This hidden gem is no longer available from any source I know about. For those of us old enough to still remember some of these places, to those of us who'd love to discover them, I upload this for you!
The worst thing that could have happened to America is the death of its elegance. There was a self respect and respect towards others that no longer exists. That's probably the most nostalgic aspect for me when I watch these documentaries, it's hearing "we used to dress up to go to...", nowadays you go to a high end restaurant and there are people in shorts wearing backwards baseball hats.
I blame it on the automobile, television, and mass suburbanization. People started letting themselves go even then, and spoiling rotten their kids who became baby boomers.
that part about 'respect towards others' means after America killed a million enslaved africans so it could have streets to walk down and respect others, right?
It broke my heart. I remember it well. It was a small town that called itself a city. We were elegant, friendly, hard working. Now it is high tech, worth billions, but we have never been so poor... Times have changed..
Beautifully said. I was born there as was my mother. I remember her saying "One never went to the city without the women wearing gloves and the men wearing hats." So thankful I knew the SF of old.
VIOLET: Ain't it the truth.... Even though Herb Cain was from Sacramento, he LOVED SF.... But if he was still around, something tells me that even he would move away.... Even the late Stanton Deleplane would have left....
It odd because I feel the same way about Seattle. Not that long ago it was a sleepy blue collar super safe and affordable town that called itself a city. When Silicon Valley got to expensive, google Facebook and others have locations a here as well with Amazon really being the driving force gobbling up whole city block at a time.. Completely ruined this place
So true. It was a small, (simple) town that called itself a city. Over time anything changes but SFO became a repository for a majority of anti-social types - liberals - who progressively destroyed it as they do everything. No reverence. No respect. No dignity. No probity.
I was born and raised here to and was 4 when this came out. They should make a part 2 of this. The 90s,00s and 10s. There were nice things in each of those decade but they’re overshadowed by the tech boom and homelessness, unfortunately.
How nostalgic! In 1958 i turned 21 and moved to San Francisco. Some of these things were still there and some were gone but still spoken of. I loved it and i loved this program.
What a wonderful tribute to San Francisco. I don't know how the people of S F could allow that Fox Theater to be destroyed. It was one of the most beautiful buildings in the USA. Such a crime. Same with Nieman Marcus tearing down the City of Paris. Sickening.
@@StevenTorrey Indeed! I enjoy going to Neiman's and remembering going to the City of Paris as a small child ( dressed appropriately) with my mother and having lunch at the City of Paris restaurant located downstairs at that time. Lovely memories. Very sad about the losses of I. Magnin and Blum's!
@@StevenTorrey yes I was a bit confused myself when the narrator said the City of Paris building was demolished...but the boat still sails above..? Thank you for clarifying.
@@janetmarletto6667 In the late 70s my sister and I brought my mother, who had spent a large part of her life in a small Pennsylvania town, to SF for a few days. I think if we had let her she would have spent the better part of a week, maybe two, exploring the department stores she had only heard of. As it was, we spent 2 days visiting just 4 stores...and we nearly had to drag her back to the hotel.
Oh, man..... I'm a fifth generation San Franciscan...I was born at French Hospital in 1960.... This brought back so many memories for me..... Here I am watching this with a smile on my face, and a tear in my eye.... Thanks so very much for posting this...
Being a 70 year old native I really appreciated this documentary production. I remember fox, city of Paris. The park. And zoo. Many things.. dad actually was a streetcar operator., until he got a job with PG&E and was sent to help build the power plant in moss landing, Monterey bay. After moving I spent many summers at grandmas on Fredrick st. Haight Ashbury, the old family home. She and her mom rented rooms and flats.. they finally moved out in 72 to Monterey Bay..
When I moved to SF at age 19 in 1969, I thought that San Franciscans were arrogant to call SF "The City". But as I discovered the whole Bay Area and Northern CA, I realized that SF was called The City because it was literally the only REAL city in Northern CA. Growing up in New England, I saw even small cities with a "downtown" but out here SF was, and still is, the only city in CA with an East Coast type "downtown" with all the hustle and bustle that goes with it. This unique urban trait of SF made it a magnet for culture and style. Back then, people in the Bay Are called the cities in the Central Valley "cow towns" and with good reason. SF was, and still is the only place in CA with a REAL East Coast downtown, and all that was ever special about The City seems to have come from that.
What a wonderful Documentary. Yes, this must have been the most beautiful place in the world and I envy the little kids fishing on the doc. I'm glad people remember SF for what it used to be.
