I’ll finish up my updating of vintage pictures from the 1960s, some of them poor quality, that I found recently on the internet. I’ve been taking advantage of the most overcast May that I can remember. “May Gray”, or is it “May Grey”? Well anyway, gloomy weather can often make for better picture taking; cloudy days don’t throw unwanted shadows on your pictures.(Thumbnail images)
During the first week of May I took the Treasure Island Ferryboat from behind the Ferry Building out to the Island for the ride. This day was a lot sunnier than most of the days in May have been. When I got back to the office, I found a picture of the San Francisco skyline from 1963 that matches up almost perfectly with my 2023 photo here. The two buildings on the right in the old picture and, no longer visible, are the Shell Building and the Russ Building. A dark and sinister looking Ferry Building, wrapped in scaffolding for renovations right now, is at photo center. (opensfhistory.org)
On the 23rd I took BART to the Mission District, often an interesting experience, and took this update of the old Armory Building, built during World War I to house munitions for the war effort. (Vintage Everyday)
This 1960s photo of Mission Dolores makes a reasonable match up with a picture I took of the church awhile back. I don’t know if tour busses still go there in droves anymore since Junipero Serra has been under fire a lot for his treatment of Native Americans. Like Columbus, I also don’t know if the evidence against him is indisputable or not, but every historical figure gets villainized in San Francisco eventually, so enjoy the building for its architectural history. (Vintage Everyday)
On the 25th I took Muni #1 up to Nob Hill and headed down California Street to Chinatown. The cars and the monstrous Bank of America Building are about the only differences from this view. (Vintage Everyday)
I walked down to Old St. Mary’s Church at California Street and Grant Avenue. I’m not sure what the Flag was commemorating then, but it’s possible it may have been on a long-ago Memorial Day. (Vintage Everyday)
I like the color scheme of this vintage picture of the Conservatory Building in Golden Gate Park, which is probably known as ‘3D schéma de couleur’.
To start out the Memorial Day weekend, I headed back up to the top of Telegraph Hill on Saturday to update this picture of the Columbus Statue in front of Coit Tower, removed in 2020 before vandals tore it down. If you want to get mad about something, get mad about the fact that there is almost no view from here anymore because they won’t cut down the trees blocking the scenery. (Vintage Everyday)
At the bottom of Telegraph Hill, I took the F Line streetcar back along the Embarcadero to Market Street, just in time for the sun to come out. This photo from where California and Drumm Streets come in to Market, although poor quality, shows what looks to be scaffolding around the Ferry Building then, as well; although it may just be a double exposure.
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
What sort of boat leaves no wake in the first pair of pictures of the Ferry Building? Perhaps the boat was going toward the Ferry Building instead of away from it.
The Indian laurel in front of Mission Dolores is interesting because it seems to be the cultivar ‘Nitida’. Well, it is not interesting to you, but ‘Nitida’ is a relatively modern cultivar of Ficus microcarpa that was popularized at about the time the picture was taken. More are visible in the following pair of pictures. They are rare in the Santa Clara Valley because they succumb to frost every few years or so.
The Canary Island date palms at the conservatory are even more interesting. It seems as if only the tallest tree has grown. The others seem to be the exact same height that they were many years ago. Such trees can stagnate for a few years at a time, but can not survive stagnation for that long. Actually though, the shorter specimen in front on the right in the older picture is the taller specimen on the right in the second picture. It just happens to be the same height as the taller specimen in back on the right in the older picture. The taller specimen in back in the older picture was replaced with the shorter specimen that is now the same height as the specimen in front in the first picture. Oh my, that is confusing. Meanwhile, the shorter specimen in front on the left was replaced with a specimen that is now as tall as its predecessor was in the older picture. It is possible that all but the tallest specimen have been replaced. I do not know, but it seems to me that, for a time, there was only one Canary Island date palm there.
I will refrain from commenting on the weird vilification of historically significant people, but I still get annoyed by those cypress trees around Coit Tower.
I didn’t think of it before, but I’d guess the boats were going in the opposite directions in the opening pictures, as well. Also, your comment on the Indian laurel in front of Mission Dolores is of interest to me. I don’t usually pay enough attention to the natural life in San Francisco when I’m taking pictures, and your insight is definitely appreciated. However, on the Conservatory in Golden Gate Park update, I did wonder if some of the palm trees could be the same in both pictures, but so much has changed in 60 years, I also figured that they may have all been completely replaced. As far as Coit Tower goes, I think that it’s absolutely ridiculous that they don’t trim the trees around the monument. The views around the entire circumference of the tower are blocked by trees, and to add insult to injury, they have pay telescopes all around Coit Tower that are absolutely worthless to try and use! Also, once again, the elevator to the top of the tower was not working last weekend, and the only way to enjoy any kind of view is to pay the price of a ticket and walk up the 13 flights of steep steps to the top of Coit Tower. I did that last November and worried that I was going to need weeks of illegal steroids and morphine to ever feel normal again!
I can not be certain, but it seems to me that, decades ago, only the tall original palm remained at the conservatory. I distinctly remember that the symmetry was off. (I notice things like that on such formally bisymmetric architecture.) I just can not remember ‘how’ the symmetry was off, if it was one, two or three palms at the time. I am impressed with the precision of the replacement of the newer trees. Not many within the landscape industry are so concerned with historic conformity, and almost no one appreciates the old fashioned symmetry. Modern designers would want to replace that landscape with sloppy asymmetry, as they so typically do for victorian homes. As much as I appreciate the salvage of the original tree, I would not have minded if all four palms had been replaced together, for better symmetry.