American Views

 

I've been cleaning out a closet and found a box of old photos that may or may not have already been posted here.  I'm fairly certain that this very faded and cheaply made stereo card hasn't been posted before. 

Purse Snatcher

Dated "MAY 1969, a bit out of focus and I think it's San Francisco.  At first I thought the guy was smoking, but after putting a magnifying glass on the print I realized that white mark near the man's lower lip was caused by dirt on the neg at the time of printing.  The big question is why is the guy riffling through a ladies handbag?  I think he might be a purse snatcher.

The Fairmont Hotel, Atop Nob Hill

Ah, the good old days when ladies and gentlemen dressed for dinner, smoked in restaurants, had cocktails and were served by waitresses dressed somewhere between 19th century Viennese servant and Vegas showgirl.

This postcard was mailed and it does have a message, "July 11, Just had luncheon with Golda Woodworth at the Crown Room-a new edition-very posh!  Heard Fiedler in concert a very fine concert.  Weather cooler again.  Leaving for L.A. the 15th.  Rec'd your nice letter.  Am enjoying my trip such a lot-Love- Florence E."   Mailed to "Mrs. George  Woodward. N. 2418 Pacific Ave., Spokane 43 Wash."  And the caption, "Only the stars are higher than the spectacular Crown Room Cocktail Lounge atop the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.  Soaring 29 floors above the city, scenic ascents may be made via an exciting outside glass-enclosed Sky-lift."  The postmark is pretty much unreadable, but The Crown Room opened in 1961 and, based on a few still visible letters, I'm making a guess that it was mailed from Tiburon.

Well, maybe it wasn't the good old days.  Smoking, cocktails and wearing ties doesn't sound that good to me.  Woodworth and Woodward?

Growing Up In San Francisco

It's time for me to go on one of my favorite rants.  How dare antique dealers cut up old photo albums and sell the pictures individually.  This one looks like it was  a good one.  Perhaps an elderly woman putting all the photos of her life in one place, or a younger women collecting memories to give to her mother.  At least the person who sold me these two photos had the good sense to save the captions.  I haven't been to that particular store for a while, but if I get back there, I'll search the 50 cent  photo box and with any luck, find some more images from this album. 

I pulled up a map of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and found 7th Avenue and Irving Street.  From Lincoln on the southern side of the park, drive two blocks on 7th, past Hugo and there you are. 

Hobergs

A brief over view of Hoberg's, mostly from their website, so take it with a grain of salt.

Before Hoberg's became a resort, it was a working ranch,  homesteaded in 1885 by Gustav Hoberg and his wife, Mathilda.  Located along a main road, travelers would stop to rest horses and have a home cooked meal.  By 1888, Gustav and Mathilda had given up ranching and turned their property into a hotel and restaurant.

 With a reputation for hospitality in a beautiful, natural setting, it wasn't long before the rich and famous of San Francisco were making Hoberg's a regular weekend getaway.  As the resort's popularity grew, a bowling alley, social hall, swimming pool, tennis courts, dining hall, and the Pine Bowl,  an outdoor dance floor, were added to the grounds.  Even the great depression couldn't kill Hoberg's, as it began to attract the Hollywood crowd.  In 1940, an airport was built so famous actors could fly in for some rest and relaxation.  Sitting California governors stayed there at a mansion built on the property for their exclusive use.

By 1950, Hoberg's was the largest private resort in northern California, often hosting more than 1,000 guests per night.  Some of the biggest entertainers played the Pine Bowl, including Tommy Dorsey and Xavier Cugat.

In 1968, the Beatles traveled to India to study transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  Now world famous, the Maharishi decided to move to the United States and start a meditation center.  In 1971, he purchased Hoberg's, changed it's name to the Center for the Science of Creative Thinking, and closed the property to the general public.

In 2008, the Maharishi died, and the property was shuttered until new owners were found.  Hoberg's reopened in 2014.  With the buildings in disrepair, the new management began the rebuild, including the addition of an amphitheater, which hosted the Summer of Love Music Festival, featuring bands from the 1960s.

In 2015, a wildfire started that would burn for months, and eventually destroy over 76,000 acres in south lake County.  Hoberg's was burnt to the ground.  Today, the Hoberg's Historical Association is trying to rebuild.  Their plans include an Eco Center Museum.

