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Prairie Schooner: 1915
March 1915. "San Francisco by wagon from Staten Island, New York." Three guys and a dog and ... size. Wandering and Wondering if they made it to San Fran and how many spare wheels they carried. Not to mention support for the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/27/2012 - 2:41pm -

March 1915. "San Francisco by wagon from Staten Island, New York." Three guys and a dog and their two-horsepower hybrid in Washington, taking the Overland Trail west. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. Wandering and Wonderingif they made it to San Fran and how many spare wheels they carried. Not to mention support for the horses. Looks cosy enough though for three. Maybe it's their midlife crisis. FriendsI wonder how good friends they all were when they finally got there? Any more details?Any more information on this trek? Trying to discern some details on the canvas (with the peculiar map drawn on the side with east to the left): Highlandtown, Maryland seems to be a neighborhood inside Baltimore. I can't find anything on Frank A. Blum. "Ask the driver for a booklet"? Anyway, it's nice to see the Capitol again with private cars driving right up to it and no surrounding guardhouses, fences, and bollards. Coastal ConfusionStrange that they have the Pacific Ocean (and west coast) east of Staten Island. I hope they didn't just drive off a pier into the Atlantic. Boosting the Eden of NYCI noted the curious geographical sense of these boys as well. I think the map might be drawn this way (flipping East and West) so that as they travel westward, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are oriented with the wagon. In Wagon to San Francisco Staten Island Boosters Reach Washington On Coast-to-Coast Trip. Three hardy young men, tanned with exposure incidental to life in a prairie schooner passed through here last week en route to the exposition at San Francisco over the old overland trail. They were all residents of Staten Island and are boosting that particular spot as the Eden of Greater New York. They are John Drebinger, William Stephens, and Edward Smith. They left Staten Island February 27, and expect to reach California about September 1. The trio paid a visit to Secretary Bryan yesterday. They Secretary greeted them cordially, they said. An expressed desire to see President Wilson was not gratified. The party will continue on their way today. Washington Post, Mar 14, 1915 UPDATE: It appears the boys made it as far as Denver. I'm not positive, but it seems likely this is the same John Drebinger who was a baseball reporter at the New York Times for over 40 years. Drebby's Hobo LifeNew York Times, Oct. 24, 1979 John Drebinger, 88, Baseball Reporter, Is Dead John Drebinger, who was dean of the nation's baseball writers when he retired in 1964 after 40 years with the New York Times, died Monday at a nursing home in Greensboro, N.C. He was 88 years old. His colleagues called him Drebby and one of them related his departure to "the retirement of Winston Churchill, the storming of the Bastille, the discovery of gunpowder or the instituting of income taxes: life goes on, but an era has ended." Indeed, when 11-year-old John Drebinger saw his first baseball game, it was played in the afternoon on real grass. The Boer War had ended in that June of 1902, ZuZu ginger snaps first appeared on grocery shelves, Wanamaker's was selling patent leather shoes for $1.90 a pair and a pound of coffee was 10 cents. The youngster was on his way to becoming a concert pianist -- his father was a violinist with the New York Metropolitan Orchestra -- but a thumb wound suffered while sharpening ice skates ended that aspiration. After an eight-year stay with the Staten Island Advance -- which included an ill-fated cross-country journey in a covered wagon that he termed the most exciting experience of his life -- Mr. Drebinger joined The Times for the "hobo life" of a baseball writer. For the next four decades he traveled 30,000 miles a year with the Yankees, the Giants and the Dodgers, saw 6,000 baseball games and ate "tons of hot dogs." From 1929 through 1963, he covered all 203 World Series Games. Not heard during the course of the trip...."Are we there yet?" Westward Ho! By Wagon"Staten Island Prairie Schooner is Going to S.F." Driving up to the City Hall yesterday in an old-fashioned prairie schooner drawn by two horses, John Urflinger and William Stevens obtained a letter from Mayor Mitchel to deliver to Mayor Rolph of San Francisco. The odd trip across the continent is being made in the interest of Staten Island business men, who want it advertised that Staten Island is the gateway of the Eastern Coast, just as San Francisco is supposed to be the gateway of the Western. The schooner was driven about Manhattan yesterday, and today a trip will be made through Brooklyn. Tomorrow at noon Charles J. McCormack of Richmond Borough will start the wagon on its long overland trip to the Western city where it is due to arrive before the Panama-Pacific International Exposition ends. NY Times, 24 Feb 1915 That title Panama-PacificThat title Panama-Pacific International Exposition kind of threw me for a second since I live in San Diego and thought that was held in San Diego's newly completed Balboa Park, not San Francisco. But then it dawned on me that ours was called the Panama Exposition in the same year, 1915. Never thought why it had the Panama in the name, but now I know from Wikipedia that both these events were celebrating the Panama Canal opening, along with some opportune marketing. Okay by me, Balboa Park was a great result, and is still a jewel as far as I'm concerned. (The Gallery, D.C., Dogs, Harris + Ewing, Horses)
On the Grid: 1939
... is fairly unique to the DC system. Actually not like San Francisco The street car in this picture are electrically powered, drawing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/09/2011 - 11:06am -

Washington, D.C., in 1939. "Aerial view in front of the Willard Hotel at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, showing pedestrians and rather dense traffic in autos and streetcars." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by David Myers. AwwwThat's so funny - what "rather dense traffic" looked like as a baby! D.C. TrafficThere are bikes in the middle of the street. And a traffic cop, remember those? StreetcarsNotice that the two street cars have their poles down on the roof. That is because power is being grabbed from the slot between the rails. This is somewhat like the SF cable cars, but in the case of the DC cars there is a 600v direct current cable in the slot which supplies electricity to the cars. This is fairly unique to the DC system. Actually not like San FranciscoThe street car in this picture are electrically powered, drawing current from a "shoe" that runs in the slot. The San Francisco cable cars are an entirely mechanical system. The cars have a grip, which is described as being like a pair of pliers, that grabs hold of a cable that runs under the street on loop from a main power station where there are electric motors for each of the lines. The cable moves and physically pulls the cars along their routes. The advantages of this system over a conventional trolley system is that the cable cars have significantly less trouble dealing with steep hills. Willard Hotel Streetcar TracksThe caption identifying the location as 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue is incorrect. There were no junction tracks between the routes at the intersection of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The actual location of that picture is two block north at 14th and G Streets. the picture was taken from the upper floors of the Western Union building that still stands on the northwest corner of that intersection. [I think you're mistaken. The caption was written by the photographer. Below, photos of the Willard and from the Willard circa 1923, showing the intersection and streetcar tracks. - Dave] 14th & PennsylvaniaThe bottom photo, looking southeast at 14th and Pennsylvania NW, is prior to the 1935-36 Capital Transit reconstruction project, which resulted in a track connection for Route 54 Navy Yard streetcars southbound on 14th Street to southeastbound on Pennsylvania Avenue. The main photograph, however, does show the perpendicular crossing "specialwork" trackage at 14th & G streets. Rodchenko perspectiveThe style of this photo is very much like those of Alexandr Rodchenko, the Soviet modernist photographer, a decade or two earlier. Second opinionIt is not too hard for casual visitors and friends of Washington DC to think this view is from the Willard Hotel at 14th & PA Av NW. However, as a streetcar historian living in Washington DC since 1953 and keeping records of track and cars from 1862, I can positively suggest to you that the view is from the office bldg on NE corner of 14th & G Sts NW. The SE corner is the National Bank of Washington. The SW corner was the city ticket office of Pennsylvania RR. The NW corner was the city office of Western Union by the late 1930s. If you look at the width of Pa Av - it is much wider than shown on this view. This switch was used for rush hour trips from Bureau of Engraving/USDA to G St for cars running to North Capital and Hyattsville. I have had this print in possession for more than 50 years. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., David Myers, Streetcars)
After the Earthquake: 1906
"Market Street toward ferry." San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906. 8x10 inch glass ... Seem It appears that no matter what the occasion, the San Franciscans of 1906 got gussied up before going out. Get a load of those ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:40pm -

"Market Street toward ferry." San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. Thanks...Just experienced my first Earthquake just over an hour ago. Once again, Dave you leave me speechless. Walter in Bethesda, MD Good TimingDave, you've done it again! There was a 5.9 tremor in Va. today and we felt it on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay. So, earthquakes will be the topic of discussion for a while. Quick WorkWow, you practically beat Reuters to the punch. 100-year photo blog indeed!Just arrived home after my building was closed following today's earthquake. Turned on my internet, and what do I see? AmazingEven in the aftermath of this great tragedy, everyone is as fully and fashionably dressed as they must have been before April 18th. I would expect that at least some of the people in the photograph were made homeless by the earthquake and fire, but you would never know it to look at them. Ironic timing is ironicWas this photo already chosen for today? Fortunately, DC doesn't look this way nowI don't know if this photo is a coincidence coming so soon after the Magnitude 5.9 earthquake that rattled Virginia, DC, Maryland and all the way up to New York City. Fortunately, we didn't get this kind of damage!! This just in...Very timely. The earth movedfor me! Unfortunately, I was home alone. I'm 35 miles S.E.of Washington, so a bit closer to the epicenter than D.C. My behind started moving as my chair followed the floor movement, them my whole body followed as the movements became stronger. The desk then started shaking, moving my PC case and monitor. My first thought was that there was some some structural collapse in my home, then I realized it was a quake. Lasted about 40 seconds, then slowly subsided. A quick survey showed no damage, power, phone, and DSL service all normal. That's a pretty short skyline.I can only imagine what was going through the minds of those folks as they survey the damage. The Ole Man PurseWhen will the ole man purse be back in style, I wonder. This Just In As WellFrom The Gothamist, a little while ago. [UPDATE] 5.9 Magnitude Earthquake In Virginia Rattles Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens The FDNY and the US Geological Survey has confirmed a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in central Virginia. Residents of Manhattan and Brooklyn have reported feeling the earthquake Oh, well foundPuts things in perspective a bit. It Would SeemIt appears that no matter what the occasion, the San Franciscans of 1906 got gussied up before going out. Get a load of those ladies' hats. Just Sayin'After their homes and business's have been devastated, the men still wear hats, collars, ties and suits. The ladies never go out in public unless well groomed. Definitely saying something about the quality of the general mass but not the underbelly that also existed then. First EarthquakeHow ironic that on the day you publish this photo, we in the mountains of Pa. experienced the first earthquake any of us can remember. Trolley wiresSince there are now trolley wires over the cable car tracks, the date is later than just the day after the earthquake. Fashion PlateWhere did that cool looking dude get his fresh boutonniere and clean pocket hanky? San Francisco where is Clark Gable? Previously on ShorpyMany are familiar with the famous 13-minute film of Market Street shot from the front of a trolley car as it rolled toward the Ferry Building on a busy afternoon in San Francisco. Although the footage has long been dated by LOC curators to circa September 1905, extensive new research by David Kiehn, historian for the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, CA, has established that this footage was probably shot by the Miles Brothers film company on or near April 12, 1906, scarcely a week before the earthquake and fire. The footage was only shipped by rail to New York for processing and distribution on April 17, and the Miles Brothers studio was destroyed a few hours later. The San Francisco Chronicle has details of Kiehn's discoveries. The San Francisco Museum & Historical Society is sponsoring a lecture by Mr. Kiehn about his findings on Sept. 21. The Underbelly SpeaksAs part of the Underbelly, or the Great Unwashed, as we are sometimes called, I'd just like to go on record as saying that, in case of earthquake, hurricane, rapture or other major disruption of life, I have prepared an outfit consisting of tattered Chuck Taylors, raggedy cut offs and a tie dyed T-shirt. I'm gonna hit the streets in style. There's no there thereThe gent with the fresh boutonniere and clean pocket hanky likely got them in Oakland. The folks on the left hand side of the photo are walking up Market Street from the Ferry Building in the background, indicating they're returning to San Francisco, not fleeing from the now extinguished fires. Likely they had evacuated to Oakland or elsewhere and are now returning to see what's left of their homes and businesses. Ferries shuttling between San Francisco and Oakland and Marin served as the city's lifeline for days after the quake and fire. I'll bet most of the returnees in this view ended up camping in Golden Gate Park. A Trip Down Market StreetLook at this movie of a cable car going the same direction on Market Street just days before the Earthquake. (The Gallery, DPC, Fires, Floods etc., San Francisco)
The Tabulators: 1920
... goodness, they've come a long way, baby. Chinatown - San Francisco Although we may look at this group and declare them "obsolete", I ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2012 - 3:39pm -

