Mission Life 1930s-40s - Revision history

Ccarlsson at 04:52, 17 March 2026

2026-03-17T04:52:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:52, 16 March 2026
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	''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp58.856''		''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp58.856''

			[[Image:Modern-times-on-24th-street-2013 4144.jpg]]

			'''Modern Times on 24th Street, 2013.'''

			''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

	[[Image:China-Books 20230101 224006280.jpg]]		[[Image:China-Books 20230101 224006280.jpg]]

Ccarlsson: added two photos

2024-05-28T21:14:06Z

added two photos

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:14, 28 May 2024
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	'''Same building that once housed the mortuary, seen here in 2023 after having a variety of occupants over the years after China Books & Periodicals moved out, including Modern Times Bookstore, a health club, and various other entities.'''		'''Same building that once housed the mortuary, seen here in 2023 after having a variety of occupants over the years after China Books & Periodicals moved out, including Modern Times Bookstore, a health club, and various other entities.'''

			''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

			[[Image:SW corner of Alabama and 24th 1951 building dates to 1875 opensfhistory wnp58.772.jpg\|800px]]

			'''Southwest corner of Alabama and 24th in 1951. The building was originally built in 1875.'''

			''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp58.772''

			[[Image:SW-corner-of-Alabama-and-24th-2024 20240512 031558346.jpg]]

			'''Same corner of Alabama and 24th, 2024.'''

	''Photo: Chris Carlsson''		''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Ccarlsson: added photo

2023-11-11T19:28:27Z

added photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:28, 11 November 2023
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	The Mission was working class in every sense. The buildings now housing artists' studios were working factories, breweries, tanneries. Trains carried raw materials and finished goods up and down Potrero Avenue. People walked from home to work and back again, seldom going anywhere else. "How would a reclusive, eccentric artist have been treated by his neighbors? " With a mixture of deference and cruelty--deference toward him as employed draftsman--white collar, middle class--and cruel ridicule of any "oddness" in his behavior, starting with any artistic inclination. I suspect his reclusive eccentricities were fed by isolation imposed by the attitudes of his neighbors. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they knew nothing of his art--that he kept his paintings and writings, as well as himself, to himself, out of self-preservation. Certainly, as a child, I would have been astonished to learn that there was such a thing as an adult neighbor who painted pictures and wrote poems!		The Mission was working class in every sense. The buildings now housing artists' studios were working factories, breweries, tanneries. Trains carried raw materials and finished goods up and down Potrero Avenue. People walked from home to work and back again, seldom going anywhere else. "How would a reclusive, eccentric artist have been treated by his neighbors? " With a mixture of deference and cruelty--deference toward him as employed draftsman--white collar, middle class--and cruel ridicule of any "oddness" in his behavior, starting with any artistic inclination. I suspect his reclusive eccentricities were fed by isolation imposed by the attitudes of his neighbors. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they knew nothing of his art--that he kept his paintings and writings, as well as himself, to himself, out of self-preservation. Certainly, as a child, I would have been astonished to learn that there was such a thing as an adult neighbor who painted pictures and wrote poems!

	My friend gave up on me. I left her picking up a newspaper on the way home. There I found the answer for her. It was a story about plans to convert the York Theater, a run-down movie house on 24th and York Streets, to a theater performing plays with a "feminist, multicultural aesthetic." ~~There--at~~ 24th and ~~York--was~~ the center of the community of my childhood, if there was one. There was the shared experience of the whole neighborhood.		My friend gave up on me. I left her picking up a newspaper on the way home. There I found the answer for her. It was a story about plans to convert the York Theater, a run-down movie house on 24th and York Streets, to a theater performing plays with a "feminist, multicultural aesthetic." There—at 24th and York—was the center of the community of my childhood, if there was one. There was the shared experience of the whole neighborhood.

			[[Image:2789 24th Street 1951 wnp58.636.jpg\|800px]]

			'''The Roosevelt Theater in 1951, at the corner of York and 24th.'''