This postcard has been trimmed down, and some of the writing has been cut away.  But what's left, "Dear Carilyn, If you ever go on a vacation this is the place to come.  This is the kind of place you read about.  The dances are marvelous.  Kind of late."  There was more, but it's gone.  The postmark, "HOBERGS JUN 9, 5 AM 1943 CALIF."  Part of the address is gone, but the name, "Miss Carolyn Cline" and she lived in San Francisco.

Polo

Written on the back "At the polo games stadium SF Golden Gate Park Fall of 1936.  Joan & Patricia & Jean."   I know there's still a polo field in Golden Gate Park but I have no idea if they still have matches there.

On The Bay

Written on the back, "San Rafael Ferry 9/15/50"

It's been a long time since I've visited San Francisco, but back when I could afford the gas, I'd drive to Dublin, get on the BART, and take the train.  Who, in their right mind, would drive into SF?  Madness.

Anyway, near as I can tell, if you want to get to San Francisco, from San Rafael, on a ferry, you have to drive to Larkspur.  Not always true.  I got tired of the research, so I never found an end date for direct service, but ferry service from San Rafael to both San Francisco and the east bay, goes back to the late nineteenth century.  I found a great oil painting of a steamboat, that was part of that early service, on Wikipedia, and liked it so much that I posted it on my Fair Use blog.  If anyone's interested.

The Army Hospital Album 26

Yes, it is San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Dated "APR 56"  I love the second picture with the out of focus restaurant sign.

Click on army hospital collection in the labels section to bring up the lot.

S.F., The Travelers Collection

Yesterday's post was a collection of true mystery locales.  Today, it's San Francisco.  Well, at least the top one.  Alcatraz can be seen out in the bay, but what I really like about this image is, it's still working class San Francisco.  It's hard to believe for anyone who has spent any time in dot.com, upscale, chichi San Fran, but the city by the bay was once the hot spot for west coast,  left wing labor politics.  Artists lived there because it was cheap.  North Beach was inexpensive Italian restaurants, and the beats at City Lights Books.

The first time I visited San Francisco, over thirty years ago, I can remember eating at this bay side cafe.  As a former member of the Laborers and United Mine Workers, I felt quite comfortable eating with the stevedores and commercial fishermen.  The last time I was in San Francisco, about a decade ago, I went to the same cafe.  How things had changed.  It was all upscale hipster types waiting for brunch.  Brunch at a working class eatery!  I might not be remembering correctly.  It's been a long time, but Eagle Grill sounds right.

I'm not sure about the second photo, but it looks familiar, and I think it's San Francisco.  If anyone can confirm that, please leave a comment.

Click on travelers collection in the labels section to bring up the lot.  I'll be leaving the collection for awhile after this one.  More in the weeks and months to come.

S.F., Marin, the Golden Gate

I believe in being a tourist.  Yes, go to New York and hang out in the East Village.  I did when I was in college, and it was well worth it.  But, eventually, I also visited the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, the museums, but missed The Statue of Liberty, something I still regret.

My first couple of visits to San Francisco were all about City Lights Book Shop, (Jack and Neal were already dead and the prices were pretty high for a store that sold paperbacks.), The Condor Club, (I don't know how old Carol Doda was in the early eighties, but she wasn't aging well.), and I even managed to find a live sex show.  (More sad and depressing than out there.)

It took awhile, and half a dozen visits, before I did what tourists do in San Francisco.  Fisherman's Wharf, cable cars, and the Golden Gate Bridge.  I stood where the people in this picture stood, Marin County, the bridge towers partly obscured by fog.  Looking back, I wished I had started with the tourist things and worked my way around to the hipster hang-outs.  I think I would have had more appreciation for the city.  There's a reason why iconic things are iconic.

For the record, my favorite view of the bridge is from Fort Point.  My recommendation,  go when it's raining.

More Biking In California

I do love my bike photos!

I purchased this one from the same dealer, at the same time, as yesterdays post.  They aren't the same people, but the landscape looks similar, plus, I've been to Sonoma County, so I have some first hand knowledge of what it looks like.  I can't be sure that this photo is from the same person as the last entry, but I'm going  out on a rather short limb and state my opinion that it is.

