There are many sites and stories to be found about Melvin Belli and the two buildings that he bought and renovated at 722 and 728 Montgomery Street in San Francisco.
I recently found this booklet, written by Mr. Belli, with even more details on the purchase of the property from the previous owners to the reconstruction, which noted very iffy underpinnings and standing water found when excavating for the placement of an elevator.
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Cover of booklet and Walkway
You can see, here, the gas street lamps from Denmark. 722 was a two story building and older than the three story 728 location. The entry walkway was placed along the adjoining walls of the two buildings. After this row of mailboxes, the walkway opened at the left, to the elevator and staircase and if one walked farther, toward the Belli reception office at the back of the property, one would be in a daily refreshed flower courtyard with a splashing fountain. This opened to the sky and gave light to all of the internal rented offices above.
Every weekday morning from March 1964 to April 1965, I would arrive early to turn my key that released the heavy latch on this New Orleans Iron Gate. I was on my way to the second floor front studio of my wonderful job, working for Butte, Herrero and Hyde, nationally known commercial artists (each with fine-art talents, they would be even more creative at home if they had any leisure time). I have posted photos of BH&H in my earlier posts of 10-14-2013 and 1 – 5‑2014.
My lucky day, 2-10-1964, brought me to this location with the big black portfolio that would-be artist carried. Taught to work up ideas and show ones best samples — clean and flapped for a nice presentation — my portfolio was packed with a wide variety with the hope that one or two pieces would get me a job. Here is one that I had created in my basement room — copy and a humorous illustration for Foremost Milk (which no longer exists).
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I don’t know which part of my portfolio did it, but my job started on 3 – 1‑1964. To my surprise, Foremost Milk was one of the partners’ steady clients. In the one-year that I was with them, there were three Foremost assignments that I watched them create. Their Foremost Christmas “event calendar,” I have shown on my previous post on 12−12−14.
The collections shown, below, show the talents of Bruce Butte (designer / art director), Lowell Herrero (humorous illustrator) and Bill Hyde (lettering and type designer).
I am making a collection of the extensive work that BH&H produced in just the last year of their partnership.
All of this group, I regret, are without credits to the Agencies, Art Directors, Copywriters Engravers or Printers because they are from my collection of printed pieces of that time.
Ann Thompson
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