SPEC'S: A Durable Legend - Revision history

Ccarlsson: added images

2023-12-24T05:20:22Z

added images

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:20, 23 December 2023
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	Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.		Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.
	He didn’t, though, and his watering hole in Adler Place has not only survived, but thrived. Specs is one of North Beach’s storied bars, but it’s also one of San Francisco’s oddest little museums, housing a collection of ephemera ranging from maritime artifacts to Wobbly memorabilia to a petrified walrus penis guaranteed to make the manliest of men shrivel by comparison.		He didn’t, though, and his watering hole in Adler Place has not only survived, but thrived. Specs is one of North Beach’s storied bars, but it’s also one of San Francisco’s oddest little museums, housing a collection of ephemera ranging from maritime artifacts to Wobbly memorabilia to a petrified walrus penis guaranteed to make the manliest of men shrivel by comparison.

			[[Image:Richard-Specs-Simmons-by-Dave-Glass.jpg\|350px\|right]]

			'''Richard 'Spec's' Simmons.'''

			''Photo: Dave Glass''

	Muller’s ''Examiner'' account, along with the ''Chronicle''’s version of the rescue and a copy of the Coast Guard report, is part of the collection, preserved under sticky plastic and displayed just past the bar and above the trash can.		Muller’s ''Examiner'' account, along with the ''Chronicle''’s version of the rescue and a copy of the Coast Guard report, is part of the collection, preserved under sticky plastic and displayed just past the bar and above the trash can.
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	''Photo: Peggy Rehm, May 10, 2014''		''Photo: Peggy Rehm, May 10, 2014''

			[[Image:Last-Call-Specs-Film.png]]

			[[Image:Specs-We-Made-It-May-2021.jpg]]


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	[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:Famous characters]]		[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:2020s]] [[category:Famous characters]]

Ccarlsson: added photo

2023-06-02T22:01:26Z

added photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:01, 2 June 2023
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	Notice the coin slot in the mummy’s head, and contribute.		Notice the coin slot in the mummy’s head, and contribute.

			[[Image:Specs-by-Peggy-Rehm Ma-10-2014.jpg]]

			''Photo: Peggy Rehm, May 10, 2014''


	[[Nature Reclaims a Piece of the Waterfront \|Prev. Document]] [[Birdseye View of SF 1874 \|Next Document]]		[[Nature Reclaims a Piece of the Waterfront \|Prev. Document]] [[Birdseye View of SF 1874 \|Next Document]]


	[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Famous characters]]		[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:2010s]] [[category:Famous characters]]

Ccarlsson: added photo

2018-04-23T19:50:28Z

added photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:50, 23 April 2018
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	That’s how ''Examiner'' reporter Baron Muller began his story about five San Francisco bartenders who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their 32-foot sloop took on water and sank three miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge back in September 1969. One of those seafaring publicans was bespectacled, 41-year-old [[Richard 'Specs' Simmons, Beloved North Beach Bar Owner\|Richard Simmons, aka Specs]], who had just opened his North Beach bar a year earlier.		That’s how ''Examiner'' reporter Baron Muller began his story about five San Francisco bartenders who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their 32-foot sloop took on water and sank three miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge back in September 1969. One of those seafaring publicans was bespectacled, 41-year-old [[Richard 'Specs' Simmons, Beloved North Beach Bar Owner\|Richard Simmons, aka Specs]], who had just opened his North Beach bar a year earlier.

			[[Image:Specs4-2749.jpg]]

			'''Interior of Spec's, c. 2015.'''

	Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.		Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.

Ccarlsson: added new photo

2016-10-22T04:54:45Z

added new photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:54, 21 October 2016
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	He didn’t, though, and his watering hole in Adler Place has not only survived, but thrived. Specs is one of North Beach’s storied bars, but it’s also one of San Francisco’s oddest little museums, housing a collection of ephemera ranging from maritime artifacts to Wobbly memorabilia to a petrified walrus penis guaranteed to make the manliest of men shrivel by comparison.		He didn’t, though, and his watering hole in Adler Place has not only survived, but thrived. Specs is one of North Beach’s storied bars, but it’s also one of San Francisco’s oddest little museums, housing a collection of ephemera ranging from maritime artifacts to Wobbly memorabilia to a petrified walrus penis guaranteed to make the manliest of men shrivel by comparison.

	Muller’s Examiner account, along with the ''Chronicle''’s version of the rescue and a copy of the Coast Guard report, is part of the collection, preserved under sticky plastic and displayed just past the bar and above the trash can.		Muller’s ''Examiner'' account, along with the ''Chronicle''’s version of the rescue and a copy of the Coast Guard report, is part of the collection, preserved under sticky plastic and displayed just past the bar and above the trash can.