Washington, D.C., circa 1920. One of half a dozen images labeled "Tabulating Machine Co." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size. I know nothingabout tabulators versus computers, but, as with most of these early office photos, the men in this one seem to be standing around looking good while the women work their nimble fingers to the bone. All that is missing is a whip and a chair! Thank goodness, they've come a long way, baby. Chinatown - San FranciscoAlthough we may look at this group and declare them "obsolete", I was in S.F. last summer and made some purchases in Chinatown. Without exception, each purchase was figured out on an abacus. These comptometers or adding machines are actually based on that device as the abacus is the forerunner of these machines. Everything old is new again. CPU architectureLooks like they have a register file of seven 8-bit registers - the last 2 rows are the stack register (with extra parity bits) and status register. The I-cache operators are standing by in the back to the left, while the 2 D-cache operators are standing in the back to the right (with there kilobytes of storage). Looks like there are a few bad bits (staring at the camera) that will cause a timing violation. Where's the boundary scan? TabulatorsIn 1920, I believe those people would have been called - Computers. Seriously. The adding machineYou know, the movie with Phyllis Diller? I wonder which one is going to lose it... My guess is the one in the front row looking straight into the camera. Drive-in office?Am I imagining things, or is this office space a converted parking garage? I love the hat and coat storage up on the ramp! They're not adding machines!These are card punch machines, not adding machines. Adding machines of this time period had a lot more mechanical stuff to them. These machines just punch holes in the Hollerith cards. The machinery at the back of the room does all the adding up work. One or TwoI'm sitting here and can't believe my lying eyes. One or two of these gals are not heinous. I better take a break, and look again. Bathroom breakRows A through F first, ten minutes please Punch cards Herman Hollerith introduced tabulating machines and punched card tabulating systems to the census in 1890 and they were used through at least 1940. Later known as IBM cards. ComputersUntil the 1960's and the advent of the electronic calculator, groups of women like this -- it was a women's occupation -- performed calculations on mechanical calculators. The women were, in fact, called computers. Tabulating Machine CoHerman Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Co. in 1896 in Georgetown. The building still stands, with a commemorative plaque. In 1924 it merged with three other companies to become IBM. CPMHahaha!! Loved the CPU architecture reference. I seriously wonder, how many cycles per second (Hertz) or IPS a human cluster like this would do as a whole. Did they measure efficiency by calculations per minute, as in words per minute for typists? Card punchesThese machines are 10-key card punches of the old style as shown on this page (scroll to the center). Data entryThe ladies are not doing computing, they are doing data entry. They are using an early version of an IBM keypunch (numerics only). The lady at the near end of the fourth row is checking her work. P&VLikely two operations going on here - punching and then verifying. When I worked in an IBM environment in the sixties we had a room with a lot fewer ladies who did exactly that - punch and verify. (The Gallery, D.C., Harris + Ewing, The Office)
Trucks Entering Highway: 1931
The San Francisco Bay Area circa 1931. "Earth-moving equipment and trucks." Our second ... plate by Christopher Helin. View full size. South San Francisco area? Those hills seem like the ones I would pass going to the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/17/2014 - 6:51pm -

The San Francisco Bay Area circa 1931. "Earth-moving equipment and trucks." Our second look at this diorama of dirt, and a glimpse of the surrounding terrain. 8.5 x 6.5 inch glass plate by Christopher Helin. View full size. South San Francisco area?Those hills seem like the ones I would pass going to the airport when I've visited the city. RWL TiresOld #8 is sporting some raised white letter tires. I think this is the earliest example of these I've seen. Sign in the DistanceSure wish we could see what it said, maybe give us an idea where this picture was taken. Looks like they're digging a foundation in an area that was once paved with concrete -- or dealing with a washout. White Sidewall LetteringI spotted an interesting detail on the truck under the shovel bucket. It appears the tires have white sidewall lettering "Goodyear". I have never noticed anything like this on tires older than the 1960's or so. It was all the rage among the fast car crowd then and raised white lettering was common on performance tires. I would wonder how long it would be visible in the service these trucks were used. Looks like the coastThe low sloping hills, the sand dunes, and the large treeline (Eucalyptus?) makes it look like the coast. It reminds me of areas like Pacifica or Daly City. The shovel- NorthwestIt is a Northwest Model 6. Reviled by some as its control levers were backward in relation to most cranes. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin)
Kissel Kandy Karavan: 1919
October 1919. "California Highway Motor Train in San Francisco." A publicity stunt showcasing the nascent field of long-distance ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/12/2014 - 8:43pm -

October 1919. "California Highway Motor Train in San Francisco." A publicity stunt showcasing the nascent field of long-distance trucking as facilitated by the "giant pneumatic tire." The cargo here being three tons of Cherry Flip. 6½ x 8½ inch glass negative, originally from the Wyland Stanley collection. View full size. Lincoln Highway?The Lincoln Highway, America's first coast-to-coast, ran from Times Square NYC to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. Is Lincoln Park the setting for this photo? [No, this is at the Civic Center; however, the Lincoln Highway followed Market Street, two blocks away behind us. -tterrace] Cherry FlipThe Cargo. I know them as chocolate covered cherries. Mathematically ChallengedIt is only 400 miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Where did they drive for the other 200 miles? [The roads and wagon paths of 1919. - Dave] Southern California SweetsIt looks like Bishop's Cherry Flips were a strictly local confection. And a PackardInteresting to contrast the Kissel with the Packard parked behind -- the Kissel still has carbide lights in 1919 and looks heavier, except for that massive radiator guard on the Packard that looks capable of crashing through anything. Points of interestIt looks like the truck is using two types of tires, pneumatic up front and solid on the back. It looks like two tires on back but it looks like only one rim. A trucker friend said the style of rim on the front was referred to as a California rim. They were very dangerous to the guy who had to replace the tire. The sign says it was hauling Bishop & Co. candy from LA to San Fran. I wonder what they hauled to LA. There appears to be a (paper/canvas?) strip over whatever it was they were carrying. [The sign says San Francisco to LA. - Dave] It looks like the horn is mounted to inside of the driver's door. I wonder if ever went deaf from using it. It was operated by pushing down on the plunger just above the door. Just that much more to make it harder to get in past the steering wheel and all. The sign says 1000 miles of California highway. The internet says it's only 381 miles from LA to San Francisco. Have the two cities moved 238 miles closer together since this picture was taken? [The sign says San Francisco to LA "and return." - Dave] Civic CenterWe're in San Francisco's Civic Center. City Hall is way off to the left, but the building we see was at this time the Main Library. Since 2003 it's housed the Asian Art Museum; the new roofline hides an extensive installation of air conditioning equipment and ductwork. View Larger Map Spring SteelThat truck appears to have impact absorbing bumpers, a feature mandated on new cars more recently. Seven studs and no valve?I have not seen any fixings on wheels or hubs using seven studs or bolts before. It seems quite odd to my eyes. i wonder what the reason was. Many small French cars used three until quite recent times, but I have never seen seven used. Secondly I do not see a valve for inflating the tyre. If it was on the inside face of the tyre I wonder why. [Look again. - Dave] It only felt Like 1000 milesA 1919 road map shows the road twists and jogs added 56 more miles to today's Pacific Coast Highway/US 101 route from Los Angeles to San Francisco. It only felt like 1000 miles with those solid tires and open cab. [As measured by the yardstick of public relations, the distance covered was over "more than 1,000 miles of highway" on two different routes (south through the San Joaquin Valley, returning up the Coast) with many stops along the way, according to the Oct. 15, 1919, edition of Motor West, which lists the trucks, their cargo and itinerary. - Dave] The tyre valve ...Just as well I have an appointment on Tuesday with the optician, eh? Hub boltsSince the wheel has 14 spokes the hub has 7 hub bolts. Never drill through a spoke, but between 2 spokes to prevent weakness. How long did it take?I wonder how long the 1,000-mile round trip would have taken at that time, and in a truck like this. The route traversed some fairly mountainous territory, and I would guess that a lot of the highway would have been graded but not yet paved. [The details are all right here. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, San Francisco, W. Stanley)
Calle de San Fran: 1906
Circa 1906. "Calle de San Francisco, San Juan, Puerto Rico." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/06/2019 - 11:34am -

Circa 1906. "Calle de San Francisco, San Juan, Puerto Rico." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size. SweetsThe sign above the shop where the boy is handing out samples, made legible courtesy of Photoshop ("New Confectionery," in English): Calle San Francisco Today this is a beautiful street with vibrant colors. The cobblestones are actually Blue.The blue cobblestones that originally paved the streets of all of Old San Juan are now being replaced with new ones. The original cobblestones (adoquines in Spanish) were cast from iron slag, which is the waste from iron smelting. They were brought as ballast in the bottoms of European merchant ships in the 1700s. They were first used as road pavers in 1784. (The Gallery, DPC, Puerto Rico, Streetcars)
Federal Street: 1941
... acetate negative by Russell Lee. View full size. San Francisco inspired This could be labeled "Unpainted Ladies." ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/14/2018 - 8:47pm -

April 1941. "Houses and grocery store on Federal Street in the Negro section of Chicago." Medium format acetate negative by Russell Lee. View full size. San Francisco inspiredThis could be labeled "Unpainted Ladies." Cleveland's Grocerieswas located at 4043 South Federal Street. Judging by Google Maps and a search for 4040 South Federal, the area shown in the photograph is now a grass yard situated among small, attractively renovated apartment buildings in the southern part of Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. Picker's DelightThat derelict car with flat tires, etc would command some real bucks today. Amazing trim items on the house it's in front of. Just dessertsIce Cream Salad? Yum! Back When Cars has Real Trunks!The type of trunk carried on the back of these cars gave rise to our current usage of "trunk" to designate the luggage compartment of today's automobiles. These were all-metal trunks with gasketed "dust-proof" closures. (Think "unpaved roads!") If OnlyIt'd be funny if the derelict cars were still there. (The Gallery, Chicago, Russell Lee, Stores & Markets)
Blu-Green Gasoline: 1925
1920s San Francisco. "Gilmore Gasoline service station." Where you can fill up with gas ... and Third (Kentucky) streets. Below, an ad from the 1925 San Francisco City Directory . - Dave] Roar With Gilmore Here's a gas ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/13/2015 - 11:23am -

