Quirky Berkeley

The Quirky Material Culture of Berkeley

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August 2, 2014 by tomdalzell

Miscellaneous

Quirky Berkeley 11-27-2018

Addison Antiques – Quirk 4 U

Geneva Addison’s store is a one-stop-shop for elegant quirk.  There is nothing in the store that I wouldn’t like.  The store is by me all that a quirky antique store can be.

Quirky Berkeley 10-24-2018

Harold Adler: Cultural Polymath

We’ve seen his Art House – now a little bit about his life.  Musician, photographer, producer of benefits, film work, talent agency, light show artist, with brushes with fame – Carol Doda, Janis Joplin, and others.

Quirky Berkeley 02-26-18

Alt.Albany at 714 B

Folk art and tiki and turtles fill the corner front yard at Ashbury and B.  This is a reminder that quirk has no borders.  Next week is back to Berkeley, but this week a peek at Albany.

IBEW Hold the Pull Safety Summit

Clap in You Believe in Fairies – Return to Amador

More, lots more, from Amador Avenue with its front yard small world.  Here – a club house and pirate cove and Fairyland and Fairy Bakery and miniature laboratory and Little Dog and the Urban Scouts.

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Ancient Berkeley

The loose thread that connects this post is the depiction (by image or name) of something ancient, which includes for the purposes of this post up to the 19th century, such as this Nike of Samothrace by Mark Olivier.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on August 21st, 2019.

Al Geyer and his Annapurna

For 50 years – I repeat, 50 years – Al Geyer has run Annapurna on Telegraph. It’s part head shop, part import emphasis on Nepal.  He is a saint, angel, martyr and holy man.  The store is quirky bliss.

Charter Oak

The Antique Center on Telegraph

Another in a series of occasional suggested spots for your acquisition of quirky material culture, the Antique Center at 6519 Telegraph. At least 60 years in business, son and mother, a cat that bites, and tons of quirk.

Chandler-2449-Dwight1Apartment House Names

I confess: very odd on my part.  I like the names of apartment houses.  They speak of another time.

Quirky Berkeley 10-24-2018

Harold Adler’s Art House 

The Art House doesn’t just rock a Sixties vibe – it is a Sixties vibe.  Gallery, cultural center, the living room of the Sixties, Harold Adler’s loving embrace of the 1960s.

691 The Alameda

Artificial Flowers

The premise is simple, if tenuous.  The nse of artificial flowers in a natural-inclined place like Berkeley is quirky in a world upside down sort of way.  Here I salute those who use artificial flowers outside their homes.

Quirky Berkeley 03-21-2017

Automatic Response

Steve Papai runs Automatic Response on Eastshore.  They shred paper and destroy hard drives.  He collects old office equipment – typewriters, comptometers, and check protectors.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on March 26th, 2016.

Love Letter to Berkeley Ace Hardware

Soon it will move.  Before it does – I honor the building and trains and Homies and models and the Chuckles for sale.  All hail Berkeley Ace Hardware!  Be not forgotten!

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on March 26th, 2016.

Art and a Love of Dogs – BADRAP 

In the hills of Oakland with several nexus to Berkeley – Donna Reynolds and Tim Racer and their art and pit bulls.  What a deal!

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Jon Balderston Sketchbooks

A second look at a Quirky Berkeley artist’s sketchbooks, this time Jon Balderston and his fascination with a new flat man character.  Plus a look at new objects in his hodge podge lodge and home.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on August 21st, 2019.

Jon Balderston Art Show

If I were giving out frequent flyer miles for appearances in this blog, Jon Balderston would be happily flying free.  He has a show of his paintings in Alameda and Quirky Berkeley says – go check it out.

BERKELEY RIOTS NATIONAL GUARD

Frank Bardacke – He Stood Tall in Berkeley

Frank Bardacke was in Berkeley from 1961 until 1970, at Cal and in the streets. There wasn’t much in Berkeley in the 1960s that he wasn’t part of.  His story reminds us of an older, prouder, principled Berkeley.

Thepress_freestone/occidental, Freeman Winery

The Bars of San Pablo Avenue

Once again John Storey got out his black and white camera and we visited six funky bars on San Pablo Avenue, bridging Berkeley, Albany,, and El Cerrito.  Plus two that are gone.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on August 21st, 2019.

The Signs of San Pablo Avenue – Emeryville

For my fifth post about San Pablo Avenue, I present photographs of the signs of San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville, part of a joinery from end to end of our funky Boulevard.

Quirky visits Sebastopol

Beds

I have posted on quirky doors, garage doors, outbuildings, gardens, and bathrooms.  Today – quirky beds.  This post breaks almost every Quirky Berkeley rule.    I will not hide behind rules.  I will show you the beds.

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Berkeley in 1968

For the last post of 2018, a look at the events of 1968 in Berkeley as exported by the Berkeley Barb – the forces of chase and anarchy loosed – hope and rage and fate.

"Quirky Berkeley"

Berkeley (Ellis) Stamp Company

The third chapter in my exploration of old Berkeley businesses – the fourth generation running a small Berkeley business, an element of what makes Berkeley Berkeley.

Quirky Berkeley 12-15-2017

Quirky Business: Berkeley Typewriter

Another outstanding, upstanding, longstanding Berkeley business – Berkeley Typewriter on University, owned by Joe Banuelos whose life has been the repair, restoring, and selling of typewriters.