			''Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp58.636''

	[[Image:24th-and-Bryant-w-Roosevelt-1935.jpg]]		[[Image:24th-and-Bryant-w-Roosevelt-1935.jpg]]

Ccarlsson: added photos

2023-11-11T03:52:24Z

added photos

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 Well, yes and no. The legendary films now featured on cable TV or public TV, and studied by academics as well as movie buffs, appeared at the Roozie about a dozen times a year--three to five years after being released to downtown theaters. The other 300 or so movies a faithful Roozie attendee could see throughout the year have been deservedly forgotten, most probably destroyed. (They turned up on TV screens in the early days, but disappeared by the sixties.) We called them "B" movies, but on a school grading system such a film was about a D minus. It would be kind to refer to the plot as formula, and to the indistinguishable actors and sets as wooden--all of it thrown together, probably, in a few days of "writing" and shooting. One sign of the general opinion of most movies shown at the Roozie was the fact that no one bothered to check a schedule (if there was one) to find out what time a movie started. The projectors ran from six to midnight, people coming and going all the time. It didn't really matter when you walked in or out on most B movies. They were accepted with a shrug as cheap distraction for children and for their weary, worried parents.
 There were other incentives for going to the Roozie. Wednesday was Dish Night. Every adult woman was given a piece of pottery that, week by week, built up to a set. You could walk into any home in the neighborhood and find us all eating from the same plates. Monday night was Bingo Night. A wheel was spun, and patrons punched out numbers on their cards until someone shouted "Bingo!" My father won once a "vanity set" -- a hand mirror and six glass, gilt-lidded make-up jars that shone empty on my mother's dresser for years--she didn't use make-up. But the big night was Saturday--Bank Night. All heads of households had filled out cards months or years before. At 8 p.m. on Saturday night the manager of The Roozie wheeled a glass drum out on stage, and three volunteers from the audience joined him. One turned the crank that spun the drum, mixing up the hundreds of little cards inside. Another (always a child) drew one card from the drum. A third volunteer silently read the name on the card, then handed it to the theater manager, who read the name aloud three times, with weighty pauses between calls, while everyone waited in silence for the exclamation of the lucky winner--for the prize on bank night was cash.
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 [[Gold Rush 49ers Discover the Mission  |Prev. Document]]  [[The People |Next Document]]
-[[category:Mission]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Italian]] [[category:Irish]]
+[[category:Mission]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Italian]] [[category:Irish]] [[category:2020s]]

Lisaruth at 08:02, 8 January 2018

2018-01-08T08:02:59Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:02, 8 January 2018
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	Lunch with a friend. She is researching the life of an eccentric artist who lived in the Mission District, on the northern slope of Bernal Heights, during the thirties and forties. "You grew up three blocks away during those years," she says. "What would have been the cultural surroundings influencing my artist?'		Lunch with a friend. She is researching the life of an eccentric artist who lived in the Mission District, on the northern slope of Bernal Heights, during the thirties and forties. "You grew up three blocks away during those years," she says. "What would have been the cultural surroundings influencing my artist?"

	Cultural surroundings?		Cultural surroundings?

Lisaruth: changed credit on 1928 and 1937 SFPL photos which came from C.R. collection

2016-07-13T00:45:37Z

changed credit on 1928 and 1937 SFPL photos which came from C.R. collection

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:45, 12 July 2016
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	'''Streetcar on Mission Street between 25th and 26th, c. 1930s.'''		'''Streetcar on Mission Street between 25th and 26th, c. 1930s.'''

	''Photo: ~~Charles Ruiz~~ collection''		''Photo: C. R. collection''


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	Italian community?		Italian community?

	First of all, I told her, you're from back east, where ethnic groups live in tighter, more homogenous neighborhoods. California has always been more integrated, at least among its Europeans. In the group of girls I hung out with, one was Southern Italian while I am Northern Italian (a vast difference in those days), one mixed Irish-German-Swedish,one Norwegian (with a Jewish boyfriend), one Greek, one Chinese (though most Asians still lived north of Market Street) and one newcomer from Oklahoma, with a history out of Steinbeck, who seemed most foreign of all to us San Franciscans. (Hispanics had barely begun to enter The Mission. African-Americans lived in The Fillmore and, as war build-up began, in Hunters Point). Those were the days when the "melting pot" philosophy opposed ethnic separatism, so that for better of for worse (a little of both) we were all anxious to act "American." When my grandparents spoke to me in Italian, I answered in English.		First of all, I told her, you're from back east, where ethnic groups live in tighter, more homogenous neighborhoods. California has always been more integrated, at least among its Europeans. In the group of girls I hung out with, one was Southern Italian while I am Northern Italian (a vast difference in those days), one mixed Irish-German-Swedish, one Norwegian (with a Jewish boyfriend), one Greek, one Chinese (though most Asians still lived north of Market Street) and one newcomer from Oklahoma, with a history out of Steinbeck, who seemed most foreign of all to us San Franciscans. (Hispanics had barely begun to enter The Mission. African-Americans lived in The Fillmore and, as war build-up began, in Hunters Point). Those were the days when the "melting pot" philosophy opposed ethnic separatism, so that for better of for worse (a little of both) we were all anxious to act "American." When my grandparents spoke to me in Italian, I answered in English.