I love the old San Francisco way of talking so few talk like that anymore. My grandparents had that way of talking. sounds almost mid-atlantic from the old movies.
@@tachyon2357 So nice of you to remember. Thank you. When I traveled in the long distant past to other American cities, people would ask, “Where are you from? Are you from England?” Or “Why are you talking so funny?” I didn’t actually know what they were talking about. I was speaking as my mother and father spoke, not some foreign language. But I am the last of natives and few speak in my native tongue. :). Too bad.
My Dad loved Playland and he used to take me there all the time. The one thing I absolutely hated there and he loved was that dangerous, rickety rollercoaster. I would scream and cry in fear every time he would make me go on it. Then, he would get mad at me for being afraid. After watching your video and hearing the discussion about how unsafe that thing was finally confirmed my fears. I do miss a few things though. I loved the fun house. I also loved to go to the zoo. I miss Fleischacker pool. And I also liked to visit the wharf before it was all built up and commercialized to be a tourist attraction. I remember people fishing off the pier there. I remember one of them giving me a starfish to take home with me. The wax museum and the ice rink were fun too. I miss those days.
My friend and I were there with a very limited budget. A sailor had to get back to his ship and had a roll of tickets which he gave to us. We used them all to stay on the BIG DIPPER roller coaster - for a couple of hours. Funny thing is that it got less scary on each round.
Thank you so much for uploading! This is so nostalgic for a 71-year-old native who no longer lives in Northern California but misses San Francisco every day and most especially the city of my youth. Time flies by incredibly fast, changes are inevitable but of course Herb Caen expressed it perfectly when he notes that a great part of what we really miss is our own lost youth. But I sure can taste a Blum's wonderfully rich chocolate shake right now and still marvel at the City of Paris Christmas tree and my Mom shopping at I. Magnin. Thanks again for rekindling such wonderful memories.
As a 62 year-old who grew up on Scott Street on the edge of the Duboce park, I remember also the tree at City of Paris, shopping at I. Magnin’s (and J.) with my mom who was decked out in hat and gloves. Christmastime was pretty magical downtown. In order to get her full Social Security, she had to go back to work and became secretary of to the president of the Emporium for a few quarters. I remember Blum’s and the thrill of the glass elevators at the Fairmont. Union Square, Maiden Lane, Grant Ave., and I sure rode the cable cars any chance I could. My friend who is in the city for the silent film festival just today sent me a text of a photo of the front of Mission Dolores basilica, where I was an altar boy and in the choir. I sent back a video of the graveyard at the Old Mission where a scene in Vertigo was shot a few years before I went to school there. I knew just about every corner of San Francisco from walking and Muni, but mostly from bicycling. I recall high-speed riding on warm early Sunday summertime mornings across the city from Mount Davidson, skirting Twin Peaks, through Golden Gate Park all the way up to the Aquatic Pier to fish. The streets were empty, they were ours, almost no traffic! This raw footage could be taken from my early childhood: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SLwXfAV1aJo.html I am now up north in Washington, and I have a friend of 10 years here who spent decades in San Francisco. Whenever we meet we spend at least half our time reminiscing about where we left our hearts. That and our youth. Not to be melodramatic, but it’s true. Your own short reminiscence sent me far down memory lane :-)
I no longer live in the City and I no longer live in the USA. But I too think about the City every day. Erskine Caldwell when asked where lived, he answered, "outside of San Francisco, and that is not exactly the United States." He lived for almost 20 years in the Twin Peaks area. San Francisco was not and is not really part of the United States. It is the great vermillion orange city of bridges, of vortices, of dialectics, of fogs, of cool air, of beautiful winds.
Such a neat documentary. My great-great aunt owned a candy store on Geary Street in SF back in the 1920's and 1930's called Fogalsang's Pru-Nut Creams.
I totally love this! I have lived in SF for 45 years. I have seen changes. It is a place of change. Thank you so much for your research and presentation!
Dave McElhatton! My parents' favorite news anchor (KPIX Channel 5) growing up in the 70s and 80s in the Bay Area. He felt like a real friend in our home.
Being a San Jose native with roots all over the Bay Area, I truly enjoyed this documentary. So many great memories of special visits to the City. My mom used to take me to see the Christmas tree at City of Paris. Going up on the train was a special treat. And it's true, the ladies would get dressed to go to downtown. So sad to see the icons go. The same has happened in SJ, and still is. One may have to dig through a few more layers these days, but San Francisco is still a wonderful city -This video brought many smiles. Thank you for sharing.
