While we were at a pawn shop on Mission Street, Steve spotted this. (What's with the two jumping fishes?)

MUNI should totally bring back Phyllis Diller for the Fast Pass! At 93, she's got 5 years on Betty White. I even did their graphic design work for them:

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Last week I posted some photos by Seymour Snaer from 1939, a couple of which were of Sally Rand's Nude Ranch from the Golden Gate International Exposition that took place on Treasure Island. Rand is worth a closer look, if you know what I mean. Take a peep after the jump...

Above is her "Bubble Dance," which, along with her fan dance, is what she's most well-known for. Even though there are a few editing cheats I think the video's pretty amazing. Her dance has been imitated by many since, but, well, if you find any that you think are better than Rand's, post them to the comments.

Here's her fan dance:

She had premiered her larger act at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair (for which she was supposedly arrested multiple times even though she was wearing a full body suit, only giving the illusion of nudity). In '36 she opened "The Music Box" burlesque hall in San Francisco in what is now the Great American Music Hall.

The most amazing part of the story is this photo of nudist protestors in Balboa Park, San Diego demonstrating against Sally for, I guess, making bad press for them.

Photo courtesy of Calisphere

Indeed, she was quoted in Liberty Magazine in 1975 as saying, "I have no use for nudism. I don't believe in cults of any kind."

But not all the press about nudism was bad. From the San Francisco neighborhood paper, Polk Progress, commenting on the '39 expo on Treasure Island:

One might gather from the snickering and naughty attitude toward the ‘flesh’ shows at the Exposition, that the success of the $50,000,000 enterprise hangs or fails upon the relative number of inches of epidermis displayed. Bringing stag shows out into the open in order that women may attend and feel devilish will pay good dividends, but the marvelous exhibitions of paintings and other displays will also attract a few. ¹

Stepping back, I find it nearly unimaginable that an event such as a world's fair, even in San Francisco, would today get away with the sort of nudity they accomplished in 1939; nearly as unimaginable is a media publication dismissing the outrage over the nudity.

Maybe those protestors were onto something!

Image found here

1. Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco

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1939 was a big year for San Francisco, during which it attempted to convince the world that it had fully recovered from the catastrophes of 1906 and was once again a city to be reckoned with. Completion of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge was punctuated with the International Exhibition on Treasure Island.

For one photographer/photojournalist, that year left a lasting impression.

The photographer's name is Seymour Snaer, and the images were published in 1980 in a book titled, San Francisco 1939: An Intimate Photographic Portrait. Snaer had over 100 rolls of film from that one year, so publisher Bill Owens reprinted select shots from negatives, rescuing them from the bad cropping done by newspapers like the Examiner, who Snaer had worked for.

I've Googled around and not found much mention of the man, nor have I seen any of his images. The (used) book is listed on some sites, but none even have the cover image (above).

I'm including just some of the photos (in low-res format taken with my camera), and the captions that go with them. Additionally, I've excerpted some text from the body of the book. The writing has a raw feel to it; you can tell it was written by someone who doesn't write, but really has something to say.

Some of the highlights: Real fishermen using nets in the Bay; Belt and Southern Pacific trains; view from Twin Peaks; Sally Rand's Nude Ranch (NSFW); ski jumping on Treasure Island; auto polo.

Tip of the hat to Jonathan at Viracocha for gifting the book to me (that was a very kind way to get me to stop bugging you about your fantastic shop).

The above image is from the cover, portraying still and movie photographers capturing President Franklin Roosevelt's motorcade who came to see the Expo before it opened, in '38. Snaer writes:

Two of the guys in the bunch were very famous newsreel cameramen in the '30s, Joe Rucker and Frank Vail. They used hand-crank cameras ... I had big bulbs and all of a sudden - a bulb exploded! Secret Servicemen ran all over the place. It really embarrassed me. [p. 24]

The following images and text are all directly from the book. (Keep in mind that when he says "today," Snaer means 1980.)

Note: I'm pretty sure the copyright, originally reserved by Snaer himself, isn't being actively enforced, but in case it is, I'm only posting low-res images, and will gladly remove them if a rights-holder contacts me. Check out the photos/text after the jump...

Page 3

View from Twin Peaks

You can see Treasure Island in the background not as it is today with the Financial District blocking the view. The kid was up there with a kite ... and a beanie ... kids in those days wore beanies.

Page 4

Fishermen at the marina

Many sights you never see anymore ... fishermen caught herring early in the morning on the beach.

Page 5

Southern Pacific electric train across the Bay Bridge

Page 12

Steam train, California Belt line

A steam locomotive, the California Belt Line, fired by coal went around the docks bringing goods from the ships to the old warehouses. They still do it [!], but they don't use that type of engine.

