“It’s beginning to look a lot like…..”

Christmastime in the City: Sometime it feels like I’m in an old movie when I go to Downtown San Francisco at Christmastime. I went over there last weekend to get into the spirit of the season. (Well, it’s possible!)

cmasusquare2016use http://opensfhistory.org/Display/wnp14.4522.jpg

The northwest corner of Union Square in 1929, and yesterday after the rain: The old photo was taken from a building that was later demolished for the I Magnin building that’s now part of Macy’s. My picture was from the Cheesecake Factory. (Opensfhistory)

cmas2016stocktongearyuse http://opensfhistory.org/Display/wnp14.3962.jpg

Here’s a great old picture; the hustle and bustle of Geary Blvd. and Stockton Street in the 1940’s, and the hustle and bustle and construction of Geary Blvd. and Stockton Street today. That’s the beloved City of Paris Department Store, demolished in 1981, in the background. Neiman Marcus is there today. You can see their Christmas tree in the entrance. There was a Salvation Army Band playing Christmas carols on the corner in front of Neiman Marcus that you can see in the modern picture, and they were great! Opensfhistory)

2ndredo The Neiman Marcus Christmas tree is under the same rotunda as the City of Paris tree, seen above. Neiman Marcus kept that roof from the old department store. That old photo looks like some creepy ‘Twilight Zone’ episode where the mannequins come to life and chase you out of the store, or something!

cmas2016magninsuse Here’s another cool old picture looking down Stockton Street from Maiden Lane. I’m not going to get a really good comparison until they finish the Stockton Metro project.

cmas2016stocktonuse This one is a little further down Stockton Street from the previous one. Where were the concerned citizens when those two nitwits were dragging that kid through all that dangerous traffic in the 1940’s? That’s the old Macy’s Store clock in both pictures.