Nostalgia--Bay area version (San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland: hotel, home, theatres)

[prairie guy]

Am now in the Midwest, but love reading the Nostalgia thread by the folks remembering the San Fernando Valley--and I don't know most of the places they are talking about! Great job guys!

I want start a Bay area-oriented nostalgia and let's see where it goes. Here's a few things to start:

"Top of the Hill Daly City"--stereo place where they also gave away a "mountain bike" for a certain minimum purchase

Foremost milk deliveries, right to the doorstep placed in your wooden box.

Dr. Don Rose on the SF radio station...it was quite the rage, though I didn't listen much for some nerdish reason!

The Winterland (?) Bill Graham rock concert place--I never went, again for nerdish reasons!

"United California Bank--U-C-B" jingle. Once or twice I also bought Oakland A's tickets there--wasn't UCB also a Ticketmaster outlet?

Giants pocket schedules could be picked up everywhere--Chevron I think was a particular tie-in.

Gas station giveaways--NFL glasses I recall, but there was more.

Montgomery Wards--I remember one in Richmond on Cutting Blvd.

"New" malls--Hilltop in Richmond was one of the first full-fledged ones, was it not?

Blue Chip stores/collecting those stamps

The following reveals my North Bay upbringing, but what were the local equivalents in your areas?

Cruising Fourth Street--for us kids in the hinterlands, Santa Rosa was the "big town" (maybe 50,000 population!) and the place to cruise weekend nights.

Opening new high schools--back then, the opening of a new school was a major event--Napa and Petaluma gained stature when one said, "oh, they have two high schools now!"

Thanks for sharing!

[ehcsrop]

I don't want to horn in on your thread being a SoCal guy, but I wonder if the name Leon's Bar-B-Que located near the SF Zoo will come up. I worked in SF for a few weeks in the 70's and ate more than my share of the food described as, "You don't need no teeth to eat my beef." I had the t shirt.

[clongirl]

KFRC! and then in the 80's "Live 105" ..

DANCE PARTY! on KOFY. My high school never got on for some reason.

Doggie Diner

The Alexandria and Coronet theatres.

Now this is going waaay back and I think I was barely two/three..but Playland at the Beach.

The chain record store "The Wherehouse" and of course Tower.

The original GAP where they sold Levi's .."fall into the Gap" jingle

The "Oasis" nightclub

..and I remember learning how to ice skate at the rink in the mall in Concord (Sunvalley I think)

Leon's BBQ..off Sloat- last time I went (late 90's) , the place was soo gross. When I got back home w/ my takeout ribs, there was a 20$ bill stuck inside the bag (I think they were paying us not to eat it). It was FAR better I'm sure back in the 70's!

The "Great Entertainer" pool hall.

Anyone remember the "Whale Building"? This is where all SF mods (Vespa/Lambretta scooter lovers) would meet up for our rallies then tear up the City.

How 'bout the Hotel "Casa Loma"..any punks out there?

The Berkeley Square nightclub. Is it even still around? Yes, I remember Winterland..I think it closed before I was old enough..wasn't it down off of Fillmore? I also remember a very cool, kitchy breakfast place down in near 15th Guerrero called "New Dawn". Oh, and American Rag used to be the best place for used clothing back in the 80's.. used to be on Bush st. Now it's all fancy, expensive stuff on Van Ness.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by clongirl

KFRC! and then in the 80's "Live 105" ..

DANCE PARTY! on KOFY. My high school never got on for some reason.

Doggie Diner

The Alexandria and Coronet theatres.

Now this is going waaay back and I think I was barely two/three..but Playland at the Beach.

The chain record store "The Wherehouse" and of course Tower.

The original GAP where they sold Levi's .."fall into the Gap" jingle

The "Oasis" nightclub

..and I remember learning how to ice skate at the rink in the mall in Concord (Sunvalley I think)

Leon's BBQ..off Sloat- last time I went (late 90's) , the place was soo gross. When I got back home w/ my takeout ribs, there was a 20$ bill stuck inside the bag (I think they were paying us not to eat it). It was FAR better I'm sure back in the 70's!

The "Great Entertainer" pool hall.

Anyone remember the "Whale Building"? This is where all SF mods (Vespa/Lambretta scooter lovers) would meet up for our rallies then tear up the City.

How 'bout the Hotel "Casa Loma"..any punks out there?