I've long known that the Russian River Valley and Sonoma County have been getaways for the well-to-do of San Francisco; they built their country houses, had their rustic weekends, and found a refuge from the cold bay area, while avoiding the heat of the central valley.  I've also been informed that, in the thirties and forties, big bands played along the Russian River.  I can imagine these people, packing up their car, driving over the newly opened Golden Gate Bridge, spending the day riding their bikes along  dirt roads, soaking in the river, then cleaning up and dancing (outdoors?) the night away to some regional, society band.   For those who could afford it, it must have been a sweet life.

Steamed Crabs on Fisherman's Wharf, S.F.

Addressed to "Lois & Gil Yorba, 110-Morton Ave., Sierra Madre, Cal." This is the second postcard I have, sent to the Yorba family during World War 2. (Navigate back one to see the other.) The great depression and the war were great periods of internal migration in American history. The Yorba family had either family or friends who, at least, got to San Francisco and New York City. If they were like most Americans they knew people who spent time at a military training camp in some other part of the country, working at a war plant far from home, or overseas in Europe or the South Pacific. My father was born in 1919, dropped out of high school in the ninth grade because of the depression. He and his father ended up living in a dug out. (They dug out a flat spot on a hill side, pounded in some planking as a roof, shored it all up, and had an old rug for a door.) Then he ended up a homeless teenager, spending time with both the CCC and WPA. Then it was into the peace time army, then a few months after returning to civilian life, drafted into the war time army. As a cryptographer he never saw combat. but he did live in Iceland, England, France and then Germany. He thought that that was a good thing, and if it hadn't been for the depression and the war, he may have never got further than a few hundred miles from his small, home town.

"One of the principal industries of San Francisco is fishing, and centers around this point. From Fisherman's Wharf the fishing boats leave each morning to make their catches in shell fish and other sea foods. Here one may partake of the freshly caught ocean delicacies in one of the many outdoor stands or in the fine restaurants adjacent." Post marked, "SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF MAY 31 9:30 PM 1944" And the message, "Hello, We are simply eating ourselves in to a stupor but surely enjoying it. Going dancing at the Mark tonite. C you this weekend. Mary & Steve." And written in a different hand with a different ink, 'STAN HAS A NEW CADILLAC!" Of course since the auto industry had been turned over to war work, Stan had a used Cadillac new to him.

Cable Cars of 1939

Postmarked, "SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. SEP. 29, 3:30 PM 1939" Addressed to "Miss Ruth Cain, 201 S. Wright St., Champaign, Ill." Message, "Hello every body, How is everything in Champaign and surrounding territory? I've been up here for a convention. Here another week then back to Los Angeles. You would love these funny little cable cars. Pretty hills here to climb. Hope all are well. Love, Fairmont Hotel, San Fransisco, Calif." Another Cain family postcard to follow.

Old California 1

I picked up this small collection of California snapshots from an on-line estate sale. There are 33 images in the group, which I will be posting as three setts of 11. The photographer's life seems to have been centered around the bay area, both San Francisco and Oakland, and the Los Angeles area, for the first ten years or so of the twentieth century. The photo of the tower is easily recognizable as the ferry building in downtown San Francisco. It's still there and still in use. The Lyric Theater sign isn't much use in identifying a location. Lyric Theater was just too common a name for early music halls and Vaudeville theaters. The mansion on the hill photo is labeled, "Home on hill above Ocean at Santa Monica." For those who don't know California, Santa Monica is right next to Los Angeles. The house looks familiar to me, and the next time I'm in Santa Monica, I'll see if I can find it. Pacific palisades, I would think. The football statue from the Berkley Campus is printed on postcard stock, and while it could be a commercially produced card, the lack of patent and copyright info on the back makes me think it might have been printed in a home darkroom. The baby carriage photo is labeled, "Betty at 241 E-31 ST, Los Angeles." The ostrich pictures could have been shot at any of the farms in California that raised exotics for meat, and hides, but it looks like the sight of the commercial ostrich farm in South Pasadena. There is an apartment building on the sight now. The two children photo has a difficult to make out embossing, but under a magnifying glass it looks like, "Mushet Los Angeles." The two Asian gentlemen image has Chinese letters down the left margin, and in English, "Heap Good." And my favorite from this group; the Shriner's photo. California has always been a state that puts a value on boosterism. It's our real estate based economy, I think.