Page 16

Boy in Chinatown

Page 28-29

International Exposition

They were the prettiest girls in Europe. It was the top show in the theatre building. You weren't supposed to take any pictures inside so I made a sneak shot at the end. I had a 1.5 lens on my camera. You had to really work to get a shot like that. It's entirely different with today's fast films, but that was an accomplishment.

Page 32-33

Sally Rand's Nude Ranch

Sally Rand's Nude Ranch

Sally Rand, the queen of the Fan Dancers, was supposed to be the place to go when you went to the Gayway. She was never there - her name was on the marquee outside. The women were on exhibit, pretending to do anything that you would do on the ranch ... frying eggs, twirling a lasso. There was a fence around the stage, which was painted with Western scenes. Later people objected to that kind of thing, and made them cover up. It wasn't Sally Rand's nude ranch anymore. The name was still the same because it was one of those permanent signs out front. But if you went inside, the girls were partly covered.

Page 34

International ski championship

The question would be "Where was the snow?" if you made a bet in a bar about the International Ski Championship held in San Francisco in 1939. They brought in a load of artificial snow and built this whole thing. It was sponsored by the Auburn Ski Club.

Page 36-37

Auto polo

They had mallets and a basketball as a polo ball. The idea was to make the cars roll over ... both guys had to jump out and then the car would go over [at least they have helmets on].

Page 46

Mailboat, off the Farallones Islands

Page 48

Flora Snaer and friend

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UPDATE: I found this obituary for him, from this web page:

Mr. Snaer, an only child, was born in Oakland. He received a bachelor's degree from UC-Berkeley in 1933, and worked as a freelance photographer from 1936 to 1943. In 1937, Mr. Snaer took the first natural action shots of a track meet for the New York Mirror, according to Who's Who in California. Mr. Snaer joined the Examiner in 1943 and remained there until his retirement in 1978. In one of his prize-winning photos, titled "I'll be OK, Mom," Mr. Snaer captured a poignant moment in 1952 as a Marine sitting in a wheelchair leaned forward to embrace his mother upon his return from the Korean War. One of his photos, of a terrorist bombing at a San Francisco church in the 1970s, is included in "10,000 Eyes," a book published by the American Society of Media Photographers. Flora Snaer said her husband happened by chance to be in a perfect position to take that picture, after someone shooed him toward the sidewalk. He was there to take photos of a policemen's funeral. When the bomb exploded in the doorway, all the other photographers had to turn away and shelter themselves from the flying debris. Not Seymour. "He got the picture," Flora Snaer said. Mr. Snaer was also known for his Kodachrome color photographers for the 1939 World's Fair, which took place on Treasure Island. Denise Snaer-Gauder, Mr. Snaer's 43-year-old daughter, remembers serving as a "model" in some of her father's staged newspaper photographs when she was young. In one photo, she was the little girl hanging up her Christmas stocking. In another, she was playing in a schoolyard while a suspicious-looking man lurked nearby. Snaer-Gauder said her father was always ready to dash off in an instant to get a photo. He left his police scanner on all night, so he could hear any news bulletins as they were announced, and he always drove around with a couple of cameras in the car. Fran Ortiz, a retired Examiner photographer, said Mr. Snaer befriended him when he joined the staff as a rookie in 1962. Ortiz remembered the days the two photographers covered the Free Speech Movement at UC-Berkeley in the late 1960s. "It was war on Telegraph Avenue, and there was Seymour, right in the thick of it, getting remarkable images," Ortiz said. Ortiz described Mr. Snaer as a "true professional," someone who used his creativity and talent to make many memorable photographs - on deadline. "He was an inspiration to me," he said. Ortiz also remember Mr. Snaer's keen sense of humor. "In my image of him, Seymour always has a smile on his face and a pipe in his hand," he said.

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A post at the San Francisco Citizen blog finds no credit for the above map in the print version of 7x7's current magazine - and suspects it might have something to do with the fracas over this thing.

Indeed, I couldn't find a version of the map on 7x7's website, which is odd. But I'm gonna give them a pass because this new map is pretty cool on a couple of fronts.

First, it's bizarre enough to be interesting - the descriptions applied to the various parts of town are an exercise in willful non-sequiter.

But best of all is its use of actual phrenological terms (philoprogenitiveness? C'mon!), and the probable inadvertent nod to our new favorite historical eccentric, Frederick Coombs, a.k.a., George Washington the Second.