My grandmother, visiting from Washington State, bought me the most beautiful purple plaid material at City of Paris to make me a jumper for school. I word that jumper as long as I could before it was too small for me. Wonderful documentary!
Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk Funhouse mimicked SF Playhouse, I grew up in the 60s and did all those rides, record player, barrel the slide, we slid down on gunny sacks, and the wave,, you would have to walk on rolling platforms……..great memories, fun times!
Just want to add one to your Funhouse memories. The air jets in the floor that were strategically weaponized to blow the skirts of the ladies/girls above their heads and to startle everyone else.
Well the old Historic 1906 built Charles I.D.Looff merry go round that ran at Playland from 1913-1972 was restored in 1998 and currently operates at Yerba Buena Park at 4th & Howard street in San Francisco
@@bobv8219 My friend and I rented a paddle boats on the Russian river near Johnson’s beach, but that. Was in the latte 80s, don’t remember anything else being there…..
Thank you for up loading this gem. San Francisco lost some of its flavour when the city cemented in Union Square (because of the homeless using it as a base I believe)? Irregardless, of all the cities I've lived in or seen around the world, San Francisco is where I've left my heart.
Great documentary on some of the past greats of San Francisco, and they didn't even mention either of the 2 fairs. The Panama-Pacific International Exposition, from February 20 to December 4, 1915, and then the Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939 to 1940, held on Treasure Island.
Grew up in Bay Area 60s - 70s. Went to SF often. So much fun! Pre internet days, much less deluge of information. Read Herb Caen column in the Chronicle. Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City books still exist, 1970s. The Zoo, Golden Gate Park. Walking all over city without fear but careful near the freeway areas. Preserve your historical places everyone! Not just real estate. We love you great dear San Francisco! Care for the homeless. Xoxo
Not finished with this but a lot of the people speaking were "society" people and also people who had long time roots in San Francisco. If you search many of their names you will find lots of other historical facts. There are places in Bay Area that are named after some of them. RIP good people.
The homeless are not San Franciscans. THEY came from cities all across America because of the good weather and the easy attitudes of the people where they can get FREE food and FREE everything and they along with a high-tech--the 2 extremes on the economic rainbow,shall we say, have ruined the city.
I moved to SF from Toronto in 1984. The City was like a classy gal in my mind with tons of wealth and history unlike any place in Canada. It also had a moderate year round climate that was perfect for me after growing up in snow. After that first year I accepted a job in Honolulu and moved to the islands for seven years. Eventually i understood real money was only made in The City so I moved back in 1992 just in time for the tech boom signing on to do color production for PC World magazine. After four years there I moved on to be a manager in prepress at the SF Chronicle just in time to say farewell to Herb Caen as he retired. Still living in the Bay area today and I will never regret my choice of The City as my adopted home. It still has the most diverse mix of cultures of any place in North America and leads the world in technology. My favorite spots to visit are Oracle park for a Giants game, the Saloon for live blues bands in North Beach, Golden Boy pizza, the top of Coit tower, Grant street in the heart of Chinatown, Golden Gate park, the ferry to Tiburon and the newest landmark, Sales Force tower. Mahalos for all you are SF.
@@MFWebPea2935 Untrue. Our delicious sourdough bread originated with the first sourdough yeast sample brought to the city from Paris France in the 1860's. The Boudin bakery on Hawthorne St. was the first to offer sourdough bread in SF. No connection to either fog or salt water.
The first of my San Francisco visits was in the mid-1960's. I went to see, ride and film the wonderful transit system. Besides the cable cars, I filmed the street car, trolley coach and bus lines. I filmed the construction of BART under Market Street. I was at the ribbon cutting ceremony for BART. I stood a few feet away from Mayor Joseph Alioto when he cut the ribbon. Afterwards, I rode on and filmed the inaugural VIP first train and the first day operations. I fell in love with San Francisco's transit system. There was a time when I wanted to leave New Jersey and move to San Francisco. But frankly, I never had the guts to leave home and do it. Now, an almost eighty year old home bound, ill invalid,, it was a sad missed opportunity. What a pity that they tore down the beautiful FOX theater in 1963. It was gone before my first trip to San Francisco.
One notable difference between then (essentially pre-1965) and now (post-2000) SF is that the middle class and their typically politically moderate households have vanished.
You would be surprised to find out regular people lived there up until the 90s. The reason its not so good are the Silicon Valley billionaires raised the cost of living. 21st century SF sucks.
You could say that about any major US city. Chicago and NYC were nice too. New York would shock most people if they saw it in the 1930s to 1950s. Yeah Great Depression WW2 Cold War era NYC was quite a wonderland.