	More about the museum in a minute, but first the walrus penis. You don’t find one of these in just any bar, at least any bar south of Alaska where, apparently, they’re plentiful. According to one Specs barfly, who was sober enough to sound like a reliable authority, petrified walrus penises wash up regularly on Alaskan beaches. Which makes you wonder what the hell is going on out there in the chilly North Pacific.		More about the museum in a minute, but first the walrus penis. You don’t find one of these in just any bar, at least any bar south of Alaska where, apparently, they’re plentiful. According to one Specs barfly, who was sober enough to sound like a reliable authority, petrified walrus penises wash up regularly on Alaskan beaches. Which makes you wonder what the hell is going on out there in the chilly North Pacific.
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	To know that is to understand that you’ve entered a very special place.		To know that is to understand that you’ve entered a very special place.

			[[Image:Specs-PW-1983.jpg]]

			'''The "dissident office workers of [[Processed World\|''Processed World'' magazine]] met regularly at Spec's in 1982-84. Here is one table of them in 1983.'''

			''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

	The donor of said artifact, incidentally, is apparently the same guy who sent Specs the Alaskan king crab that is mounted on the wall just past the end of the bar. The story I heard, possibly apocryphal, is that the legs had to be removed in order to fit the crab into the shipping box. One leg was said to have been reattached backwards, although I couldn’t see any evidence of that.		The donor of said artifact, incidentally, is apparently the same guy who sent Specs the Alaskan king crab that is mounted on the wall just past the end of the bar. The story I heard, possibly apocryphal, is that the legs had to be removed in order to fit the crab into the shipping box. One leg was said to have been reattached backwards, although I couldn’t see any evidence of that.

Ccarlsson: added link

2016-10-20T18:28:08Z

added link

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:28, 20 October 2016
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	“Five shipwrecked men, visible only because of a single bobbing flashlight, were plucked from the darkened ocean off the Golden Gate early today in a one-in-a-million rescue.”		“Five shipwrecked men, visible only because of a single bobbing flashlight, were plucked from the darkened ocean off the Golden Gate early today in a one-in-a-million rescue.”

	That’s how ''Examiner'' reporter Baron Muller began his story about five San Francisco bartenders who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their 32-foot sloop took on water and sank three miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge back in September 1969. One of those seafaring publicans was bespectacled, 41-year-old Richard Simmons, aka Specs, who had just opened his North Beach bar a year earlier.		That’s how ''Examiner'' reporter Baron Muller began his story about five San Francisco bartenders who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their 32-foot sloop took on water and sank three miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge back in September 1969. One of those seafaring publicans was bespectacled, 41-year-old [[Richard 'Specs' Simmons, Beloved North Beach Bar Owner\|Richard Simmons, aka Specs]], who had just opened his North Beach bar a year earlier.

	Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.		Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.

Lisaruth: made into an historical essay instead of unfinished history, since it's a stand alone article. also took chris's blurb and made it the abstract for the piece.

2016-07-27T23:19:35Z

made into an historical essay instead of unfinished history, since it's a stand alone article. also took chris's blurb and made it the abstract for the piece.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:19, 27 July 2016
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	'''<font face = ~~arial light~~> <font color = maroon> <font size = 3>~~Unfinished History~~</font></font> </font>'''		'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''

			<font size=4>Eye-Candy for the Drinking Classes</font size>

			''by Tony Long, originally published in [http://www.thd.org ''The Semaphore''] #184, Summer 2008''
	[[Image:norbeach$spec_s-exterior.jpg]]		[[Image:norbeach$spec_s-exterior.jpg]]

	'''Specs in North Beach has been a speakeasy, a Union social club, a lesbian-bar and a storeroom; ~~its~~ been Specs since the mid-1960s.'''		'''Specs in North Beach has been a speakeasy, a Union social club, a lesbian-bar and a storeroom; it's been Specs since the mid-1960s.'''

