A requiem: The ghosts from 40 years of walking San Francisco
I got my first job in San Francisco nearly 40 years ago, in the Flood Building, at 870 Market Street. A chubby cheerful, uniformed lobby attendant pressed the elevator buttons for me. The lobby was marble and, oh wonderful, there was a Woolworth’s on the ground floor.I loved to sit at the curved Formica lunch counter just like I loved the ladies who served me: bright lipstick, hairnets, and pink puffy-sleeved uniforms. I loved the Coca-Cola glasses and the grilled cheese sandwiches. I felt grown-up: part of a purposeful lunch crowd, we were all very important. (All photos are from the San Francisco Public Library Archive.)Flood Building at Market and Powell streets. San Francisco Public Library 1905.Woolworth’s. San Francisco Public Library. But best of all, I loved my walk to work from North Beach, up and down Powell Street along the […]
