What's on the 6th floor?

BiblioTech: Gallery Walkthrough

2012-01-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

BiblioTech, the juried members' exhibition held in conjunction with the College Book Art Association's conference earlier this month, will be on display in the library’s Skylight Gallery through March 11th. This Saturday, January 28th, there will be a Gallery Walkthrough of the exhibit.

Jane's Valentine

2012-01-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

Princeton University Library, Graphic Arts Collection.

The Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts and Special Collections Center presents

The First Annual Valentine Broadside Printing Event*

Saturday, February 4th, 2-4pm, 6th Floor, Main Library.

Celebrate the spirit of Valentine's Day

Experience letterpress printing

Print a Jane Grabhorn-inspired keepsake for your sweetheart

Broadsides limited to the first 100 people

Join us for this inaugural event which marks the renovation of the library’s

1909 Albion handpress and discover one of SFPL’s hidden treasures.


The Albion Press in Book Arts & Special Collections

But who is Jane Grabhorn and what about those elephants?

Martha Jane Bissell became Jane Grabhorn when she married Robert Grabhorn of Grabhorn Press fame. Her husband explains in The Compleat Jane Grabhorn**:

Mea Culpa. In order to justify my presumption in offering this conglomeration of privately printed ephemera to a larger public than the author ever contemplated, some explanations and an apology are indicated.

In 1937, the author, my bride of five years' standing, after a year or two of enforced labor at the Grabhorn Press, where she had been occupied in proof-reading, folding printed sheets, hounding delinquent clients, writing letters and even introductions to books--suddenly revolted and decided to do some printing of her own and by herself. Upon my refusal to buy a toy press christened "Jumbo" seen in a shop window, on the ground that she was surrounded by presses, she persisted and set about adjusting to circumstances. I gave this proud woman a minimum of aid and counselled others to do likewise. Her experiences and the principles (or lack of them) of practice are retailed in the first...fruits of the Jumbo Press.

Thus, Jumbo Press was born with a tiny elephant as its press mark. Her first publications, of course, were manuals for printers: A Guide & Handbook for Amateurs of Printing and A Typographic Discourse for the Distaff Side of Printing.*** Here are the three basic tenets of the Jumbo Press which will give you a sense of her priorities.

Jane's more serious printing venture with William Roth was called the Colt Press--but that's another story.

Come on the 4th to print a Jane-inspired valentine and view the exhibit entitled Jane Grabhorn & Her Jumbo Press. Humorous valentines from the Duane Weston Antique Valentine Collection will also be on display. Once you see you will understand...and perhaps become a Jumbo enthusiast like myself.

*Participants will need to sign in and check bags at the front desk when they enter the SF History Center.

**The Complete Jane Grabhorn, Grabhorn-Hoyem, 1968.

***Oxford English Dictionary: distaff side n. the female branch of a house or family.

****Images of hearts, elephants and Bob and Jane are from Book Arts & Special Collections files.

Year of the Dragon 2012

2012-01-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the year of the dragon - 2012. The dragon can be found throughout San Francisco's history of celebrations.


The Great Dragon, Portola Festival, October 1909

Dragon Nightclub, Barbary Coast, February 1934


Dragon Poses, February 1940

Vice President Nixon with Double-Ten Parade Dragon, October 1956

Queen of Chinese New Year, Estelle Dong, February 1956

New Year Festival, February 1960

6th Floor Test Kitchen: Concertos! Calligraphy! Cake!

2012-01-20T16:39:00.000-08:00

Where do music, beautiful lettering and food come together? Why, on the 6th Floor, of course! This month's 6th Floor Test Kitchen celebrates the 100 year old San Francisco Symphony and comes from the Richard Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering.

Image: San Francisco Symphony Cook Book
Cover design by Byron J. Macdonald
Richard Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering, SFPL

San Francisco Symphony Cook Book: a collection of International recipes - the favorites of San Francisco musicians, guest artists and patrons of music was compiled in 1963 by the San Francisco Symphony Foundation. It includes recipes from appetizers to desserts and everything in between. Each comes with a short description where the recipe came from written by the contributor. "I think," states the editor, "that those who attend the San Francisco Symphony concerts will have a dimension added to their present enjoyment. It may cross their minds, during a rendition of Prelude à l'après-Midi d'un Faune, in a grateful and companionable sort of way, that the Principal Flute supplied them with that divine recipe for 'Mushrooms Fantastique' -- or that the French Horn's opening passage in Schubert's C Major Symphony is being played by the donor of 'Dutch Honey Spice Cake'!"


Photo of Byron J. Macdonald from Letter Arts Review, vol. 15, no. 1 (1999) Harrison Collection of Calligraphy & Lettering, SFPL

But it is not the delicious recipes or the connection with the city's symphony that merits the cook book's addition to Book Arts & Special Collections, it is the fact that the San Francisco Symphony Cook Book was designed by one of San Francisco's premiere calligraphers, Byron J. Macdonald.

Byron J. Macdonald began his career in the lettering arts painting billboards and "showcards" for the theater. Eventually he became a successful independent lettering artist working for companies such as the Emporium, Pacific Telephone, and Benson & Hedges Cigarettes. He also worked for various political and governmental agencies, including the position of scribe to the White House during the Kennedy and Carter administrations.¹

Macdonald is most recognized for his layout expertise - producing calligraphic layouts in shapes such as religious crosses, spirals, circles, and Christmas trees. Many examples of his work, as well as books he authored, can be found in the Richard Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering in the Book Arts & Special Collections Center on the 6th Floor.

Macdonald shared his enthusiasm for the art by helping to found the Friends of Calligraphy and by teaching at the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland. He was also an avid patron of music in San Francisco, which leads us back to the SF Symphony Cook Book and our recipe of the month: Chocolate Coffee Ring (aka, Schokoladen-Gugelhupf.)

Image: detail from San Francisco Symphony Cook Book
Richard Harrison Collection of Calligraphy and Lettering, SFPL

Eugene A. Winkler, an SF Symphony cellist, contributed the Gugelhupf recipe and with 6 eggs, 2½ cups of sugar and almost a pound of butter - who could resist? Add in a swirl of cocoa and you've got a real crowd-pleaser! Here is the recipe from the San Francisco Symphony Cook Book-- enjoy!

1¾ cups butter 4 tsp baking powder

2¼ cups sugar 6 egg whites, stiffly beaten

6 egg yolks (large eggs) 4 Tbsp cocoa

1 cup milk 4 Tbsp lukewarm water

4¼ cups sifted flour 2 Tbsp sugar

Rind of one lemon, grated

Beat butter until creamy. (This is the most important part of the recipe; the beating might require from 18 to 20 minutes. Feed the butter into the beater with a spatula.)
Add sugar, egg yolks, milk, half the flour, and lemon rind; stir until fluffy. Combine baking powder with remaining flour and add to mixture. If the mixture is very heavy and sticky at this point you might as well stop here and throw the whole thing away. Otherwise beat your egg white now and fold them into the mixture.
Divide mixture into 2 parts. Stir cocoa with water and sugar until smooth. Add this to one part of batter and blend well.
Butter and flour deep-fluted ring mold (Gugelhupf-Form). Put one layer of white and one layer of dark batter into mold; repeat.
Bake in 350 degree oven 1½ hours. (Perhaps it will be done in one hour; mine never was.)

Serves: 12-15 people -- if they're not teen-agers!

Chocolate Coffee Ring (aka, Schokoladen-Gugelhupf)!
photo: L. Weddle.

¹ Barbara Lande, "Remembering a Man with a Fourish for Life," Letter Arts Review, vol. 15, no. 1 (1999): 8-13.

Book Arts: Selections from the Grabhorn Collection

2012-01-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

Robert Grabhorn's personal bookplate

The Grabhorn Collection is one of the main anchors of the Book Arts & Special Collections Center. Robert Grabhorn's private collection on the history of printing was acquired and integrated into the library's existing collection of printing treasures in 1965. Due to the strength and comprehensiveness of these new materials in printing history, the collection was officially named The Robert Grabhorn Collection on the History of Printing & the Development of the Book. The scope of the collection covers five centuries, from the cradle of printing with moveable type to the digital age, with the primary focus on letterpress printing. Here researchers and students can find historical surveys of printing history, studies of individual printers and printing technology, printers' manuals, type specimens, press bibliographies, bookbinding, papermaking, and examples of printing from the fifteenth century to modern fine printers of the twenty-first century.

As a complement to the contemporary works presented by the College Book Art Association's exhibition BiblioTech, we have selected a sampling of private press books published in the San Francisco Bay Area from the 1920s through the 1960s. This array of books is a demonstration of San Francisco's long and illustrious tradition in the art and craft of letterpress printing. The exhibition continues through March 11, 2012. For a peek at what's on view, visit our Flickr page.

The Grabhorn Collection is just one of the library's treasures and it's open to everyone!

It Came From the (Photo) Morgue: San Francisco 49ers Drinking Homo(genized) Milk

2012-01-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

In honor of the big game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints today, I decided to browse through the "Football. San Francisco 49ers." folder in the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue. The photographs depict the football players practicing at training camp in Menlo Park and St. Mary's College, tackling at Kezar Stadium, and posing at the San Francisco Airport. This locker room photograph was the favorite find of the day: the San Francisco 49ers drinking "Homo" milk from Spreckels-Russell Dairy Company. Of course, homo is short for homogenized.

Image and caption from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

Description on back: The 49ers toast the victory (49ers-Cleveland Browns game) --with milk, not champagne,--left to right: Guard Bobby Downs, Captain Norm Strandlee, Halfback Joe Arenas, Safetyman Jimmy Cason, Guard Don Burke (lower right) and Bruno Banducci (upper right). October 1, 1951.
[Box PxS--Folder: Football. San Francisco 49ers.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The San Francisco Public Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection comes from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue. However, the morgue also includes statewide, national, and international subjects and people that have not been digitized or cataloged. When researchers order scans from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue,selections are cataloged and added to the online database.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. You may also request photographs from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue.

California Counties

2012-01-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

A view of the shelves of California Counties Ephemera Collection

While the name "San Francisco History Center" implies a citywide scope, the truth of the matter is that, as with many geographical boundaries, they often bleed. So, although our focus is indeed the city and county of San Francisco, the San Francisco History Center also holds a wide range of materials on the Bay Area, the state, and even the West. We did, after all, begin in 1964 as the Californiana Collection. Amongst these books and files concerning outlying areas, we have the little-known California Counties Ephemera Collection.

Advertisement from the Watsonville
apple sale scrapbook, 1939

Similar in organization and type of materials to our San Francisco Ephemera Collection, the thirty boxes of county files are arranged in folders alphabetically by county and contain maps, guides, clippings, and all sorts of ephemera. For instance, in the box for Santa Cruz County, there is a scrapbook and binder documenting the Watsonville Apple Sale of June 1-10, 1939. That year, growers faced a surplus of 300,000 boxes of Green Pippin apples, so the Chamber of Commerce spearheaded a campaign to involve businesses, government offices, organizations, and others to promote the sale and consumption of these apples.

Santa Cruz guides, 1908-1970s

The Watsonville Apple Sale files are just one example of the fascinating subject matter awaiting your perusal in the California Counties Ephemera Collection. Please ask Reference Desk staff for assistance when you visit.

More posts about Californiana in the San Francisco History Center will be forthcoming--watch for them!

Image credits: All images courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T15:39:00.000-08:00

Image: Simplicissimus, Karnevals-Nummer [1913-1914?]
Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, SFPL

'Tis the Season for Ringing in the New Year

2011-12-31T11:29:00.000-08:00

San Francisco celebrates with a bang,

New Year's Eve, Palace Hotel, December 31, 1934 - January 1, 1935

dives into the New Year,

San Francisco Olympic Club's New Year's Day Dip, Ocean Beach, January 1, 1965

and bonds watching football.

East-West Shrine Game, Kezar Stadium, January 1, 1949

Peace on Earth

2011-12-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Detail from cover: Rudolf Koch. Die Weihnachtsgeschichte (1921)
Harrison Collection of Calligraphy & Lettering, SFPL

'Tis the Season for Lighting Candles

2011-12-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

San Francisco Hanukkah traditions -

Hanukkah in the Sunset, 1973. Shades of San Francisco

Attilio's Polychromatic Piano Accordion

2011-12-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

Deep in the recesses of the San Francisco History Center we discovered a wonderful treasure: a polychromatic piano accordion that once belonged to Attilio Raeta. Not just any accordion: a Galleazzi accordion manufactured in San Francisco on Jackson Street, at the edge of present-day Chinatown (did you know that this city once supported more than ten accordion makers?). Come visit the library and see a most extraordinary accordion, where you can also read more about the history of the accordion in San Francisco.