Quirky Berkeley 10-06-2017

The Berkeley Vacuum Center

Another old business – Chris and Gerald Seegmiller, sons of Berkeley and their store. It was Sam the Vacuum Man, then Berkeley Hardware Vacuum, and since the early 1980s the Seegmillers.  10 out of 10.

Avi-in-pagoda

Avi Black’s Berkri-La

On the southwest corner of Gilman and Ordway, Avi Black has translated his lover of all things Balinese into a backyard Berkri-la, as in Shangrila.  Very Bali cool.

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Body Parts and Mannequins

A compilation inspired by this photo and the suggestion of a reader.  Body parts and mannequins from Berkeley and our holiday notional field trips.  Ending with a popular culture quiz

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Bowling

Bowling balls as lawn art.  I have three.  Placed there by a neighbor.  Plus one house using bowling pins!

Quirky Berkeley 01-29-2018

Susan Brooks – A Magic Little World of Quirk

Susan Brooks in her studio in the Sawtooth Building. She paints,  makes jewelry, carves small clay figurines, and collects quirky things – a life of quirk and art.  Must go!

Quirky Berkeley 4/12/2019

Susan Brooks’ Sketchbooks

Last year I took you to the studio of Susan Brooks with her graphic work, jewelry and objects of mirth and desire. Today – her sketchbooks, a portal into her creative process.

2943 Russell

(Some of) Berkeley’s Best Buddhas

We love us our Buddhist iconography in our yards. And no, I am not saying that Buddhism is quirky. The iconography is part of the quirky fabric, that’s all.

Guanyin

A Thanksgiving post on Guanyin in our front yards. She is the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Her name means “Perceiving the Cries of the World.”  There are cries of the world today.

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Time Travel/ Time Capsule Bulletin Board

A friend of Quirky Berkeley loosened flyer after flyer from a bulletin board, giving a glimpse of the culture of Berkeley in the 1980s and 1990s.  It was a crazy idea and took lots of work.  And boy did it pay off!

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Bumper Stickers by Mykael Moss

A guest post – Mykael Moss is fascinated by our bumper stickers.  Lots and lots of photos of our bumper stickers.  Right dab in the middle of the Quirky Berkeley ethos.  You go Mykael!

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A New Crop of Bumper Stickers

Mykael Moss is at it again – unabated in her passion for Berkeley and fascination for the thoughts we express with bumper stickers.  We care!

Ken Stein’s Berkeley Buttons

Another casual departure from Quirky Berkeley norms – Ken Stein’s extraordinary collection of Berkeley political buttons of the 1960s and 1970s.  We had causes!

Quirky Berkeley 6-19-2018

Roger Carr – Having Fun Making Things

After a career at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, a division of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Roger Carr started making things for the sake of making things – and having fun.

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Roger Carr’s Tubas at Burning Man

Recently I posted about Roger Carr, a Very Serious physicist who these days is having fun making things.  Here we check out Roger’s Burning Man project, a robotic tuba orchestra.

1800-Marin-200x150Chimneys

Chimneys are Tier Two quirk.  They may not be quirky material culture in and of themselves, but they add to the quirky feel of Berkeley.  I only ask that you spend two minute with chimneys.

Quirky Berkeley 7-14-2017

Chronological Errors

A mash-up of old technology, ghost signs, places known by their old names – objects or names that have no real place today but remain.  A great mind game – send me any you can think of that I missed please.

Thepress_freestone/occidental, Freeman Winery

Chronological Errors #2

Back by popular demand – more photos of  objects that are no longer commonly used or in some cases even understood.  From police call boxes to military surplus to corner stores – and more.

Quirky Berkeley-Wavy Gravy

Collections

As therapy for my desire to acquire, I compile photos of unthemed collections I have encountered – those of Wavy Gravy and eight others.

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Themed Collections

A companion post to last week’s on unthemed collections – here collections found on Quirky Berkeley travels of pigs, elephants, doxies, rhinos, rock concert leaflets, things Asian, things African, and more.

"Quirky Berkeley 07-17-15"

Columns

In which I start photographing columns, stop photographing columns, and then go gaga over these Camelia Street beauties.

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The Codornices Club Clubhouse

In 1916, neighbors with help from the City built Codornices Park and at the top of the hill behind the slide a clubhouse for the Codornices Club.  Maybeck played some role in the building, which was demolished in 1960.

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Counterculture Stores

An unapologetic collection of ads and photos of some of Berkeley’s businesses of the 1960s and early 1970s that arose from or catered to the counterculture.  Trippy!

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Counterculture Stores 1966

A more or less systematic look at Berkeley counterculture stores from 1966.  Plus two bonus sections – my world in 1966 and rhetoric/action parallels with today. Oh what a trip it could be!

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Counterculture Stores 1968

Finishing up my 50-years-after-1968 business here with ads by counterculture stores in the 1968 Barb.  Never mind that the funeral of the hippie was in late ’67, we still had it going on.

Quirky Berkeley 6-27-2019

Country Cheese – 50 years on San Pablo, Gone

After 50 years, Country Cheese on San Pablo closed in August.  It was a glorious combination of cheese, coffee, tea, sandwiches, and kitsch.  It is missed.