	Furthermore. I have always wondered if the term "Italian Community" isn't an oxymoron. In my home there was only one "community" that ~~mattered--the~~ family. We gathered on every ~~holiday--that~~'s ''every'' holiday, including Labor Day, July 5th, Memorial Day, etc. and on each ~~birthday--two~~ or three times in some months. Our elders had a few friends, met on the job perhaps, but in some deep, unspoken way, these friends didn't really count. Only family counted, despite the undercurrents of unforgiven old slights or conflicts ever present at the obligatory, woman-labor-intensive gatherings that swallowed up the little time left over from hard work. A good family, especially in those hard times, was one that took care of its own and kept to itself.		Furthermore. I have always wondered if the term "Italian Community" isn't an oxymoron. In my home there was only one "community" that mattered—the family. We gathered on every holiday—that's ''every'' holiday, including Labor Day, July 5th, Memorial Day, etc. and on each birthday—two or three times in some months. Our elders had a few friends, met on the job perhaps, but in some deep, unspoken way, these friends didn't really count. Only family counted, despite the undercurrents of unforgiven old slights or conflicts ever present at the obligatory, woman-labor-intensive gatherings that swallowed up the little time left over from hard work. A good family, especially in those hard times, was one that took care of its own and kept to itself.

	"What about the church?" asked my friend. "Was that a center for community? Did it give a special flavor to daily life?"		"What about the church?" asked my friend. "Was that a center for community? Did it give a special flavor to daily life?"

	To be sure, the Catholic Church so dominated The Mission, that for many of my childhood years I didn't know there ''were'' any other churches. Yet "dominated" is the wrong word. Grandmothers went to Saint Peter's or Saint Anthony's every ~~Sunday--no~~ one else I knew went regularly. I was never even baptized, but went to Mass along with my friends on holidays like Easter, when we all had new outfits to show off. Everyone was apparently Catholic, yet no one was ''very'' Catholic. Come to think of it, that might have been the strongest Italian influence. Italians (unlike the Irish, who ran the Church in America) take their religion as a right, a comfort, not as a guilt-tripping duty.		To be sure, the Catholic Church so dominated The Mission, that for many of my childhood years I didn't know there ''were'' any other churches. Yet "dominated" is the wrong word. Grandmothers went to Saint Peter's or Saint Anthony's every Sunday—no one else I knew went regularly. I was never even baptized, but went to Mass along with my friends on holidays like Easter, when we all had new outfits to show off. Everyone was apparently Catholic, yet no one was ''very'' Catholic. Come to think of it, that might have been the strongest Italian influence. Italians (unlike the Irish, who ran the Church in America) take their religion as a right, a comfort, not as a guilt-tripping duty.

	[[Image:16th-St-east-at-Church-1937-SFPL.jpg\|720px]]		[[Image:16th-St-east-at-Church-1937-SFPL.jpg\|720px]]
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	'''16th Street looking east from Church, 1937, with Mission Dolores Church one block down on right.'''		'''16th Street looking east from Church, 1937, with Mission Dolores Church one block down on right.'''

	''Photo: ~~Charles Ruiz collection~~''		''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''

	[[Image:17th-St-west-at-Sanchez-1928-SFPL.jpg\|720px]]		[[Image:17th-St-west-at-Sanchez-1928-SFPL.jpg\|720px]]
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	'''17th Street west at Sanchez, 1928.'''		'''17th Street west at Sanchez, 1928.'''