Polychromatic piano accordion
Manufactured by Galleazzi & Sons, San Francisco, circa 1925?
Gift of the family of Attilio Raeta
Italian-American Collection, San Francisco History Center

A reading of the History of Music in San Francisco: The Musical Trade: 1850-1940 provides the following information about Giovanni Galleazzi:

In the province of Novara, where the village of Biandrate, his birthplace, is located, Giovanni Galleazzi learned the rudiments of accordion making—an art which he practices occasionally even today, at the age of eighty-five, in the attic of his home on the slopes of Telegraph Hill.

Galleazzi spent the first twenty-four years of his life in his homeland, serving for a time in the Italian army. In 1888 he migrated to Mexico by way of France, and by 1899 he was settled in San Francisco.

In order to support his family Galleazzi turned to the craft he had learned as a boy. Soon his accordions were declared inferior to none. The San Francisco Chronicle of Dec. 18, 1898 in an article on the city’s instrument makers, declared:

“Marvelous as is the intricate mechanism of these (Galleazzi’s) instruments, a peep into the interior of their cases shows them to be scarcely less miraculous—cases of tulipwood, rosewood, mahogany, holly, sandalwood, cherry, ebony, every species of choice material known to the woodworker—inlaid in the most intricate patterns.”

All this delicate inlay Galleazzi did himself by hand, and many of his earlier accordions are today considered museum pieces. But Galleazzi was not only a fine woodworker and craftsman, he was also an inventor. During his long career he patented no less than thirteen inventions for accordions, and today still derives a large part of his income from the royalties on these inventions.

The Galleazzi accordions, entirely hand-made, have taken many prizes at Mechanics Fairs. One of his instruments received a gold medal at the California Mid-Winter Fair held in San Francisco in 1894; another received the Medal of Honor, highest award of the Panama Pacific International Exhibition of 1915.

Although the accordion business is not now as remunerative as it once was, his sons, Theodor and Frank, continue to carry on at their shop at 478 Jackson Street. Galleazzi himself, having retired from active participation, works in the attic above solely for his own pleasure.

According to the above-mentioned article in The San Francisco Chronicle: "There is only one man on the Pacific Coast whose work Galleazzi will admit approaches his own and that is Louis Miller—and they applaud each other's success" (Chapter 1: Instrument Makers, p. 2-3).

Detail: polychromatic piano accordion
Manufactured by Galleazzi & Sons, San Francisco, circa 1925?
Gift of the family of Attilio Raeta
Italian-American Collection, San Francisco History Center

And what of Attilio Raeta? According to a memorial excerpted from the Cayuga Park Senior’s Club News Bulletin of March 1981:

Attilio Raeta was born on October 9, 1895, in Bagniolo Irpino, in the Italian province of Avellino. His father Gaetano, was a railroad man, who died in Italy when Attilio was nine; his mother died in San Francisco when he was thirteen years old. He was forced to earn his way in a country whose language he did not know; consequently his American education was limited, since he had to obtain a job at an early age. He started as an office boy with the daily newspaper L'Italia and after several years with other American printing establishments he opened his own printing plant, which he operated for about twenty years. In later years he was an insurance and real estate broker.

In 1915, he was enthusiastically applauded for his classical and standard musical renditions played on his "magic accordion" at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. In his Story of the Exposition (vol. 4, page 97), Frank Morton Todd writes: "Galeazzi (sic) & Sons had on exhibition a full line of accordions and of stringed instruments, and a magical sort of device in the shape of a transposing organ, on which it was possible, by the setting of a dial, to play a melody in one key and have the organ produce it in another." (We wonder if this was Attilio's "magic" accordion? As for the Galleazzi accordion on display, we have no information other than the card on the back of the instrument.)

In 1917 he married a San Francisco girl, Amelia Segali, with whom he celebrated sixty-three years of marriage. They had one daughter, Dorothy.

His career in fraternal organizations began at the age of eighteen. Eventually he would serve eleven terms as president of the Italian Catholic Federation. He was a member of the Order of the Sons of Italy, serving as Orator, then Venerable, and finally Grand Venerable of the State of California. He was also Historian and First Vice President of the Cayuga Park Senior Club, where he founded, edited, and reported on activities for the club bulletin. He spent his spare time translating articles and stories from the Italian language to English.

Attilio Raeta died at Cayuga Park in 1981. He is remembered as an able organizer, and a popular and forceful speaker.

Here in the San Francisco History Center, Attilio is remembered for his beautiful polychromatic piano accordion. His collection of memorabilia and scrapbooks was donated by his family to the San Francisco History Center, where it may be found in the Italian-American Collection.

Further digging in the library's Government Information Center unearthed more accordion history. In April 1990, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, after much campaigning by members of the accordion community, approved a resolution naming the piano accordion the official musical instrument for the City of San Francisco. The New York Times reported: “Elated fans said the accordion was just what San Francisco needed after the devastating earthquake that hit the city and other parts of Northern California” in 1989 (The New York Times, April 26, 1990).

The Board of Supervisors adopted the resolution on April 23, 1990, then sent it to Mayor Art Agnos to memorialize, proclaim and name the piano accordion the “OFFICIAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO.” Mayor Agnos declined to sign his name to the resolution. Thus, the piano accordion remains San Francisco’s unofficial musical instrument.

Read more about the accordion in San Francisco:

History of Music in San Francisco: The Musical Trade, 1850-1940 (San Francisco: Work Projects Administration, [1941]

Ron Flynn et al. The Golden Age of the Accordion (Schertz, TX: Flynn Associates Pub. Co., 1990)

Ron Flynn. Some Thoughts About the Accordion in San Francisco [San Francisco]: R. Flynn, 1984

BiblioTech: January 5-March 11, 2012

2011-12-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

BiblioTech is a juried exhibition which illuminates the College Book Art Association’s conference theme, “Time, Sequence and Technology." Members were invited to submit pieces which demonstrate the broad range of technologies employed in making artists’ books. The results include innovative works that create a bridge between traditional volumes and digital books. Some emphasize the tangibility of the printed volume by featuring hand-printed text, while others emphasize the technological by using laser cutting and digital software. “This exhibition demonstrates that a book remains a celebrated object” explained Macy Chadwick, Conference Co-Chair.

Rondo by Robbin Ami Silverberg is a collection of images of typewriting on translucent handmade papers and includes audio of a musical performance using paper as the instrument.

A History of Light by Daniel Mellis “explores the inaccessibility of the past through an examination of the negative space of the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago."

The 0’s and 1’s of digital data by Leia Reedijk is housed in a box resembling a motherboard and explores where information goes when it is "liberated from the page."

Related Programs:

The opening reception will include a spoken word performance of the book “Lexicology” by artists Tricia Treacy and Ashley John Pigford on January 5th, 5:30pm-7:30pm in the Skylight Gallery on the 6th Floor of the Main Library. View video documentation of their performance at St. Marks Bookshop as part of Conflux Festival in NYC on Oct.9, 2010.

Photo of Macy Chadwick by Sibila Savage

There will be a Gallery Walkthrough with Macy Chadwick of In Cahoots Press, and several other book artists who will discuss their work on Saturday, January 28th at 2pm in the Skylight Gallery on the 6th Floor of the Main Library.

The final exhibition-related program is a panel discussion entitled Technology in Book Arts, with Steve Woodall, Director of the Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago, and other prestigious book artists on Saturday, February 18th at 2pm in the Koret Auditorium on the Lower Level of the Main Library.

Inge Bruggeman, theinfinitebetweenus

A Sampling of Other Pieces:

Rebecca Childers, Absolute Whiteness

Leilei Guo, Nest-Soho

Sun Young Kang, Memories Unfolded

Kitty Maryatt with her students at Scripps College Press: Cat Dennis, Jeffrey Kang, Emily Friedman, Pilar Schmidt, Emily Chang, Catherine Parker Sweatt,
Alexis Chuck, Deluge

This exhibition is being held in conjunction with the third biennial conference of the College Book Art Association. The conference is being hosted by Mills College and a consortium of Bay Area educators. It will cover a broad range of conceptual and practical concerns in contemporary bookmaking and will feature numerous events, lectures, demonstrations, discussions and tours of Bay Area venues.

Sequoia Club Records are Open for Research

2011-12-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

The Sequoia Club was established in 1892 by a group of wives of Bohemian Club members who wanted a co-ed alternative for socializing and engaging in the arts together. The San Francisco History Center recently processed this small collection of minutes, guest books, financial records, clippings, ephemera, and a few photographs documenting the club from 1906-1983. Here are some highlights from the scrapbook whose cover is pictured at right:

1907 Dinners--delicious!


1958: A club picnic, a guest speaker on "How to Make a Good Cup of Coffee," U.S. Marines landing in Lebanon. In the archival world, context is everything; apparently, the creator of the scrapbook knew this too!

1959: A summer card party, a formal dance, and a field trip to the Standard Oil Refinery in Richmond.

To learn more about the Sequoia Club Records, you can read the guide to the collection here, and come in person to the San Francisco History Center to take a look.

Image credits: All images are from the Sequoia Club Records (SFH 58), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

'Tis the Season for Holiday Trees

2011-12-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some favorite holiday trees in the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection.


Civic Center, December 1933


Tree decorating the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, December 1938

Christmas morning, 1949 (Shades of San Francisco - Western Addition)


Mink skin tree (500 skins!) at I. Magnin, 1953

Christmas tree in City of Paris, late 1970s

How to be a Party Librarian, Or, The 6th Floor's Guide to Entertaining

2011-12-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

[People celebrating the holidays at the Union Square Lounge.] Dec. 24, 1941.
Courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection
San Francisco Public Library

The holidays are now upon us and that means it's time to start planning those holiday get-togethers with friends and family. We've gathered a few items from our San Francisco History Center stacks and Book Arts & Special Collections shelves to help you get through this busy time. Among the following selections you will find helpful hints, a little history and a lot of fun - which, of course, is what parties should be all about.

Cakes & Ale by Edward Spencer (1925)
Of interest for the season may be Spencer's description of "a Christmas dinner in the early Victorian era. Quelle fête manifique!"

When You Entertain, What to Do, and How by Ida Bailey Allen (1932)
As this book is sponsored by Coca-Cola, the soda plays a prominent role in many of Allen's entertaining ideas. Recipes include the "Coca-Cola Fruit Cup" - "Fill sherbert glasses with pineapple, orange and grape fruit cut into small cubes. Add a few white cherries. Pour in Coca-Cola to cover. Top with green mint cherry for contrast." Mmmm.

Guests, or How to Survive Hospitality by Russell Lynes (1951)
"Guests in the house have always seemed to me to present an opportunity for imminent catastrophe." (p.1) Lynes' book will help you manage those "Weekend Guests" and "Bores", as well as the "Bossy Hostess" at some of those other parties you attend.

From Guests, or How to Survive Hospitality by Russell Lynes.
Courtesy Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor
San Francisco Public Library

VIP Tosses a Party by Virgil Partch (1959)
"One hundred a fifty cartoons, and down-to-earth tips on how to get a friendly bunch of people together and let 'em RIP!"

75 Sure-fire Ways of Having Fun by Menaker and Folsom (1965)
Successful parties are more than just food and drink. Menaker and Folsom's party games fall under headings such as: "Just Sit Around", "A Little More Pep" and "Safety Last".

How to be a Party Girl by Pat Montandon (1968)
San Francisco's own Pat Montandon shares her tips for a successful party. "Remember, though, if you're female you've got half the battle won already, just because the essential ingredient of any party you give is you."

I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris (2006)
Chock-full of ideas for party dishes, decorations, and dress. She reminds us that a party is what you make of it, "As my guests leave even my most simplest parties, I consistently hear the same thing: 'That was the best time I ever had,' and it's always me saying it. But I do know in my heart they all felt the same way, probably."

Holiday Help, December 1, 1939

2011-12-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

Ready for the holidays?!


Emergency postal clerks being sworn in by Postmaster McCarthy. Dec. 1, 1939

'Tis the season for attending holiday parties, shopping for those naughty & nice, and sending holiday cards. For the month of December we'll be sharing our favorite holiday finds in the archives.

"Printing At The Margins" Holiday Lecture with Kathleen Walkup: Dec.10th, 2pm

2011-11-29T16:04:00.000-08:00

“The Press Feeder.” Engraving by William Burns, from Life in New York, In Doors and Out of Doors, 1851.