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R.Crumb and Berkeley

Underground comix deity R. Crumb is not ours, but he has had connections with Berkeley for 50 years.  Here he smooches with Janis Joplin at a Berkeley gallery opening.

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Darwin the Retrieving Cat

Found objects – trash from the streets of North Berkeley.  Assembled.  Photographed.  The genius – retrieved and brought him by Darwin.  A cat.  Through the window at night.

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Michael Delacour – his life before the park

Delacour has been the face of People’s Park since 1969. Here – the 31 years of his life before People’s Park and a little family park-building history.

Quirky Berkeley-Delano

Delano in 2019

Today – March  31 – would have been the 92nd birthday of Cesar Chavez.  On a work trip in late March, John Storey and I spent a few hours in Delano, which was for a few years the home of the United Farm Workers.

Quirky Berkeley 05-11-2018

1613 Derby – Lovely and Simple Quirk

This is old-school Quirky Berkeley – a few photos and no background on the people behind the quirk.  I try to make it a virtue, but confess that I have erred and strayed.  Forget the no background – this is great quirk.

Quirky Berkeley 08-05-2016

Doors

A fresh look at Berkeley doors – better photos and more photos and looser rules than the first-generation post I did on doors.  Inspiration!  A grand metaphor!

Quirky Berkeley 12-16-2016

Art at the Ed Roberts Campus

While mourning the loss of the mural at the old CIL on Telegraph, I celebrate here the public art at the Ed Roberts Campus – photographs and hand-painted tiles.

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Elephants

Three-dimensional and two-dimensional images of elephants in Berkeley.  Plus an explanation of why I don’t use the term pachyderm.

Quirky Berkeley 3-22-19

Elephants 2

A supplement to my original elephants post, here we have elephants in bas relief, porches, smoke shops, lighting shops, yards, collections, and pottery shops.  No joke!

Quirky Berkeley 6-15-17

La Escuelita on Colusa

This post represents an open-arms embrace of what others might call kitsch.  Bright, gaudy, sentimental art in front of stucco day care on Colusa.  A gift to the street and quirky.

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Fairy Garden on Parker

Liz Schultz and her daughter have created this fairy garden in front of their Parker Street home.  There are fairies and gnomes and mermaids and a lizard of unknown origin.  Enchanted!

3102 Shattuck

Fences and Walls

We don’t just have fences and we don’t just have walls. We sometimes have quirky fences and we sometimes have quirky walls.  Robert Frost sets the tone, and then we admire the quirky creativity of our fences and walls.

Quirky Berkeley 9-25-19r

The fence that Doug Heine made for Rob Garross

Doug Heine made this great and quirky silhouette fence for his friend Rob Garross – both Quirky Berkeley royalty.  Plus updates on Doug’s art.

Quirky Berkeley 11-28-2016

Sheri Tharp’s Carved Picket Fence

The carved redwood picket fence at 3102 Shattuck has a story that goes back to 1942.  Here is that story, and the story of a Berkeley that drew young and struggling artists.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., is seen on Thursday,  June 20th, 2013.

Fire Hydrants and Traffic Barriers

Painted fire hydrants, fire hydrants as lawn art, and traffic-calming barriers as art.  What a combo!

Bob Fischer’s Extraordinary Things

Folk art, collected art, kitsch, and Bob Fischer’s photography and paintings fill his house.  An inspiring hodgepodge of extraordinary things.

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Fito

In 2010, Adolfo “Fito” Celedon Bravo died shortly after being shot at Emerson and Adeline during an armed robbery. The post is about love, death, and a public sacred place.  Hint: the story has not ended.

"Quirky Berkeley"

495 Vincente – what the heck???

Even in the loose-goosey world of Quirky Berkeley categorization, this one does not lend itself to categorization.  Too random to be a small world, so, what?  It’s fun.  How about that?

Quirky Berkeley 10-18-2016

Rogue Little Free Libraries

We have a good number of free book exchanges in Berkeley.  These are some of the rogues, those not sanctioned by the Little Free Library organization.

1035-Shattuck

Free Speech 2.0

Free speech rebooted.  Little free libraries, wish trees, note posts, bulletin boards.  1964 plus a few decades.

1718-VirginiaFrom a Tree Hanging

Stuff hanging from trees.  More than you would think.

Quirky Berkeley 01-30-2017

Games of Berkeley

One can’t talk about the quirky in Berkeley without a visit to Games of Berkeley.  Here, a look back at the old site on Shattuck and a look forward at the new site on Durant.

Quirky Berkeley 12-16-2016

Garage Doors

Photos of 14 painted garage doors.  What a way to express yourself.  Plus – a call to arms by my friend for spray-painted graffiti-style garage doors.  Good idea!

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Barbara Garson’s Berkeley Years

Barbara Garson came to Berkeley from New York in 1962.  Seven years later she left with fame in her pocket as a result of the success of her satirical play MacBird. This is the story of her seven years with us.

Quirky Berkeley 08-20-2018

Arnold Haller’s Masks

Arnold describes himself as an artist by avocation.  he is self-taught. He hasn’t sold or shown a piece.   But he makes masks like nobody’s business and an occasional Mobius Strip, Cat Nemesis, or bust.

Quirky Berkeley 10-06-2017Happy Halloween – From OAKLAND

This is a two-fer, two rules broken.  My rules exclude seasonal – here I present seasonal.  My rules require Berkeley – here I present Oakland.  Break the rules Tom!