Even before he went Cocoa for coo-coo puffs, Coombs wrote and self-published a book on phrenology called Popular Phrenology: Exhibiting the Exact Phrenological Admeasurements of Above Fifty Distinguished and Extraordinary Personages, of Both Sexes with Skulls of the Various Nations of the World. You can't do much better than that in the "pseudoscience as prelude to insanity" department.

Note the skulls. Awesome.

So, hats off to 7x7. (They do lose points, however, for the offensive profile of the goateed hippie that defines the edge of the map.)

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George Washington the Second beside a bust of his namesake. (I think he looks more like Ben Franklin.) Image courtesy San Francisco Public Library.

His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Norton I, in addition to being the prototype of Frank Chu, is credited with visions of a suspension bridge across the Golden Gate (some suspect this to have been made up by others later) and a tunnel toward Oakland before those ideas were considered sane.

There were other eccentrics who paraded San Francisco's streets in the 1850s and 60s, but for some reason the only one we still celebrate is Norton. It is a monopoly that he, above all, would have cherished; but just like his attempt to corner the rice market in 1852 which eventually sent him over the rainbow, this monopoly may not last.

Submitted for your approval: Frederick Coombs, a.k.a., "George Washington the Second." Learn all about him after the jump...

San Francisco's Crackpots

San Francisco from the beginning demanded to be noticed in spite of, even because of, its most outrageous citizens. In an instant metropolis that breathed boom and bust, lusted after gold and silver, and openly worshiped monopoly capitalism, the embrace of stylized mad behavior was perhaps a middle finger raised at the polite societies in other cities of the time.

George Washington Coombs in the Pied Piper

Norton is the most famous of these characters. However, within the Palace Hotel's Pied Piper Bar & Grill hang two paintings. If you go into the lounge, past the eponymous Maxfield Parrish above the bar, and inside the restaurant, you'll find them (they are not Parrishes). The one on the left features Emperor Norton and the one on the right, a rival figure holding a placard that reads:

The Spirit of Washington still lives like a California pioneer. He lived like a beggar to give like a prince.

Washington the Second was a contemporary of Norton's, and in many ways his opposite, even though their stories have many similarities.

Emperor vs. President

Washington's first and most obvious departure from Norton was in title. One honored the nation's first president, the other embodied imperialism. San Franciscans must have seen in Coombs an alien quaintness.

Like Coombs, "Emperor" Norton was penniless and English by birth. But Norton's megalomania appears to have been linked to his loss of fortune. The roots of Coombs's intense patriotism and eccentricity were more complex and obscure. ¹

Washington the Second in costume; image courtesy San Francisco Public Library

Norton must have been more familiar - brash, monarchic, a true child of California gold and its excess. On the other hand, an article in the Daily Alta California from Nov. 16th, 1864, describes Washington the Second:

The old gent is quite the reverse of "Emp." (Emperor Norton). His eye is mild and void of the sacred fire of majesty which burns with such latent power in that of "Nort." (Emperor Norton). He is less dignified, and mixes more with common clay than does his colleague... He is also supposed to be void of sense, or in plain terms, "cracked;" but in his case, as in "Nort's," we think his head is clear. ²

Both Norton and Washington were venerated despite suspicions they might be faking their conditions, as if by embracing not only eccentricity, but even the pretense of it, San Francisco's residents created a bulwark against the city's prudish critics. It's little surprise Norton has dominated the historical accounts versus his contemporaries. Gold Rush San Francisco yearned for dominion that would rival history's most sprawling empires, such that only an Emperor would do.

Those who joined the gold rush had called themselves Argonauts and imagined themselves to be reliving a classical legend... They never tired of telling outsiders and one another that their city by the Golden Gate was the Mistress of the Pacific, the Queen City on her seven - or hundred - hills, looking westward to a destiny proportionately greater than that of imperial Rome. ³

Norton amplified this sentiment, Washington did not. Recall the grandiosity and narcissism of Norton's most recognizable proclamation:

At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, ... declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these U. S.

It's not hard to understand how that would ring truer to San Franciscans in the 1860s, as the city itself was deflating after the gold rush, than something like this from Washington:

If all the rich were to marry all the poor, would not this realize a beautiful equality so long dreamed of by Poets and Philosophers?

Similarities and Differences

Like Norton, Washington tempered his madness with inventive thinking. Before assuming his presidential title, Washington succeeded in business by inventing a ditch-digging machine for farmers in Napa Valley. He developed a train propulsion system that used electromagnetism and even demonstrated it on a small scale. Most notably, he built a working telegraph in 1840, just months before Samuel Morse scored the patent.

