Lithographed vintage travel posters like those shown here are now sometimes sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars, but they began as ads for a burgeoning industry.
san francisco
It’s incredible to see how awesome — in size, in design, in popularity — old-fashioned indoor swimming pools could be. Here, take a look at 10 gorgeous pools from days gone by!
Spreckels Mansion – aka The Sugar Palace – was a completely over-the-top late Victorian home, was the luxurious residence of one of San Francisco’s wealthiest men at the time. Take a look back at the original version of this house!
Of his famous movie “The Birds,” director Alfred Hitchcock said, ‘It could be the most terrifying motion picture I have ever made!’ And for many thousands of people, it was. Find out more about the 60s film here.
Millions of people in San Francisco’s East Bay drive by the iconic Orinda Theatre every year, with its neon sign easily visible from the freeway. So what’s its story? Find out more about this California landmark here!
Lake Almanor’s great beauty and immense expanse captivate the imagination. Amidst the pine forests, when built, it was the largest power reservoir in the United States. Here’s a little of its history!
In the ’30s, Chicago gang leader Al Capone was imprisoned for income tax evasion, and served most of his time on Alcatraz, where he faced constant death threats.
For generations, mail carriers and other postal workers have worked hard to bring us letters, magazines, packages and more. Here’s a look at how they transported the mail long ago!
We have heard Mathis’ voice for years – but who’s the man behind that rich, smooth sound? Find out more about this extraordinarily talented singer here, and see Johnny Mathis as he lived in his Hollywood home back in the 1970s.
From the middle of the destruction after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, these detailed accounts of the damage were published in the city’s newspaper the very next morning.
The history of Levi’s jeans shows that the power of a really good idea – like super-durable clothing that people like to wear – can make for a business that stays strong for more than 160 years.
Onboard these old Deluxe Overland Limited trains, every hotel luxury could be found – including a barber shop, valet service, a library, buffet meals, a mens’ clubroom, and a cafe dining car. Take a look!
These vintage images of the 19th century San Francisco skyline vividly portray how the California city by the Bay changed over a few short decades in the 1800s. Take a look back at how the city grew and grew and grew.
San Francisco’s great old Sutro Baths was a huge structure with several enormous swimming pools, viewing galleries, museums and more, right next to the Golden Gate. See inside the Victorian marvel here!
This article bids adieu to the man whose name countless millions of people have worn: the one and only Levi Strauss, creator of Levi’s riveted denim blue jeans. Find out more about the man here.
At just 27 years old and still at the start at what could have been a long career, singer Janis Joplin was found dead at home, and the music world mourned for years.
Take a 1950s home tour of a ‘junior five’ near San Francisco – a small house that had an entry stairway that starts at garage level and leads up to five rooms – bedrooms, kitchen, garage and more.
Nothing stays the same for very long — not the world, not the blues, not love, not a petite young Texas girl named Janis Joplin, who had ‘such a pretty voice,’ according to her mother.
Even today, there are ships buried under downtown San Francisco that you might walk over, on land reclaimed from the Bay thanks to the Gold Rush.
See what it took to get the Golden Gate Bridge built, plus see dozens of pictures of the construction, and the celebration when it finally opened in 1937.
In 1906, a short film called ‘A Trip Down Market Street’ ended up being a valuable record of old San Francisco just before the huge earthquake and fire destroyed much of the city.
Unlike most rock groups, Creedence Clearwater Revival doesn’t have a booking agency or a manager, yet they were the most successful pop-rock group in the world – and the richest.
This unusual home in the hills of Oakland, California is tree house – with a modernist design – belonging to Dave Brubeck, known as ‘Mr. Jazz’ to his fans.
The mystery of Pan Am Flight 7, flying between San Francisco to Honolulu, crashed mysteriously midway between the two cities. The cause has yet to be determined.
Shields & Yarnell, the talented and dynamic husband-and-wife mimes, entertained audiences all across America courtesy of the television. Take a look back!
Vintage diners were descendants of the railroad dining car, and often sported shiny metal on the outside and a long counter with stools on the inside. Take a ride back in time to see 40 examples!
These are some of the very first reports of the Loma Prieta quake back on October 17, 1989 that devastated so much of the San Francisco Bay Area.
See scenes from the San Diego’s World’s Fair – a venue with gorgeous scenic beauty in a matchless climate – that took place from 1915 to 1917.
In the olden days, you needed a telephone operator to connect your call manually through a switchboard. Her job wasn’t as easy as you might think.
How did the great Gold Rush of 1849 get started? Find out its history, how it made people rich and poor – and helped make California what it is today.
Take a little 60-year leap back in time, and see how San Francisco looked back in 1955 in this video homage to the city by the bay.
See some vintage report cards from San Francisco’s Outer Mission district schools during the ’50s. One of his classmates? Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.
Dive back into the past with these 16 views of beautiful San Francisco in the ’70s – from the skyscrapers to the bridges and everything in between.
Take look back – way back! – at a few ways that ladies in San Francisco during the Victorian and Edwardian eras used to style and accessorize their vintage hairstyles.
What is the average lifespan for men and women in America? Among the curious things shown by the census of 1880 is the new data relative to the US life expectancy.
See up close the destruction that hit San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake in these colorized photos taken shortly after the fire was put out.
Will baseball live? An article from 1893 Firmly believing in the future of baseball, I have no hesitancy in complying with the request made by
The “be-in” was the grandest of all happenings, attracting at least 13,000 of the hip set and perhaps 2,000 spectators. It happened Saturday at the polo field in Golden Gate Park.
The old steamship City of Chester sank just inside the Golden Gate in the San Francisco Bay – but she was rediscovered more than 100 years later.
Jazz has remarkable history as a fad (from 1919) Starting twenty years ago in New Orleans, it has swept from coast to coast and is
Chattanooga Valley trolley on an incline in 1891 Tacoma Railway and Motor Company car house – Washington State in 1892 Trolley in Paterson, New Jersey
“I was as nervous as a poker player down to his last pants’ button, and every one of the hard-boiled old-timers in the art department knew it. “
Trouble came looking for Charles Manson the day he was born – out of wedlock to a teenage mother and a father he never laid eyes on.
San Francisco braces itself for influx of hippies Editor’s Note — San Francisco has survived the gold rush and the earthquake, now it’s in for
It would seem like Bruce Lee was born for stardom, and unfortunately, like many of the brightest burning stars, he was gone far too soon.
One question is asked more than any other by the people who have “dropped out” on the Haight-Ashbury. It is “What is ‘a hippie?’” And the answer could also be the answer to why they have dropped out.
Greetings from California visitor postcard Retro ’40s postcard: Greetings from San Francisco, California Main scene of Fisherman’s Wharf “When the Golden Gate is golden”, San
The Victorian-era Cliff House This early version of San Francisco’s Cliff House was destroyed by fire in 1894 A later version of the first Cliff
1900 summer house party in Concord, New Hampshire A spring day on Riverside Drive, New York (1900) Circus parade on Market Street in San Francisco
Code clue by Vallejo ‘Killer’ sent Examiner From The San Francisco Examiner (California) August 1, 1969 A man saying he is the killer of three
In the fifties, flying on a passenger airplane was a big deal. You would receive farewell cards, dress up to travel, and once you were
Telegram: Order to appear (1917) Received at SE Corner Pine & Montgomery Sts., San Francisco – Always open San Francisco, Calif – Aug 1 1917 Percy
