Going Downtown...

[birdguy 3,943]

I'm a little late for the Friday story.  Got caught up in the alien space ship and UFO conversations and forgot about it until just now.

Going Downtown

Going downtown was always an adventure for Lee and I.  At first, Mom used to take us shopping with her.  Then, when I was about 9 and had joined the Cub Scouts, Mom let Lee and I go downtown by ourselves.

Downtown was a pretty long walk from Larkin and Pacific, especially for runt towheads with short legs.  Depending on our route, it was about twenty blocks from our house to the Emporium, the major department store on Market Street.  Sometimes Mom gave us cable car fare, but usually we walked.

We knew where the toy and hobby departments were in all the stores.  There was a pet shop on Maiden Lane, and Roos Brothers, a men's clothing store with a large sporting goods department, was across the street from the Emporium.  They ran free hunting and fishing movies downstairs.

There were a couple of Army Surplus stores on market street, and several pawn shops on Mission Street, a block down from Market.  These drew us like magnets to windows full of exotic items we never saw in the department stores.

The adventure started right after breakfast.  Lee and I would bolt out the door and start down Larkin Street.  We'd walk though Civic Center park and a block later we were on Market Street.  

The Crystal Palace Market was just across the street.  It was like a farmers market, an entire block of fresh produce stands and fish and meat counters.  It smelled almost like Chinatown, but not quite so bad.

We'd turn up Market toward the Ferry Building.  The traffic was usually pretty heavy, and the four sets of streetcar tracks made things even more exciting.

It was three blocks to the big Woolworth Store.  That would be our first stop of the day.  They had two large toy counters.

Next came the Emporium, about a block away.  We rode the escalator to the fourth floor and headed straight to the toy department.  We walked through the aisles of toys on our way to the hobby shop.  The Emporium's hobby shop was out favorite place.  There we would see model ship and airplane kits, the assembled versions and the open kit boxes sitting side by side.

There was a model PT boat I lusted after for years, but I was never able to save enough money to buy it.
There were flying models and little gasoline engines to power them with.  We'd never afford those either.

After picking up any free literature that happened to be on the counter, we took the escalator down to the mezzanine.  There, right outside the ladies room, was a Dole pineapple juice machine.  It was real hi-tech it's time. 
 
I would put in a nickel and watch the paper cup drop down. The spout would move over it and pour out pineapple juice.  The little door would open automatically, and I'd reach in and grab my drink.  Then it was Lee's turn.

If we didn't have money to operate the machine ourselves, we'd wait for someone else to come up and put a nickel in it, just so we could watch it operate.

Roos Brothers and the free movies were right across the street.  That would kill an hour or so and give us a chance to rest our little feet.

At Powell Street we watched the cable car crews move the cable car to the turntable.  They would turn the cable car completely around and then push it up to the northbound track.  

Then we left Market and walked to Union Square.  On one corner was the White House and a block away was the City of Paris.  Both of these department were similar to the Emporium, and worthy of our inspection.

After we were department stored out, we headed to Maiden Lane and the pet store.  We  played with the puppies and kittens, looked at the exotic tropical fish, and checked out the exotic birds.  That was worth another hour, at least.

Our trip home usually took us through Chinatown.  

We hiked up Grant Avenue to Old Saint Mary's, and stopped in.  This was more of a rest stop than a prayer stop, but we went through motions.  After dipping our fingers in the holy water, we made the sign of the cross and went into the great hall.  Entering a pew we'd kneel and say an Our Father and a couple of Hail Marys.  Then we'd sit and rest our feet for a while.

If we were really tired, we walked back down Grant Avenue to Bush Street, and Dad's print shop.  We would tell him we stopped in to see what he was doing, and hope he was ready to leave and take us home with him on the cable car.

Otherwise, we'd continue down Grant Avenue, taking in the mysterious products and smells of the East, until we reached Jackson Street.  Then it was only eight blocks over the hill to Larkin.  If we were lucky, a cable car would pass, and we could hitch a ride on the back until the conductor made us get off.  Sometimes, if business was slow, he'd just wave us onto the back platform and let us ride to Larkin Street like regular passengers.

As soon as we went in the front door, Mom would open the refrigerator and pour us a glass of milk.  A half a sandwich would quickly follow.  And for the rest of the afternoon we would tell her everything we had seen, and everything that we wanted.

 

Noel

Edited June 7, 2021 by birdguy

[philmurfin 73]

I love your stories Noel,

Living where I do, I can't always connect with what you are saying.

However, that doesn't stop me and I read on to the end.

Thank you Noel.

[Fielder 3,644]

These days the street life in San Francisco is making walking the sidewalks more hazardous. But one can try to get their dumb brother to go do the errand instead of themselves.

 

 

[birdguy 3,943]

5 minutes ago, Fielder said:

These days the street life in San Francisco is making walking the sidewalks more hazardous.

It's called progress.

Noel

[Antipodeslonghaul 78]

Thanks for the great accounts. I think it was maybe common at one point for some people in the Richmond (Clement St), or Sunset (Irving St) to say something like "There's no real Chinese food in Chinatown, that place is only for tourists..." 

But that's not true. I like how you describe the smells of the East. The whole area, Chinatown, North Beach, Coit Tower, Lombard St, Union Square, it's never been only about tourists. You really bring the place to life!

[birdguy 3,943]

2 hours ago, Antipodeslonghaul said:

Lombard St

I had a paper route on Lombard Street.  I delivered The Shopping News on Wednesdays after school and on Saturday morning.  I started down where I collected the papers on Hyde Street and delivered them to Stockton Street  and then started back up the other side.  Whenever I see The Crookedest Street in the World in the movies or on television I remember delivering papers there.  Of course I didn't walked up and down the twisting curves.  The sidewalk on both sides were steps that went straight down (and up) on both sides.

Noel

[Penzoil3 480]

Ah, another one for the collection. Thanks Noel.

[birdguy 3,943]

Some of you who read these stories might wonder what Leon and I looked like in those days.  Not many pictures survived to this day.  In fact I didn't have any.  But after my brother died I found this picture in one of his scrap books.  It was taken the Sunday of my first communion in 1942.  I was 8 years old and my brother was 6.  It gives you a picture of the term 'tow head runts' I use in some of my stories.

Noel

Edited June 8, 2021 by birdguy