There is a letterpress printing renaissance afoot: Young people are flocking to the San Francisco Center for the Book to learn how to set type and make books. Letterpress note cards are appearing in shops everywhere--even at the Apple store, where you can buy a letterpress app for your iPhone. You can follow Kyle Durrie’s blog of her cross country trip in a letterpress-shop-in-a-van. There’s even a national organization called The Ladies of Letterpress.

"The Book Folder" from Life in New York, In Doors and Out of Doors.

There is no better time to highlight one of the library’s best-kept secrets: the Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts & Special Collections Center, which includes the Robert Grabhorn Collection on the History of Printing and the Development of the Book. By the time the Library acquired Robert Grabhorn's personal printer's library in 1965, his collection included examples of almost every typeface, printer and publisher of note from the previous five hundred years. The collection has grown over the years and continues to support the study of typography, printing, papermaking and bookbinding.

Book Arts & Special Collections celebrates the holiday season with a letterpress holiday card and the annual Holiday Lecture. Since 1995, we have featured a fascinating array of lectures by book arts experts, including Alastair Johnston, Carl Rohrs, David Mostardi, James Keenan, Alisa Golden, Peter Koch, Sandro Berra and Jonathan Aaron. Past topics have included: typography, publisher Paul Elder, poster artist Rick Griffin, and vernacular folk lettering around the world. One year, Karen Zukor discussed book and paper repair; another year, Patricia Wakida spoke on the life and work of Shig Murao.

"The Book Sewer" from Life in New York, In Doors and Out of Doors.

Kathleen A. Walkup

This year we are proud to present Professor Kathleen Walkup of Mills College, who will talk about women and printing in a lecture titled Printing at the Margins: An Ink-stained History of Women & Work. Professor Walkup teaches courses on typography and letterpress printing, artists’ books, and seminars on the nature of the book. She is Director of the MFA Program in Book Art & Creative Writing at Mills College, the first program of its kind established in the USA. Her interests include the history of women in print culture and conceptual practice in artists’ books. Her most recent curatorial project is Hand, Voice & Vision: Artists’ Books from Women’s Studio Workshop (Grolier Club, 2010). Her lecture The Book Is A Public Place, part of Threads: Talk Series, can be heard at the University of Pennsylvania’s PennSound website.

"The Gold Leaf Packer" from Life in New York, In Doors and Out of Doors.

Mark your calendar: Saturday, December 10th, 2pm, Koret Auditorium, Main Library. Join your book arts community friends and colleagues to enjoy this illuminating talk by Professor Walkup and find out more about the “ladies of letterpress of yore.”

The Albion lives!

2011-11-27T15:13:00.000-08:00

Above is a scan of the first thing printed on the Albion handpress at the San Francisco Public Library since we acquired it in 1999. Many thanks to Fred and Barbara Voltmer, Alan Dye and Li Jiang for getting the machine in working order so that we could print this test proof today. A broadside printing event is being planned for February--more on that later. You are all invited.

Best Thanksgiving Wishes To All

2011-11-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

Enjoy this "recipe" for Stuffing for Thanksgiving Turkey from Good Things by Isabel Goodhue, printed by Tomoye Press for Paul Elder & Company, San Francisco, 1911.

French Hospital and Nurses

2011-11-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

With the season of school semesters, the San Francisco History Center has interns in the department working on special projects. What's on the 6th Floor? asked Lauren, San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection intern, to be a guest blogger and highlight a collection.

French Hospital Nurses by Lauren Gaylord

I never thought of nurses having all that much fun until I searched through a photo album chronicling just that. Turns out these guys and gals know how to have a good time. Two photo albums in the possession of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection feature the hard-working staff at San Francisco’s French Hospital during the 1910's and 1920's. Though long gone and transformed into the Kaiser Permanente French Campus, the French Hospital was a powerful force in San Francisco medicine for over one hundred years.
Located for a time on Bush Street, and then on Bryant Street, it settled into its permanent location bordered by Geary Street, Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and Anza Street in the Richmond District around 1895. Though the origins of the French Hospital are traced to as early as 1851, a School for Nursing was not founded until the hospital moved to Geary Street. The training school became very popular among young women looking for as much of a career and independence as the early 20th century could afford. Many students passed through the school, as Three Years – French Hospital yearbooks for the years 1919 and 1921 can attest. Their difficult studies, however, did not stop these nurses-in-training from having a little fun! The yearbooks include rhymes, jokes, and ditties about the graduating class such as this one:

Miss Sadie Klenzendorf, so stately and tall,
For her, it seems, all short men fall.
Here's hoping in the future she'll marry a man
Who can handle the rolling pin as well as she can.

French Hospital & Family Photograph Album SFP 64

There's also plenty of good old nurses' humor with sections called "Hospital Alphabet," "The Bacteriological Ball," "Microbe National Convention," and "Our Ten Commandments."

French Hospital & Family Photograph Album SFP 64

National Nurses Week might not be for another six months, but that does not mean we cannot honor the members of this hard-working profession year-round. Come up to the Sixth Floor, San Francisco History Center, to check out our French Hospital photograph albums and the School of Nursing's class yearbooks. You may request and view the photograph albums during the open hours of the Photo Desk. To sate an interest in the nursing profession in general, check out these titles:

Agnes Fay Photograph Album SFP 63

Bonnie Bullough's The Emergence of Modern Nursing, 1964

M. Adelaide Nutting's A History of Nursing, 1907-12

Thelma M. Schorr's 100 Years of American Nursing: Celebrating a Century of Caring, 1999

Patricia D'Antonio's American Nursing: A History of Knowledge, Authority, and the Meaning of Work, 2010

So Long, Bil

2011-11-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

Bil Keane. The Family Circus:
Daily and Sunday Comics, 1960-61 (2009), p. 224

News arrived today of the death of cartoonist Bil Keane. His single panel comic strip The Family Circus first appeared in newspapers around the country in the early 1960s. The only reason I read the Philadelphia Bulletin was for the comics of course, and The Family Circus was a favorite. [Keane started there as a staff artist.] The shenanigans of Billy, Dolly, Jeffy (baby P.J. came later) and their witless canine companion Barfy, were all part of the Sunday ritual.

I still love the comics, and continue to read The Family Circus, mainly for the sweet nostalgia of a bygone time. This is the Bil Keane effect: he reminds us of the old days when we were young and still innocent. For a trip down memory lane, check out the daily and Sunday strips for 1960-1961 and 1962-1963 at the library.

Bill Keane. The Family Circus:
Daily and Sunday Comics, 1960-61 (2009), p. 60

For those of us who don't quite get The Family Circus or who live in a parallel universe, we offer The Dysfunctional Family Circus, a series of wildly inappropriate and funny comic zines available in the library's Little Maga/Zine Collection.

Get Out the Vote!

2011-11-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

Cover, Statement of Vote, November 1916

In honor of Election Day today, November 8, we invite you to pause for a moment to remember voting-related City Records, collected here in the San Francisco History Center. We have two large collections of voting records--voter registration records and Statement of Vote--each of which holds its own electoral charms.

Index to Register, October 13, 1904

The Great Registers and Index to Great Registers are voter registration records that list the voter's name, address, age, political party, and occupation. Early Registers also include naturalization data, such as native country and date and place of naturalization. The San Francisco History Center has a handful of Great Registers of the City and County of San Francisco from the 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, and 1890; and the Index to the Register for 1901-1964, with some gaps in coverage. Depending on the year, Great Registers and Index to Great Registers are available in paper and/or microfilm and are stored both at the San Francisco History Center and in off-site storage. Off-site records require 24 hours' advance notice for use, so please call ahead.

At the statewide level, California Voter Registers, 1866-1898 and California Voter Registrations,1900-1968 are available online in the library via our subscription to Ancestry.com. We have a paper version of California Voter Registration for 1890 on our genealogy ready reference shelf in the reading room. If you're a buildings researcher, you can search the California Voter Registrations by address to find out who lived there.

Statement of Vote for the City and County of San Francisco

Page view of Statement of Vote, November 1916

compiles total number of votes by assembly district and for the city as a whole, for primary, general, special, and municipal elections. Pictured here is a detail from a page of the Statement of Vote for November 1916, 27th Assembly District. Among other proposed ordinances, number nine prohibits public speaking on streets, sidewalks, and public parks. There were more yays than nays in Assembly District 27, but the measure as a whole failed by 3309 votes: 65,446 Yes to 68,755 No.

Like the Index to the Register, Statement of Vote is available in a variety of locations and formats, depending on the dates. Paper volumes are available from either off-site storage via the San Francisco History Center (for Aug. 1906-Dec. 1979) or from the Main Library's 5th floor Paging Desk (June 1970 - November 1992, June 1993-November 1995, and 1997-2010); digitized Statements are available online from 1995 to the present.

So, if City Hall happens to be your voting place, pop over across the street to the Main Library before or after to take a look at voting records from days gone by. And as a bonus, ask us about Elections files in our San Francisco Ephemera Collection! That might be a blog post for another Election Day.

San Francisco History Center's Most Popular Collections in October

2011-11-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

October's most requested archival collections (in order of popularity) -

San Francisco History Center

Hippies Collection
John F. "Jack" Shelley Papers (SFH 10)
Alcatraz Indian Occupation Records (SFH 11)
Baldwin & Howell Records (SFH 17)
Jack Morrison Papers (SFH 24)

Hormel Center's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Archival Collections (accessed through the San Francisco History Center)

Harvey Milk Archives - Scott Smith Collection (GLC 35)
Lou Graydon Sullivan Papers (GLC 2)
Leonard Matlovich Papers (GLC 6)
Randy Shilts Papers (GLC 43)

Leonard Matlovich receiving Bronze Star, 1966

Read Queerest. Library. Ever. Blog for more GLBT archival highlights.

Researching People: Death Records

2011-11-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

Death certificate 696, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Aug. 1, 1904. Reel #9.

Keeping archival records is one way that San Francisco as a city remembers its dead. People use them every day to discover details and then piece together the big picture about their relatives, the famous, the infamous, and the obscure. In particular, archival records that document death as a life event hold a certain fascination and utility for researchers.

The San Francisco History Center has two large paper archival collections of death records, already fairly well-known, well-used, and featured on our blog: the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Records, 1902-1956 (bulk 1906-1956) document deaths due to accident, suicide, or other "unnatural" causes. Halsted N. Gray – Carew & English Funeral Home Records, 1835-1931 (bulk 1850-1921) document the deaths, funeral arrangements, and sometimes burials handled by a handful of local mortuaries that were later absorbed into what is now Halsted N. Gray-Carew & English Funeral Directors.

There are two smaller collections of death records on microfilm that seem to be lesser-known by the general public, but they can be just as useful.

Death register, San Francisco Department of Public Health. Book "M," Aug. 1, 1894-June 30, 1896. Reel #3.

The first collection is a set of death registers and death certificates from the Department of Public Health, one of the few sets of city records to survive the 1906 earthquake and fire. The original ledgers are still held at the DPH, but the San Francisco History Center has them on microfilm: six reels of registers and nine reels of death certificates. The registers date from 1865-1905; the death certificates span just five months, July 1-Dec.1, 1904. The registers list name, sex, age, race, occupation, birthplace, marital status, burial place, physician, undertaker, and place, date, and cause of death. The death certificates--a sample of which is pictured at the head of this post-- have been scanned and are now available on the Internet Archive.

To help you search these records, Barbara Ross Close and Vernon Deubler have alphabetized and abstracted them in San Francisco Deaths, 1865-1905: Abstracts from Surviving Civil Records, published by the California Genealogical Society and available in the San Francisco History Center's reading room.

The second collection is a set of undertaker's registers and datebooks from the firm of J.C. O'Connor, 1882-1919. This sample page shows the names of the deceased, along with their places of burial and itemized list of funeral and burial accoutrements.

J.C. O'Connor undertaker's register, Nov. 9, 1882-Feb. 16, 1896. Reel #1.

If you'd like to use these collections in person, or if you'd like to explore additional materials on people who have passed, please visit the San Francisco History Center in person during our open hours. For Medical Examiner's and funeral home records, please contact us 24 hours in advance so that we can pull the right books for you from off-site storage.

The blog team wishes our readers a safe, sound, and memorable Day of the Dead.