1920s San Francisco. "Gilmore Gasoline service station." Where you can fill up with gas or water. Who can tell us where this is? 5x7 glassneg. View full size. Where the buses go to sleepAccording to this document, the Twiggses built their boats at the corner of Stockton and North Point. [As noted by SteamBoomer, by the 1920s the boatyard had moved to a location bounded by Illinois, 18th and Third (Kentucky) streets. Below, an ad from the 1925 San Francisco City Directory. - Dave] Roar With GilmoreHere's a gas station rebuilt on private property in Santa Rosa CA. Signal Gas, similar but even smaller than the Gilmore station. Also the Gilmore lion. For Whom The Bell TollsI see 3 Bell Telephone Systems signs. That tells me that the phone was likely a moneymaker. Another observation, the entrance to the Men's Room was probably on the other side the building, backing up to the Women's. Bathroom hijinksAccording to my (now deceased) grandmother, those were the types of bathrooms you had to back into. No word on whether you dropped trou before or after backing. Can't imagine there was a sink in there. Maybe if you wanted to wash afterwards, you wrestled the hose from a newsie? Here's another oneThe skeleton of a similar old-timey filling station still exists at 16th and Irving: https://goo.gl/maps/pQZjTTH7tgw Positively PalatialThis gas station looks substantially larger than yesterday's barbershop (not to mention much brighter). However, the women's room looks a bit on the narrow side. Women's roomIs like Dr. Who's Tardis, it get bigger on the inside. More Twig(g)sThis appears to be the northeast corner of 18th and 3rd/Kentucky Streets. The fence of John Twigg & Sons boat builders, at 18th and Illinois Streets, can be seen in the background. Gilmore the flying lionIn 1930, the barnstormer and air racer Roscoe Turner persuaded the Gilmore Oil Company to buy a snazzy Lockheed Air Express, which was emblazoned with Gilmore 'Red Lion' logos. Turner later bought a lion cub -- inevitably named 'Gilmore' -- and flew with him throughout the country. The lion even had a parachute. According the Smithsonian, "with the possible exception of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Gilmore became the most famous lion of the 1930s." ChesterfieldCalendar seems to be an ad for Chesterfield Cigs. The Budget for Lion Gargoyleswas a lot larger than the landscaping budget for those 4 bushes. Thirsty NewsieClick to enlarge. Telephone service?Two white public telephones seen through window? Must be a very new station, evenly spread gravel, no grease stains near pumps, no tire marks leading into or away from the station. Very modern, open and clean design. How many women drivers in that era? Gas priceThat 20 cents per gallon in 1925 would be $2.71 today. California Summer?Flat roof, glass on three sides, single glazing, no shadow, only small sections that could be opened for ventilation, no blinds, no air conditioning. That glass cube must have been a veritable oven in the height of summer. ["Summer" is a relative term in San Francisco. -tterrace] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Gas Stations, San Francisco, W. Stanley)
Fille de Grille: 1935
San Francisco, 1935. "Auto show. Model and Oldsmobile at General Motors display." ... feet. [And I guess this lady hails from Chinatown, San Francisco, California USA . - Dave] Thanks Dave! - Baxado 35 ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/05/2017 - 1:37pm -

San Francisco, 1935. "Auto show. Model and Oldsmobile at General Motors display." 8x10 inch nitrate negative, late of the Wyland Stanley and Marilyn Blaisdell collections. View full size. Car Show Babes... dressed very differently back in 1939. I'd post an example of today's babes but this is a family friendly place. What a Beauty!And not just the auto. I am guessing either Philippines, or some Asian country. Tiny too. Guessing not quite 5 feet. [And I guess this lady hails from Chinatown, San Francisco, California USA. - Dave] Thanks Dave! - Baxado 35 Olds?I'm no expert, but I think that's a '35 Olds. Why would they be showing a four year old car at the GM exhibit? [The seller of this photo wrote "1939 GGIE" on the negative sleeve, which we bought right along with the picture. Good catch! Error corrected. - Dave] Sticker ShockWow! $1,207 and some odd cents. That's less than the down payment on most of today's automobile offerings. MSRPNADA gives a base price of $970. I have learned that a radio cost $80, a heater $40, whitewall tires $10?, and not sure what else (freight and tax) to get up to $1207. Canton QueenShe's Chinese, but her features indicate she's from the south. Not surprising, as most of the Chinese that emigrated to the US and ended up in San Fran prior to 1939 were from Canton (properly Guangdong) or there about. InflationConsider what the car would fetch in today's inflated dollars: $21,789 (according to the BLI inflation calculator). While that would be cheap for a car like an Oldsmobile, it was still the Depression and many, if not most, could ill-afford this extravagance. [And yet Olds managed to move 126,768 cars out the door in 1935. - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Pretty Girls, San Francisco, W. Stanley)
Room for One More: 1918
1918. "Federal truck -- San Francisco Casket Co." Makers of the box you'll go in. A sobering scene from the ... Influenza in 1918 killed more people than WWI, and while San Francisco was spared the worst of it, there were still over 40,000 ill and ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 03/24/2022 - 7:36am -

1918. "Federal truck -- San Francisco Casket Co." Makers of the box you'll go in. A sobering scene from the depths of the Spanish Flu epidemic. 5x7 inch glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Covid19 is a pandemic ... not a "pandemic"First of all, mwelch, May 2020 was way early in the pandemic to be taking a poll that you still consider to be valid in March 2022. Just in the United States, nearly a million people have died from Covid19. I probably didn't know anyone who had it in March 2020 either. But today a [unvaccinated] neighbor across the street is dead from it and the brothers of three friends are dead. One friend said her brother's wife and children refused to wear masks at the funeral because "Covid is a hoax". As Dave, I know at least a dozen people, including family and immediate neighbors, who have had Covid. It includes a couple in their 80s who, for some reason decided flying to Chicago was more important than avoiding exposure. The husband spent two months in the hospital after they got back and came home with an oxygen tank. I know two people who suffer from serious long-term effects of Covid; one wakes up with a hangover every morning and cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time. I'll also point out that asking random people in a line about a potentially deadly disease for which there was no treatment is a really bad approach to collecting information about the disease. I imagine some people told you, "No" because they didn't want to answer the follow-up question to a "Yes" answer. It was also a really rude question to be asking strangers. Comfort?Look at that truck's suspension and talk about a hard ride. Not that one would care in the first place. On one's final ride. Mass TransitNot the most luxurious of hearses, but isn't it commodious, though? A simple pine box?The wood used in these caskets appear to be redwood or cedar likely shipped down the coast from Northern California or Seattle. In 1900 a typical casket was made of wood often covered in cloth. Costs were around $16, about $400 in today's dollars. Mass-produced steel caskets didn't show up until 1918 when Batesville Casket introduced them. These appear to be a bit fancy with all the molding, 3 or 4 different styles. Curious what the numbers stamped on the ends indicate. Dept. of Public HealthNOTICE -- something about GARBAGE, MANURE, REFUSE and "premises." They Opened the Door and In Flew EnzaPerhaps the 1918 date is not a coincidence. The worldwide outbreak of Spanish Influenza in 1918 killed more people than WWI, and while San Francisco was spared the worst of it, there were still over 40,000 ill and 3000 dead in the city during the later half of 1918. Considering it killed a disproportionate number of the poor and recent immigrants, a truckload of obviously low end (judging from the unfinished wood and lack of decoration or hardware) would have been a common sight for a few months. OverloadedConsidering there are no brakes on the front and probably mechanical ones on the rear, I sure wouldn't want to try to stop that overloaded truck on a San Francisco Hill! It looks like a scene from a comedy short, where the front of the truck suddenly flies up when they try to start. CoffinThe two top rows are caskets. The bottom three are coffins I believe. More Than Just NumbersIf you increase the resolution size of the photo you will see scenic views either hand painted scenes, lithographs or photos on the ends of the caskets, not numbers. [Amazing. I see "The Last Supper" and "Dogs Playing Poker." What do you see? - Dave] In the high-res blowupIn the lower board of the upper casket, I see a group of well-dressed office workers, circa 1925, at some sort of holiday gathering. One woman has an oil can in front of her. I never would have noticed that without seeing this high-res enlargement. The lower casket just has a typical beach scene in what appears, to me, to be Galveston, Texas. Two people are walking, two are riding horses. Coffins vs CasketsCoffins are where Vampires sleep, Caskets are what they bury dead people in. Pareidolia        A psychological phenomenon involving a stimulus (an image or a sound) wherein the mind perceives a familiar pattern of something where none actually exists.         Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations.         Pareidolia is the visual or auditory form of apophenia, which is the perception of patterns within random data. Combined with apophenia and hierophany (manifestation of the sacred), pareidolia may have helped ancient Chinese society organize chaos and make the world intelligible. -- Wikipedia [That would explain it. - Dave] How to explain Shorpy.com?!?!??!A couple of weeks ago I was talking to some Kaiser Permanente associates from the California region. Killing time until all the folks were on the line, I asked where they were calling from, and they said,"Oakland." I laughed and said, "I hope you drive better than some of the long-ago Oakland drivers I've seen on Shorpy.com." "What's that?" they asked. "Well, it's mainly a large-format photography site, but the whimsical subject matter and amazing comments of the moderators and readers are what make it a Web addiction. Like the Oakland drivers; for the past couple of months they've had a series of 1950s photos of Oakland traffic accidents. And they have kittens dressed as people and beach scenes from 100 years ago, and . . . and decrepit old buildings . . . and . . . and there are photos of . . ." "Jim, this is another one of your wild stories, right? There's no such thing as Shorpy.com, right?" ------------------------------------------------------- Imagine if I tried explaining it today, with people seeing imagery in the woodgrain of caskets from 100 years ago! The San Francisco Casket CompanyThe sign in the front window indicates this photo was taken in front of the headquarters for the San Francisco Casket Company, Inc. (SFCCI) which was at 621 - 627 Guerrero in 1918. The firm was started about 1900 by George Dillman, and it was originally located at 542 Brannan. Dillman had been working at Samuel Nelson & Co., who were casket manufacturers, immediately before this. About 1903, SFCCI moved to 3120 17th Street for approximately two years, and then to 17th and Shotwell until around 1908. John H. Nuttman (1856 - 1946), who had been the vice-president, became president around 1907. It was circa 1908 that the business address changed to the 627 Guerrero location. The October 9, 1918 issue of Building and Engineering News tell us this building on Guerrero was partially destroyed by fire causing $75,000 worth of damage. With the ongoing influenza epidemic in the fall of 1918 the fire could probably not have come at a worse time for the firm. The company had suffered another fire in February 1917 causing $15,000 in destruction to the four story structure. The SFCCI then built a four story and basement brick factory, along with offices and showrooms, at 14th and Valencia for $75,000. The brick work apparently cost $20,800, and the steam boiler system was $3,479. The new factory address is shown as 325 Valencia in the 1919 Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory, but later it became 321 Valencia. The building plans, by Etienne A. Garin, were completed in December 1918, White & Gloor's plans for the building brick work were accepted on February 24, 1919, and all construction was completed by April 17, 1919. The building was officially recorded by the city on July 7, 1919. One interesting change is that Garin designed a mill work building, but architect Charles O. Clausen redesigned the plans to be reinforced concrete before the structure was built. The new "L" shaped building still exists, but it has been heavily modified into residences and businesses. Most of the original brick work has been hidden, but some is still visible down an alley way. The company remained at this new location until 1962, but then it seems to have gone out of existence. Eventually the president of the company became one of Nuttman's son, John B. Nuttman (1880 - 1960), and finally a daughter Hannah F. Spammer (1895 - 1980). The snippet from Building & Engineering News below is from October 16, 1918 which tells of the fire. The second piece, from "The Standard," a weekly insurance newspaper from May 17, 1919, relates how the rules of the San Francisco Fire Commission prevented a quick extinguishing of the 1918 blaze. The last article, from the October 20, 1910 San Francisco Call, describes how one of the SFCCI drivers got out of a speeding ticket. The driver is likely William I. Nuttman (1889 - 1973) another one of John H. Nuttman's sons. A tisket, a tasketAll I know is, a coffin is a box with a separate lid that has to be nailed on; hence the expression, nail in your coffin. A casket is a piece of furniture with hinges and handles and padding and a pillow and whatnot. What can I say? I am a bona fide taphophile with thousands of funeral and cemetery photos (taken by me) to prove it, and I have an intense interest in end-of-life issues. Moving along, I cannot explain it but this wonderful photo of fifty wooden coffins/caskets stacked sky-high instantly reminded me of one of the funniest black-humor scenes I have ever seen on television. It was from the Bruce Willis slash Cybill Shepherd farce, Moonlighting, which aired back in the '80s. As I remember it, they (BW and CS) were driving a hearse in a high-speed chase and somehow they ended up smack dab in the middle of a baseball diamond, stopping the hearse so abruptly that the casket flew out of the back and came to rest on home base where naturally the body slid out, whereupon the umpire loudly pronounced him safe, eliciting markedly unladylike and protracted guffaws from me. Truss but verifyI don't think I've ever seen truss rods on a truck before. They were still fairly common on rail cars - tho rapidly becoming obsolete - but those, of course, are typically a lot longer than a truck. (A quick search will turn up a like-bodied family member https://www.shorpy.com/node/18816 ...perhaps this something peculiar to the 'Federal' make) Stacks and Stacksof coffins. An older friend of mine, who was a child at the time, attested to the severity of the flu epidemic. He well remembered coffins stacked 5 high and in several rows in the parking lot alongside an undertaking establishment here. No room inside, of course. In 1918 people knewAbsence of a visual like this made me question the current "pandemic". I had initiated an inquiry in long Covid-lines, ending with cashier or a bank teller. Not a single case, in their family, circle of friends and friends of a friends "had it". I am talking as early as of May of 2020. [Covid-19 is not even half as deadly as the 1918 Spanish flu. On the other hand, there are thousands of "visuals like this." Personally I know around a dozen people who've "had it," including family members. - Dave] Pandemic MemoriesI remember Mom saying "they couldn't make coffins fast enough." She was born in 1908. Why it's The USA@mwelch, really enraging comment but I guess it's OK because my father fought in WWII and was wounded to the day he passed at 90yrs old so you can speak. I guess you had no loved ones you couldn't be with as they died alone from covid. Grow up. Eat, drink and be merryCovid has driven that home, at least a little. Remember, the last shirt does not have any pockets. But it is also available in 5XL. Picking nits, the Spanish flu should rightfully be called the Kansas flu. That's where it reportedly first popped up. Then neutral Spain was just the first country where it was being officially reported from. With the US and much of the rest of Europe being under wartime censorship and the censors not wanting to hamper their respective war efforts by reports about a pandemic. I second Doug Floor Plan about COVID supposedly just being a glorified cold - not. 1918-1920 they did not have the medical knowledge we have. Or the medical means. Or our general health and wealth. We do not have the starved-out war-worn population they had after WWI. Send COVID back to 1918, and presto, it would do the Spanish flu thing in no time flat. Just think - no masks, no shutdowns, no remote schooling, no home office, no vaccines, no tests, no quarantine, no oxygen supplements, no anitbiotics against opportunistic pneumonia, no ICUs, no ECMO, no antithrombics, no nothing. Under 1918-1920 conditions Covid would do the Spanish flu thing in 2020-2022 all right. A "rude" question for doug floor plan. You seriously believe a "pandemic" with a survival rate of %98.6 is comparable to the spanish flu of '18? The BS you spewed about family and friends dropping like flies tells me ALL your dead friends and family were morbidly obese and or elderly. Also, that 1 MILLION covid deaths is also BS. People who believe MSM propaganda are useful idiots, nothing more. Appreciate ya outting yourself. [I was going to say something here but golly, it looks like I'm due back on Planet Earth for this week's MSM Conspiracy Workshop! - Dave] Hey, folksIt’s depressing to see this covid scrap break out under the coffin photo, but I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. There is plenty of room for discussion about the measures and responses (It’s a social, political, and ethical discussion), but there’s really no room to question whether it actually happened. My family of six is double-vaxxed but we all got omicron over the holidays, ranging from nasty aches and pains to a runny nose for davidk, the oldest of the bunch. No one went to the hospital, no one died, but we all tested positive on the home test kit. After the passage of a few months, we then all got the booster shot. Please let’s not pretend this isn’t a thing. And please let’s be civil and rational – this is a huge test for us as a community and as a society. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco)
Doctor of Tires: 1934
San Francisco, 1934. "Fisk Service garage." So, Mister, you say it pulls to the ... Pimped ride Is the badge on the radiator grille ("San Francisco") a common customization of the era? Or a customization at all? ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 12/07/2014 - 5:11pm -

