Well, it is All Saints Day. Just about every famous person who has visited San Francisco has stayed there; actor John Barrymore was there in 1906 when the ‘06 Earthquake hit, “Fatty” Arbuckles’s career was ruined there, a crackpot tried to kill President Ford there, the list is a long one. (Thumbnail images)
I couldn’t get a good line up with this 1915 postcard, but it works. (UC Berkeley Library Archives)
Al Jolson in front of the St. Francis in 1927: He actually died in the hotel from a heart attack in 1950.
Some kids from Siskiyou County, Northern California visiting San Francisco in June of 1957: The St. Francis is on the right behind the cable cars. (SF Digital Library)
Groucho Marx with a couple of twins from Washington High School in 1940, from a SF Chronicle picture: Come on, Groucho!
Abbott and Costello in front of the St. Francis:
“Hey, Costello, let’s check into the St. Francis. Who’s the Manager?”
“I don’t know.”
“No, he’s on third base.”
“Oh, don’t start that again!”
The old clock, where people would often meet, in a 1960 picture from SF Digital Library:
Not sure what this protest in front of the St Francis in 1964 was all about, but the signs are sure contemporary! The Mr Bridges on one sign would be Harry Bridges, so this must have had something to do with a Longshormen’s issue. (SF Digital Library)
President Gerald Ford leaving the Post Street entrance to the St. Francis in September of 1975, just one second before Sara Jane Moore fired two shots at him. She just died this September.
They used to let you ride up the Westin St. Francis Tower elevators, but they’re only for guests now. These two updates of pictures from the SF Digital Library that were taken in 1972.
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 