Sure, it’s only the eve before Christmas Eve, so there’s still a few days left of 2017. I may still win the lotto or fall in love again before the year ends, but if not, all in all it wasn’t a bad year to me. So I’ll close out the 2017 year with a few then and nows of some pictures that I took during the last three months of the year.
The “Hyde Street Grip” at Chestnut Street on Russian Hill, looks like in the 1960’s: I snapped my picture a split second too soon for a perfect comparison, but the cable cars were running slow and it was too cold up there today to wait for another one heading downhill. (Vintage Everyday)
The Cliff House in the 1950’s: I haven’t been able to get a full frontal of the restaurant from Sutro Heights since I’ve been taking pictures because of the trees that block the view today. However, in November I found a walking trail that winds along the Sutro Heights mountainside that allows hikers to get a clear view if the Cliff House like long ago.
The Powell and Market Street cable car turnaround in the late 1960’s: December’s cold weather in San Francisco made the cable car passenger line even lighter this week than in the 1960’s. (Vintage Everyday)
The San Francisco Skyline from the Bay in the mid 1970’s and during Fleet Week, 2017:
San Francisco Bay looking east from Telegraph Hill in 1880: No Treasure Island, no piers, and no Bay Bridge.
The art deco Golden Gate Bridge Toll Booths in the 1950’s: Although they’re obsolete now, I hope they keep them; they’re as much a part of the bridge as the famous span is. (Vintage Everyday)
A suitor on a scooter! This is near the approximate spot he was chugging up in the Life Magazine picture, Lombard Street, just down from “The Crookedest Street in the World”, but a little further down the street in order to get the view today. The building behind his left shoulder is the building the couple are walking past in my photo. In the background is Telegraph Hill with Coit Tower and the two spires of Saints Peter and Paul Church in North Beach.
Market Street at Powell circa 1908: On the left is the Flood Building, across Market Street in the center are the towers of the Call and Humboldt Buildings, and on the right is the Emporium Building. (Charles C. Pierce)
Powell and Ellis Streets at twilight in the 1950’s: (Vintage Everyday)
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 