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November 29, 2014 by tomdalzell

San Francisco 1957

 

ad-1953-hudson-hornetIn the summer of 1957, my friend’s dad packed the family  into his 1954 Hudson Hornet and they headed west.

triptikcoverThey followed their AAA Triptik from Detroit through the Great Plains, Denver, Cheyenne, and then through Utah and Nevada to California.

This was the first major road trip for my friend’s family.  He remembers it with great affection and was overjoyed when his youngest brother mailed him a packet of photos and postcards from the trip.

960x540 10808-f Grant Avenue, Chinatown 1164918962_bbf3755b61 3817356547_5f5979b9f5 CASanFranciscoFishermansWharfTraveLodge jrl004674.1L mark-hopkins-hotel-ca-postcard Market STreet SF 1957 pc115-chinatown-grant powell at market sf 2 Q8mFRfa safe_image.php San_Francisco_-_Powell_Street_(1959) Screen Shot 2014-10-25 at 5.53.14 AM street_flower_vendors_san_francisco_CAThe Big Changes were only barely starting.  North Beach was a wild place.  My friend was 13 and adventurous.  He hiked around the City at night, and found himself in North Beach.

Bandstand 720px-The-Black-Hawk,-January-27,-1961,-3-PMHe tagged along with a group going to the Blackhawk and then the Tin Angel.

JaneBelsonHubertLeslieGuiMayo

He claims – and I say claims – that he met and spent the better part of the evening with Jane Belson and Hube the Cube. She had just premiered her first film, Logos, very avant garde.  Hube was a legendary beat figure famous for nothing but famous.  I take this claim with a grain of salt.  Why would Hube hang out with a 13-year-old kid from Detroit?  But, then again….

I asked my friend what these photos and postcards made him feel.  Did he regret what later happened between his father and him?  Could it have been averted?

He didn’t want to go there.  He just thumbed through the photos.

IMG_3677

 

 

 

 

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One Response to San Francisco 1957

  1. Tony Arioli says:
    January 15, 2018 at 3:31 am

    The night view of Market St. postcard (9th one from the top) was taken in 1958 – the theater marquee beneath the Esquire and Telenews signs reads “This Is Russia,” a film released that year. Hope this helps…

    Reply

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