Photo: Ian Woods

Ian Wood’s Garage Photos

A fellow traveler!  Quirky Berkeley evolving!  A glimpse at Ian Wood’s Instagram collection of photos of Berkeley garage doors.  We are a movement!

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Ian Wood Garage Doors – #2

Almost two years after I first posted photos that Ian Wood took of garage doors, I am back for seconds.  He is walking and looking and finding and sharing his big love for quirk.

Quirky Berkeley 9-28-2018

Berkeley’s Dark Satanic Mills

Black and white photographs from a stroll on Second Street between Cedar and Gilman – the vanishing and decaying factories, forges, and foundries with thoughts on  the meaning of their loss to Berkeley.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. is seen on December 27th, 2018.

Dark Satanic Mills – 2nd Verse

A return visit to the dying embers of industrial Berkeley, finishing our tour of Second Street north of University.  More stunning John Storey black and white photos of a vanishing Berkeley.

Quirky Berkeley

Gardens

I confess – I don’t have a clear definition of what is quirky when it comes to gardens.  These are though – vertical gardens, green roofs, and eccentric containers.

Gnome-1Gnomes

Kitsch?  Maybe.  I like them. They’re in.

2825-StuartGrids

A debatable posting.  An exercise in visual acuity. Look for grids.  Collect them.  Quirky!

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Judy Gumbo – Yippie Girl – Still

Judy Gumbo, our most famous female Yippie, lives in a Berkeley co-housing community with material reminders of the 1960s and 1970s on every wall of her house.  Her politics have not changed.

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And a half

The premise – signs with a half in the number.  The secondary premise – rock it old school using iPhone photos.  Just like the old days.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., is seen on September 15th, 2017.

A Tale of the 1300 Block of Haskell Street

It is a charming working class, economically diverse block just east of San Pablo Avenue.  It’s about the change.  This is the tale of how it is and where it is headed.

Quirky Berkeley 10-06-2017

The 1100 Block of Hearst

A charming, affordable block just east of San Pablo.  But – a proposal to destroy a charming little bungalow court and go high-price ‘contemporary infill village’ butt-ugly imitation-Emeryville-or-is-it-Pleasanton?  Really?

First-one-454x300Hex Signs

As a Son of Pennsylvania, I was thrilled to find my first hex sign in Berkeley.  I found seven so far.

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Hippie by David Mandel

A wonderful memoir from Berkeley’s last days of folk music and Bohemian innocence and the early days of the shit getting real.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif.,  on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014.

Jeeps

This post is built upon a brilliant concept – depictions of Jeeps in Berkeley. There is chaff with the wheat, I know, in the end the post promises more than it delivers, which is why it asks for YOUR help.

Quirky Berkeley 12-30-2015

Bitchen Kitchen(s)

As part of an ongoing compilation of quirky homes and gardens, I present the quirkiest kitchens I have found in Berkeley and on field trips.  I can’t resist a reduplication and so have gone with “bitchen” instead of “quirky.”

Quirky Berkeley 7-14-2017

Kitsch Combo

For years I have avoided kitsch in Berkeley’s yards. Reverse course!  I embrace it.  Here I present kitsch from half a dozen yards, plus an End War sculpture, plus a stunning array of bonsho, Buddhist bells.

Quirky Berkeley 11-02-17

Kitsch on Colusa

I continue my embrace of Kitsch with a look at the  über kitsch in the front yard at 1106 Colusa.  What a manifestations of our creativity and individuality that function as gifts to the street!

Quirky Berkeley 02-21-2019

1725 Eighth Street – Kitsch

To borrow from the words of a spiritual, in quirk there is no east or west, no rich or poor.  It’s everywhere – here in the flats, home of our vanishing economic diversity.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on April 7th, 2016.

Lanesplitter’s Action Figures / Quirky Dolls

The quirky action figure tableaux at Lanesplitter Pizza on San Pablo, plus a bonus look at quirky dolls I have encountered.

Quirky Berkeley 7-14-2017

Lasher’s Electronics

A QB friend suggested that I look at some of Berkeley’s older businesses.  Good idea!   Here is a look at Lasher’s Electronics, 57 years now on University.

Quirky Berkeley 11-27-2018

Laundromats of Berkeley

The names, the signage, the looks, the room full of strangers washing clothes and the smells and noises.  Another black and white photo essay on a quirky institution – the laundromat.

3027 Adeline

Berkeley’s Liquor Stores

Another post of black and white photos – Berkeley’s liquor stores, from the bland to the hopelessly romantic funky cool.  Plus a little rant on what is good for the oppressor.

Quirky Berkeley 05-29-2017

Eli Leon’s Art and Collections

For 55 years, Eli Leon made art and collected. Traditional quilts, Afro-traditional quilts, and kitcheniana were the main categories.  Here – a view of his collections and a brief biographical portrait.

Quirky Berkeley 02-26-18

Small Word at 1711 Ada

It’s been a while since I posted about a small world.  Theresa Lipton’s front yard on Ada reminds just how clever and fun these micro-universes are.  And bonus – nearby zebra action.

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The Legacy of Martin Metal

Metal lived and made art in Berkeley from the early 1950s until his death in 2007.  Here – a look at his work, his life, his family.  He epitomized the freedom of Berkeley before the Big Changes.