	''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library~~, courtesy Charles Ruiz collection~~''		''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library''


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	Today The Mission has more crowds, dirt, and danger than during my childhood. But today even the poorest, least-educated people live a wider life there. The projected reincarnation of the Roosevelt/York Theater as Brava! for Women in the Arts is only one proof of it. My friend's eccentric artist might still be a recluse if he lived there today, but only by choice. I think he would fit in pretty well now.		Today The Mission has more crowds, dirt, and danger than during my childhood. But today even the poorest, least-educated people live a wider life there. The projected reincarnation of the Roosevelt/York Theater as Brava! for Women in the Arts is only one proof of it. My friend's eccentric artist might still be a recluse if he lived there today, but only by choice. I think he would fit in pretty well now.

	~~--''by Dorothy Bryant ''~~

	''Dorothy Bryant is the author of ten novels and five plays, many of them set in the Bay Area.''		''Dorothy Bryant is the author of ten novels and five plays, many of them set in the Bay Area.''

Ccarlsson: added Charles Ruiz photo

2014-10-05T03:32:32Z

added Charles Ruiz photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:32, 4 October 2014
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	''Photo: Charles Ruiz collection''		''Photo: Charles Ruiz collection''

			[[Image:17th-St-west-at-Sanchez-1928-SFPL.jpg\|720px]]

			'''17th Street west at Sanchez, 1928.'''

			''Photo: San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library, courtesy Charles Ruiz collection''

Ccarlsson: added Charles Ruiz photo

2014-08-29T01:10:36Z

added Charles Ruiz photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:10, 28 August 2014
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	''Photo: Private Collection''		''Photo: Private Collection''

			[[Image:Streetcar-on-Mission-between-25th-and-26th-c-1930s.jpg\|720px]]

			'''Streetcar on Mission Street between 25th and 26th, c. 1930s.'''

			''Photo: Charles Ruiz collection''

Ccarlsson: added Charles Ruiz photo

2014-08-25T05:11:01Z

added Charles Ruiz photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:11, 24 August 2014
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	To be sure, the Catholic Church so dominated The Mission, that for many of my childhood years I didn't know there ''were'' any other churches. Yet "dominated" is the wrong word. Grandmothers went to Saint Peter's or Saint Anthony's every Sunday--no one else I knew went regularly. I was never even baptized, but went to Mass along with my friends on holidays like Easter, when we all had new outfits to show off. Everyone was apparently Catholic, yet no one was ''very'' Catholic. Come to think of it, that might have been the strongest Italian influence. Italians (unlike the Irish, who ran the Church in America) take their religion as a right, a comfort, not as a guilt-tripping duty.		To be sure, the Catholic Church so dominated The Mission, that for many of my childhood years I didn't know there ''were'' any other churches. Yet "dominated" is the wrong word. Grandmothers went to Saint Peter's or Saint Anthony's every Sunday--no one else I knew went regularly. I was never even baptized, but went to Mass along with my friends on holidays like Easter, when we all had new outfits to show off. Everyone was apparently Catholic, yet no one was ''very'' Catholic. Come to think of it, that might have been the strongest Italian influence. Italians (unlike the Irish, who ran the Church in America) take their religion as a right, a comfort, not as a guilt-tripping duty.

			[[Image:16th-St-east-at-Church-1937-SFPL.jpg\|720px]]

			'''16th Street looking east from Church, 1937, with Mission Dolores Church one block down on right.'''

			''Photo: Charles Ruiz collection''


	"What about restaurants, coffee houses as gathering places?"		"What about restaurants, coffee houses as gathering places?"

Aiobrec13: Changed credits from Greg Garr to Private Collection

2014-06-17T21:42:20Z

Changed credits from Greg Garr to Private Collection

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:42, 17 June 2014
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	'''Mission Street looking north from 22nd Street, c. 1935.'''		'''Mission Street looking north from 22nd Street, c. 1935.'''

	''Photo: ~~Greg Gaar~~ Collection''		''Photo: Private Collection''


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	'''1935 view of 24th St. east from 24th and Florida. The Roozie (today the Brava Theater) is in the center.'''''		'''1935 view of 24th St. east from 24th and Florida. The Roozie (today the Brava Theater) is in the center.'''''

	''Photo: ~~Greg Gaar~~ Collection''		''Photo: Private Collection''

	[[Image:24BRY994.jpg]]		[[Image:24BRY994.jpg]]