San Francisco, 1934. "Fisk Service garage." So, Mister, you say it pulls to the right? 8x10 nitrate negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Very FrustratingThe car appears to be a 1931 Studebaker of some sort, but I can't pin down the model. Let me be the first to ask!For a close up of that repair order! Bald is BeautifulNot much left to align. Straight Stops, Please The equipment being used on this Studebaker Dictator (which turned out to be an awkward moniker as the scourge of fascism advanced during the '30s) may at first appear to be an alignment machine. But instead, it is a brake equalizer, necessary because the pushrod (or cable)-actuated brakes of the day, which did not naturally self-equalize as hydraulics do, frequently needed adjusting for straight stops. The equalizer works by spinning the wheels, like a dynamometer, while measuring each brake's drag when the brakes are applied. That's the purpose of the gauge at far right -- one for each wheel -- and the mechanic is apparently adjusting the brake on the right front. Stude SixIt's a 1931 Studebaker Six. It lacks the oval headlamps that the upscale Eights had. Test BrakesDoubleclutchin is correct about this being a brake adjustment. One of the few things I can make out on the work order is the check mark next to the "Test Brakes" section, also the tool in the Mechanics hand is a "Brake Spoon", a tool used to turn the star wheel of the brake adjuster. This is a picture of a more modern brake spoon but the function is exactly the same. Pimped rideIs the badge on the radiator grille ("San Francisco") a common customization of the era? Or a customization at all? Dealer badge? Seems like that would have been pretty darn expensive at the time. Heck, it wouldn't be cheap to do it now. New (to me)In my many decades of admiring, acquiring, or attempting to acquire pre-WW2 automobiles, I don't believe I have ever run into the after-market home-town moniker this Stude sports, at least not one done in elegant script and attached to the radiator grille. Location The 1934 Crocker-Langley City Directory directory has the Fisk Tire Company at 422 2nd St.; the next year the company is also at 414 9th. Radiator badgeThis is my Great Uncle Henry Augustus Welch from Franklin, New Hampshire. We were never able to figure out what the "Deland" badge was for. Manual starterThe keyhole shaped opening in the radiator grille was for an auxiliary crank starter, Peugeots had the same opening in the front bumper up into the 1960's. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco)
Churchotel: 1930
San Francisco circa 1930. "William Taylor Hotel, McAllister and Leavenworth ... (now -- yikes! -- 23 years ago). (The Gallery, San Francisco) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/12/2023 - 12:21pm -

San Francisco circa 1930. "William Taylor Hotel, McAllister and Leavenworth streets." This 28-story agglomeration of Gothic Revival, Art Deco and Art Moderne styles housed a "superchurch" -- Temple Methodist Episcopal, and was named in honor of the street preacher who formed the city's first Methodist congregation. Gelatin silver print. View full size. Old and new, plus very newSince 1981, the William Taylor Hotel has been McAllister Tower Apartments, owned by the University of California's Hastings College of the Law and housing law students and their families. Looming over it (and everything else) is Salesforce Tower, a mile away but three times as high. Bigger than NYThere was a 40-story Methodist church planned for Broadway in NYC back in the 1920's, but it ended up being significantly smaller. Party at the TopMy wife and I held a big party in the penthouse restaurant for our 40th birthdays (now -- yikes! -- 23 years ago). (The Gallery, San Francisco)
The Birds: 1958
... Navy Captain and Mrs. Clayton McCauley pose before DC-3 in San Francisco with field dogs and one-day bag of game birds. Lumberman Murphy's ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/24/2023 - 2:07pm -

November 1958. "Successful hunting party Mr. and Mrs. Stanford Murphy (left), Mr. and Mrs. Vic Bergeron, and retired Navy Captain and Mrs. Clayton McCauley pose before DC-3 in San Francisco with field dogs and one-day bag of game birds. Lumberman Murphy's Flying M Ranch, a 4,000-acre preserve near Yerington, Nevada, is a 65-minute flight from California. It is only a short walk from the Flying M's 4,500-foot landing strip to the five-bedroom ranch house with adjacent bunkhouse, cookhouse and manager's quarters. 'Before we bought the ranch,' Murphy says, 'we didn't have any place of our own to hunt pheasants'." Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Upland Game Birds in Nevada." View full size. Yes, That Flying-MStanford Murphy's ranch and airstrip ended up in the hands of Barron Hilton and served as the departure point for the ill-fated last flight of Steve Fossett. Hilton eventually sold it to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (for the water rights), who granted him a life estate which only ended up lasting about three years. Outfits with matching dogs"We didn't have any place of our own to hunt pheasants" ... the horror ... the horror! (said in Boston accent) Asparagus?What on earth is Mrs. Murphy putting into Trader Vic's mouth? I first assumed a cigar but why would she hold it for him? And it sure looks more green and twisted than a cigar. I'm mystified. Maybe it's just a rich person thing that I'm incapable of understanding. [Smushed cigar? - Dave] Nice group, nice trip, nice lifeI wonder how they spent their evenings, since six people make only one and-a-half bridge tables? I would rather be doing this than hanging out at La Coquille in Palm Beach, contracting melanoma or, at a minimum, turning my skin into an old leather handbag. Looks like a German Pointer in the middleHis (or her) main and only job was to alert (or "point out") to the hunters where the quarry (birds) were located by pointing at their location through scent or sight. The hunters would then shoot said birds and the Weimaraners would retrieve the dead birds. As a dog, I always wanted to be a "pointer". NevermindPheasants not peasants -- jolly good, what? That's no asparagus --Trader Vic is smoking a Culebra style cigar. The math is not mathingAccording to the New York Times, Mr. Murphy died in 1972 at the relatively young age of 53... which would make him an improbable 39 in this photo. Also the NYTimes reports his name as Stanwood Murphy, whereas the Wikipedia page on the Flying-M Ranch very confidently names him as Stanfield Murphy. I'm inclined to believe the NYT since there is a Stanwood A Murphy Elementary in Scotia, CA that is named after him. As far as his age goes.. I can't find any references for the Sports Illustrated "Upland Game Birds in Nevada" that don't point back to Shorpy. But I'm inclined to think he was 63 when he died, not 53. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Dogs, San Francisco, Toni Frissell)
Underdog: 1952
... Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in San Francisco. Photo by Bob Lerner for Look magazine. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/09/2013 - 2:20pm -