All images courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

It Came From the (Photo) Morgue: Twinkle, Twinkle

2011-10-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

We hope you have been enjoying our "photo morgue" tribute to the One City, One Book selection Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach. Scroll down through our blog to see them all or click on these links: Sept. 2, 10, 23, Oct. 15, 22

Image and caption from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

Description on back: MARY HILL - MAKES TELESCOPE [07-21-33]
[PX-P 97 HILL, --]

Two great events this week for the One City, One Book Program:

On Wednesday, November 2 at 6pm, Mary Roach comes to the Koret Auditorium at the Main Library for a conversation with MythBusters co-host, Adam Savage. Before the conversation, enjoy the premiere of Rockets of Yesterday, an eye-popping video tour of 1950s and 60s rocket dreams, curated by writer, archivist and space enthusiast Megan Prelinger.

Get a chance to see the stars and planets for yourself (without having to build your own telescope) at one of the Bay Area "Star Parties" happening Saturday, November 5. In San Francisco, head over to San Francisco State University's Thornton Hall for planetarium shows starting at 8pm and telescope viewing if the clear weather holds out. It's all part of the Bay Area Science Festival going on now!
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The San Francisco Public Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection comes from the News-Call Bulletin morgue. However, the morgue also includes national and international subjects that have not been digitized or cataloged.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Yes, The King James Bible!

2011-10-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

What do Madeleine L'Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis, Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, the Apollo 8 flight to the moon and A Charlie Brown Christmas have in common?

The King James Bible! If you don’t believe me, read on. Everyone knows about the KJB but few actually know its significant history. That’s why the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Bodleian Library and the Harry Ransom Center have collaborated on a fascinating exhibition celebrating its 400th anniversary.

Manifold Greatness: the Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible is a beautiful exhibition currently at the Folger Library. If you don’t happen to be planning a trip to our nation’s capitol however, you can enjoy its fabulous and fun website from the comfort of your own home. At the site, you can actually practice letterpress printing, hear selections from Handel’s Messiah and listen to the Apollo 8 astronauts read aloud from Genesis while orbiting the Moon.You will also discover how The Book of Eli, Bob Marley and the Byrds are related to the KJB.

If you want to see authentic pages from the King James Bible come up to the Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts and Special Collections Center to see our three leaf books*, published in 1937 by the Grabhorn Press. Each contain one page from the actual 1611 King James Bible. They contribute to the “manifold greatness” of our special collections center here at the library.

A leaf from the 1611 King James Bible with “The noblest monument of English prose” by John Livingston Lowes & “The printing of the King James Bible” by Louis I. Newman. Printed for the Book Club of California by the Grabhorn Press in 1937.

For more information on the historical significance of the King James Bible, read the New York Time’s exhibition review, Edward Rothstein’s review of Wide as the Waters by Benson Bobrick and Simon Winchester’s review of Wide as the Waters and In The Beginning by Alister McGrath.

* "Leaf Book": A leaf book is (or was--they are out of fashion) a way of making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. A seriously imperfect copy of a famous book presented the opportunity: some suitable authority on the book would be asked to write an essay on it, a distinguished printer would be asked to give it typographic form, choosing a page slightly larger than that of the book in question, and printing as many copies as there were surviving leaves. The whole would be handsomely bound, with one LEAF of the original laid in. A Noble Fragment 1921, in which this treatment was bestowed on over 200 leaves (about a third of the whole) of a copy of Gutenberg's 42-line Bible, was the original leaf book. The evidential (not to say monetary) value of a single leaf of that Bible is now so great as to make this seem deplorable vandalism; at the time, no doubt, it was regarded as an honest way to bring to a larger market something in itself virtually unsaleable. Hard cases make bad laws: a leaf book is always in some way a hard case. But BREAKING-UP is not to be condoned, even in a good cause. ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter.

Zombie Holiday Guide

2011-10-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

Night of the living dead, 2007
Photo courtesy Brian Castagne

Just in time for Halloween: a short list of books for the living and the living dead, with zombie love from the staff at San Francisco Public Library. The following list of humor books may be found in the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, Book Arts & Special Collections Center. Feast on more zombie books and films (instead of the usual brains) by checking the library's online catalog.

Teach your zombie toddler to read with Pat the Zombie by Aaron Ximm (2011)

Feeling a little romantic? How about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (2009)

Perhaps you're in a literary mood. Try reading this little number to the undead café crowd: Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum (2008)

Be on your best behavior with Zombies for Zombies: Advice and Etiquette for the Living Dead by David P. Murphy (2009)

Want to hang out with the living dead? Learn how to talk with zombies in a jiffy with How to Speak Zombie: A Guide for the Living by Steve Mockus (2010)

Reaching out to old (and undead) classmates? Maybe you'll find them in Zombie High Yearbook '64 by Jeff Busch (2011)

How not to be lunch for a zombie: The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead by Max Brooks (2003)

And for a real treat, the San Francisco History Center presents Shock It To Me: Featured Creatures of Bay Area TV, Saturday, October 29, 11:30am-1pm, in the Latino-Hispanic Community Meeting Room, Side B, Lower Level, Main Library. Happy Halloween!

It Came From the (Photo) Morgue: Come to the Dark Side...

2011-10-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

In honor of the 2011 One City, One Book selection Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach, we have found a few fun photos from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin photo morgue for you to enjoy. Watch for them through November 2011!

Image and caption from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

Miss Marian Pfaffenberger "reaches for the ceiling" when Alpha Robot brandishes a weapon. [11/23/35]
[PX-S 43 ROBOTS]

The caption to a related photo explains that Alpha was "a mechanical man, who took 14 years to make, cost $180,000, weighs 2240 pounds, and does everything but cook." In that photo, Alpha Robot was slightly more peaceful, entertaining a group from the Laguna Honda home at the Emporium Auditorium.

Think robots with guns are scary? Head to the Main Library's Koret Auditorium on Wednesday, October 26 at 6:15pm for Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe with Alex Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy at UC Berkeley. Observations of very distant exploding stars (supernovae) show that the expansion of the Universe is now speeding up, rather than slowing down due to gravity as expected. Other, completely independent data strongly support this amazing conclusion. Dr. Filippenko’s talk explores how over the largest distances, our Universe seems to be dominated by a repulsive "dark energy" which stretches the very fabric of space itself faster and faster with time.

Want to talk more about the One City, One Book selection, Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void? The Merced Branch Book Club will be discussing Mary Roach's book on Tuesday, October 25 at 6:30 pm. Another book discussion group will be gathering at the Parkside Branch on Wednesday, October 26 at 7pm.
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The San Francisco Public Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection comes from the News-Call Bulletin morgue. However, the morgue also includes national and international subjects that have not been digitized or cataloged.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Coles Phillips and the Fadeaway Girls

2011-10-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Cover: Life, Oct 26, 1911

The change of seasons in San Francisco may be subtle, but magazine cover art doesn't have to be. One of my favorite autumn scenes is this cover by Coles Phillips from the original Life, October 26, 1911. Founder and editor John Ames Mitchell (1845-1918) used a mix of emerging and well-known commercial artists to decorate the covers of his humor magazine. Later, Harold Ross picked Life as one of his inspirations for The New Yorker. Take a look through volumes of Life to get a feeling for the sensibility of the time and the impact this magazine had on the most influential humor magazine of the twentieth century.

"The 'Fadeaway Girl' was the particular hallmark of Coles Phillips (1880-1927). Phillips pictured fashionably beautiful young women, using the device of tying the figure into the background by either color, value or pattern. This approach produced an intriguing poster-like effect of great simplicity; yet actually it was based on the most careful preliminary planning of shapes to carry out the illusion of the full figure.

"Phillips was born in Springfield, Ohio, and had his first pictures reproduced as a student contributor to the Kenyon College monthly magazine. Upon graduation he tackled a New York career, first as a solicitor for an advertising agency. Later he formed his own studio of artists. After further study at the Chase Art School, he decided to launch his art career. His first effort was sold to the old Life magazine as a double-page spread. When Life began to use color on its covers, the 'Fadeaway Girl' made her initial appearance and was an instant success. For many years thereafter she appeared in a variety of guises, but was always the patrician beauty.

"Phillips prided himself on being a good businessman-artist. Hs pictures, both for covers and for advertising campaigns, such as Holeproof Hosiery and Community Plate Silverware, were the product of a meticulous, cerebral craftsman."

Walt and Roger Reed, The Illustrator in America, 1880-1980 (1984), 106.

Summer may be gone, but autumn has its own rhythm. Visit the library and see the "Fadeaway Girls" and more. The original New York Life magazine may be found in the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor, in the Book Arts & Special Collections Center.

It Came From the (Photo) Morgue: Space Race

2011-10-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

Image and caption from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

LAS VEGAS, April 11, 1959 --
"Miss Space," the girl in this picture, is the real article; the background could be the product of a space artist's nightmare. Twenty-year-old Suzanne Adams, Dallas, Texas, beauty and an engineering aide at Chance Vought Aircraft, will be a special guest at Las Vegas next week during the World Congress of Flight, a gathering of aviation-space officials from 77 different nations. A close observer of astronautic activities, she believes man's conquest of space should be a man-wife proposition -- as it was in the covered wagon conquest of the West. She is unmarried. Anyone for joint space travel?
[P3 ADAMS, S]

Head over to the Richmond Branch Library on Monday, October 17 at 6:30 pm, where local author Megan Prelinger will present a vivid slideshow of newly revealed space art from her recent book, Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race. She will explain how rockets and spaceships were imagined before they were real, and how some fantasies of 50 years ago have taken to the sky while others live only in science fiction. Her book is based on the hundreds of lushly illustrated recruitment advertisements that appeared in the rocketry and aeronautics magazines in the 1950s and 60s.

Discussion groups for the One City, One Book 2011 selection, Packing for Mars: the Curious Science of Life in the Void will be held on Wednesday, 10/19, 6:30pm at the Western Addition Branch, and Thursday, 10/20, 2pm at the West Portal Branch.
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The San Francisco Public Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection comes from the News-Call Bulletin morgue. However, the morgue also includes national and international subjects that have not been digitized or cataloged.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938 - Digitized!

2011-10-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

Once again David Rumsey is the San Francisco History Center's scanning angel! Thank you!

42. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

In August, the San Francisco History Center staff went on a field trip to visit the David Rumsey Map Collection. We were all still excited from Rumsey's recent scanning contribution of San Francisco History Center's San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1905. We explored Rumsey's maps as he shared how he became a map collector in the 1970s with a focus on 19th century North American maps.

As a teaser, we brought with us a couple of aerial photographs from the San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938. These aerials are very popular with building researchers and anyone interested in documenting change over time in San Francisco. Due to the original size of each print (50cm x 60cm), the San Francisco Public Library had not been able to scan each sheet. David Rumsey offered to scan the 164 black and white aerial photographs.

Two aerial sheets of Mission Bay

Our hosts showed us how the digitizing magic happens.

Practice shot with the overhead camera - built to photograph oversize maps

Go explore San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938! Some interesting discoveries include: cemetery tombstone debris in the Richmond District, a baseball game at Seals Stadium, and the Sunset District with a mixture of homes and sand dunes. Hint: the Index Map to the Location of the Aerial Photos at the beginning will guide you to individual sheets. When you zoom in on a sheet, you can see the street names and the details.

40. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

San Francisco History Center's Most Accessed Collections for September

2011-10-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please...September's most requested archival collections (in order of popularity) -

San Francisco History Center

Edgewood Records (SFH 29)
San Francisco Unified School District Records (SFH 3)
John F. "Jack" Shelley Papers (SFH 10)
Herb Caen Scrapbooks (SFH 27)
Family Service Agency of San Francisco Records (SFH 50)

Hormel Center's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Archival Collections (accessed through the San Francisco History Center)

GLC 35 Box 16; Folder: 1978 Prop 6 No on Briggs

Charles Thorpe Papers (GLC 10)
Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30)
Harvey Milk Archives - Scott Smith Collection (GLC 35)
Harry Hay Papers (GLC 44) - being processed
Vincent Diaries (GLC 45)

Read Queerest. Library. Ever. Blog for more GLBT archival highlights.

Science Is Fun

2011-10-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd be a fan of science books —until I read Mary Roach’s work and found myself laughing my head off. Apparently I am not alone. If you have yet to be introduced to her work, now is the time, since Packing For Mars has been selected to be this year's One City One Book title.

I never thought rare science books would be an interest of mine either, but stumbling across Cosmographia in our Rare Book Room changed that too. Did you know that over 400 years ago, people were making “pop up” books, not for fun and amusement, but for scientific calculations?

Libraries are designed for making discoveries and are elegantly arranged for such first-encounters. I humbly realized I was not the first person to be intrigued with Petrus Apianus's gem of a book when I wandered online upon the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, England. Their extensive research on Cosmographia is light-years beyond my own. Take a look.

Cosmographia: A Close Encounter, Courtesy of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, England.