	''Photo: Brett Reierson''		''Photo: Brett Reierson''

	Spec's bar at 12 Adler Lane, directly across the street from City Lights, is a veritable museum of strange stuff from around the world. Many literary, bohemian, radical and other free associators of San Francisco's demi-monde have gathered here in groups and spontaneously in a timeless pursuit of their respective passions.		{\| style="color: black; background-color: #F5DA81;"
			\| colspan="2" \|'''Spec's bar at 12 Adler Lane, directly across the street from City Lights, is a veritable museum of strange stuff from around the world. Many literary, bohemian, radical and other free associators of San Francisco's demi-monde have gathered here in groups and spontaneously in a timeless pursuit of their respective passions.
	~~''--Chris Carlsson''~~		\|}

	~~''The following article was originally published in [http://www.thd.org ''The Semaphore''] #184, Summer 2008''~~

	~~<font size=4>Eye-Candy for the Drinking Classes</font size>~~

	~~''by Tony Long''~~

	“Five shipwrecked men, visible only because of a single bobbing flashlight, were plucked from the darkened ocean off the Golden Gate early today in a one-in-a-million rescue.”		“Five shipwrecked men, visible only because of a single bobbing flashlight, were plucked from the darkened ocean off the Golden Gate early today in a one-in-a-million rescue.”

	That’s how ''Examiner'' reporter Baron Muller began his story about five San Francisco bartenders who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their 32-foot sloop took on water and sank three miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge back in ~~Sept.~~ 1969. One of those seafaring publicans was bespectacled, 41-year-old Richard Simmons, aka Specs, who had just opened his North Beach bar a year earlier.		That’s how ''Examiner'' reporter Baron Muller began his story about five San Francisco bartenders who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their 32-foot sloop took on water and sank three miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge back in September 1969. One of those seafaring publicans was bespectacled, 41-year-old Richard Simmons, aka Specs, who had just opened his North Beach bar a year earlier.

	Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.		Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.
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	More about the museum in a minute, but first the walrus penis. You don’t find one of these in just any bar, at least any bar south of Alaska where, apparently, they’re plentiful. According to one Specs barfly, who was sober enough to sound like a reliable authority, petrified walrus penises wash up regularly on Alaskan beaches. Which makes you wonder what the hell is going on out there in the chilly North Pacific.		More about the museum in a minute, but first the walrus penis. You don’t find one of these in just any bar, at least any bar south of Alaska where, apparently, they’re plentiful. According to one Specs barfly, who was sober enough to sound like a reliable authority, petrified walrus penises wash up regularly on Alaskan beaches. Which makes you wonder what the hell is going on out there in the chilly North Pacific.

	Whether our trusty barfly has his story straight or not, that object above the ~~bar --the~~ thing that looks kind of like a child’s femur next to the sign that says “All dogs found on the premises will be turned over to Chef Matsumoto for the Sunday luau”—is indeed a walrus penis.		Whether our trusty barfly has his story straight or not, that object above the bar—the thing that looks kind of like a child’s femur next to the sign that says “All dogs found on the premises will be turned over to Chef Matsumoto for the Sunday luau”—is indeed a walrus penis.

	To know that is to understand that you’ve entered a very special place.		To know that is to understand that you’ve entered a very special place.

Ccarlsson at 00:00, 6 November 2012

2012-11-06T00:00:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:00, 5 November 2012
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	''--Chris Carlsson''		''--Chris Carlsson''

	''The following article was originally published in <http://www.thd.org ''The Semaphore'']] #184, Summer 2008''		''The following article was originally published in [http://www.thd.org ''The Semaphore''] #184, Summer 2008''

	<font size=4>Eye-Candy for the Drinking Classes</font size>		<font size=4>Eye-Candy for the Drinking Classes</font size>

Ccarlsson: added article from The Semaphore

2012-11-05T23:59:57Z

added article from The Semaphore

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:59, 5 November 2012
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	''--Chris Carlsson''		''--Chris Carlsson''

			''The following article was originally published in <http://www.thd.org ''The Semaphore'']] #184, Summer 2008''

			<font size=4>Eye-Candy for the Drinking Classes</font size>

			''by Tony Long''

			“Five shipwrecked men, visible only because of a single bobbing flashlight, were plucked from the darkened ocean off the Golden Gate early today in a one-in-a-million rescue.”

			That’s how ''Examiner'' reporter Baron Muller began his story about five San Francisco bartenders who were rescued by the Coast Guard after their 32-foot sloop took on water and sank three miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge back in Sept. 1969. One of those seafaring publicans was bespectacled, 41-year-old Richard Simmons, aka Specs, who had just opened his North Beach bar a year earlier.

			Just think how many livers might have been saved had Specs gone down with the ship.
			He didn’t, though, and his watering hole in Adler Place has not only survived, but thrived. Specs is one of North Beach’s storied bars, but it’s also one of San Francisco’s oddest little museums, housing a collection of ephemera ranging from maritime artifacts to Wobbly memorabilia to a petrified walrus penis guaranteed to make the manliest of men shrivel by comparison.

			Muller’s Examiner account, along with the ''Chronicle''’s version of the rescue and a copy of the Coast Guard report, is part of the collection, preserved under sticky plastic and displayed just past the bar and above the trash can.

