I went to SF on Sunday to take advantage of some of MUNIs free rides along the Embarcadero they’re offering through the summer. There’s a lot of San Francisco related personalities in this old poster; Dashiell Hammett and Humphrey Bogart over by the clock, Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald from the movie ‘San Francisco’, Laffin’ Sal, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, Emperor Norton, Mark Twain, and probably a lot of others I haven’t spotted yet. (Thumbnail images)
The Embarcadero, south of Market Street, and a hotel that was so seedy they didn’t even give it a name: (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
The spot where the Embarcadero Plaza is now during the 1920s: There’s a lot of talk lately about expanding the area and carpeting it with grass, and also getting rid of the Vaillancourt Fountain. (UC Berkeley Library Archives)
The Embarcadero Plaza, south of the Ferry Building during the 1970s, with the notorious Embarcadero Freeway: (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
Clay Street, when it used to come into the Embarcadero: What’s wrong with this picture? Embarkadero (!) (UC Berkeley Library Archives)
A dramatic picture of the Ferry Building on a cloudy day: (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
Piers 19 and 17: Pier 17 is where the Exploratorium is now. (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
The Embarcadero, looking north from Pier 11 in 1926: Pier 11 has been demolished and was about where the girl on the bike was. (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
The historic Audiffred Building on the corner on Mission Street and the Embarcadero: (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
Looking back from the Audiffred Building toward a couple of station wagons: (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
A Falcon in San Francisco: Reminds me of an old movie. (San Francisco Public Library Archives)
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
Are falcons employed to exterminate pigeons from large buildings in San Francisco? I am not aware that it was done in San Jose until the new City Hall was built. There are not as many pigeons (relative to the area of downtown) in San Jose as there are in San Francisco or Oakland. However, some people were sufficiently annoyed by the pigeons who found the new City Hall to be appealing to hire falcons. Of course, animal rights activists were furious. Eventually, wild falcons moved in.
Wait, is this a poster for a rip-off of The Maltese Falcon? What a concept.
Well, I don’t think it’s that, K., those are caricatures of many people who are connected to San Francisco history.
Ok. But one looks a lot like Sam Spade to me….lol