Now I seek out this science-stuff and must recommend that you visit the Huntington Library's Beautiful Science exhibition either virtually or in person. You will be dazzled by the things you'd expect to see. But first-encounter discoveries are guaranteed as well. Be amazed by the fascinating life and work of Maria Sibylla Merian, a German woman who traveled to Suriname in 1699 to paint as many tropical insect species as possible—explore and enjoy.

Chrysalis : Maria Sibylla Merian and the secrets of metamorphosis by Kim Todd.

One more recent scientific find of mine is History & Special Collections at UCLA’s Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. They’ve created a wonderful online exhibit called Spices: Exotic Flavors & Medicines which you can savor here.

Courtesy of UCLA's History & Special Collections at the Biomedical Library

Afterward, make a point of visiting the library this month and enjoy any of the fun, science-inspired events celebrating Mary Roach’s entertaining writings.

From Our Test Kitchen: Californian Sabor

2011-09-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

This month's Test Kitchen took its inspiration from the current exhibit "American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music" and the San Francisco History Center's related exhibit "Locating Latino San Francisco." While there are plenty of cookbooks that feature Latin American dishes in the San Francisco History Center's stacks, we decided to choose one that focused on the culinary roots of some of our favorite dishes - such as the beloved Mission burrito.

Image from Early California Hospitality by Ana Bégué de Packman.
Courtesy San Francisco Public Library.

Early California Hospitality: The Cookery Customs of Spanish California, with Authentic Recipes and Menus of the Period was originally published in 1938 by Ana Bégué de Packman, a descendant of one of the soldados who accompanied Padre Junipero Serra. "California foods of today," she writes, "are actually the native food of the western Indian, tastefully improved to satisfy the palate of the Spanish colonists" (p. 13).

The ever-so-delicious burrito was one of such foods. "In California de antes, the popular cry 'Burritos!' " she insists, "attracted the masses as does 'Hot dogs' today" (p. 38). Sounds familiar. She also claims that burritos sparked a "delirious happiness" in those who ate them and even transcribes a song that was once sung in their honor:

Que vivan - que vivan
Los burritos para las bonitas!

Long live - long live
The little donkeys for the little beauties! (p. 38)

Photo: J. Thomas

It seemed fitting that this month's Test Kitchen pay homage to these savory delights. From Early California Hospitality we chose a couple of basic recipes: "Frijoles (Pink Beans Fried)" (p. 48) and "Arroz de California de Antes (Fried Rice - Old California Style)" (p. 54). In addition, we brought a plethora of add-ons: salsa fresca, cheese, guacamole, fresh heirloom tomatoes, and sour cream. Our little donkeys were a delight indeed. ¡Que vivan!

The exhibit American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music is on view in the Skylight Gallery on the 6th Floor of the Main Library now through November 13.

Locating Latino San Francisco is on view outside the San Francisco History Center on the 6th Floor of the Main Library now through December 2.

Orquestra La Moderna Tradición will be performing at the Mission Branch Library on October 1 at 2pm. Don't miss it!

It Came From the (Photo) Morgue: I've got a rocket in my pocket

2011-09-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Image and caption from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

Pittsburgh, PA, Nov. 18 [1948] -- HIS ROCKET EXPLODED -- Larry Rose, 13, who wanted to be a chemist, ruefully surveys his pants after his home made rocket exploded today. The blast blew off celar[sic] door and shattered windows Larry suffered slight burns. (A.P. Wirephoto)
[P606 ROSE, L-Q]

While we encourage you to read this year's One City, One Book selection, Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach, we suggest you do not try what you read at home

For something a little easier on the eardrums, stop by the Park Branch Library next Tuesday (9/27) at 7pm for Out of This World: Explore Outer Space in Classical Music with Salon97 - a fun evening of classical music, friends and refreshments!

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The San Francisco Public Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection comes from the News-Call Bulletin morgue. However, the morgue also includes national and international subjects that have not been digitized or cataloged.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Highlights from the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy & Lettering

2011-09-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

John Stevens, Alphabet, 1984
Courtesy Harrison Collection of Calligraphy & Lettering, SFPL

JOHN STEVENS, CALLIGRAPHER, began his career in the 1980s. He is acclaimed as one of the most gifted and original lettering artists of the current generation, renowned for his skill with both pen and brush. As calligrapher, designer of logotypes and illustrator of expressive letterforms, Stevens has worked for well known clients in book and magazine publishing, television and film, corporations and educational institutions. In addition to the graphics application of his work, Stevens practices calligraphy as an art form, producing one-of-a-kind commissioned works which are included in many private and public collections throughout the world. His work is well represented in books and other publications and has been shown in group and solo exhibitions, notably his first one-person exhibition, in 1987, at the San Francisco Public Library. Stevens's work is one of the highlights of the Harrison Collection of Calligraphy & Lettering in the Book Arts & Special Collections Center, San Francisco Public Library.

For a wonderful introduction to the lettering artists and calligraphers to be found here, read John Prestianni's essay "A Scribe's Treasure: Calligraphy in the San Francisco Public Library." The Harrison Collection is open to everyone without appointment. Come visit!

And no matter what level you're at--novice or advanced--hands-on calligraphy courses and workshops are offered year round by the Friends of Calligraphy at Ft. Mason Center.

It Came From the (Photo) Morgue: Flying Saucer!

2011-09-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Image and caption from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

'FLYING SAUCER' FOR INNER SPACE
"Flying saucers" appeared on the verge of a break-through today with the release of the first photo of a saucer-shaped flying disc by the Defense Department [in] Washington. The vehicle, produced by [illegible] Aircraft, Ltd., of Canada, is being tested by the Air Force and Army. It is designed to take off and land vertically, using the air cushion principle, and to fly like a winged plane once it is airborne. The saucer would permit troops and supplies to be rushed to any battle area, regardless of terrain, as it skims close to the ground thus confounding enemy radar. Ground tests began last November, and the saucer is reported to have made a successful flight within a hangar. It has made no regular flights.
[August 2, 1960]
[PS 27 FLYING SAUCERS]

Sadly, it doesn't look like we're going to have flying saucers zooming through our skies any time soon. However, you can make your own plushie space gear with SpaceCraft at the Visitacion Valley Branch, Mon., Sept. 12 at 4pm and at the Ingleside Branch, Sun, Sept. 18 at 2pm. Call the branch to reserve a spot in either workshop

On Monday, September 12, sip Tang-tinis as author Mary Roach discusses the One City, One Book selection Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void at Books, Inc. - Opera Plaza at 7pm.
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The San Francisco Public Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection comes from the News-Call Bulletin morgue. However, the morgue also includes national and international subjects that have not been digitized or cataloged.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

New Books

2011-09-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a shortlist of new titles on the San Francisco History Center's shelves. Come up for a look; or for most of them, you can place a hold on copies to borrow from other library departments or branches. This month's selection shows that the scope of our collections range outside of the city proper, into the Bay Area and the state.

Filipinos in San Francisco by the Filipino American National Historical Society, Manilatown Heritage Foundation, and Pin@y Educational Partnerships. Historical photographs documenting community, sports, education, and politics.

The Chicken Chronicles: Sitting with the Angels Who Have Returned with my Memories: Glorious, Rufus, Gertrude Stein, Splendor, Hortensia, Agnes of God, The Gladyses, & Babe: a Memoir by Alice Walker. Short pieces on Walker's flock.

The Union of Their Dreams: Power, Hope, and Struggle in Cesar Chavez's Farm Worker Movement by Miriam Pawel. Pair this with Randy Shaw's Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.

The Death and Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival by Stephen R. Palumbi and Carolyn Sotka. A gripping narrative of the exploitation and recovery of a unique California ecosystem.

On the Ground in the Thirties by Paul Taylor. Reports and articles on migrant laborers in California and the West. With photos by his wife, Dorothea Lange.

Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara by Colleen Morton Busch. In 2008, wildfire struck the Zen Buddhist monastery east of Big Sur. After
everyone was evacuated, five monks turned back to save it.

Bay Area Graffiti: 80s-90s: Early Bombing by Sfaustina and Jocelyn Superstar. Photographs of old-school graffiti and interviews with the artists.

More San Francisco History Center Microfilm Digitized by Internet Archive

2011-09-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

Microfilm enters the twenty-first century, as the San Francisco History Center continues to digitize its microfilmed versions of newspapers, journals, magazines, and other resources. In July, we featured building trades and real estate publications; this month, we highlight ethnic and cultural publications from 19th and early 20th century San Francisco. Below is a list of most-recently-digitized titles. The catalog records link to the full text on the Internet Archive. Thanks to the Internet Archive for continuing to partner with us!

1. California Chronik

2. The Elevator

3. La Voce del Popolo

4. The Jewish Times and Observer

5. The Fireman's Journal and Military Gazette

6. Daily Evening Picayune

7. The Occident

8. The Midwinter Appeal and Journal of Forty-Nine

9. Weekly Gleaner

10. The Pacific Appeal

11. Public Opinion

12. San Francisco Tageblatt

The Elevator, A Weekly Journal of Progress, May 12, 1865

If you're feeling old-school, please come visit the San Francisco History Center to view the microfilm on the microfilm reader.

It Came From the (Photo) Morgue: A not so distant universe.

2011-09-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Photo and caption from the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

September 15, 1960
"DAVID PORZZO, staff artist, Morrison Planetarium, California Academy of Sciences. Age 19. Photo taken in July, 1960."
- S.F. News-Call Bulletin photo by Eddie Murphy
[p556 PORA-PORQ]

On a more contemporary note - this Tuesday, September 6th, the California Academy of Sciences' Morrison Planetarium will be featured in a One City, One Book related event - The Making of Life: A Cosmic Story. Ryan Wyatt, Director of Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization, and Jeroen Lapre, Senior Technical Director, Morrison Planetarium - Visualization Studio will be on hand to discuss the making of the latest planetarium show. (Koret Auditorium, Main Library Sept. 6th, 6 p.m.)

This is a free event held at the San Francisco Public Library - Main, located at 100 Larkin Street. Seating is limited. To reserve a place today, go online or call 800-794-7576.
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The San Francisco Public Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920’s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection comes from the News-Call Bulletin morgue. However, the morgue also includes national and international subjects that have not been digitized or cataloged.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Signs and Wonders: Margaret Kilgallen's Inside Job

2011-08-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hand painted signs by Margaret Kilgallen, circa 1996
Courtesy Book Arts & Special Collections
San Francisco Public Library

During the 1990s while she was working in the Library's Preservation Department, artist Margaret Kilgallen made hand painted signs for the Technical Services work areas. The original hand lettered signs greeted library workers for years, until Technical Services began the move to another building down the street from the Main Library. A plan was hatched to reproduce these fragile signs for the new work spaces, while preserving and placing the originals in the Book Arts & Special Collections Center.

Margaret's wonderfully folksy signs identify such operations as Bindery Prep, Book Repair, Catalog, Periodical Processing, Receiving, and more (ten panels in all). Painted on door skin using recycled paint, the signs were made with an eye for the beauty of the letterform and brought immediate cheer to the workplace. The Library staff love that Margaret made these signs just for them, and we're happy that we could preserve them for you!

Here's a recent interview with former SFPL conservator Dan Flanagan in which he talks about Margaret's art, her work at the library, and her unique point of view (from KQED's Gallery Crawl, July 2011).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kJWWdpLDvk

Margaret also created zines: Nellie Was There and Fly By Night may be found in the Little Maga/Zine Collection, Book Arts & Special Collections Center.

Read and view more about Margaret Kilgallen:

Art in the Streets organized by Jeffrey Deitch; with Roger Gastman and Aaron Rose (New York, NY: Skira Rizzoli in association with MOCA, Los Angeles, 2011)
Art:21 Art in the Twenty-first Century. Executive producer and curator, Susan Sollins
([Alexandria, Va.]: PBS Home Video, c2004)
Beautiful Losers. A film by Aaron Rose; co-director Joshua Leonard
([United States] : Oscilloscope Pictures, c2009)
Glen Helfand, "The Mission School: San Francisco's street artists deliver their neighborhood to the art world," San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 26, 2002 [Accessed 26 August 2011]
Margaret Kilgallen : In the Sweet Bye & Bye. With texts by Alex Baker, Eungie Joo, and Susan Sollins (Los Angeles : REDCAT, c2005)

Geotagging & Crowdsourcing

2011-08-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

The well-loved San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection has 40,000 images online that can be searched by neighborhood, street, date, building, or by a person's name. The keyword searching allows one to discover some nitty-gritty details that were included in the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin news copy pasted on the backside of the photograph and added to the description of the image. Yet, there is essential information missing from the description and this inspired a project for Old S.F. The project was to geocode 13,257 images in the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection. Explore the geocoded images on Old S.F. by neighborhood, street or, at times, building and adjust the slider to change the display dates. Dan Vanderkam built the site and Raven Keller designed it. Go explore and have fun. Feeling inspired? There are approximately 10,000 more images that can be geocoded from the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection database.