Quirky Berkeley 12-30-2015

Masks

As the Fixx sang to us in 1983, one thing led to another.  I have assembled in one place many photos of masks that I have come across in my Quirky Berkeley travels.

Quirky Berkeley 05-11-2017

A Second Surprise on Vassar

I went to 374 Vassar to re-photograph a whale weathervane and got my second big surprise on that street – a quirky garden and a Best of Berkeley couple, Suzanne and Charles McCulloch.

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By which we measure….

A collection of measuring devices, displayed publicly and in many cases used as lawn art.

Quirky Berkeley 03-26-2016

Mermaids of Berkeley

Artistic depictions of aquatic humanoids in our yards, sidewalks, and restaurants.  And our livery collars.

Quirky Berkeley 05-11-2018

Metro Lighting and So Very Much More

This started as an innocent look at Metro Lighting on San Pablo.  It became so much more – a story of a young, just-married couple from Ohio coming to Berkeley to live the life that they were meant to live.  Lucky us.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on September 30th, 2019.

The Material Culture of Berkeley’s Mexican Restaurants

Kitsch.  Historic photos.  Folk art.  Aztec and Mayan images.  Bright colored tiles to die for.  This is the material culture from five Berkeley Mexican restaurants.  Added bonus – intermittent sound track.

Ken Stein – Menorah and Lamps

Adding to Ken Stein’s super Quirky Berkeley resume are a Statue of Liberty menorah and Donato Creti lamps.  Beautiful!  Quirky!

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Big Bill Miller and the Berkeley Provos

The Berkeley Provo Movement was small, short-lived, and important disproportionately to its size or lifespan.  Its leader, Big Bill Miller, was a figure in countercultural Berkeley for 5 years and then disappeared.

Red-Boot-1387-Virginia Miscellaneous Miscellaneous

No theme.  No category.  No grouping.  No rhyme.  No reason.  No unifying theory.  Just miscellaneous.  A mix.

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Miscellaneous #2

It took some psychological heavy lifting, but I worked my way past my need to categorize everything and present here a couple dozen wonderfully quirky things.  That don’t fit into categories.  There – I said it!  I did it!

Malcolm X School

Miscellaneous #3

There are two ways of looking at this. !) Healthy surrender of need to categorize and group. 2) Lack of vision.  I’ll go with #1.

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Melissa Mork’s Sheet Metal Origami

Melissa Mork, the 4th generation at Mork Sheet Metal, takes HVAC fabrication skills and makes sheet metal creatures.  Check out the grotesques on the roof!

Quirky Berkeley 4/12/2019

Emmanuel Catarino Montoya

Montoya has been ours for 23 years, but in a sense he is of California. of Aztlán – an artist grounded in Chicano and Apache cultural traditions that  have informed his art,

1609 Bancroft

Mosaics

Images created with small pieces of colored ceramic tile, colored glass, stone, or other materials.  From our front yards.  Sacred and profane.

Quirky Berkeley 03-21-2017

Murray Street – The Spirit of Makers

Urban Ore, Hygenic Dog Food, All Power Labs, and Michael Christian’s art.  Quirky.  Young and struggling and creative.  An infusion of good maker DNA into Berkeley.

Quirky Berkeley

Music (Artistic Depictions)

Front yards, front porches, signs, graffiti and murals – all depict music.  A theme-based collection here, some of which you have seen elsewhere, some of which not.

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Mysterious Medallions

hese days, just everybody – tout le monde – is talking about the mysterious medallions that are appearing in Berkeley’s sidewalks – spoof historical markers.  Here are the ones I know of.  Send me more!

Quirky Berkeley 12-30-2015

Connected to Natural Forces

Mark Haggitt is a collagist who uses detritus of all sorts in his exploration of things connected to natural forces.  Not fancy. DIY.  Wonderful!

2217 Parker

Odds and Ends

Odds and ends, bits and pieces, remnants and scraps. The only unifying principle here is – Quirky Berkeley.  One-offs and updates that have come my way. They are a variety pack of Quirky Berkeley.   They made me happy.

Quirky Berkeley 05-12-16

DIY Quirky Art @ NIAD, Richmond

Art by artists with developmental challenges.  Creativity and independence through art and the human spirit and – instant quirk for the home, yard, or workplace.

2217 Parker

Odds and Ends

Odds and ends, bits and pieces, remnants and scraps. The only unifying principle here is – Quirky Berkeley.  One-offs and updates that have come my way. They are a variety pack of Quirky Berkeley.   They made me happy.

Quirky Berkeley 11-10-2015

DIY Quirk at Ohmega Salvage

The industrial and vintage oddities at Ohmega Salvage on San Pablo are PERFECT for DIY Quirk.  Or just wandering and imagining.  A great Berkeley hippie waste-not vibe.

Quirky Berkeley 4/12/2019

Ophelia and Drac on Virginia

Linda Gallaher Brown and Steve Napoli have given passersby Opehlia and Drac for about ten years.  Sometimes a cat is curled up on one of laps.  Inside the house – quirk and beautiful things.  A perfect 10.

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Outbuildings

An orange, mud hut, bale, shipping container, caboose, yurt, tree house, trailer, tiny house, Aistream, bunkie.  And more.  DIY!