The Berkeley Square nightclub. Is it even still around? Yes, I remember Winterland..I think it closed before I was old enough..wasn't it down off of Fillmore? I also remember a very cool, kitchy breakfast place down in near 15th Guerrero called "New Dawn". Oh, and American Rag used to be the best place for used clothing back in the 80's.. used to be on Bush st. Now it's all fancy, expensive stuff on Van Ness.

Good ones in there. Also, a bit prior somewhat (but overlapping I suppose) the Fab Mab, Chi Chi Club, The Keystone, and (still going strong in fact) Bottom of the Hill.

Oi!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Marine World being in Belmont
Seeing wheat being harvested along Hwy 17 in Alameda County
Everything besides SF, Berkeley, Palo Alto, Marin and a few other places being Republican
Apricot fights
Cessnas landing at SFO
Not having BART
Snoopy and the Red Barron on the Emeryville mud flats
The Palo Alto marina

[BayAreaHillbilly]

- Many well used railway spurs and sidings off of the SJ-SF Southern Pacific alignment all the way up into the City, with multiple freight trains daily. (Today I think there may be one or two per day, with only a few dozen cars)
- The old Dumbarton (steel, with a lift section, two lanes) automobile bridge
- Steel being made in South San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose, Fremont, Union City, Hayward and Oakland.
- Cars being made in Milpitas, where the Great Mall is today, in the old Ford plant.
- "Silicon Valley" being mostly located in San Mateo County and only a little bit into far NW Santa Clara County, and the phrase "Silicon Valley" only being known by a few hundred industry insiders.
- The Wagon Wheel (and the Wagon Wheel deals made on bar napkins).
- The old Mariani plant in Cupertino.
- Doggie Diner being a significant chain with multiple locations
- Zim's - ditto
- Running into Herb Caen at the "Washbag."
- Running into Herb Caen again, a few days later, at a Museum Society luncheon.
- Riding horses where there are now mega mansions
- Having multiple outdoor shooting ranges in the flatlands
- The Fremont Raceway (aka "Fremont Drag Strip")
- The old Fremont Airport
- Skysailing Airport
- Scoring cases of beer in Whisky Gulch ... at age 16.
- Day on the Green (times many)
- Johnny Rotten being interviewed, live and unscripted, on KSAN (back when they still had an AOR format)
- The Fab Mab
- Massive rafts of sloops, mid summer, at ... (name your old school podunk Bay marina) ... hearing people falling into the water between the boats at 3AM after having too much to drink ... thank God no one drowned!
- The classic goofy morning drive time show on KNBR (Dill, Cleary, et al)
- Going spur of the moment to Giants games at "Windlestick" and getting good seats (hmmmm ... on second thought, that's not necessarily a good thing ... I think they set all time MLB low attendance records!)
- Much of the Embarcadero still having that gritty port vibe

[BayAreaHillbilly]

- License plates with the dark blue background and gold letters, with only 6 alphanumeric characters (if you remember when these were still being issued, that's pretty good)
- License plates with the black background and gold letters, ditto fewer digits than today (now if you remember THESE being issued, you are a son or daughter of the Golden West)

[nmnita]

wow: back to the 60s

SFo restaurants:

Venitos near the wharf

Le Trianan (spelling)

Alfredos

the famous Haight Ashbury area with all the hippies

Finoccios (spelling)
Sausalito: spelling:

Sally Stanfords

driving to Napa valley and the wine country before they charged for wine sampling

crossing the Golden Gate bridge for 25 cents

driving up north to Italian Swiss Colony winery

Dinner in Occidental at the Union Hotel (I think that was the name of it) after you tagged your Christmas tree

Hamilton Airforce base in Novato

of course the Old Candlestick park and watching the Giants and the Dodgers: Hot dogs, $1.25.

Well Fargo bank before they went national

The first Taco Bell I ever saw, right in Novato and it had a drive thru

Sizzler with a 25 cent salad (no salad bar)

I guess there are lots more, but these come to mind for me. i don't know if any of these places are still in the area.

As many republicans as Democrats especially in the East Bay. Marin county was a mixture, the further north, the more republicans.

Nita

[MikensusanL]

Caspers hot dogs!
The Plunge in Point Richmond
Moos ice cream parlor
Fairyland
Palace of Fine Arts
Newberrys in San Pablo
Greens Western apparel
KFRC with Doctor Don Rose!!!! the best

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Newberry's - now that was a classic. I'd forgotten about that outfit.