The Story Behind the Name
My great-grandmother was born Hazel Tennessee Waugh on December 18, 1898. Hazel married my great grandfather, Henry Fox, in 1922, when she became Hazel Tennessee Fox. This was the second marriage for them both. Henry and Hazel bought a house at 1762 West 59th Street in the Ballard neighborhood for $1,800. This was one of the original farmhouses for the area and had two stories, four large bedrooms, a barn, and fruit trees. Hazel and Henry had my grandmother, Jean Fox, on February 19, 1923.
Hazel worked at Seattle’s legendary department store Frederick’s & Nelson’s for more than 25 years as both a clerk and a model for their advertisements. Henry made a good salary working as the manager of Rhodes department store and they would host a party with friends every weekend. Since this was during prohibition, Henry had his own bootlegger named Pauly Powell who would deliver booze each week. In 1928, Hazel ran off with Pauly. Henry was fired from his job because divorce at that time was considered a scandal.
Pauly Powell had a malt and hops shop at 616 Union St. in downtown Seattle, where the Sheraton Hotel is currently located. That was a front for a speakeasy where he sold liquor and hosted gambling. Pauly was driven everywhere in his limousine by his driver and bodyguard named Lefty. Lefty also drove my grandmother to elementary school every day in the limousine while she wore a mink coat given to her by Pauly. Pauly and Hazel lived in a big, beautiful house on Capitol Hill where he made liquor in the basement and hosted big elaborate parties. He also had a still making booze near Spokane where my grandmother remembers pasting labels on the bottles.
My grandmother used to tell stories about dozing on the booze boxes while she watched people gamble in the back of the speakeasy when she was about five years old and sitting on the booze in the car when making deliveries so the police wouldn’t search underneath her. She also told a story of the police raiding the speakeasy and breaking all the tables, bottles, and mirrors when she was around seven. She saw Pauly pay off the police on a regular basis.
Pauly lost everything when prohibition ended, and Hazel left him. She went on to marry three more times for a total of five marriages and two boyfriends with whom she lived, quite scandalous for the time. Hazel died in 1985 at age 89. She lived the last 25 years of her life in the Queen Anne neighborhood and is buried at Mt. Pleasant cemetery just a few blocks away from here. We decided to name our speakeasy after Hazel to honor her for truly living that roaring 20’s lifestyle.
Written by Ben Steele
Co-founder of the Tennessee Fox