Quirky Berkeley 9-28-2018

Our Painted Ladies

From last week’s black and white photos of our dark satanic mills to this weeks very colorful photos of polychrome decoration that embellishes or enhances architectural details.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on October 31st,  2018

Painted Ladies 2

A little respite from the midterm madness – a look at more of Berkeley’s Victorians, many with multi-colored paint schemes that embellish or enhance architectural details.

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Pal Joey – Sinatra in Berkeley!

Pal Joey (Sinatra) is given a one-way ticket out of Gold City, which gives us two technicolor views of Berkeley in the 1950s.  Plus Oakland.  And San Francisco.  And a reflection on old weird glory.

"Quirky Berkeley"

Palms

I built a post about artistic depictions of palms around several palms on a cinder block wall at the Webster Poolside Apartments.  It’s a reach, but I love the Poolside palms.

Quirky Berkeley 07-02-2017

Pettingell’s Bookbindery – 91 Years a Treasure

For 91 years, we have gone to Pettingell’s for our book binding needs, the last 23 of which Klaus Rötzscher has been the owner and binder.  Beautiful things, beautiful tools and machines, beautiful materials.  A treasure!

"Quirky Berkeley 09-26-2015"

Pirates

Pirate images from our front yards and some lightweight musing on our fascination with imagined pirates.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley Calif, on December 30th, 2015.

Leonard Pitt: Many Passions

Detroit and Paris and chocolate. Balinese dance and masks.  Theater.  And intricate “structures” that dance through the air in his Grant Street home.

Quirky Berkeley 12-15-2017

The Inspired Madness of a Plaster Palace

An extraordinarily whimsical house in the hills with ornate plaster work and carved doors and skylights and columns, with a history of artistic and political nonconformity to match.

Quirky Berkeley 08-20-2018

Playland Not at the Beach – GO SOON!

It’s at 10979 San Pablo in El Cerrito.  It is magic. Pure magic.  All things Playland, a miniature circus, vintage pinball machines to die for.  It closes Labor Day, for good. The end of magic.  GO SOON!

"Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on August 26th, 2015."

Post-It Art on Milvia

On Milvia just south of University, post-it artists at Customer Lobby, Magoosh, and Everlaw have gifted the street with post-it art in the windows.  Totoro. Khtulu. The Galaga starship shooter.  More.  Youth!

Quirky Berkeley 12-15-2017

2819 Prince Street – Second Act Quirk

In 2016, a family had to move out of their rented home on Russell Street, dismantling as they left a great quirky curb strip and front yard.  They moved to Prince Street and have made great new quirk.

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More Print Mint

Alice Schenker dug up more material from the Print Mint circa late 1960s when she had her late husband Don rocked Berkeley with posters, comics, and framing.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on June 27th, 2019.

Private Mail Boxes

I anticipate some debate here, but I find private mail box centers to be quirky.  I can’t put my finger on why – but I do. Here are five – two have great exteriors, others have busy signage.  I declare: quirky.

1835-University

Quirky Through Windows

Seen through glass – lots of blue bottles, art, junk.

Quirky Berkeley 01-18-2016

Rainbows

No unicorns, but plenty of rainbows in Berkeley.  Painted and in names.  On walls and accessories.  And a tease for the rainbow flag.

"Quirky Berkeley 09-26-2015"

Random on MLK

No rhyme or reason to the collection of stuff in front of 1608 MLK.  Kanji!  And a prayer for Wendy.

Quirky Berkeley 02-15-16

Art Ratner’s Miniature Buildings

A big old mission creep here – but – who could resist?  A man with great passion and a great collection of miniature souvenir buildings.

Quirky Berkeley 02-21-2019

Reid’s Music –  Where Gospel is King

Reid’s has given Berkeley joyful noise for 75 years, but October will be the end.  Its success reflects a good, old Berkeley. Its closing reflects another victory for gentrification.  Plus – a brief farewell to Mac McIlroy.

Quirky Berkeley

Berkeley Relief

A posting on relief sculpture in Berkeley. Some of it is on its face quirky.  All of it is an intrinsically quirky part of our fabric.

Quirky Berkeley 04-11-2017

Shattuck Avenue Relief & Facades

Join the flaneur as he walks six blocks south from University on Shattuck, documenting  relief sculpture and facades, beauty for the sake of beauty.

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Ralph Shaffer – The Start of Change at Cal

In 1957, Ralph Shaffer introduced a resolution banning racial discrimination in fraternities to ASUC.  It did not pass. But then came TASC,and then came SLATE, the HUAC demonstrations, the FSM.  Etc. Starting here.

Egypt-1-1370-Talbot

Religious Iconography: Pre-Christian

Images from Egypt, Greece Rome, the American southwest.  Pre-Christian.

"Quirky Berkeley"

The Rivoli Theater

Garish/gaudy/hyperactive consumerism meets early 19th century movie theater/palace grandeur.  The 99 cent Store on San Pablo just north of University – great bargains and incredible, well-preserved movie theater flourishes.  Wow!

Benvenue and Russell

Quirky Religious

Buddhas on art car, nun in birdbath, Virgin Mary and gnomes, Virgin Mary and Snow White and Cinderella and Barbie.  Undeniably (I think) quirky use of religious iconography.  No offense to any religion intended.

164 San Antonio

Representational Sculpture

These 20-something photos are of front-yard sculpture, gifted to passers-by (passerby’s?), all looking like what they purport to be – hence representational.  The first of several posts on sculpture.