1952. Motorcade to nowhere: Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in San Francisco. Photo by Bob Lerner for Look magazine. View full size. I'm crazyI'm crazy 'bout a Mercury. [The car is a Lincoln. - Dave] SF todayOn Post Street looking toward the intersection with Stockton. Out of sight on the right, Union Square. View Larger Map 1952 Election ChantsI Like Ike. Adlai Gladly. Question for the localsWhat was Gump's? That's how I read the partially-covered sign about in the middle of the photo. Was there a Forrest or Bubba involved? [Gump's is an upscale home furnishings and decor store, tracing its history back to 1860s San Francisco. My mother worked for some relatives of theirs in the 1920s as the children's cook. -tterrace] Next to AdlaiI think the fellow next to Adlai Stevenson is San Francisco Congressman Franck R. Havenner. After graduating from Stanford, Franck went to work for Senator Hiram Johnson. In 1925, Franck was elected to the first of three terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on the 'Clean-out Slate' dedicated to public power. During his third term in 1936 he ran for Congress as a candidate of the Progressive Party and defeated twelve year incumbent Florence Prag Kahn, the second woman elected to Congress from San Francisco. After five months in Congress, Havenner publicly opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee. He lost to Tom Rolph in 1940. Rolph's brother Sunny Jim was elected mayor five times leaving to become governor. In 1944 Franck came back defeating Rolph over his wartime profiteering. In 1952 he joined Stevenson in defeat losing to William Mailliard who red-bated Franck out of office. Four years laterThe Republicans (gasp!) held their convention in San Francisco's famous Cow Palace and renominated Ike for another four years. When he showed up for the convention, he too rode through the streets in an open car parade. I am not going to swear to it, but I think that's a 1956 Chrysler Imperial modified to be a presidential parade car. Such a scene today is unthinkable. How sad. [That's the so-called "Eisenhower Bubbletop," made from a 1950 Lincoln. The photo was taken kitty-corner across Union Square from our Stevenson shot. -tterrace] Cosmo ToplessYes, a 1952 Lincoln Cosmopolitan/Capri convertible. Perfect product placement by photographer Bob Lerner, as far as we Lincoln lovers are concerned, as the '52 has just passed that huge "ZEPHYRS" sign on the corner, which of course refers to a Western Pacific train, but also recalls the Lincoln-Zephyr of 1936-42, America's first popular streamlined auto. HastingsHastings was a quality menswear retailer. My father used to wait for their once-a-year sale and stock-up on suits, ties, shirts and shoes. They were also one of the original stores in Stanford Shopping Center when that was first established on the Peninsula in Palo Alto. Cruising right by the White HouseBetween Bond and Gumps it looks like there's a sign for the nearby White House Garage. [The White House department store was a San Francisco institution, 1854-1965. -tterrace] Things would soon changeOf course what caught my eye is the HUGE corner city ticket office of Western Pacific Railroad, with signage as prominent as anyone else's on the street proudly proclaiming them to be "Route Of The Zephyrs." Contrast that with the relatively small, hole-in-the-wall office behind WP's, occupied by Pacific Southwest Airlines, which would go on to become a major component of USAirways. Western Pacific itself was eventually assimilated by The Borg, sometimes referred to as the Union Pacific. Shed a TearAlthough Gump's (the tony store with the silly name) continues, albeit under different ownership, this shot reminds us of a several once-prominent entities that are no more, PSA and Bond Clothiers prominent among those vanished household names. I'll takeThe brand new tan Fleetwood for mine! [Two years old -- that's a 1950 Cadillac. - Dave] Niche ClothierOn the left, "Nothing But Ties." Koda or Ekta?Color values in this photo are interesting. Sky and Lincoln don't 'pop' like you might expect from a Kodachrome shot on a sunny day. Was this a Kodachrome, or a faded Ektachrome/Eastman that you corrected? If the latter--nice work! Madly for Adlai. . .was a great but ultimately unsuccessful slogan. Though no less than Lauren Bacall AND Myrna Loy admit to having a crush on the guy in their autobios. So his egghead wit and here, his fine showy car, did impress some, just not enough. Playing bridgeI love the peek of the top of the bridge over the buildings down the center of the street. [That's the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. -tterrace] No big dealAside from the open car, the amazing thing to modern eyes is the apparent lack of planning. It seems they just staged the parade and traffic just pulled over until it passed, drivers no doubt muttering darkly to themselves. Dealer platesDealer plates; perhaps pressed into service courtesy local supporting LM dealership? Gump's and Shreve & Co.Gump's is the store that always fascinated me as a kid. My grandmother and mother used to take me to Post Street at Christmastime when the windows of Gump's were beautifully decorated. It was always mobbed and riding the creaky elevators was an adventure! Shreve & Co. is the white building on the corner and another marvelous store with jewels, silverware and fine tableware. Brings back memoriesBrings back fond memories seeing downtown San Francisco, despite this being 10 years before I was born. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, LOOK, Motorcycles, Politics, San Francisco)
The Glory of Grain: 1985
... full-size. The flatironish building in the center is San Francisco's Columbus Tower, aka the Sentinel Building, begun a year before the ... 
 
Posted by tterrace - 10/03/2020 - 10:25am -

As photographic film continues its inexorable decline to the status of quaint, if not forgotten, technology, I offer this example demonstrating one of its often-derided properties: grain. If you follow home video fora, you'll see many who think it's something to be minimized if not expunged entirely. Of course, grain is why there is an image in the first place. I think the heavy grain structure in this 35mm Kodacolor 1000 negative I shot in 1985 lends a rather painterly quality, especially viewed full-size. The flatironish building in the center is San Francisco's Columbus Tower, aka the Sentinel Building, begun a year before the earthquake and completed a year later in 1907. Since 1970, it's been the headquarters of Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope studio; The Godfather was edited and sound- mixed here. Also, a K-car an M-body Chrysler Fifth Avenue taxi. View full size. Grainy GranadaMy father in law had a Mercury Monarch that was the most problematic vehicle that he ever owned. He bought it new and sold it about 7 or 8 months later. Grain PhotosToday's Panasonic Lumix Digital point and shoot digital pocket cameras have a feature called "film grain." It captures images in b&w, great contrast, with a hint of grain. It's a lot of fun. (and you do not have to spend precious time playing around with Photoshop!) Loma PrietaI was working in the basement studio of the Sentinel Building when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit. It was especially frightening because we were in an area directly under the sidewalk, which had shown signs of being structurally compromised. Before the quake wood support beams had been placed under the sidewalk to prevent it from sagging into the basement space. At the moment of the quake my first fear was that it would crash on our heads. But it didn't and we were able to fumble our way out of the pitch black studio and climb upstairs into the old Captain Video space on the ground floor (still in business in the photo). We couldn't get out of the building until someone from Zoetrope remembered us and came to unlock the door. On the street in Chinatown I could see the blanket of dust kicked up by the quake and looking down Jackson Street I could see cars heading west on both decks of the Bay Bridge. Rumor was the bridge had collapsed, which I couldn't believe, and later we learned the damage was serious but not catastrophic. The Sentinel Building suffered only minor exterior damage; it was one of the first buildings in S.F. to be built with a steel skeleton. San Fran GrainBefore I read your remark, I thought this was about Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat. The Purple OnionSharp-eyed Shorpyites will notice on the left the sign for the famous Purple Onion club. Comedy and music greats of the 50s and 60s had their starts or practiced their craft here, such as Bob Newhart, Phyllis Diller, the Smothers Brothers, and of course, Lenny Bruce. As a college student in the City in the 70s I went there once, but more often had coffee and donuts at the Winchells across the street...when my monthly GI Bill check arrived. To this day, I still want to launch a paper airplane from the top of the Transamerica Building. GrainIf Ansel Adams had only digital, I don't know that his name would be a household word today. Undiplomatic Calling that clumsy rear-drive Chrysler LeBaron a "K-Car" serves only to besmirch the name of the cars that truly saved the Chrysler Corporation from oblivion. [Actually, it's an M-body Chrysler Fifth Avenue. I've corrected my caption. - tterrace] Lonestar: The 2.6 Liter Mitsubishi engine w/Mikuni Carb that was a low percentage option on some K-Cars and was extremely problematic due to it's hydraulically tensioned and failure prone timing chain and chain driven balance shaft system. I made a lot of money servicing the 2.6L engines that lived to see a replacement chain kit. I also put a boatload of choke pull-offs in those Mikuni carbs. Made in Japan but fixed in the USA. Thank youThank you, tterrace, for all you've posted over the last several years. Wish you'd post more. I enjoy all of them, and your descriptions! Mercedes or Granada?Remember those ads comparing the two? The oldster's grainis the youngster's pixel. And I do wonder whether my digicam, being a computer at heart, will have the service life of my analog SLR. We have all read how easy it is for manufacturers to program some planned obsolescence into anything digital. Brandy Ho's? Behind Me Bings" (it is still there) with entrances on both Columbus and Pacific is Brandy Ho's some of the best food in Chinatown. If you dine alone (can you spell business trip?) they will seat you at the "lunch counter" with all of the cooks and huge woks on the otherside of the counter the grill in a diner. The "show" is as good as the food. The Winchel's Donut is long gone, replaced by a Happy Donut. Wonder if their whole wheat donut is as good as Winchel's, if it has the same quality of grain? Thanks TTerance.. great shot, great memories, great grain. Chrysler's Savior(s)Matt Fuller: "Calling that clumsy rear-drive Chrysler LeBaron a "K-Car" serves only to besmirch the name of the cars that truly saved the Chrysler Corporation from oblivion." IMHO, it was the US Government and Mitsubishi Motors that saved Chrysler's bacon at that time. Of which neither were bad things in and of themselves. But, I found it epically ironic then that Lee Iococca was bashing Japanese imports when it was the Japanese that pretty much enabled him to remain employed. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. K-CarWhen I read your original caption (with K-Car) I thought that you were referring to the car behind the VW on the left (with the chrome side mirror) - I think it just might be a K-Car! The StreetsI half expect Karl Malden and Michael Douglas to pop out from behind one of those parked cars. times have changedLoved your photo, but in a non-second the exact same effect is done in photoshop by adding noise. Don't get me wrong the "good old days" were great! Milk BottleHey, isn't that a milk bottle on the hotel window ledge? Oh, wait, I think it's about 40 years too late to see that. Thanks, tterrace, for all of your evocative photos and for your detailed commentary that accompanies them. Wild in the StreetsThis is the same angle as the cover photo of the Circle Jerks' "Wild in the Streets" Second oldest bar in San Francisco Just up the street next door to Winchell's was the second oldest bar in San Francisco. A friend of mine opened the San Francisco Brewing Company the very year this photo was taken. He left the bar in its classic state, but for the addition of the brewing equipment. One of the most unique items of the bar was the tiled area just below the front of the bar. It was said to be used by the men to relieve themselves, so as not to lose their position at the bar. I haven't been there in years, but I do know that the brewery closed some years ago. Great beer was made here, with an amazing barley wine style topping the list. Here is a link with more information regarding the bar. Kougar?@Minnesotaart: I believe the car behind the VW is a c.1980 Mercury Cougar, not a Chrysler K-Car. Purple OnionI just started reading a Smothers Brothers bio today that talks about their early years at the PO. Nice serendipity. (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery, tterrapix)
Deconstructed: 1906
... Street from Kearney." Aftermath of the April 18, 1906, San Francisco earthquake and fire. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/05/2017 - 2:31pm -