San Francisco enthusiasts definitely enjoy sharing their geolocation knowledge about San Francisco as can be seen from the crowdsourcing project that was inspired by the digitization of San Francisco History Center's San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Maps, 1905. David Rumsey graciously digitized these historically valuable volumes for the San Francisco Public Library this summer. Local blogger Burrito Justice shouted his enthusiasm about the digitization of the maps. Mike from Stamen responded with a geo-location alignment tool and hundreds of 1905 Sanborn Insurance maps have been matched to current maps of San Francisco. There are still some more difficult maps to match!

The San Francisco History Center intends to use the geocoded data from Old S.F. in a partnership with Historypin.

The Cool, Grey City of Love

2011-08-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

[Fog over the Golden Gate, 1953.Courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.]

Spare sweater anyone? Confused about what season this is? Seem like the summer fog is gloomier than usual? The fog in this 1953 photo looks a lot like the fog of 2011.

And the weather of 1851 wasn’t much different from today’s either. Albert Benard de Russailh's journal illustrates the old saw "there's nothing new under the sun" (no pun intended) with this description of San Francisco summer weather: "... every day at two o'clock a cold north-west wind rises...which compels you to put on warmer clothes...It is a kind of Mistral that lasts always until four or five o'clock." Here’s a glimpse into his journal Last adventure: San Francisco in 1851:

Albert Benard de Russailh's LAST ADVENTURE: SAN FRANCISCO IN 1851.

The Cool, Grey City of Love as George Sterling so poetically put it and Herb Caen was so fond of quoting...what else is there to say?

"The Cool, Grey City of Love" by George Sterling, printed by John Henry Nash, 1932. Courtesy of the Grabhorn Collection on the History of Printing, San Francisco Public Library.

Here’s a “Foggy Day” musical tribute guaranteed to warm you up; courtesy of Dinah Washington and the Alexander Street Press.

Don’t despair -- the heat of Autumn (our Indian Summer) is closer than you think. Really.

[Market Street with Twin Peaks in background, 1937. Courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.]

Letters to SF Police Department Chief During the 1968-1969 San Francisco State Strike

2011-08-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

In this digital age, "historical" paper letters--with their physical immediacy here in the present--can have a visceral impact that corresponds to the highly-charged political issues they address. I had just such an encounter this week while sorting through a carton of San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) files marked simply "City Records--Police." I came across a packet of over 200 letters to Chief Cahill about the SFPD actions during the 1968-1969 strike, protests, and riots (or "disturbance," as noted below) at San Francisco State College. Almost all of the letters in this collection are in support of the SFPD, and their tone ranges from grateful to congratulatory to exhortatory. The few letters that express criticism of the police are striking in their scarcity. I'm posting here one "pro" and one "con," along with a typical formal response from the Chief's Office.

The letters were discovered as part of a larger project of arranging, describing, and publishing a finding aid to our entire collection of SFPD records, which consist of approximately 65 linear feet of Board of Commissioners journals, "mug" books, clippings scrapbooks, directives, wanted posters, and other material dating back to the 1880s. We'll keep you posted on the status of this project and offer further highlights as we progress. For access to the collection, please contact the San Francisco History Center.

Images courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

San Francisco Subject Cards

2011-08-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

In between blogging, facebooking and tweeting, the San Francisco History Center staff has been working on an "old school" project. The subject card files-- which have been adoringly described in previous blog entries-- were moved from the back stacks, staff-only area into the reference room, so that researchers can have self-serve access to the cards. On your next visit to the San Francisco History Center, please browse the subject cards, especially for the tactile experience of flipping through paper cards!

The card files are an archive in and of themselves. Upon creation of the San Francisco History Center in 1964 (then known as the Californiana Collection / San Francisco History Room), the Center inherited the San Francisco and California subject card file trays from the Reference Department. The earliest subject cards are from the 1910s, when a hiring qualification was based on the quality of penmanship.

The handwritten cards are interfiled with the typed cards that have continued to grow over the last 100 years. The cards include citations to newspapers, periodicals, and books. Many times, a small clipping had been glued onto the card.

The subject cards cover general subjects such as associations, buildings, businesses, schools, restaurants, and transportation, but within each general subject are cards for individual hotels, businesses, restaurants, and MUNI lines. Before moving the cards into the reference room, hours were spent ensuring that the cards were in order, citations were legible, and that cards with oversize clippings folded into them were pulled out and incorporated into the San Francisco Ephemera Collection.

Some of our blog readers may be regular users of our biographical card files; please note that these have been moved to the other side of the cabinet, opposite the subject cards. Now, when you want a break from pointing and clicking for San Francisco people, places, and things, you can visit the San Francisco History Center in person to rummage and rifle to your heart's content!

Back to School: Yearbooks

2011-08-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Polytechnic Journal, June 1935

It's that time again: school is appearing hazily on the late-summer horizon. In keeping with the season, the San Francisco History Center recently received a donation of Polytechnic High School yearbooks and ephemera from Martin H. Feibusch, a former student of the class of 1936.

We acquire many, if not most, of our school yearbooks through similar donations from individuals. This means that copies are often personalized. Mr. Feibusch's copy of his 1935 yearbook is filled with autographs, drawings, and letters from classmates, commenting on the track team, Registry (if anyone knows what "Registry" is, please leave a comment), and geometry class. One can also get a sense of how people talked to each another then: "swell" was a complimentary adjective of choice that year.

Student Association ID, 1935

The Polytechnic ephemera includes a dance card, commencement tickets, student association I.D. cards, and event programs. Sports schedules and scores are on the back of the Student Association cards, so you can see that Poly beat Balboa 25-15 on Feb. 6, 1935.

The San Francisco History Center has yearbooks for over seventy San Francisco elementary, middle, and high schools and colleges. Come up to the 6th floor for a visit to look at more.

Student Association ID, reverse

Commencement Exercises Program, 1937

All images courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

The Albion Press at the San Francisco Public Library

2011-07-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

The Albion Press in place at the Library.

The Albion Press at the San Francisco Public Library stands at the entrance to the Book Arts and Special Collections room as an iconic reminder of the importance of the history of printing and its relevance to our reading lives.

The Albion is an early iron hand printing press, originally designed and manufactured in London by Richard Whittaker Cope in the early 1820's. Ours was manufactured in London by F. Ullmer in 1909. Albions continued to be manufactured until the 1930s. The crown finial is a recognizable feature of the Albion; ours, however, is missing. A newsworthy note is that the Harry F. Rochat Company in London has begun manufacturing the first “improved Albion” which they are calling the Rochat Albion Press.

The Library acquired the press from Margaretta Mitchell. She and her husband, the late Frederick C. Mitchell [1933-1996], owned and worked the press for over forty years. In 1996 staff at the San Francisco Public Library began making inquiries about buying the press which was for sale. Various people worked on finding a way to make this happen-- from Alan Dietch who initially appraised it, to the library staff who initiated the contact with the Mitchells and ending with Lee Engdahl, the printer who literally moved the press to the library in March 1999. Marjorie Stern, members of The Roxburghe Club of San Francisco, The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and Dennis Blegen & Phyllis L. Ehlert all contributed funds to make the purchase. The form that was in the press bed when we received it, along with a copy of the last piece being printed in the tympan, was a keepsake for the Roxburghe Club by Fred Mitchell and Dave Belch.

Andrew Hoyem and the Albion at M&H Type, circa 1990s.

Some more history: At some point the Mitchells stored their press with Andrew Hoyem at M&H Type at 460 Bryant Street. And because Hoyem’s Arion Press moved to its current location at 1802 Hays Street in the Presidio in 2001, he was probably happy to have the Albion moved to its permanent location in Book Arts & Special Collections in early 1999.

Gretta Mitchell says this about the press:
“Frederick and I were involved in hand-press printing for many years. The press was purchased by us in London in June of 1959, the first purchase of our marriage. In fact, we were on our honeymoon! We set it up in California after it was shipped through the Panama Canal to us in Berkeley. The Albion moved with us from house to house and even to Lawrence, Kansas where we lived in the late 1960s for what turned out to be only a year. We called our imprint The Scrimshaw Press and produced invitations, keepsakes and my wood engravings. Frederick studied typesetting with Henry Evans when he was still printing in the back of his bookshop on Clement Street in San Francisco. We became part of a group of private press people who met at each other’s houses to share information and socialize. Later in 1969 we founded The Scrimshaw Press, a trade book company, and continued to enjoy the Albion from time to time, producing things for friends. Gradually we had less and less time to print and for some years the press was used by a printer friend who published poetry."

Clifford Burke printing at the First San Francisco International Book Fair,
December 1971, photo by Fletcher Manley.

That friend, in the early 1970’s, was Clifford Burke. Burke, in town recently to receive the Oscar Lewis Award from the Book Club of California, visited Book Arts and Special Collections on March 29, 2011 with his printer-friends Cameron Folsom and Cheryl Miller. He asked to see some books from the Grabhorn collection and soon was reminiscing with us about his “good old days” in San Francisco. He mentioned using an Albion Press that belonged to Fred--and soon we all realized that the Library’s Albion was, indeed, the press Clifford had used in the early 1970s.

Clifford Burke at the Library, March 2011, photo by Andrea Grimes.

Cllifford Burke, Cheryl Miller, Cameron Folsom at the Library,
March 2011, photo by Andrea Grimes.

He printed two books on our Albion: Lew Welch’s Redwood Haiku (in our collection), a Pat Nolan book and a keepsake from the First Annual San Francisco International Book Fair in 1971 called Books and the Senses. We took photos to commemorate the day and discovery.

Lew Welch’s Haiku, from the library’s Grabhorn Collection.

Come up to Book Arts & Special Collections to see the Albion handpress for yourself.

Hand Printing in Digital Times

2011-07-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

Join us this Saturday, July 23, at 2:00pm for a panel discussion on Hand Printing in Digital Times. Book artists will talk about the tradition of letterpress printing, digital innovations, and how their work incorporates craft and technology. The program takes place in the Latino-Hispanic Community Meeting Room, Lower Level, Main Library.

After the program there's still time to take a walk (or the elevator) up to the Skylight Gallery on the Sixth Floor, where over eighty works are on display in the 14th Triennial Pacific Center for the Book Arts exhibition BookWorks. The show continues through August 7.

BookWorks is sponsored by the Book Arts & Special Collections Center of the San Francisco Public Library. Come visit!

Image: From Marbled Papers:
Being a Collection...by Christopher Weimann (1978)

More Microfilm Now Online for Buildings Researchers

2011-07-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

If you use our handy How to Research a San Francisco Building guide, add The California Architect and Building News (1879-1899) and the San Francisco Real Estate Circular ((1868-1932) to the "Online Resources" section: the microfilm has been digitized!

These two periodicals are rich in real estate and buildings history. Besides being great tools for researching specific properties, they're also fun to browse. The Real Estate Circular contains sales and mortgage listings, classified ads, and editorials and articles on topics such as street work, squatting, and the state of real estate in other cities. The California Architect and Building News lists building contracts with the owner, contractor, and architect, along with articles on things like leaky roofs, plastering, building news from other locales, and a description of the steel square (pictured below).

To access these publications on the Internet Archive, click on the links below:

San Francisco Real Estate Circular:
Jan.- Nov. 1868
Dec. 1868-May 1871

June 1871-May 1932

The California Architect & Building News:

Jan.-Oct. 1879 under its former title The Quarterly Architectural Review

Jan. 1880-Dec. 1881 under its former title The California Architect and Building Review
Jan. 1882-June 1899

If you're old-school and still prefer microfilm (this writer often enjoys the whir and flow of film), feel free to continue visiting in person on the 6th floor. We even have a few volumes of the Real Estate Circular in paper!

Image credits, from top: San Francisco Real Estate Circular, Aug. 1868; The California Architect and Building News, Sept. 1881 and Jan. 1882. San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Happy Birthday, Miss Diller!