But Washington should not be denied his eccentric's cred, either:

• He wrote a book on the pseudoscience of phrenology, which attempted to assess people's personalities based on the contours of their skulls (one of his "clients" was Vice President Richard Johnson).
• He went on an expedition to Chicago (his home-town) to lure women to San Francisco, crossing the Isthmus of Panama on foot with a traveling museum of live animals and gold showcasing California's assets.
• He billed the U.S. Congress $17,733,000,000,000,000 for expenses he supposedly incurred while contributing to the well-being of the nation.
• He self-published his own autobiography, titled, The Dawn of the Millenium! Splendid Discovery! A Beautiful Plan to Give Every Man (and Woman Also) a Nice House and Lot, And a Nice Little Wife or a Husband for All.

But his differences from Norton were perhaps more relevant to discovering why we should raise Washington's stature:

• Emperor Norton was against women's rights while Washington went to Sacramento and lectured for them.
• Washington/Coombs once demonstrated for the rights of Irish immigrants in New York.
• Washington once held up pro-Union banners in front an angry secessionist crowd in a San Francisco theater until he was pelted off stage, where Norton remained neutral in the North/South debate.

And finally, whereas Norton was a crude speculating capitalist, Coombs, before he became Washington the Second, was a hard-working businessman who nonetheless maintained a sense of charity.

In his early years, Coombs generally shared his money with poor daguerreotypists [of which he was one], needy friends, and destitute women. The press warmly recognized him as a philanthropist. ⁴

Today, we're living through the consequences of an economic system that sacrificed long-term viability for the sake of delusional short-term riches. On a global scale, capitalism should be re-assessing itself, criticizing itself - for its own sake. To the degree that the gold rush was an instance of the same get-rich-quick ethic we suffer from today, perhaps we owe it to our beloved city and to ourselves to reconsider the "majesty" of our "Emperor," and instead honor another figure who, in a quite different way, channeled the essence of San Francisco by transgressing the limits of sanity.

Washington the Second with skulls; image courtesy San Francisco Public Library

Vote for your favorite San Francisco crackpot in the comments.

1. San Francisco Magazine, Dec. 1985, p. 22
2. Daily Alta California, Nov. 16th, 1864
3. Imperial San Francisco, Gray Brechin, p. 14-15
4. San Francisco magazine, Dec. 1985, p. 24

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This beauty of a machine is shown cleaning the street at Dolores Park, which apparently even back then was regularly trashed by hordes of Missionites. (If anyone knows the origins of this photograph please drop it in the comments so I can properly attribute. I found it here.)

You can buy a vintage ad for the Austin-Western "Model 40" on eBay (and, really, why not?):

Here's the ad copy:

On any street, there are many things the operator of a sweeper has to watch, and with the model "40" he sees them all. Only with this sweeper does he have unobstructed view of everything around him. There are no "blind" spots for the man behind the wheel of a model "40."

Children don't always watch where they're going. Thanks to front steer and rear-mounted hopper, the model "40" operator can do the watching for them, because he sits in the natural place "up front" where he can see what's going on.

And there's another important angle... Not only can he operate Model "40" safely but efficiently as well, because it's the only sweeper with gutter brooms visible at all times.

Yes, for efficiency's sake as well as safety's sake... GET A MODEL "40."

Let the "hipster-proof" jokes commence...

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Oh man. This is really not helpful.

I already feel enough pressure to be as awesome as the average San Franciscan, and take enough hits to my self-esteem as a result. So, here are a few clever San Francisco thoughts (or the closest I can come to clever before finishing my coffee):

• San Francisco residents already knew this.
• This chart is going to be endlessly referenced as soon as The Big One hits.
• So SF is both smart and dense? Clearly they need more San Franciscans working for the Census.
• Suck it, New York.

(Spotted @ via.)

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Without naming the actual hotel involved, CNN opens this article on urban pests with an anecdote about the creator of a website called BedbugRegistry.com getting bitten in San Francisco.

We're aware of at least one egregious bedbug mating/feeding zone here in the city, but is it fair to highlight SF in the lede that way? Maybe.

There are 497 San Francisco hotels listed on Yahoo Travel, and 64 in The Bedbug Registry's database. There are 85 New York hotels found in the registry, but that's out of 794 total on Yahoo Travel. That gives NYC an infestation rate of 10.7% and SF a rate of nearly 13%.

Now, I realize my method is less than totally scientific. There may be any number of reasons that cause more bug reports in one city than another, and it's impossible to know the accuracy rate of the reports that are made. For instance, here's an entry for the Hotel Verona in SF:

Friend seems to have a number of bedbug bites. Other hotel residents had reported them.