			More about the museum in a minute, but first the walrus penis. You don’t find one of these in just any bar, at least any bar south of Alaska where, apparently, they’re plentiful. According to one Specs barfly, who was sober enough to sound like a reliable authority, petrified walrus penises wash up regularly on Alaskan beaches. Which makes you wonder what the hell is going on out there in the chilly North Pacific.

			Whether our trusty barfly has his story straight or not, that object above the bar --the thing that looks kind of like a child’s femur next to the sign that says “All dogs found on the premises will be turned over to Chef Matsumoto for the Sunday luau”—is indeed a walrus penis.

			To know that is to understand that you’ve entered a very special place.

			The donor of said artifact, incidentally, is apparently the same guy who sent Specs the Alaskan king crab that is mounted on the wall just past the end of the bar. The story I heard, possibly apocryphal, is that the legs had to be removed in order to fit the crab into the shipping box. One leg was said to have been reattached backwards, although I couldn’t see any evidence of that.

			There is no official curator at this museum, so cataloging the inventory is left to the visitor, a tricky proposition when you consider why most people are there in the first place. I’ve been going to Specs for years now and I always seem to find something, somewhere I’ve never seen before. Maybe it’s me; maybe it’s the Scotch.

			Anyway, all drinking aside, Specs is an absolute feast for the eyes. The walls are drunk with pictures, posters, notices (“How to Get a Drink” greets the patron to his immediate left upon entering the bar), shipping company pennants and drawings (pencil sketches of neighborhood notables by artist Kristen Wetterhahn, done on cocktail napkins and framed, are particularly good).

			Inside glass display cases you’ll find scrimshaw, American Indian artifacts, lapel pins (“Boycott the ''Examiner''” is a personal favorite), political pamphlets, a stuffed mongoose locked in mortal combat with a stuffed cobra, and, across the bar in another case, a stuffed armadillo.

			One of the more unusual pieces can be found way in the back, near the piano. That would be a full-sized mummy case, whose face, on closer inspection, is a pretty good likeness of Specs himself. This was not unearthed during some early 20th century Egyptian dig, but rather a gift from Dancer, a former Specs bartender who obviously has some talent as a mummy artisan.

			Notice the coin slot in the mummy’s head, and contribute.

	[[Nature Reclaims a Piece of the Waterfront \|Prev. Document]] [[Birdseye View of SF 1874 \|Next Document]]		[[Nature Reclaims a Piece of the Waterfront \|Prev. Document]] [[Birdseye View of SF 1874 \|Next Document]]

Ccarlsson: PC

2009-01-14T08:29:43Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:29, 14 January 2009
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			'''<font face = arial light> <font color = maroon> <font size = 3>Unfinished History</font></font> </font>'''

	[[Image:norbeach$spec_s-exterior.jpg]]		[[Image:norbeach$spec_s-exterior.jpg]]

Ccarlsson: categories

2008-08-13T05:28:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:28, 12 August 2008
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	[[Image:norbeach$spec_s-exterior.jpg]]		[[Image:norbeach$spec_s-exterior.jpg]]

	Specs in North Beach has been a speakeasy, a Union social club, a lesbian-bar and a storeroom; its been Specs since the mid-1960s.		'''Specs in North Beach has been a speakeasy, a Union social club, a lesbian-bar and a storeroom; its been Specs since the mid-1960s.'''

			''Photo: Brett Reierson''

	Spec's bar at 12 Adler Lane, directly across the street from City Lights, is a veritable museum of strange stuff from around the world. Many literary, bohemian, radical and other free associators of San Francisco's demi-monde have gathered here in groups and spontaneously in a timeless pursuit of their respective passions.		Spec's bar at 12 Adler Lane, directly across the street from City Lights, is a veritable museum of strange stuff from around the world. Many literary, bohemian, radical and other free associators of San Francisco's demi-monde have gathered here in groups and spontaneously in a timeless pursuit of their respective passions.
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	''--Chris Carlsson''		''--Chris Carlsson''

	~~Contributors to this page include:~~		[[Nature Reclaims a Piece of the Waterfront \|Prev. Document]] [[Birdseye View of SF 1874 \|Next Document]]

	~~''Reierson,Brett - Photographer-Artist ''~~

	~~Carlsson,Chris - Writer~~

	[[~~Nature Reclaims a Piece of the Waterfront \|Prev. Document~~]] [[~~Birdseye View of SF 1874 \|Next Document~~]]		[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1960s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:1980s]] [[category:1990s]] [[category:Famous characters]]