2011-07-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

“Comedienne Phyllis Diller occupies a unique position in the annals of American stand-up comedy as the first woman to make her name in that previously all-male preserve. Remarkably, her show business career began in 1955 when she was thirty-seven years old. In four decades, Diller progressed from being the only touring female comedienne within the United States to one of the world's most successful and best-loved comics, and the acknowledged forerunner of the many female comics who have followed her.” —"Phyllis Diller." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (2000)

Phyllis Diller was a late blooming entertainer, auditioning for her first gig at the Purple Onion in San Francisco. Her instant popularity propelled her to the national stage, where her comedy act was completely based on her domestic experiences as wife and mother of five. She dressed outrageously: her signature elements included cigarette holder, white gloves, a wild variety of fright wigs--some of the best being the extreme bleach jobs--and stage boots. [A pair of her blue embroidered stage boots were displayed at the library a few years ago. They must have been favorites as they were beautifully re-soled]. With her raucous cackle she became the heroine for put-upon housewives everywhere.

Phyllis Diller has given more than fifty years of her life to entertaining America, through stand-up comedy, the Broadway stage, television shows, films and books. In the 1998 film A Bug’s Life she was featured as the queen, an appropriate topping to a brilliant career. Phyllis Diller, the queen of comedy, celebrates her 94th birthday on July 17. All the best from your fans on the 6th floor!

Read and view more about Phyllis Diller.

Phyllis Diller and Nat Schmulowitz at
the San Francisco Public Library, circa 1962

Book Artists Speak

2011-07-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

Meet the book artists participating in the 14th Triennial PCBA Members' Exhibition, in a special gallery talk. Book Artists Speak: BookWorks participants will talk about their ideas and techniques on Saturday, July 9, 2-3:30pm. In the Skylight Gallery, Sixth Floor, Main Library.

Next up: Hand Printing in Digital Times: A panel discussion on traditions and innovations. July 23, 2-3:30pm, in the Latino-Hispanic Community Meeting Room, Lower Level, Main Library.

Saturate yourself in the wonders of the art of the book. The BookWorks exhibition continues through August 7. This exhibition is sponsored by The Marjorie G. and Carl W. Stern Book Arts & Special Collections Center and the Pacific Center for the Book Arts.

Visit us to learn more about the history of books, papermaking, bookbinding, calligraphy, and more! And don't forget to visit our neighbor, the San Francisco Center for the Book, where you can find workshops, free public events and exhibitions throughout the year.

From our Test Kitchen: Happy Pride!

2011-06-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

San Francisco celebrated its 41st Pride Parade with hundreds of thousands in attendance last weekend. You might have caught a glimpse of the SFPL Bookmobile as it cruised down Market Street just behind the Lusty Lady and leather contingents! Never ones to miss a party, the 6th Floor put on a little celebration of our own to honor SF Pride.

T-shirts from the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30) and unprocessed collections courtesy of the Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Dress Code
First we got ourselves gussied up in t-shirts from the Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center collections. There are shirts for womyn's music, men's leather bars, gay jogging clubs, feminist conventions, and more. Most of the t-shirts we wore came from the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30). This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, audio-visual material, and memorabilia (which is where the t-shirts come in.) The shirts are mostly from the 1970s-1980s with slogans like "Anita Bryant Sucks Oranges," "Your Silence Will Not Protect You" and "Alive With Pride in '85!" Since we couldn't wear them all, there are several now on display in the San Francisco History Room on the 6th Floor of the Main. The finding aid to the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection is available online (PDF), and the collection may be accessed through the SF History Center.

T-shirts from the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30) courtesy of the Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Nosh
What's a celebration without food? The Test Kitchen found the perfect book for the occasion: Out of our Kitchen Closets: San Francisco Gay Jewish Cooking by Congregation Sha'ar Zahav. The cookbook has several suggested menus for special occasions such as the "Rosh Hashanah Eve Dinner," "Coming Out Cocktail Party for 25" and "Commitment Ceremony Lawn Lunch." We decided to focus on the "Gay and Lesbian Pride Day Pre-Parade Buffet" menu:

Bloody Marys and Orange Blossoms

Pasta Salad with Spinach Pesto

Fresh-Cured Salmon with Sweet Mustard Sauce

Lokshen Kugel David

Cream Cheese and Bagel Halves

Tossed Green Salad

Gehachta Leber

Scrambled Eggs

Goldie's Bran Muffins

Banana Bread

Grandma's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

"Sha'ar Zahav" t-shirt from the Barbara Grier-Naiad Press Collection (GLC 30) courtesy of the Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library. Half-eaten kugel from Out of our Kitchen Closets by Congregation Sha'ar Zahav!

For the Test Kitchen we decided to make the Lokshen Kugel David. It was delicious and enjoyed by all... hey, that might be a 6th Floor Test Kitchen first!

Come by the San Francisco History Center for more history of SF's Pride Parade, access to Gay & Lesbian Archives collections or more delicious recipes from San Francisco cookbooks!

BookWorks!

2011-06-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

BookWorks 2011 is a celebration of the book arts, a tribute to the vision and work of eighty-two artists from around the country, who are dedicated to advancing and interpreting the book as a dynamic contemporary art form. From the traditional to the experimental--utilizing letterpress and digital printing, photography, papermaking, calligraphy, printmaking, xerography, bookbinding, illustration and methods of conservation--the show features work from members of the Pacific Center for the Book Arts. Two awards are given to coincide with PCBA’s Bookworks: The Steven P. Corey Award for an emerging artist, and the Alastair Johnston Fine Press Award for an outstanding fine press book.

The exhibition opens on Saturday, June 18 and continues through August 7. BookWorks is sponsored by the Marjorie G. & Carl W. Stern Book Arts & Special Collections Center.

Related programs:
Book Artists Speak: BookWorks participants talk
about their ideas and techniques
Saturday, July 9, 2-3:30pm, Skylight Gallery, Sixth Floor

Hand Printing in Digital Times: Panel discussion
on traditions and innovations in the book arts
Saturday, July 23, 2-3:30pm, Latino-Hispanic Community Meeting Room,
Lower Level

Founded in 1980, PCBA is a membership organization dedicated to providing support for the development of its members in the field of book arts; to provide social activities for the member community; to encourage the development of professional practices through exhibitions and educational programs; to create opportunities that promote the work of our members in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. PCBA publishes a quarterly journal, Ampersand.

For more information about BookWorks and other events at the Library, see the monthly newsletter, At the Library.

San Francisco Architectural Club Records, 1900-1987 (bulk 1913-1961)

2011-06-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

SF Architectural Club group outing. 1922 photo from scrapbook.

One thing a librarian/archivist in the San Francisco History Center quickly learns about buildings and architectural research is that it's about people just as much as it's about residential, commercial, and civic structures. The San Francisco Architectural Club Records are about people. Nineteen young draftsmen got together in 1901 to found an educational and social club that supported and encouraged aspiring architects. The club hosted ateliers, exhibits, lectures, field trips, banquets, parties, and other functions. Night classes gave those with day jobs in architectural offices the opportunity to take classes and network with one another and with established architects. It enabled working class men to excel in a field that was rapidly becoming a licensed profession favoring the privileged.

Cover from Second Annual Loan Exhibit catalog, 1903

The San Francisco Architectural Club Records contain minutes, correspondence, membership and financial records, curricular materials, ephemera, publications, and scrapbooks spanning the life of the organization from its beginnings until its disbandment in 1987. It also includes notebooks, drawings, watercolors, and other materials of Edward L. Frick, a member of the club who became a prominent local architect. Other early club members that architecture history buffs might recognize include George Applegarth, John Bakewell, Jr., William B. Faville, Timothy Pflueger, Willis K. Polk, and Ernest Weihe.

The finding aid to the San Francisco Architectural Club Records is available at the Online Archive of California.

Frick's notebook on French usage, 1913-

For a more in-depth look at the history of the club, see Therese Poletti's article, "Comrades in the Atelier: The Early Years of the San Francisco Architectural Club," published in The Argonaut of Spring 2009.

Expense sheet for beer, whiskey, bread, popcorn and other fare for the 40th annual Jinx, undated

École des Beaux Arts watercolor 3: "Un cercle pour les élèves de l'école des beaux-arts. Edward L. Frick. At. Gromart."Nov. 15, 1913

Image credits: All images from San Francisco Architectural Club Records (SFH 8), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

"Witching Strains: Art Hickman and Sweet Jazz in San Francisco" exhibit June 1 - August 31.

2011-06-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Arthur G. Hickman, Art Hickman, “Hick." A. Lipman, The Chutes, c. 1906
[Courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection,
San Francisco Public Library.]

Sweet jazz was born at the Hotel St. Francis, San Francisco in 1914. The birth was attended by bandleader and Oakland native, Art Hickman.

Listen to "Hold Me."

Hickman was born June 13, 1886 and was destined to become a drummer, pianist and dance bandleader. His father was a saloon keeper, his mother had worked in vaudeville, and thirteen year-old Art and his sixteen year-old sister Pearl performed cakewalk dances even before moving across the bay. The family moved to San Francisco about 1900.

Art Hickman’s Orchestra. Bain News Service, ca. 1919
[Courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection,
San Francisco Public Library.]

Art worked as a messenger boy in the Barbary Coast. He absorbed the sounds and rhythms of New Orleans jazz (as yet, unnamed) while pausing at Purcell’s African American dance hall on Pacific Street. Pearl had developed an Irish step-dancing act, and ran a dancing school on 12th Street. After 1903, Art was employed by the Chutes Theatre, and by 1910 was managing it; Pearl regularly performed at that venue. Art left the Chutes to manage a Sacramento theatre.

Del Howard running, possibly Boyes Hot Springs.
San Francisco: News-Call-Bulletin, ca. 1911-1914
[Courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection,
San Francisco Public Library.]

The term “jazz” had first been used in a newspaper baseball story in 1912, and it was used in connection with Hickman and the San Francisco Seals in a San Francisco Bulletin column in March, 1913. Hickman was hired to organize entertainment for the Seals baseball team during spring training at Boyes Hot Springs. In 1914, hotelier James Woods discovered Hickman - who also played piano and drums - and whisked him away from the resort to play at the Hotel St. Francis.

The music was danceable, reminiscent of ragtime but with a decidedly New Orleans character, and Hickman’s orchestra was very popular at the Hotel. (The inclusion of the banjo and saxophone qualified the group as a “jazz orchestra.”) Other hotels refused to offer “jass” music, so the St. Francis attracted the curious. They came in droves; in 1919, Hickman claimed as many as 2,000 locals would come out, any night, to hear jazz.

The band traveled to New York City in 1919 to make recordings, was hired by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., and played at the Biltmore. In 1920 the orchestra again went to New York, playing for twenty weeks in Ziegfeld’s Follies of 1920; the San Francisco Examiner reported Hickman was America’s highest paid orchestra leader. While they played several long term engagements in other cities, Hickman’s loyalty was to San Francisco. He worked with various musicians in San Francisco into 1928, and died in 1930.

Several of Hickman’s band members became notable musical forces; saxophonist Clyde Doerr and conductor Walt Roesner are two. Paul Whiteman, also influenced by jazz sounds coming out of the Barbary Coast, elaborated on Hickman’s work. Today considered early “pop” music, and hardly suggestive of New Orleans jazz, “sweet jazz” can be traced to a messenger boy, who listened to the music he heard at Purcell’s dance hall on Pacific Street.

Walter Roesner leading The Capitolians, Capitol Theatre, New York City. Apeda Studio, New York, 1928
[Courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection,
San Francisco Public Library.]

Listen to "Rose Room."

For more information about Hickman and his music, see the Art & Music Dept's recent blog post and don't forget to visit the SF History Center on the 6th floor to see the exhibit "Witching Strains: Art Hickman and Sweet Jazz in San Francisco."

Muybridge in San Francisco

2011-05-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

The works of noted 19th century photographer, Eadweard Muybridge, are showcased in the first-ever retrospective Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change. Best known for his groundbreaking studies of animals and humans in motion, Muybridge (1830–1904) was also an innovative and successful landscape and survey photographer, documentary artist, inventor, and war correspondent. In 1867, Muybridge returned to San Francisco and began his career in photography. Between 1867 and 1871, Muybridge published under the pseudonym “Helios.”

backside of Muybridge stereograph

In June 2009, the San Francisco Public Library was invited by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. to lend five works and a photograph album by Muybridge for the exhibition. The San Francisco Public Library’s works on loan include a series of albumen silver prints documenting the construction of the Appraiser’s Building in 1875 and an album of albumen silver prints of Leland Stanford’s residence on California Street in Nob Hill circa 1878. The album has Jane Stanford’s hand-written captions of room styles and colors. The exhibition brings together over 300 works from thirty-eight lenders. The works were on view at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Tate Britain. The Helios exhibition opened late February, at its last venue the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and will be on view until June 7.

