The evenings this past weekend in San Francisco were the about the prettiest I’ve seen all year.
Geary Blvd., west of Mason in the 1950’s: Carol Channing was appearing at the Curran Theater. I learn something new about San Francisco everyday; when I was researching this location I found out that the old Paisley Hotel, now the Union Square Plaza, is where a woman named Florence Cushing jumped to her death in 1911. See the link below from the Bold Italics web site. I should have done this one last week on Halloween or All Souls Day! Don’t worry, this post gets more cheerful.
Powell Street up from Bush in the 1950’s: I gave it a good try with my mobile phone camera, and I had to be on the other side of Powell because trees block the view on that side now. One day, I’ll redo it with my expensive camera I bought years ago and never use. It doesn’t fit in my shirt pocket! The San Francisco State College is now the Academy of Art University.
Thomas Kinkade’s picture of Powell Street at twilight is set one block up from where I was at in the previous picture near Pine Street and Powell. It’s true that I don’t know a lot about art; I once stared at the Mona Lisa for ten minutes when I was in Paris waiting for something to happen, and I’m not sure it did. I also know that many art critics dismiss his paintings as tripe, but Kinkade’s San Francisco pictures make me feel good, and that’s just the way it is. Let’s see, he has the Manx Hotel on the wrong side of Powell Street, the Bay Bridge south of Market Street, and, probably, a dozen other things I haven’t noticed yet. Eh, I still like it. (Capitola Gallery)
Grant Avenue at Clay Street in the 1950’s: The Empress of China Building on the right wasn’t built yet. The Elite Company is now the Jing Ying Gift Shop.
This 1975 Peter Stratmoen picture at the corner of Taylor and Jefferson Streets in Fisherman’s Wharf is of particular interest to me. On the corner where the Z Backward K Gallery, or whatever that is now, was once where the Sea Captain’s Chest Gift Shop used to be. You can see their sign in the twilight shadows of the old photo. My first memory of going to San Francisco was when my folks took me to Fisherman’s Wharf when I was a child. I remember that it was a cold and overcast day. Well, it was! I had never seen anyplace in the world like the Sea Captain’s Chest shop. I remember my dad buying me a souvenir called The Sea Captain’s Magic Kit or something like that, and I loved it! At this intersection Lee Remick takes a taxi to Candlestick Park to deliver ransom money in order free her sister Stefanie Powers in the 1962 film, ‘Experiment in Terror’. See the next photo.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been out on the Van Ness Municipal Pier at twilight. I forgot how pretty San Francisco looks from here when the sun starts going down.
Ghirardelli Square, a little bit earlier in the evening than the old postcard:
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
I love this. There’s such mystery and attraction in each one of your pictures. 🙂
Aw! Thank you, Diana!