"Looking up Post Street from Kearney." Aftermath of the April 18, 1906, San Francisco earthquake and fire. 8x10 inch glass negative. View full size. Fire Fighting Equipment?On the right side, it looks to me like a burned out piece of fire fighting equipment, maybe a towed pump on wheels? It's Kearny Street, not Kearney StreetVery common mistake. Shreve Building still standsInteresting piece here from the sfgate.com site - Shreve & Co., a high-end jeweler, just moved out in 2015, to be replacd by Harry Winston, another high-end jeweler. Shreve & Co. (now just down the block at 150 Post St.) moved into their namesake building in March of 1906 - yes, a month before the earthquake. Missing windowsWhy did the windows fall out? [The buildings were gutted by the fire; windows had wooden frames and burned. -tterrace] Horse-Drawn Steam Fire-EngineA week after the conflagration, when people began to return to San Francisco, Los Angeles Times reporter Harry C. Carr—mistaking Post Street for California Street, and using dumb as a synonym for mute—wrote in the April 26 issue: In the June 2, 1906 edition of Fire and Water Engineering, A. J. Coffee (a fire appliance manufacturer in Oakland) observed that the San Francisco Fire Department had 56 steamers, nine hook and ladder trucks, nine chemical engines, one combination chemical and hose wagon, four turret-batteries, some 120,000 feet of hose, and a force of 500 "brave and skilled men." He went on to note that: Approximately 38,000 feet of hose were burned. Engines valued at $13,500 were destroyed (including one that was in the repair shop and could not be hauled out since its wheels had been removed). Old No. 12 engine—Old Betsy—in use in the department for 30 years, was burned on the corner of Post and Kearny streets, where she was abandoned since she had no horses. Her remains stand there now among the ruins and tell the story more vividly than words can portray of the utter helplessness of the San Francisco firemen in this terrible calamity. Too much praise cannot be given the fire department of the efficient manner in which it worked at the off-set, when the fire alarm service was immediately destroyed. The men went out bravely to fight a dozen or more fires, all of which took the proportions of conflagrations almost immediately, and the firemen succeeded in extinguishing several bad fires that were not in the burned district. After their work was finished at these fires, the firemen took up their hose and apparatus and went to work on large fires in the different parts of the city. They did splendid work, until the city water supply gave out, and there is no doubt that, if water had been plentiful, there would be a different story to tell of San Francisco today. According to the San Francisco Municipal Reports for the Fiscal Year 1905-6, Ending June 30, 1906, the city lost only three engines, and one— a 1872 Amoskeag Steam Fire Engine, 2d size, No. 390, assigned to Relief Company No. 3—was about the right age (34 years old) as the one A. J. Coffee mentioned (30 years in service). The boiler banding, the gauge mounting, and some other clues suggest that wreck in the main photo may be a Amoskeag engine: This image, dated April 20, 1906 and taken from a stereo view card, was titled A fire engine caught and crushed by a falling wall, Post St., San Francisco Disaster, U. S. A. The spring like thing draped on the wheel is the wire reinforcement that was left after the rubber suction hose (seen in the drawing above) burned away. This last photo shows recovery efforts with much of the rubble cleaned away and non-salvageable items removed from the remains of the engine: Jewelers' BuildingNot only did Shreve & Company occupy the building in the background, the building in the foreground, which remarkably still exists, is the firm's new home at 150 Post Street. Even more interesting is that old publications, such as "The Jewelers' Circular" from November 30, 1921, indicate that the 150 Post Street address used to be called the "Jewelers' Building." The Crocker and Langley San Francisco City Directories (SFCD) also confirm this coincidence, and they show numerous professionals in the jewelry making and allied trades as tenants. The 1908 Crocker and Langley SFCD entry for Shreve indicates that they were not able to reopen in their new building until March of 1909 (see below). There is another photo of the earthquake ravaged building and an interior shot from after the renovations here. The "Jewelers' Building" apparently had another name before the earthquake, but I cannot read the wording on the sign above the door. See the photo below to have a closer look. (The Gallery, DPC, Fires, Floods etc., San Francisco)
Icebox Buick: 1922
San Francisco, 1922. "Ice-packed Buick motor stunt." A demonstration of the "Heat ... page 8 of the Sunday, Feburary 26, 1922 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle , with the still in effect War Tax being extra: ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/08/2015 - 7:30pm -

San Francisco, 1922. "Ice-packed Buick motor stunt." A demonstration of the "Heat Control Carburetor." 6½ x 8½ inch glass negative. View full size. Lotta cool hats thereNot a bare head to be seen, at least by me. I do like that handy oil can mounted in its own holder there on the firewall. I wonder when those went away. Probably long before all the hats. Nice stunt!That must have been a very impressive feat, considering how hard it was to start an engine when it got really cold. Assuming, of course, that the oil didn't get as thick as molasses, the spark plug cables didn't short, and the carburetor wasn't flooded with water from the melting ice ... Do we know if the car started after this automotive version of the ice-bucket challenge? It WorkedFrom page 8 of the Sunday, Feburary 26, 1922 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, with the still in effect War Tax being extra: The Driverlooks a tad apprehensive. You can almost read his mind, "Come on, Baby, start!" Age of AcceptanceNote that with one or two exceptions that caps are worn by the boys and the fedoras by the older guys. How about bringing it down to 5 below?It's a nice stunt, but the engine won't get any colder than 32 degrees Fahrenheit. That's not so cold as most winter mornings. [Not a frequent problem in San Francisco, though. -tterrace] [Also, while ice can't get any warmer than 32 degrees, it can certainly be colder. The ice in my freezer is kept at zero degrees. - Dave] All in due timeFive below is when you brought the oil in at night and heated it on the stove the next morning, back in them days. Or just didn't bother with the car. This was a pretty good trick for 1922. Charles S. HowardI believe the fellow standing in front of the Buick is Charles S. Howard, owner of the Buick dealership in SF and later the owner of the legendary racehorse, Seabiscuit. [Not with that nose. -tterrace] I'm missing the logic...If the carb used exhaust heat to warm the fuel, what made it a good carb for cold starts? Did it have some kind of fancy automatic choke as well? Hats vs. CapsBack then, I believe, for men, the hats vs. caps divide was one of class. Blue collar workers, laborers, and such wore caps. White collar workers and the wealthy wore hats. Except for cowboys, of course ;-) It's just like making ice creamBobu, it may actually be colder than 32 degrees Fahrenheit, if salt is sprinkled on the ice. If you look closely at the gentleman directly in front of the radiator, his outstretched right hand is cupped and appears to have a whitish material in it. I'm betting he's sprinkling salt on the ice as it's being shoveled on the engine... A pretty common featureIt's basically a manifold heat riser which routes exhaust gases through a passage in the intake manifold, under the carb. It became a common feature on carbureted cars. It really wouldn't help starting though, since it only has an effect once the car is started. But, it does help driveability during warm up. The logicGasoline with moisture content can ice up the venturi during cold weather and stop a running engine. I had a 60's era Chevy which fed a bit of the exhaust gas through a 'crossover' that went under the carburetor for that reason. A bimetal-sprung thermostatic valve would work to close the crossover when the engine was hot. I still have a 70's era Datsun Z which does not have that feature. The latter stranded me on an interstate one subzero Christmas Eve in the early 80's due to icing. As the caption says, this was a stunt and as such would not truly prove their claim. Choke it!I cut my teeth on carburetors, chokes, accelerator pumps and floats. The passage under the carburetor was great, but the system required that it flow enough exhaust gas to produce the heat to open the choke. Older vehicles tended to burn oil, and this oil went out the exhaust. Some of this oil mixture exhaust was routed through this passage under the carburetor. Over time this oily exhaust would clog up the passage, so the choke wouldn't open as designed. This caused the engine to stall, and further attempts at starting were futile. The spark plugs would be soaked in gas, so they needed to be removed and cleaned or replaced and the passage cleaned out. This usually meant the intake manifold needed to be removed and the deposits chiseled out. With fuel injection, we take for granted that we can turn the key and the engine will start and run right away with no hesitation. Every now and then I have to work on a carbureted vehicle, and I forget to pump the gas pedal a few times before turning the key. ["Turning the key" -- how quaint! - Dave] (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, San Francisco, W. Stanley)
Owl Drug: 1935
June 1, 1935. "San Francisco. Union Square at Geary and Stockton." Where businesses vying for your ... The Owl and the Pestle Owl Drug Company, founded in San Francisco in the late 19th century, was something of a California ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/23/2015 - 10:50am -

June 1, 1935. "San Francisco. Union Square at Geary and Stockton." Where businesses vying for your trade include Owl Drug, Stubo Furs and Ann DeBritz's "School of Fashionable Dressmaking." 8x10 acetate negative, formerly of the Wyland Stanley and Marilyn Blaisdell collections. View full size. Neighbors? Still there. Safety FirstI see a return of the Eclipse Streetcar Fender. With all the pedestrian traffic visible here, I can see why they were popular in the day. The Owl and the PestleOwl Drug Company, founded in San Francisco in the late 19th century, was something of a California institution. Among other things, it manufactured its own medicine bottles, which enjoy considerable popularity among collectors of such things. Foster & OrearThen and now. Uncle FrankWay up on the 16th floor of the Whittell Building, the one disappearing skyward center right, my Uncle Frank is working in his lapidary shop. It's the tall brown one in the street view below. June?They don't seem dressed for June weather. [Obviously you've never lived in San Francisco! - Dave] It's Cold and It's Damp"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." -- Apocryphally attributed to Mark Twain. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, San Francisco, Streetcars, W. Stanley)
Little Tomboy: 1927
San Francisco circa 1927. "Little Jordan Tomboy convertible coupe." Warming up on ... driver's seat to get out, and then drive myself into 1927 San Francisco. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 01/31/2023 - 6:08pm -

San Francisco circa 1927. "Little Jordan Tomboy convertible coupe." Warming up on the Shorpy Driveway of Diminutive Dropheads. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Way, way, WAY west of LaramieJordan was one of those also-ran - literally! - companies probably remembered more today for their marketing than their cars. Note the "golf-club" side door ... gives new meaning to "fore! on the floor" doesn't it? 17.50" RimTire size is 28 inches in diameter, with profile cross-section of 5.25 inches, so 28 - (5.25 x 2) = 17.50" rim. Fender stepThe step on the rear fender means it has a rumble seat? [A "dicky seat." - Dave] I Am the Little Jordan Tomboy ...... said in my best, "To Tell the Truth" accent. An ad from June 5, 1927: "Like a disturbed rabbit"That’s great stuff. Thank you, HarahanTim. Serious honkers.For such an EDBD car. I'd Like To ... ... step into this photo, tell the gent in the driver's seat to get out, and then drive myself into 1927 San Francisco. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco)
The Rolling Dead: 1921
San Francisco circa 1921. "Dorris 6-80 touring sedan at Spreckels Mansion." Latest ... from various manufacturers in the 20's and 30's shot in San Francisco. We tend to think of car production back then happening in the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 05/13/2017 - 1:24pm -

San Francisco circa 1921. "Dorris 6-80 touring sedan at Spreckels Mansion." Latest entry in the Shorpy Compendium of Cretaceous Conveyances; by 1924 the Dorris would be extinct. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Top Of The Hill And Behind The HedgerowOne does not get the full understanding of this being at the top of a hill until seeing: https://sf.curbed.com/2014/11/25/10018636/behind-the-hedges-and-inside-t... And the historic view will never be seen again until the fortress-like privacy hedgerow is removed. https://sf.curbed.com/2014/7/31/10065838/here-now-a-photo-tribute-to-dan... An Impressive BeastCan anyone say what those two small panels on top of the hood are for? Putting on AirsThe doors on the hood are vents, as noted by Shorpy reader Zcarstvnz in an earlier Dorris post. The little compartment below and in front of the driver's door housed an air compressor for supplying air to the tires. Ready for our close-upsJust curious....We have seen many pictures of new cars from various manufacturers in the 20's and 30's shot in San Francisco. We tend to think of car production back then happening in the east, especially Detroit. Did these early car manufacturers ship cars to San Francisco for promotion shoots or did California have a thriving car industry we never heard about? [Christopher Helin wrote a continuing series of automobile feature articles for the San Francisco Examiner, illustrating them with these photos of dealer and owner vehicles. -tterrace] Yes, We Can Be FrankThe car was registered to Mrs. Mattie A. Frank (1877 - 1962) of 2555 Webster Street, San Francisco. Her husband was Albert Frank the president of S. H. Frank and Company who was being driven around in a Locomobile Town Car at this time. S. H. Frank and Company sold shoe supplies along with shoe findings, and they were also tanners and leather dealers. The firm is still in business today (founded 1857). (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco)
Hunting Party: 1958
... hunting (Nevada) -- Mr. and Mrs. Stanwood Murphy of San Francisco." The man at left is legendary restaurateur "Trader Vic" Bergeron; ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/23/2023 - 2:24pm -

