now an essential part of America’s workforce.

In 1946, port property east of the Interstate Bridge lured a new industry with an aura of glamour. Portland-based Jantzen Knitting Mills produced swimming attire and sportswear and was famous for its symbol of the “Red Diving Girl”, a high-diving beauty clad in one of its swimsuits.  The Jantzen name was also associated with an amusement park and pool on nearby Hayden Island.

Vancouver civic leaders were elated when John Zehntbauer, Jantzen president, showed interest in expanding his business to the site located along the Evergreen Highway (now Highway 14) near Fifth Street in Vancouver.  He offered to buy nine acres from the port, including a recreation building and other structures that were once part of the former Columbia housing project, for $62,500.

In December 1946, the port commission approved the resale of this property, which the port had originally purchased from the Federal Public Housing Authority. It was the first of numerous port property sales east of the Interstate Bridge. Jantzen later purchased nearly 12 acres of the Hudson House Theater as well.

In future decades, Jantzen provided work for hundreds of residents, especially women.

 

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