Please visit Helios at SFMOMA and visit the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection. In addition to the works on loan, the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection has 50 stereographs by Muybridge. A popular 19th century photographic format was the stereograph – a pair of photographs mounted on a card which appear three-dimensional with a special viewer. You may also view the sixty-three prints of the Leland Stanford album online.

Appraisers Building - Edweard Muybridge - November 11, 1875

Recommended readings about Muybridge -
Rebecca Solnit’s River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West
Brian Clegg’s The Man Who Stopped Time: The Illuminating Story of Eadweard Muybridge: Pioneer Photographer, Father of the Motion Picture, Murderer
Visit the San Francisco History Center or the Art, Music & Recreation Center of the Main Library to view the catalogue of the exhibition - Philip Brookman’s Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change which includes a complete checklist of the works in the exhibition. If you miss the exhibition, download SFMOMA's podcast Eadweard Muybridge Gallery Exploration and flip through the catalogue.

Poggio Bracciolini, Vatican jokester (SCOWAH Chronicles, no. 5)

2011-05-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

Poggio Bracciolini was born in Tuscany in 1380. He studied Latin and Greek and was received into service as secretary of the Roman curia, where, for fifty years he witnessed such momentous events as the Councils of Constance and Basle. It was during his travels that Poggio employed his scholarly observations to search out and restore lost manuscripts of Latin literature. Burrowing through monasteries Poggio found and copied whole manuscripts by hand. His single-minded determination supplied students with the complete texts of the ancient writers, including Cicero and Quintilian, where previously they had only mutilated bits and pieces to study. A biographical essay appears in the Eleventh Edition (1910-1911) of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (vol. 21).

It wasn’t until Poggio was seventy that he published his Facetiæ, possibly for the purpose of practicing his Latin. These were the bawdy stories and jokes told by the Papal secretaries.

Poggio tells us “Since the times of Pope Martin, we had the habit of choosing a quiet place in which we could tell one another the news, and speak of various matters, either serious or frivolous, to distract our minds.” The “bugiale,” or “The Liars Club,” proved to be a rich source for the jests and bawdy anecdotes that found their way into the Facetiæ. In Anecdota SCOWAH, no. 5, Albert Rapp describes the book as “an instantaneous success. It circulated quickly through Italy, France, Germany, England and Spain. It was read avidly by those who could handle the Latin tongue. His bawdy tales are made up mostly of ignorant clergy and the wife outwitting her husband; there are also a number of moron tales.” No one was spared. Although he died in 1459, modern folklorists and scholars continue to use Poggio as their role model.

Selected Reading List

The Book in the Renaissance by Andrew Pettegree (Yale University Press, 2010)

"The Facetiae of Poggio the Florentine," by Albert Rapp, Anecdota SCOWAH, no. 5 (Roxburghe Club, 1962). This keepsake may be requested in the Book Arts & Special Collections Center.

Infinite Jest : Wit and Humor in Italian Renaissance Art by Paul Barolsky (University of Missouri Press, 1978)

The Life of Poggio Bracciolini by William Shepherd (Harris Brothers, 1837)

Renaissance in Italy by John Addington Symonds (Modern Library 1935), vol. 1-2

Three Renaissance Silhouettes by Sidney Hellman Ehrman (G. P. Putnam's sons, 1928)

This concludes the SCOWAH Chronicles, a series of profiles featuring some of our favorite characters, and based on the exhibition The Objects of Our Affection: Wonderful Characters from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor. Every year on April Fool's Day the San Francisco Public Library presents a themed exhibition celebrating this extraordinary collection. On view now in the Skylight Gallery, Sixth Floor, through May 31.

It Came from the (Photo) Morgue!

2011-05-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Photo and caption from the SF News-Call Bulletin Photo Morgue, courtesy of the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, San Francisco Public Library.

Memorial Day Weekend is almost upon us and with any luck the Bay Area will see some sunny weather perfect for bringing out the grill. But if not, you could always make something like a "Radar Dog" in your microwave at home.
For some Bay Area picnicking ideas, come up to the 6th Floor to look at 50 Grand Picnics: menus & recipes for the best picnic sites around the Bay Area by Beverly Levine.

Caption:
IN KEEPING WITH THE TIMES
6/25/46 Long Beach, CA -- Capitalizing on the scientific age is hot dog stand proprietor John "Gabby" Gasney who opened a "Radar Dog" shop in Long Beach, Calif. Cooked by high frequency radio waves, the meat, relish and bun are wrapped in a napkin, placed in a pyrex tube, then into the machine and emerge red hot automatically in 30 seconds.

The Library owns the photo morgue of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, a daily newspaper that covered the time period from the 1920’s to 1965. Much of the San Francisco History Collection comes from the News-Call Bulletin morgue. However, the morgue also includes national and international subjects that have not been digitized or cataloged.

Looking for a historical photograph of San Francisco? Try our online database first. Not there? Come visit us at the Photo Desk of the San Francisco History Center, located on the sixth floor at the Main Library. The Photo Desk hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Gershon Legman: The Folklorist Nobody Knows (SCOWAH Chronicles, no. 4)

2011-05-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1917, Gershon Legman was a classmate of the great urban activist Jane Jacobs. As a schoolboy he collected jokes and learned the art of origami, later promoting this ancient art in the West through a series of exhibitions in Amsterdam and New York.

Legman graduated from Scranton's Central High School in 1934, and sometime in the mid- to late 1930s he moved to New York where he became a researcher and bibliographer, practically living in the Columbia University Library and New York Public Library. It was at the New York Public Library that he first became acquainted with the writings of the Renaissance jokester Poggio (1380-1459). “Here was the perfect model for Legman. Reading Poggio’s Facetiae and Boccaccio’s Decameron showed him that his present-day joke collections were linked to a long oral and literary tradition reaching back before the Renaissance in Europe, and even drew on a global cultural fund.” --Susan Davis, “Wise Fools, Foolish Virgins, and Dirty Tricksters: Gershon Legman and American Folk Humor,” Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore, vol. 34 , Spring-Summer 2008.

Legman worked as a bibliographer for Alfred Kinsey, as well as the Arkansas folklorist Vance Randolph, and established a mail order publishing business. This was eventually the cause of his persecution by the U. S. Postal Service (for the publication in 1949 of Love & Death: A Study in Censorship). Controversial and harassed, by 1953 Legman went into a self-imposed exile in France, where he and his family found sanctuary in the hills of Southern France. He continued his research into the folklore of the unprintable, and won critical acclaim for his books, especially The Rationale of the Dirty Joke (1968). Although his valuable research suffered at the hands of a disapproving academy, after his death in 1999 the tide would eventually begin to turn. Folklorists around the world have now come to respect the distinguished scholarship of Gershon Legman.

Legman is credited with coining the expression “Make Love, Not War.”

Selected reading list:

Funny peculiar: Gershon Legman and the Psychopathology of Humor by Mikita Brottman (Analytic Press, 2004)

Martha Cornog and Timothy Perper, "Make Love, Not War: The Legacy of Gershon Legman, 1917-1999," The Journal of Sex Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Aug., 1999), pp. 316-317

Sex and Humor: Selections From the Kinsey Institute, edited by Catherine Johnson, Betsy Stirratt, and John Bancroft (Indiana University Press, 2002)

Stop Me If You've Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes by Jim Holt (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008)

Gershon Legman teaching origami, Amsterdam 1954
Photo courtesy Judith Legman

SCOWAH Chronicles is a series of profiles featuring some of our favorite characters, based on the exhibition The Objects of Our Affection: Wonderful Characters from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor. Every year on April Fool's Day the San Francisco Public Library presents a themed exhibition celebrating this extraordinary collection. On view now in the Skylight Gallery, Sixth Floor, through May 31.

CRUZANDO FRONTERAS / CROSSING BORDERS

2011-05-18T13:20:00.000-07:00


Front Cover

Celebrate Spanish poetry by attending the first in a series called CRUZANDO FRONTERAS / CROSSING BORDERS on Saturday, May 21st, at 4:30pm in the Main Library. The reading features contemporary poets from the greater Bay Area and includes: Vickie Vertiz, Alejandro Murguía, Edwin Agustín Lozada, Lourdes Figueroa, Mariano Zaro. English translations will be projected on a screen.


Interior Page

If you’re inspired by the reading you may want to visit Book Arts & Special Collections Center on the 6th floor to examine our fine press edition of TANGO DE LA CICATRIZ – EPIGRAMA DE FIN DE SIGLO. It features a poem by Juvenal Acosta and monoprints by Gustavo Ramos Rivera which have been described as a "palimpsest of apparitions on handmade paper." The introduction is by Alberto Blanco. We own copy number 3 of the 11 Spanish editions printed by Peter Rutledge Koch of Berkeley. Vamp & Tramp Booksellers has more information about this beautiful book on their site.

Ricky Jay Knows (SCOWAH Chronicles, no. 3)

2011-05-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ricky Jay knows eccentric characters: he is also one of our favorite characters.

We discovered Ricky Jay in the pages of Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder (1995) and we haven’t been the same since. He is a scholar of the unusual. His remarkable observations on the activities and popular entertainments of offbeat characters has fascinated and amused his readers, by now a very large following. His books are illuminating for their insight, and for his admiration of his subjects and the manners of their times. His lively histories run the gamut, with a colorful assortment of hoaxsters, frauds, imposters, sideshow showmen and women, armless calligraphers, mechanical marvels, singing mice, gamesters, conjurers, and jokesters.

Ricky Jay is known as the world’s greatest sleight of hand artist; he is also an actor, having appeared in numerous David Mamet films. He has performed off-Broadway, in the Obie Award-winning one-man show Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants. A historian in the fields of deception, unusual entertainment, and conjuring, Ricky Jay is the former curator of the Mulholland Library of Conjuring and the Allied Arts (read Mark Singer’s essay, “Secrets of the Magus,” The New Yorker, April 5, 1993). He is the author of the wildly popular Cards as Weapons (1977) and Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women (1987). He has written and published sixteen issues of the even more learned and delightful Jay’s Journal of Anomalies (1994-2000), pursued by collectors and libraries and now gathered into a complete anthology. Extraordinary Exhibitions (2005) is an “informal history of sensational, scientific, silly and startling attractions based on 17th, 18th and 19th century broadsides” from his collection. Dice: Deception, Fate & Rotten Luck (2003) is a collection of essays on the history of gambling, with photographs of his crumbling collection by Rosamond Purcell. And in a curious bit of serendipity Celebrations of Curious Characters (2011) has just been published by McSweeney's Books.

Ricky Jay will appear in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt at the Herbst Theatre, City Arts & Lectures, on Wednesday, May 25.

SCOWAH Chronicles is a series of profiles featuring some of our favorite characters, based on the exhibition The Objects of Our Affection: Wonderful Characters from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor. Every year on April Fool's Day the San Francisco Public Library presents a themed exhibition celebrating this extraordinary collection. On view now in the Skylight Gallery, Sixth Floor, through May 31.

Paul Collins, Literary Detective (SCOWAH Chronicles, no. 2)

2011-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Paul Collins is a literary detective who digs up the dirt on obscure characters and little known historical figures. If it’s quirky and forgotten, Paul Collins won’t be far behind with his literary shovel. His first monographic foray into the field of curious characters began with Banvard’s Folly (2001), which first appeared in McSweeneys, no.3. Part of the research for the book was done in the San Francisco Public Library, where material on the eighteenth century imposter George Psalmanazar may be found. Other curiosities, including the Shakespeare forger William Henry Ireland and proverbial philosopher Martin Tupper (on display in The Objects of Our Affection: Wonderful Characters from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor) became rich fodder for Collins and fascinating reading for the rest of us.

A love of unusual antiquarian books drew Collins and his family to the wee bookselling town of Haye-on-Wye, in Wales; for a year they lived among the folk and books (the books out-numbered the folk), adventures which resulted in his memoir Sixpence House (2003). Next up, Not Even Wrong (2004), a personal and historical journey into the world of autism. Collins discovered the story behind Peter, the Wild Boy, and traces his steps from childhood to burial, just as he traces the journey of his own child. His tragic-comedy The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine (2005) takes the reader through the many places at home and abroad that hold the bones of Revolutionary War hero and pamphleteer Tom Paine. The saga of William Shakespeare’s first folio is detailed in The Book of William (2009). His latest trip into the field of curious history is the newly published The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime that Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars. Paul Collins is the editor of the Collins Library Imprint for McSweeney’s Books. He appears on NPR’s Weekend Edition and his articles may be read in Lapham’s Quarterly, The Believer, The New York Times, Cabinet, and other periodicals.

The Rare Book Room, Book Arts & Special Collections, SFPL