Author Archive
October 12, 2019 by tomdalzell
More Print Mint
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October 7, 2019 by tomdalzell
The fence that Doug Heine made for Rob Garross (and more)
Doug Heine and his assistant Rogelio Miranda made this fence for Rob Garross in front of Rob’s house at 1406 Fifth Street. The green of the fence matches the green of the birch leaf – Garross planted the tree 20 years ago. Doug introduced me to Rob a few years ago. They often eat breakfast […]
September 28, 2019 by tomdalzell
Gas Stations of Berkeley – Old and Former
When I made my list of old and former gas stations to shoot for this post, I did not have this Coast Gasoline station on Ashby near Claremont. John Storey, who normally pretends he doesn’t know where we are in Berkeley, suggested this gas station. Good idea! A lapsed enthusiast of Quirky Berkeley had urged us […]
September 22, 2019 by tomdalzell
Country Cheese – After 50 years, Gone
San Pablo Avenue just north of University is not in the Gourmet Ghetto, either geographically or culturally. Gourmet Ghetto or not, Country Cheese had a 50-year run on San Pablo, closing in August. Shirley Ng and her ex-husband bought the store in 1991 from its original owners, who opened it in 1969. It closed in […]
September 19, 2019 by tomdalzell
Mini Post: El Dumpo
BAHA has recently published several photos of El Dumpo, a restaurant on Allston just above Shattuck in the 1940s and 1950s. The front door was carved by Emil Janel, a Swede in San Francisco. He was lauded as “the world’s greatest sculptor in wood.” Chris Treadway published this El Dumpo ad. Several matchbooks from El […]
September 15, 2019 by tomdalzell
Private Mail Boxes
I find private mail box stores of interest in my exploration of quirky Berkeley. Not everyone will agree with me. It’s a free country. You don’t have to agree with me. Hear me out, though. I have posted on the laundromats of Berkeley. They are almost without question quirky in some sense of the word […]
September 7, 2019 by tomdalzell
Jon Balderston’s Show in Alameda
I have written about Jon Balderston several times, first about his furniture and advertising/toys collection and then about his sketchbooks. In 2017 I visited the Alameda Point Flea Market with Balderston and Marcia Donahue as my guides and later posted about that visit. Today I write about his show at Julie’s Coffee and Tea Garden, 1223 […]
September 3, 2019 by tomdalzell
Holiday Field Trip – Bobo in San Juan Bautista
For our Labor Day notional Quirky Berkeley Holiday Field Trip we will motor down to San Juan Bautista to see the collection of equipment used by IBEW linemen as collected by Vicente A. “Bobo” Banuela Jr. This post represents a rare three-way overlay of my life. It is based on a quirky collection by someone who lived in […]
September 2, 2019 by tomdalzell
The Signs of San Pablo Avenue – Emeryville
I have posted about the signs of San Pablo Avenue -signs in Berkeley and Albany and neon signs and a post about the bars on San Pablo in Berkeley. When I did my first post about San Pablo Avenue five years ago , I wrote: “San Pablo Avenue is our funkiest boulevard. South to North […]
August 23, 2019 by tomdalzell