In 1960 Nikita Khrushchev and his wife came to California and the first place they wanted to visit was that socialist paradise known as Disneyland. That was rejected for the obvious security reasons. So instead he chose the *real* enchanted kingdom and came to San Francisco.

He reportedly commented, "This is such a beautiful city. Why are there no trees?" Soon after he departed the City began planting street trees.

Looks like a '59 Rambler station wagon on the right. My great-granddad had one pretty much exactly like that.

This picture was taken 58 years ago, 57 years prior to this photo was 1906,
So some of the elderly in this picture may have witnessed the great earthquake.

One thing that is missing from Market Street these days is the throngs of people we can see on the sidewalk in 1963. This part of Market Street and the nearby area was the entertainment center, the retail shopping center, a major transportation hub, and the business center for San Francisco and the Bay Area. Although some of that activity is still there, much of the action has been dispersed. I would estimate that the volume of pedestrian traffic on Market Street was five times greater 50 years ago than what it is today.

But, I still miss all of the neon.

Maybe it's just my imagination -- but way down the street do I see a white 1956 DeSoto Firedome Sportsman? Looks like the driver is a middle-aged man in a brown suit and hat -- a Jimmy Stewart type.

The dentists are no longer painless.

If Loew's Warfield offerings or Diamond Head don't satisfy. then maybe the barely seen here behind the Warfield, known then as the Crest, has your nightly entertainments on the bill with Damn the Defiant and Frightened City sure to please for 50 cents. And, like the Warfield (with music acts), it's still pleasing folks today... but not for 50 cents. It's a strip club for "gentlemen" called The Crazy Horse. Giddyup.