On Christmas day I took a walk through Union Square, past Maiden Lane to Chinatown. From Chinatown, I rode a cable car up to the Fairmont hotel to check out their lobby. A friend of mine named Nora wanted to go along but couldn’t make it, so I took some videos for her, and text them to her as I went along. In keeping with the vintage vibes, I thought it would be fun to try to find some old pictures afterward that were taken close to where my videos were shot. Some of them line up pretty good to my mini movies. The vintage pictures are thumbnail images.
I started out here in Union Square; I didn’t take a video for Nora while I was here, but I got a nice wide angle shot of the Square. Leaving Union Square, I crossed through Maiden Lane to Grant Avenue, and headed up to Chinatown. From there, I took a cable car up Nob Hill to the Fairmont Hotel to check out their festive lobby. I jumped back on a cable car at California Street and Mason and headed back down to Market; all in all, a Christmas Day well spent.
Walking up Grant Street from Maiden Lane, I passed by the old White House Department Store. The store is gone now, but the parking garage is still there. The garage was playing Bing Crosby and company singing ‘White Christmas’ from the old movie ‘Holiday Inn’. Class is where you find it. The vintage picture is a slide photo I took in the early 1980s. You can see the Parking Garage sign in the lower center of my picture.
Reaching Commercial Street and Grant Avenue, a group of musicians were entertaining passing visitors (me included) with a version of Jingle Bells. They were performing about where the lady is stepping on to the sidewalk in the 1960 photo from opensfhistory.org.
I headed back to California Street and jumped on the outside of a cable car heading up Nob Hill, the same stretch as the two cable cars in the vintage 1950 pictures. (opensfhistory.org)
I couldn’t get a date on the picture of the Fairmont Hotel Lobby from the San Francisco Public Library Archives, but it was taken at almost the same spot as my video. The Christmas tree is blocking out the view of the Grand Staircase in my movie.
I got a spot up front on a cable car taking the plunge back down California Street from Mason, seen in the 1950 photo.
Passengers exchanging cheers from the passing cable cars as we crossed Kearny Street heading toward Market Street and the Southern Pacific Building: The older photo is from 1973. (opensfhistory.org) People who knock San Francisco should go there on Christmas Day; it’s just as wonderful as any place in the country to spend the holiday, or anyplace in the world, for that matter.
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
The second to last picture must be more recent than 1973. Some of those cars are from later in the 1970s, when it was difficult to know if the Taxi to the left is a Nova, Skylark or Omega. Those little doors over the headlights of the Thunderbird to the upper left of the Taxi were still rare in the early 1970s. The Regal behind them has square headlights.
The Taxi must be a Nova because it lacks a hood ornament, and Skylarks and Omegas were a bit fancy for Taxis.
opensfhistory.org labeled the photo circa 1973, Tony, so it looks like you’re right.
? but I said that the picture was taken later than 1973. Square headlights were not so common until at least five years later.
That’s what I meant, Tony. Opensfhistory.org is giving it an approximate date of circa 1973. However, you are correct, in that, this is not the actual date of the photo.
timo! This is great!
thank you Tim!
You are very welcome, Nora!