Quirky Berkeley 12-30-2015

Berkeley Rocks

Rocks in bowls and in circles and stacked and painted and drilled.  Rocks in our yards.

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The Safety Pin at 812 Page Street

For the last post of 2017, we visit the development across the street from Doug Heine’s studio on Page Street to see the safety pin that Heine was commissioned to make, a reminder to protect the vulnerable in our midst.

1625 PrinceSculpture – Modernish

I don’t pretend to know what modern sculpture is.  But that doesn’t stop me from making this page – modernish sculpture in our front yards.

Quirky Berkeley 12-30-2015

Sculpture Garden on Heinz

The former home of Magic Gardens Nursery is an impromptu sculpture garden with works from the Artworks Foundry.  Still magic.

Quirky Berkeley 11-28-2016

The Quirkiest Commercial Block in Berkeley

Mark Bulwinkle nominated the Star Grocery block on Claremont as the quirkiest block in Berkeley.  Motion second, concur.  A definite peaceful vibe.  Four bookstores too.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif.  on May 11th, 2018.

Claire Ittner Writes about Sudhu Tewari

A guest post!  About a Very Far Out front lawn on Mabel Street, featuring sound sculpture by tinkerer and gadgeteer Sudhu Tewari. Quirky Berkeley has eyes on the street!

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Scott Page and his 3-D Scan Quirk

A visit with Scott Page and his three-D scans of large objects including the air raid siren at Indian Rock.  Plus quirky things in his home.

Quirky Berkeley 08-16-2016

Tyler Hoare: The Bay as Gallery

A look at 40+ years of Tyler Hoare’s art – in the bay, in his studio, and in his Berkeley home.  Best known for Snoopy and the Red Baron, Hoare’s sculpture and collages are so much more.

at the Freeman Winery in Sebastopol, Calif. on February 2nd, 2019.

Tyler Hoare Show at Compound Gallery

Tyler Hoare, most widely known for his Snoopy and Red Baron sculptures in the Bay, has a show at the Compound Gallery in Oakland, a gallery and workshop where creativity and quirk reign.  GO SEE IT.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on December 18th, 2019.

Tyler Hoare: Missing and Searching Quirk

Tyler Hoare, maker of Snoopy and Red Barons for decades, is looking for a missing submarine and a missing UFO.  He is also looking for homes for Snoopy/Red Baron #36 and #37.

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Random Acts of 1970s History

From Ken Stein’s files – clippings mostly from Grassroots in the 1970s and early 1980s.  Architectural heritage, “Carpetgate,” disability rights, and more.

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Random Acts of 1980s History

Another stroll through Ken Stein’s collection of clippings from Grass Roots, these from the 1980s.  There’s a touch of plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose here, and then some how far have we fallen?

Quirky Berkeley 10-06-2017

John Seabury – Son of Berkeley -Quirky to the Core

Born and raised in Berkeley, Seabury has lived a life of music and art.  From the start and going strong.

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Berkeley Souvenir Spoons

Ken Stein’s collection of sterling silver Berkeley souvenir spoons, most from between 1890 and 1910.  A deviation from Quirky Berkeley rules of engagement – but brilliant and worth breaking the rules.

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Unexpected Statuary

The presence of conventional lawn statues in a largely unconventional Berkeley makes, I assert, the conventional unconventional.  Or, put another way, quirky.

Quirky Berkeley 11-11-2015

Leslie Safarik’s Ceramic Joy

Our search for Leslie Safarik’s joyful giant ceramic women starts at Ohmega Salvage on San Pablo.  What a gift!  So glorious we bend a few rules.

Fixiing-fights

Sam’s 58 Club – The Black and White Years

Trusting a crazy idea took Quirky Berkeley to Sam’s 58 Club at 1035 Heinz.  It’s been long closed, but the past permeates.  This is Part One of two or three -unknown now – about Sam and Sam’s.

George, Sam, Bruno.  Photo courtesy of Steve Pedone

Sam’s 58 Club – Part Two

For its last decades, Sam’s 58 Club on Heinz evolved into a blue-collar, working class bar with a vibrant culture.  Sam is shown here standing between George and Bruno, the bartenders known as “The Bookends.”

2727 Dwight

Shingles

An exercise in visual acuity – patterns made by shingles.  Not a lot to say about it, just photos of shingles.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., is seen on Thursday,  June 20th, 2013.

Sisters Two on Walnut

Two sisters lilting in their childhood home, filling it and their yard with art – tiles, ceramic sculpture, ink wash paintings.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., is seen on Thursday,  June 20th, 2013.Sit Down Young Stranger / Rest Easy

We put benches in front of our homes for strangers to sit upon.  Only in Berkeley.

81 Hillcrest

Snoopy and the Red Baron

A bold post – two photographs depicting perfect quirk.  Lovely depictions of Snoopy and the Red Baron on Hillcrest in the Uplands.

Fountain Walk

Quirky Steps and Risers

The more I repeat those three words the happier I am with my naming.  One doesn’t think of steps and risers as potential canvases for quirk. One is wrong. They are.

Photo: Ted Friedman

Stoney Burke – Guest Post by Ted Friedman

Ted Friedman, the leading authority on All Things Telegraph, writes about Stoney Burke, a street performer / satirist for whom the world, especially Sproul Plaza, is a stage.

