SEATTLE — Liam Blakey loves collecting old pictures.
On a recent trip to a Snohomish antique shop Liam, whose father works for KING 5, paid 25 cents for a shoebox full of obscure photos.
But what was inside was priceless.
"I'd seen the name, but I couldn't put a face to the name," said Liam.
Among the dozens of photos were a handful that had the name Dick Spady handwritten on the back.
But who is Dick Spady?
Liam posted that question on a Seattle history Facebook page and found the answer.
"I just thought, cool! Mystery solved! I thought that would be it," said the UW history graduate.
Dick Spady is none other than the founder of the Seattle institution Dick's Drive-In.
He died in 2016 at the age of 92.
The photos are dated 1947.
They show Spady at just 24 years old when he was studying business at Oregon State -- seven years before he opened the first of his legendary burger joints.
The photos also show Dick with his mom, girlfriend at the time, and baby brothers.
Very few photos from that era still exist. When the Spady family found out, they offered to pay Liam for them. But Liam had something else in mind.
"My one stipulation in giving them back was I wanted a free Dick's burger," chuckled Liam. "I'm assuming one will be in the mix when I return the photos to the family."
On Wednesday, Liam handed over the photos to Dick's son, John Spady, outside the landmark drive-in on 45th Avenue in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.
"I want to thank you, Liam, for recovering our family history from the dustbin," John said, shaking hands.
"Or the shoebox," laughed Liam.
Spady believes the pictures probably got to the antique store via an estate sale from Dick's late ex-girlfriend, Audrey Stoneburg.
"Having these echoes of our past is really meaningful and helps put things in perspective," said Spady.
As a finder's fee, Liam gratefully accepted $50 in gift certificates for free Dick's burgers.
As they said their goodbyes Liam and John posed for a picture under the iconic, spinning Dick's sign.
Liam's dad, Mike, snapped the shot.
It's a photo that now adds to their own family history.
"I'm very passionate about making sure history is preserved," said Liam. "That's my number one goal, in the end."