File:Everett, WA - Everett Theatre rear 01.jpg

English: Rear of the Everett Theatre, Everett, Washington. (Exterior.) Opened 1901 as an opera house; gutted by fire 1923, rebuilt 1924; remodeled 1952 and 1979 (the latter as a triplex movie theater), empty after 1989, reopened in the late 1990s. [1] [2].

According to David Dilgard of Everett Public Library, "The sign was an advertisement for a brand of cigar which was indeednamed for old single-tax Henry George. It's actually older than the Great Depression, dating from the "pre-fire" years of the theater. You'll notice that the present top of the stage house isn't quite high enough to gracefully accommodate the whole ad. That's because they knocked several feet off the top of the stage house after the fire of December 11th, 1923. The theater was completed in November of 1901 and the sign probably dates from the earlier part of that 1901-23 period. There was a union hassle over advertising on the building involving a non-union cigar ad which may have resulted in it being painted out. That would account for its gradual reappearance over the past 40 years as the covering paint weathered away. Of course, the greatest fame for Henry George cigars came during the Great Depression, when it was a sponsor of a popular radio show whose theme song was 'Smoke Your Troubles Away.'

"Everett Theatre aficionados insist that if you wait patiently for optimum humidity and light level, the entire 5 cent cigar message can occasionally be discerned. They may be right. Visibility of the Owl Cigar ad on the south side of the building certainly seems to come and go with the weather." Quotes used with permission, see ticket below.