November 1958. "Waterfowl hunting (Nevada) -- Mr. and Mrs. Stanwood Murphy of San Francisco." The man at left is legendary restaurateur "Trader Vic" Bergeron; the DC-3 belongs to Albert Stanwood Murphy (1892-1963), president of Pacific Lumber & Truss. 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Shooting: California Waterfowl Hunting; Upland Game Birds in Nevada." View full size. Flameless FlameoutFrom M2's link: "Crashed at Umbogintwini Beach, south of Durban on 28 December 1973 and was subsequently scrapped. The No. 1 engine stopped when the DC-3 was turning onto final approach. The gear was raised. Shortly afterwards, the No. 2 engine also stopped. Fuel valve selectors were switched, but to no avail. The aircraft was turned towards the beach and was ditched successfully." Well, at least it escaped the dreaded Shorpy fire curse. No Longer With UsDouglas DC-3 Registration Number N67000, S/N 1498 eventually went to South Africa, crashed at Umbogintwini Beach in 1973 and was subsequently scrapped: http://www.dc-3.co.za/dc-3-individual-aircraft-history/cn-1498.html CorneredBack when they still put square windows on airplanes.. What's in a name? I think Albert Stanwood Murphy (1892-1963) is somebody else. The once president of Pacific Lumber Company and original owner of the Flying M Ranch was Stanwood A. Murphy. I can't find a birth year for him but according to the New York Times, he died in 1972. (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Aviation, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Toni Frissell)
Looking up California: 1906
San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906. "Looking up ... years back I saw a bird's-eye view of down town post-quake San Francisco, snapped from a tethered balloon. The place looked . . . nuked. A ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/19/2012 - 4:33pm -

San Francisco after the earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906. "Looking up California Street from Sansome Street." At the top of the hill is the Fairmont Hotel, seen in yesterday's post. Detroit Publishing Co. View full size. Prelinger Archive MoviesThere's something heartening about the fact that people could, and did, rebuild after the quake and fires. They didn't hole up and defend their bunker or flee for the countryside. The built a beautiful city over the ruins. It wasn't easy or smooth; there was plenty of corruption and incompetence. But they *did* it. A number of years back I saw a bird's-eye view of down town post-quake San Francisco, snapped from a tethered balloon. The place looked . . . nuked. A sea of rubble around the ferry building. The wonderful Prelinger Archive has a number of movies taken in San Francisco before and after the quake. They are wonderful, and eerie. About that Market Street trafficIf you watch carefully, you'll see that some of the cars that pass by and in front of the camera appear more than once. The one with license plate 4867 does so at least five times, for example. You'll see it and at least a couple others passing, making u-turns, then overtaking the trolley again several times. Another with a boy riding the back bumper appears at least twice. Rick Prelinger features a restored version of the film, without the frame jumping, in his periodic "Lost Landscapes of San Francisco" presentations. In one, Chapter 12 here he says it's his understanding that the photographer arranged with some of his friends to zip around like that to add extra excitement to the film. Shock and AweWhat a stunning photograph. A still-worrying crack in the building on the left. SurvivorThis is the same view today looking west on California Street from Battery Street taken is September of 2009. The large building on the left in the 1906 photograph (which looks like it has a little hut on the top) is the Merchants Exchange Building which still stands and can be seen in the current view as well. A stark lesson...In the wisdom of a) not building with excessive ornamental masonry cantilevered over the street, and b) studying seismology. Shake and bakeThis is an amazing picture of the tragic event that shook and burned San Francisco. Makes me wonder how all of these dressed up folks lived and got around after all of the devastation. Extra RailsGreat photo. You can just make out the tower of Old Saint Mary's Cathedral on the right at Grant Avenue and the Fairmont Hotel on the right at the top of the hill. They are the only buildings in this view that still survive. Note that there are slots and narrow gauge rails for the California Street Cable Railroad, and an outer set of gantlet rails for a franchise-holding horsecar line that ran from Kearny to Drumm. Michael Houlihan drove the single car. Here is a 1906 article from the San Francisco Call, published in the building we were admiring yesterday, about that operation: http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/cchoulihan.html#top A bit tidier todayView Larger Map There's just been a major disaster!Where's my suit? Exodus to OaklandWikipedia has a long description of the quake, fire and aftermath. Hundreds of thousands of people apparently lived in Oakland and Berkeley for a couple years until the city rebuilt. The building code was made stricter for a while, but was relaxed quite a bit after contractors complained that it was too much work to build earthquake-resistant buildings. They made the codes very lenient until the 1950s. Market Street 1905This film was shot less than a year before the quake. Look for the group of kids halfway through running alongside the trolley and grabbing onto passing cars. And speaking of cars, the controlled chaos of the road packed with horses, wagons, streetcars, and autos is fascinating to watch. [It is indeed. The camera is filming from a streetcar as it travels toward the Ferry Building clock tower. I was surprised at the number of autos cutting in front of it. Mr. 4867 makes several appearances.- Dave] Post-ApocalypticMost displaced City residents lived in tents provided by the Army in places like Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. How did they get around? Shoe leather. Took weeks to get public transit going again. Looking down on CaliforniaThe panoramic view of San Francisco after the quake taken from a 'Captive Airship' by photographer George R. Lawrence can be found here. It's worth downloading the giant size. Ghosts of 1906When I find an image of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire I look for the site where the image was made and then go there to take a photograph of the site today. I then composit the two images to create an image with both the damaged and rebuilt structures. (The Gallery, DPC, Fires, Floods etc., San Francisco)
Theater District: 1960
... the interior. A St Louis PCC still runs in San Francisco San Francisco acquired 66 PCC streetcars from St Louis when they ... 
 
Posted by prrvet - 05/22/2020 - 10:38am -

A bright and sunny New Year's Day 1960 found me walking along Grand Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. I snapped this photo because three days later the streetcars would cease running, owing to the closing of a nearby viaduct for replacement. The Fox Theater in the background, opened in 1929, fared a little better, lasting up to 1978. In 1991 it reopened and survives as a performing arts center. The Fox house organist at the time was Mr. Stan Cann, who held that position for 22 years, from 1952 until 1974. They called him "Stan Cann the vacuum cleaner man" because his hobby was collecting antique vacuum cleaners. He lived in Los Angeles during retirement and gave frequent organ concerts around town, many of which I attended. 35mm Kodachrome by William D. Volkmer. View full size. Stag BeerThe Stag Brewery was in Belleville, Illinois, about 18 miles from downtown St. Louis. Stag was a staple in southwest Illinois back in the days of popular regional breweries. They had a long run, opening in 1851 and finally closing their doors in 1989. I find it interesting that this small brewer would advertise so boldly right in the shadow of Anheuser-Busch headquarters. Little Jack showing fearlessness when faced with the giant! I remember a Stan Kann from 1970s TVSeems like he was always showing up on a talk show to demonstrate various gadgets or inventions, and they invariably broke or just didn’t work properly, on purpose, which was part of the gag. Where's the Starbucks?Between the streetcars is a Woolworth's. I suspect everyone who looks at Shorpy remembers those stores. They seemed insurmountable. Yet eventually they were replaced by Kmart, then Walmart, and now Amazon is in the lead for that market. I once worked in retail. It's tough to see the future. Much is GoneHalf of the block with the Stag Beer sign is now a parking lot. Everything else is recognizable. The Woolworth building is quite an art-deco piece. J. B. / JobThe American Theater is advertising a production of Archibald MacLeish's 1958 play "J.B.", starring Basil Rathbone, famous for playing Sherlock Holmes in 14 films as well as on radio and on stage. "J.B." is a retelling of the Biblical Book of Job, written in free verse and set in a circus tent. As noted on the St. Louis marquee, it won the Pulitzer Prize, as well as Tony Awards. MacLeish had been a Harvard professor and Librarian of Congress. The combination of Biblical reference, serious subject matter, and highbrow aura attracted audiences. I recall productions through the 1960s. But when a D.C. area theater revived "J.B." in 2012, it was described as "nearly forgotten." Let's go to WoolworthWhat a wonderful picture. Beautiful composition, with the leading line of the street itself, the shadow of the street light, the gaggle of chilly consumers on the sidewalk, and the big orange buses trundling forward. The signage is fascinating and evokes so many memories. But as a kid, finding myself on that boulevard, I would have been tugging my mother's hand towards the big gold letters of F.W. Woolworth, a store which in my estimation contained an infinite number of joys and possibilities, not least the lunch counter. 1982, not 1991Is when the Fox Theater reopened. I saw so many shows there throughout the '80s. It's even more magnificent now. PCCI will limit myself to two other posts that highlight this beautiful streetcar and provide illuminating comments: from Baltimore (and from the glorious Kermy Kodachromes series), End of the Line: 1963, and from Washington, D.C., Streamliner: 1938. Stan KannStan Kann (not Cann) is the same guy as the frequent talk show guest that Koogan mentions. An American Theatre by any other name --More on the American Theatre, where "J.B." is about to open. It had a complicated history, with multiple renovations and names between 1910 and 1978. To complicate matters further, "American" also appeared on other theater buildings in St. Louis, including what is better known as the Orpheum on North 9th Street. According to the Cinema Treasures web site, the North Grand Avenue building had the following names as a stage or movie venue through the years: Princess, Players, Rialto, Schubert-Rialto, Schubert, American, Loew's Mid-City, Campus, Sun Mid-City. Locally Built StreetcarThe PCC streetcars in this photo were built by the St. Louis Car Company, a local industry in St. Louis. They manufactured PCC cars for many cities, and PCCs were built in Canada by Canadian Car and Foundry. Another manufacturer of PCC streetcars was Pullman; its version looked slightly different. You can read all about it here and here . Here is a photo I took in 1972 of an ex-Birmingham, Alabama Pullman PCC streetcar running in Toronto, Ontario. The Fabulous FoxIf you've never been inside the Fabulous Fox Theatre, its opulence often overshadows what's playing on stage. There's a twin house Fox in Detroit, too, though it also sports an office tower above its lobby. Recently, the owners of the Fox hired a local drone operator to fly through the interior. A St Louis PCC still runs in San FranciscoSan Francisco acquired 66 PCC streetcars from St Louis when they were retired there and as part of its historic Market Street Railway line. Most are painted in the livery of other cities' line including car #1050, in the colors of St Louis Public Service transit company. Here's that car's story: https://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/1050-1050-stlouis/ (ShorpyBlog, Member Gallery)
This Is the Place: 1923
"Jewett touring car, San Francisco, 1923." The significance of the streetcar tracks is lost to the ages. ... (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco, Streetcars) ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 04/02/2015 - 4:50pm -

"Jewett touring car, San Francisco, 1923." The significance of the streetcar tracks is lost to the ages. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Which way do I go?I hold the steering wheel this way and the car wheels go straight and follow the tracks going straight. But what if I follow this curve? Yes, that curve, there. The one in the road. And then how I do press the gas pedal if I'm standing out here holding the steering wheel? Oh, Mother said there'd be days like this. And the place is . . .Van Ness Avenue just south of Francisco, the cross street in the background. ConnectionsThe girls in this photo are holding yearbooks for Galileo High School, seen here at the right. CuriousThe building across the street from the high school is under construction in this 1923 photo. Do you know what it is and if it is still there. [Apartment house, 1200 Francisco St., still there -tterrace] View Larger Map Thanks! Still looking good! Appreciated. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco, Streetcars)
Mint Condition: 1958
... 1958. "U.S. Branch Mint, Mission & Fifth Streets, San Francisco." Photo by William S. Ricco for the Historic American Buildings ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 06/07/2014 - 10:15am -