Thanks so much for posting! Loved this! Such fabulous footage of Playland- I never thought I'd get to see that spectacular wooden slide again so that was an especially sweet surprise. Some amazing Fleishacker and Sutro bath shots too. So much nostalgic swooning.
Christmas time in the 'City' was special to me as a child. The 'Big 'E' had a bunch of carnival rides on the roof top. Macy's, was all decorated windows. It seemed like magic. Stopping to see the tree at the City Of Paris rotunda was special.
I agree completely! Plus taking the Powell Street cable car and passing by houses and apartments with colorful Christmas trees in the windows. Also beautiful in the Spring.
SF born and raised. I’m a gen z kid, and man, the rose colored glasses are mighty thick watching this. Weird longing for something you never even had..
A life long New Yorker, but I enjoyed this very much. Some of the sights were very unique, but what was familiar is that the 1960s was the time when many treasures were destroyed without much thought. Ditto for NYC.
Thank so much! I am sending this to young friends who will now appreciate what a great city SF was. These are my memories. I recorded the show on VHS years ago when it aired and am happy that now I can share this, thank you so much
Lived in the Tenderloin mid-80s...Rent then for a studio was $350. I had a blast! Bought my coffee at Freed, Teller and Freed on Polk St! I worked in retail. And how little I earned then, I had money left for other things. How I missed all of it. Now retired and living overseas. SF will always be my home!
This video brought back the memory of watching Captain Fortune on Saturday mornings and seeing the kids get off the trolly and running into the building where the show was filmed.
@@youfuckmywife6719 Everyone of your comments have been negative and or vulgar, ( including your name) please consider others, and say something complimentary, or don't say anything at all.
This was "The City" of the swells, not the average Joe on the street. I grew up in San Francisco, too, and the only time we went to Market Street was at Christmas time to look at the wonderful displays in the department store windows. Nostalgia is one thing, history is another.
The first time for me to go to San Fran was in 1971 on vacation with my parents when I was about 15 years old. My brother has lived there now for over 35 years and about every few years I would go out and see him. Every year it got worse and worse. My last visit was two years ago and could not believe how bad it is. Homeless people, tents and human waste all over the sidewalks. I told my brother that this would be the last time for me in California and San Francisco. He will be moving back to beautiful safe central Ohio where I live next spring.
@@MrDude826 I don’t work in tech but I’ve worked downtown SF for the past 24 years. It’s not abandoned. You’re negative. You need to adjust your frame of mind.
So many things of the city that was not discussed here. But, overall a nice doc. I knew many people born and raised in the city from 1900's through the 1980's. Notice some of the accents? The only west coast city to have a unique accent. And, I am 3rd generation SF Bay Area!
My wife and I moved to the Bay Area in 1979, well after most of the "old days" depicted here were over. SF was still a world class city with a lot of charm. Fast forward to 2024, it is a shell of a city. There is still a lot of beauty but no soul at all.
I worked in the financial district 1985-89. Grew up in the East Bay and dreamed of living there. I loved The City. So fun and exciting. I was 21. Wow it’s really changed
Watching the magnificent Fox theater being destroyed with all those incredible ornate and hand crafted art pieces and moulding being smashed was a gut punch...........and a crime. How sad. That theater was a national treasure.......
I was stationed in the bay area in the late 70s. The city proper was pricier than I was used to but there were so many things to do. We saw the debut of Star Wars downtown (5 hour wait). The Days On The Green, Raiders and 49ers games. Dinner at Brennan's in Berkeley. Winterland and other live music sites. KSAN, KFAT, KMEL and other great radio stations. Sightseeing in the city. We had a nighttime barbeque on the beach with the Golden Gate nearby. Most of what I remeber is gone, including my base. But the memories are still there. Sad that the city as become what it is. Sadder still that no one seems to care.
KSAN-FM ownership changed in 1979 and by 1980 the format was all country and no longer the free-form radio that made it unique and famous. KMEL appeared after KSAN went down.
I'm a native Born San Francisco & even t'ho I have been living in Italy x over 50 yrs, I Remember a lot in the video tho some things are before my time, being Born in 1945. However, most touched by I.Magnin's,Blums,City of Paris & xmas tree but most of all: Playland at the Beach! All made me feel very sad x the things that are no more. At least they still exist in everyone's memories, especially mine.
Where can we go today to experience a sense of elegance in San Francisco? Where would older folks spend time today, the ones that have been here for decades? The Symphony ? Zuni?