Such diagnoses are not exactly confidence-inspiring. Other considerations: There may be hotels in either city not listed on Yahoo Travel, though that effect probably cancels itself out. And, the math is cumulative, so it doesn't necessarily represent conditions at any given time.

In any case, WTF? The fact that approximately 13% of SF hotels have had bedbug reports is not good. And NYC shouldn't be bragging about their rate either.

Go ahead and rip apart my math/logic in the comments.

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If you've got half a day some weekend or holiday, and you like a moderately challenging hike, this easily-accessed, 4.5-mile route with a 900 ft. elevation means you don't have to leave the city of San Francisco. Details after the jump...

Every so often I hit some of these hilltops, but if you're gonna do one, I've discovered you might as well do them all. If followed in this order, these recommended spots - some familiar and some relatively unknown - provide a deceptively easy (though at times steep) ascent to the top of San Francisco, with tons of ridiculous vistas and quite a bit of wildlife. You can easily build a topo map in your head if you're mindful of landmarks along the way - and the "greats" are all there, so no excuses.

BONUS: I published this as a Gowalla trip for those who want to score some points on their smart phones in the process (battling AT&T's coverage is at least as challenging as the uphill climb).

View Spots Unknown - "Hillapalooza" in a larger map

1. Glen Park BART station
Yes, Glen Park is "in the city," I admit it. A Fast Pass gets you there, so I guess that's proof enough for me. Find a corner market and stock up on trail mix and fluids.

2. Islais Creek underground
Near Diamond and Chenery, you'll be standing on top of what used to be the natural course of Islais Creek. Put your ear close to a manhole or sewer grate. Hear rushing water? Yeah, that's it. (Unless it's currently raining, in which case it's also storm runoff.)

3. Islais Creek source
There is a lot to love about Glen Canyon Park, and the fact that it's now the last place where Islais Creek is in daylight and runs "naturally" is just one reason why GCP rocks. (Also, cool rocks!)

4. Glen Canyon Park ascent
There are a few paths to get you to the top of the Canyon, in open air or under riparian cover. (Bonus points if you find the rope swing.) It gets muddy in places if it's rained recently, but the payoff is worth it - a broad view of the whole park from where to spot wildlife like hawks, butterflies, and if you're ultra-lucky, a coyote.

5. Stilt Houses
Just when you thought you'd seen all the different architecture San Francisco could throw at you... These freaks sit high above GCP, and really get you wondering.

6. Twin Peaks
Hard to miss these. Did you know that they used to be called "Los Pechos de la Choco"? Translation: "Chocolate Breasts." Seriously, it's true, according to this old map:

7. Twin Peaks Reservoir
You can see this from the perch, but go ahead and walk up next to it. Sometimes there are a couple of cute little ducks paddling around in it.

8. Sutro Tower
This is probably the most visible landmark in the city, and for a radio tower, it's pretty badass, right? It's especially imposing when you're right below it. Note the ravens near the top.

9. Sexy Homes
Continuing the theme of architectural styles you may have missed, there are several really sweet homes between Twin Peaks and Tank Hill that are worth seeing. This one had a moss garden in front, and a mote:

10. Tank Hill
Someone once told me that the water tank the hill is named for, and whose circular cement foundation is still there, was removed to deny a bombing target to the Japanese in WWII, but it seems it was taken down long after the War was over.

11. Mt. Olympus
I just learned about this spot after 14 years living in the city (thanks, Patrick!). It was once the geographical center of the city and it still bears the remains of a statue installed by Adolf Sutro. What's with this Sutro guy, you ask? Dude's got a forest, a tower, and some ruins named after him - now this! It's a good question!

12. Buena Vista Park
If you have extra time, you should follow some of the trails in this park. There are a few spots where the trees part for pretty views, but it's also just a nice little forest. Also, the body of a widow was found there in the '80s.

13. Corona Heights
You'll probably spot this from a few other hilltops along the hike, and when you get there, it's as special as it looks from afar.

14. Randall Junior Museum
Be sure to visit this place if it's not Sunday or Monday (they're closed), because even though it's advertised as "for kids," it's pretty punk rock. They have a small zoo of mostly rescued area wildlife, including birds of prey, snakes, and honeybees. Also, there's a massive, kickass, HO-scale train display in the basement (it closes at 4pm). And, as a penance for posting the video of dead birds a few days back, here ya go:

PARTING NOTE: If you wanted to go "extreme" with this hike, you could add Mt. Davidson (the highest peak in the city) and Mt. Sutro (there's a great native plant reserve at the top). Go for it!

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More moody San Francisco; this time the streets are a little more familiar to current residents, definitely grittier, but no less gorgeous. (Philip Bloom's blog.)

(Thanks, Sonia!)

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