August 1958. "U.S. Branch Mint, Mission & Fifth Streets, San Francisco." Photo by William S. Ricco for the Historic American Buildings Survey. View full size. Worth a mintNice to see the home of all the "-S" coins from my childhood coin collection. [This facility stopped minting coins in 1937; thereafter "S" mint-marked coins were produced at the new mint at Market and Duboce Streets. -tterrace] Ah, OK thanks! (That would explain why it was being recorded for a survey of historic buildings ...) Nary a trolleybus in sightIt's kind of hard to tell though, for all the trolleybus wires in the way. Ferry Plaza route 14 is a currently served by the new generation trolleybuses though. Old Mint History ExpoThe Old Mint is the venue for the annual San Francisco History Expo, at which "more than fifty San Francisco organizations create 'mini-museums' showcasing the diverse history of San Francisco's communities." Here's a shot I took at the one in March 2013, right up there at the top of the entrance steps. Also, I knew this man who worked there at the time of the 1906 earthquake and fire. FostersFosters had restaurants in a few locales in San Francisco. My parents and I used to go to the outlet on Clement Street after doctor appointments. I amused myself at King Norman's Kingdom of Toys, the corner magazine and news store and eventually enjoying a rice pudding at Fosters. 1958 was a nice year for an eight year-old in San Francisco. Newsworthy locationThe Hotel Chronicle next door was named for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, which is on the other side of the intersection. On the right side of the photo, you can see a delivery vehicle loaded with the day's newspapers. [You're right about the location of the Chronicle building, but those aren't newspapers. Also, the Chronicle used delivery vans. -tterrace] Ultra RareEven for then, in the immediate left foreground by the bus is another of those 1950 eight passenger Chryslers, identified by its center opening rear doors and separate rear quarter windows. Made in every trim level except surprisingly New Yorker, it looks like the shorter wheelbase (125") Royal or Windsor rather than the extended wheelbase (145") Crown Imperial. Pickwick StagesTo the right is the Pickwick Hotel, once the station for Pickwick Stages buses. If the picture included a bit more to the right, you would notice the big arched sections where the buses once pulled in to load and discharge passengers. Dash Hammett had Sam Spade check the Maltese Falcon at the Pickwick baggage room... (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, HABS, San Francisco)
Flapper's Up: 1920
San Francisco circa 1920. "Studebaker touring car and biplane at airfield." With ... at the extreme east end of present-day Marina Green in San Francisco. Visible through the biplane's rigging are the buildings of the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/07/2015 - 6:09pm -

San Francisco circa 1920. "Studebaker touring car and biplane at airfield." With the fur possibly about to fly. 6½ x 8½ inch glass negative. View full size. What't the extra hardware on the plane?The plane is certainly a Curtis JN4 "Jenny," but what is the extra hardware bolted on the side? There are 4 long rectangular boxes, two on each side, that aren't the normal JN4 hardware. Radical radsLooks to be a typical Curtiss JN-4 -- but what's with those crazy radiators? Perhaps the plane was just too fast (like that flapper?) and they felt that some more parasitic drag was in order? Looking at this again, I think that Jenny may have an odd engine in it as well. I think it's an in-line unit, perhaps a Mercedes DI? moTthediesel is rightDefinitely an oddball engine installation for a Jenny. The radiators are similar to those Glenn L. Martin used on his "T8" of similar vintage. I'm guessingBy the size of the tubes below those are water radiators but they could also be oil coolers. Now Marina GreenThis photo was taken at the extreme east end of present-day Marina Green in San Francisco. Visible through the biplane's rigging are the buildings of the coal gas refinery that gave name to today's Gas House Cove. Beginning in 1920, this stretch of filled shoreline (created for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition) served as an embryonic municipal airport as well as a U.S. Air Mail Service airfield. Known as Marina Airfield or Montgomery Airfield, it was very short-lived. Blustery winds blowing in through the Golden Gate and San Francisco's notorious fogs led to the little field's quick demise. By 1930, both the Air Mail Service and municipal airport had moved to sunnier climates. Very interesting photoThe JN-4 appears to have a Curtiss C-6 engine in place of the usual OX-5. This would be an advantage because the C-6 produced 160 horsepower versus about 90 for the OX-5, with only a 30 lb. weight gain. The usual four bladed propeller has also been replaced with a two blade prop. There is another JN-4 in the background and it has the standard OX-5 engine. There don't appear to be any markings on any of the aircraft, which makes me wonder if these were mail planes owned by one company. The woman in the car bears a resemblance to famous Aviatrix Katherine Stinson, who had her own JN-4 and flew a customized single seat JN-4 as a mail plane. This would be worth sending to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to see if any of their experts could verify the details, and also archive a copy as I think it has more significance than we might think. Good Eye webster55According to the September 26, 1920 article below from page 16 of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Jenny was fitted with a Curtiss K-6 (from which the C-6 was developed). It was first flown on September 23 by Dan Davison, the demonstrating pilot for the Earl P. Cooper Airplane & Motor Company (Curtiss Airplanes and H.C.S. Motor Cars) on Oak Street in San Francisco. According to the November 8, 1920 issue of Aviation and Aircraft Journal (now Aviation Week and Space Technology), Davison "pronounced the trial trip an unqualified success, and was enthusiastic in his praise of the ship's responsiveness." However, if the photo was taken around the time of the first flight, the lady cannot be either one of the Stinson sisters. At that time Katherine was just starting a seven-year convalescence at a tuberculosis sanatorium in New Mexico, while Marjorie was in Washington D.C. petitioning (unsuccessfully) to be allowed to take the entrance exam to become an officer in the "aviation corps of the regular army." Personally I think the lady looks like Trixie Friganza, the vaudevillian who was a frequent attraction at the Orpheum in San Francisco, but she was appearing in Indianapolis that week. Tobacconist, Thanks for the comment and for the article, yes I should have remembered that Katherine Stinson was stricken with TB. I think you're right about that being Trixie. So it's a K-6? The K-6/C-6 as well as the K-12 were quite advanced, four valves per cylinder and an overhead camshaft. Quite an improvement over the OX-5 and the Liberty engines. (The Gallery, Aviation, Cars, Trucks, Buses, San Francisco, W. Stanley)
Cold Duck: 1958
... hunting (Nevada) -- Mr. and Mrs. Stanwood Murphy of San Francisco." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/22/2023 - 4:30pm -

November 1958. "Waterfowl hunting (Nevada) -- Mr. and Mrs. Stanwood Murphy of San Francisco." 35mm Kodachrome by Toni Frissell for the Sports Illustrated assignment "Shooting: California Waterfowl Hunting; Upland Game Birds in Nevada." View full size. Two Months LaterMs. Frissell's photos from this assignment made it into print in the January 19 edition of Sports Illustrated. Seems Like a Lot Of WorkFor some poultry. Living in New England my whole life I'm at the point where I want nothing to do with snow. Whether driving in it, shoveling it or paying $20+ a week each to get the cars washed so they'll at least last the life of the loan from all the chemicals used for safer driving. I guess if you're from Frisco snow would be a novelty. Though I'll take the snow over earthquakes, drought and wildfires, I guess. Star ChiefToday's feature car is the 1955 Pontiac Star Chief sedan. I restored one of this exact model several years ago and it was a great highway cruiser, thanks to V8 power and a cushy suspension. It even had the Indian head hood ornament that lit up when the headlights were on. Which of those two guest dudes is Mrs. Murphy?And where did Mr. Murphy learn how to pack luggage on the roof of the car? And does the California couple really own a car with Nevada plates? And for heaven's sake, why so much luggage for a hunting trip? (Too many questions.) [The Murphys aren't in this photo; the car is how they get from the lodge to their plane. The man on the right is restaurateur Vic Bergeron, of Trader Vic fame. - Dave] RIPThose dogs are soooo dead. Ahead of his time"Albert Stanwood Murphy, who took over the business [Pacific Lumber Co.] in 1931, argued that clear-cutting might lead to enormous profits in the short term but devastation in the long term. Murphy had witnessed the effects of uncontrolled logging that scraped all the trees off mountainsides, allowing the winter rains to erode the steep slopes, clogging streams, destroying salmon habitat and leaving the soil too impoverished to grow another generation of redwoods. "Murphy vowed to treat his land differently, promising steady jobs based on selective cutting. And it worked. By the late 1980s, other local companies -- which had been clear-cutting their holdings -- had run out of timber, and Pacific Lumber was the only company with any trees left." From the 1996 Washington Post review of THE LAST STAND The War Between Wall Street and Main Street Over California's Ancient Redwoods By David Harris Times Books. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/01/22/ax-now-pay-l... (The Gallery, Kodachromes, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Dogs, Toni Frissell)
California From Sansome
San Francisco circa 1890s. "California Street from Sansome Street." With a horsecar ... to a horse? Electricity Electricity at 1870'? In San Francisco? Well, I missed something :) [For starters, the telephone ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 11/20/2015 - 6:29pm -

San Francisco circa 1890s. "California Street from Sansome Street." With a horsecar passing by. Copy negative of a photo by I.W. Taber. View full size. Great detailWhere's the "Painless Dentist"? Parallel parkingHow do you teach parallel parking to a horse? ElectricityElectricity at 1870'? In San Francisco? Well, I missed something :) [For starters, the telephone and telegraph. - Dave] AmazingI am sitting on this same block of California Street right now. A good designThe basic design of post office mail boxes hasn't changed much. If it's not broken, don't fix it. Four RailsI've never seen "dual gauge" mass transit trackage before. And, Mixed Media, as well. The horsecar is running on standard gauge track on the outside pair of rails (in each direction), while another set of rails (plus a "slot rail" centered between them) for the cable cars lies between them. THANKYOU Shorpy for finding and posting this! I'm amazed such existed. Educate us pleaseWhat is a "copy negative of a photo"? I'm having trouble making sense of that, but I'm sure there's a great, wise answer. I understand copying a photo but I'm wondering why there would be a reason to make a negative of that. Oh yeah, and great photo - one of the best I've ever seen here on Shorpy from this period! [It's a contact negative made by laying a piece of film over either a print or a glass transparency. - Dave] Circa 1890s more correctOn the far right there's a shop selling diaries for "189_". At one time it looks like it read "1893". [Excellent observation. - Dave] No WomenWere they all home attending to their wifely/womanly duties? Do you thinkthey called Old St. Mary's Cathedral (on the horizon) Old in 1890? It's amazing what survives and what doesn't over time. [In 1891 it was replaced as the seat of the Archdiocese of San Francisco by the new St. Mary's cathedral at Van Ness and O'Farrell. -tterrace] Last Horsecar - 1913The story is here. (The Gallery, San Francisco, Streetcars)
The Outing: 1919
... "Goodness, Isobel -- we seem to be out of gas!" San Francisco circa 1919. "Maxwell touring car." Transporting its tourists on what ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/12/2015 - 5:35pm -

        "Goodness, Isobel -- we seem to be out of gas!" San Francisco circa 1919. "Maxwell touring car." Transporting its tourists on what looks to be a chilly day. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size. Gas or no gasFirst base is out of the question with those suits of armor. Test drive?Maybe it's the angle, but it appears the man is a passenger...and the front plate on the car is a dealer plate. It makes me wonder if they were doing a test drive--or perhaps a spouse is the one taking the picture and the ladies wanted to show off their stylish duds. I remember my grandmother wearing shoes like those for as long as she could get about. I'm not a clothes horse but I'd love to go back for a day to wear the hat and coat of the lady on the left. Just stunning! [The Christopher Helin photos were taken for his automotive articles in the San Francisco Examiner, generally using cars from local dealers. -tterrace] Could Be“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” The coolest thing Mark Twain never said. RoadIt appears they have more problems than being out of gas. It seems the road kinda disappears. [The rather artificial look of the "rocks" suggests this was taken in Golden Gate Park. -tterrace] Oh, baloneyThose are some smooth front tires Front Sprocket?Can any automotive historians explain the purpose of the toothed sprocket that can be seen between the spokes of the right front wheel hub? Perhaps the speedometer drive? Stewart SpeedometerAs Goats Of Venus suggests, the visible gear and sprocket on the front wheel are indeed part of the drive mechanism for a speedometer—most likely a Stewart model (later Stewart Warner).  A very good discussion with pictures of fitting one on a Ford Model-T can be found here. SpeedoThe sprocket (actually, a gear) is part of the speedometer drive. The smaller gear, which can be seen in the photo, drove the angle drive which, in turn, spun the cable that connected to the speedo head, inside the car. In the early cars, like this Maxwell, the cable was a small inked chain that rode inside of an armored outer sleeve. Most cars used Warner speedometers at the time (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Chris Helin, San Francisco)
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