Emma Alexander

No, I don't know the name of the woman in these snapshots. When I found this small group of photos of the same lady over the years, I was most interested in the image of her in the blue jeans and bikini top, and the earliest of the collection, the photo of her leaning on a ship's rail. The ship picture is labeled "S.S. Emma Alexander" and that gave me a starting point to do some research. The S.S. Emma Alexander was built by the New York Ship Building Corporation for The Pacific Coast Steamship Company. The ship's keel was laid down on August 31, 1912 and was launched on May 17, 1913. Originally named the Congress, the ship was damaged in a fire off the Oregon coast in 1916, and then repaired and sold in 1918 to the China Mail Company for use on the San Francisco to Hong Kong route. The Congress was renamed The Nanking. In 1923, the ship was sold to The Admiral Line, renamed the Emma Alexander, and 1n 1924, was returned to service on the Pacific coast routes from San Diego, California, to the bay area, to Victoria, British Columbia, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The ship went out of service in 1936, and in 1941 was sold to the British Ministry of War Transport Service, survived World war 2, only to be scuttled in the mid-Atlantic in 1946 with a load of gas bombs in her hold. So, we can date the first photo from no earlier than 1924, and no later than 1936. Based on the clothing, closer to 1924. Researching old photos can lead into some interesting directions. When I entered S.S. Emma Alexander into the search engine, all I was hoping for was a date range on the photo, but I also found some history on the coastal liners. The Admiral Line employed white crews, but like the Pullman Railroad Car Company, they employed black stewards. Go to www.nps.gov/safr/historyculture/thomasfleming.htm for an article about Thomas Fleming, the future founder of the San Francisco Sun-Reporter, an important black newspaper, who, as an 18 year old, fresh out of Chico High School, was a steward on the Emma Alexander. It's possible that Mr. Flemming served breakfast to this lady. The only other photo with any written information is the photo of her standing in front of the large house, labeled "Monterey, Calif." The date range on these photos look to be from the mid-twenties to the late forties, early fifties.

True Found Photography

This should be the last post for the next three or four days, which makes it the last for 2010, so I thought I'd end up with something more symbolic than visually interesting. This summer, June and July, I worked for the Census Bureau. In one of the older, run down apartment buildings I visited, I found these five snapshots. They were in the garbage that had been removed from a vacated unit. Most of my found photographs are found in thrift shops, antique malls, and EBay, but finding something that has been thrown out or left behind, well that doesn't happen often. I often wonder why people discard their old family photographs. These all have a printers stamp dated, "AUG 60," and 50 years isn't all that old. It's quite probable that the people in these photos are all still alive. Did the person who left these behind, after saving them for half a century, just give up on their memories of the past?

To Miss Nellie Baker of Clinton, Maine From California

What I'd do to see the letter that accompanied these photos, when mailed, from the San Francisco Bay area to Clinton, Maine. All we know for sure is that someone mailed these photos from somewhere in California on June 23, 1908, that it was then relayed from the San Francisco post office on June 28, 1908, and arrived at Clinton, Maine on July 4, 1908. (TheClinton post mark is on the back of the envelope.) This is where the fun comes in from collecting old photos. While we can't know things for sure, we can speculate, logically. There are two probable scenarios here. The first is that Nellie Baker's friend was on a trip to California. The second, and more likely, is that her friend moved to the bay area. Are the photos of the school house, children, and library work places for Nellie's friend, or is she ( I'd bet money that we are dealing with a woman.) trying to brag to her friend that in California, we've got better schools, libraries, churches, and houses than you do, back home, in Clinton. The picture of the men in the boat, leads me to think that this family didn't live in San Francisco, but the head of the house commuted, by water, to the city. East bay, maybe Oakland, or perhaps from Marin? I think there is a good chance that the church and possibly the old school house are still standing, so if anyone out there recognizes them, please leave a comment.