To the St. Francis to dine. To Neiman-Marcus for lunch under the exquisite dome. To the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park: to visit the lovely garden followed by tea and cookies in the pavillion. Enjoy!
There were a number of those “Laughing Sals” (seen @16:37). There’s still one operating at Sant Cruz Beach and there was one at the old Jantzen Beach Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon.
When we knew they were going to close Playland two of us from KUSF went to record Laughing Sal. She was moving - but no sound? We were told it was broken and were directed to the maintenance shop. It used a tape cart just like in our studios. So I fixed it and we made our recording. That was a long time ago.
I believe Laughing Sal is still at Musee Mecanique in Fisherman's Wharf. She was in their collection while they were located by the camera obscura near The Cliff House. I can't imagine they got rid of her when they moved.
The original head of laughing Sal was stolen, but the body remained, they made or had a back up head of laughing Sal. She is now up at the Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk at Neptune castle on the boardwalk. Also the whirlitzer 165 band organ that ran on the Playland Looff merry go round is now operating on the Looff SCBB merry go round
Back when everyone wore their Sunday Finest, wherever they went, on any day of the week. Back when men were men, and women were women. There was no radical neo-Marxist liberalism/ leftist unpatriotic nonsense. IMagnin, Joseph Magnin, Emporium Capwell, Playland at the Beach, an actual working Port of San Francisco, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (an actual working shipyard), Schlage Lock Company Headquarters (where I worked for several years until transferring to the "Santa Clara Knob Company" [Division] in San Jose), the Pan Pacific Exposition, etc. etc. etc.
I remember going to play land and the roller coaster and dressing up to go to the city. The whole Bay Area is in a sad sorry state today. Fisherman’s Wharf the Top of the Mark. Golden Gate Park and many more memories
Thank you so much for this. I caught a bit of this in 1964, when I came up with my parents for a few days and we stayed at the Mark Hopkins, with the furnishings from the 1940's. I knew very little about The City. We didn't go to the City of Paris, unfortunately. Now, I live in the east bay and San Francisco is a very different place. One good thing this documentary missed is the Castro Cinema has been beautifully restored and there is an organ there. What happened to the organ at the Fox? Does anyone know?
Good question. There used to be a small pizza chain with a couple of restaurants in SJ and one in Redwood City called the Capn"s Galley that had an old theater organ like this in each restaurant. Boy could they get rolling on a Sat. night! I don't know if one of the organs might have been from the Fox, but they were like that. It'd be interesting to find out.
According to Wikipedia: The Fox Special Wurlitzer organ was salvaged from the theater and installed in the Frank J. Lanterman estate in La Cañada Flintridge, California. Upon Lanterman's passing, the large 4-manual 36-rank organ was bought by the Disney Company and installed in the restored El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.
That was sooo interesting, especially the Sutro Baths, Flyschaffer Pool n the Fox Theatre, these were iconic places of monstrous size that should have been saved!!! It's a shame that almost all the wonderfully epic places of the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's have been demolished. What a sad statement on our country's sentimentality n preservation ethics!!! If the Europeans did that we would not have all the fabulous historical places available to visit that they do succinctly preserved for the future!!!
Thank you for putting this up on You Tube! I grew up reading Herb Caen's column. I couldn't find out anything about the other people in the film. Does anybody know who they were and what happened to them?
My father, born in 1929 (may he rip) always use to talk about this San Francisco. And how the men went downtown back in the day with a hat on, & the women always had a hat & gloves on. But as we all know, nothing remains the same, people, & places evolve.
Too bad the museums in Golden Gate Park were not shown,. Van Ness was the place to go looking for a new car. Especially the one who had an office full of pictures of Gene Autry. Market Street shopping for new clothes for school.
Before 2000, I was excited and optimistic about the future. Now 25 years later, I’ve seen the future, and it doesn’t look good. Not for average citizens.
Hold on to those precious memories, those times will never ever happen again...Playland has a very dear place in my heart, my older brother wanted us to go on the gravity buster, it spoon around in a circle enough to have every body against the round wall. My brother wanted to show off by putting a cigarette in his mouth lighting it and cocking his leg a relaxation. Heck I didn't know he smoked.( When my parents heard about his doings, he was punushed ). The circular force was enough every body did not fall when the floor drop beneath us, Wow...The recording room charged two bucks for to make a 45 recording, afterwards your handed a yellow recording 45 disc to take home. Ah the memories... San Francisco is now a waste land of living hell to dangerous, and high handed for decent families now...Enjoy your memories hold them close and dear...my