1633 McGee

The Sun

Happy sun faces on walls and in gardens.

Quirky BerkeleyTiki

Images of the Creator and First Created.  And a digression on tiki culture in the East Bay.

1436 Curtis

Tools

Saws, spades, rakes, pitchforks, hoes, and picks as decorative accessories.  No kidding.  Tools as lawn art!

Quirky_092013_0087-XL-450x300Topiary

A car, bunny, squirrel, giraffe, horse, and panda.  Not to mention our sundial.

March-12-1934-Oakland-Tribune-Photo

The Tunnel before the Tunnel

A history lesson on the Inter-County Kennedy Tunnel, and then the world’s longest digression on the Suicide Club, Cacophony Society, and Carnival Cosmology.

Quirky Berkeley-Wavy Gravy

Wavy Gravy: The Road to Berkeley

This is the first of 3 pieces about Wavy Gravy, the king of our dear old quirky Berkeley.  We follow the man we know as Wavy from the Gas Light in New York across the country a few times, to Europe, and then the overland trail to India.

Ken-Kesey-City-Council

Wavy Gravy in Berkeley

Part 2 of 3 or 4 (TBD) posts on Wavy Gravy, Clown Prince of Berkeley, Hippy Icon, Flower Geezer & Temple of Accumulated Error. Here – highlights of Wavy’s years in Berkeley, visits and then, since 1975, residing.

Quirky Berkeley visits Wavy Gravy in Berkeley, Calif. on January 17th, 2018.

Wavy Gravy – Some of his Stuff

Wavy Gravy is not all about stuff, but he is not a person without stuff.  In this third in my Wavy Gravy series I show you some of his stuff, mostly gloriously in his work room / prayer room.  It is cool stuff.

"Quirky Berkeley-03/19/2015"

2526 Webster – Ceramics

In the shadow of Alta Bates, a quiet neat street. And lots of ceramic animals. Dogs and cats and turtles and most of all, penguins.

1545 Dwight

Up on the roof 

We love our view of the Bay in Berkeley, and to grab a view where the house doesn’t provide one we build decks – up on the roof.  And occasional green houses.  Up where the air is fresh and sweet.

Quirky Berkeley 12-30-2015

DIY Quirk at Urban Ore

Urban Ore’s mission is to end the age of waste.  It is a gold mine of DIY quirk.  Be brave. Take a chance.  Go quirky!

110-DelawareVestigial United Farm Workers

My past!  Berkeley supported the UFW like nobody’s business.  A little bit is left – more so in Berkeley than in the fields.

Quirky Berkeley 05-04-2017

Debbie Vinograd / Magical Doors of Berkeley

Debbie Vinograd came to Berkeley in 1974.  Her sister Julia opened the magical doors of Berkeley for her.  She stayed, and has painted since.  A story of bright colors and surreal and love and collages.

Quirky Berkeley 6-15-17

Julia Vinograd & her visual creativity

Paintings and pillows and photographs and beads and skulls and dolls – anything but a boring space.  Julia Vinograd lives in the California Apartments – adding visual prankster to her career as street poet and bubble lady.

Quirky Berkeley 4-24-2018

Virginia Bakery

Robert Frost wrote that nothing gold can stay.  Virginia Bakery was gold.  It transcended being a bakery.  It was here a long time, but it was gold and so can’t stay.  It closes today after years.  Goodbye Erdmans. Thanks.

Quirky Berkeley

The Glory that was 7 Virginia Gardens

I never learned the story behind the great excess of quirk in front of 7 Virginia Gardens.  I tried but failed.  And then it went away this year. Sold.  Dismantled.  Presented here are photos from its glory days.

Quirky Berkeley 02-26-18

1624 Virginia: Multi-facted Quirk

On a quiet and gentle block – BAM – this. intricate glorious path and a painted sun to die for and kids art and – inexplicable figures on either side of the driveway. This is Berkeley.

All-Wasserman

General Wastemoreland

The journey of Tom Dunphy, from Maryknoll seminarian to peace activist to one-man agitprop theater as General Wastemoreland, to a quiet later life doing good work. A long strange trip.

Quirky Berkeley 05-11-2017

Weathervanes

You don’t need a weathervane to know which way the wind blows, but they help.  Mostly decorative these days, I find them staid but quirky.  These photos – mostly not roosters.

Quirky BerkeleyWild Wild West

A real stretch.  Horseshoes, log cabins, hitching posts, and bleached skulls.  A real stretch.

1201 7th

Windmills (and Water Towers)

Berkeley is not a natural habitat for windmills or water towers. We are not rural, and we are not a big city like New York with its water towers.  We are we are, and we have what we have.

Quirky Berkeley 01-30-2017Wish Trees / Wishing Trees

I have found two in Berkeley – your write a wish on a tag and hang it from the tree. Wish comes true!  I wish that there were more of them.

1431-Spruc

Words

Words as graphics.  Words as meaning. Words as material culture.  My favorite – Malvina Reynolds’ celebration of modest heroes.

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2 Responses to Miscellaneous

  1. neil marcus says:
    May 17, 2017 at 11:31 pm

    can i add photos.such a great gift to us

    Reply
    • tomdalzell says:
      May 21, 2017 at 1:51 pm

      If you email me photos with addresses – sure – I can add them.

      Tom

      Reply

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