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San Francisco — Subcultural Changes and Landmark Locations Part Two

Posted on June 17, 2022June 17, 2022 By Hey You

Part Two
The Hippie Culture and the Haslett Warehouse.

While I was still located at the Belli Build­ings, to get there, I rode a bus that went along Haight Street. Looking from the bus window, I would see the gradual changes on that street: a flower painted here and there, costume changes on the young people gathering.1967’s ​“Summer of Love” had arrived. Then, because of the crowds, the bus had to change its route to Page Street, north of ​“The Haight”. Here is the 1967 poster by Jerry Berman that repre­sented the time, that ranged from the late ​‘60s to the early ​‘70s. The graphic artists of this time were also adapting their work to the style of the Beatles’ ​“Yellow Subma­rine” and the new look.of Peter Max’s art. Seymore Chwast and Push Pin Studios, Inc, in NYC were also big influ­ences. This ad, illus­trated by Burt Groedel (1937−2000) was in my scrap file as a favor of exag­ger­ated human form.

1967 Poster
1967 Poster 
Be-In Poster
Be-In Poster 
The Yellow Submarine
The Yellow Submarine 
Own a Peter-Max
Own a Peter-Max 
Seymore Chwast
Seymore Chwast 
Push Pin
Push Pin 
Burt Groedel
Burt Groedel 

My next loca­tion, in mid 1969, was at San Fran­cisco Land­mark #59 at 680 Beach Street The building was a full city block (down Hyde Street to Jefferson Street). In 1909, it was the Haslett Ware­house. Across from it was a cannery for Del Monte Foods. (Still called,”The Cannery” this loca­tion is a tourist shop­ping complex.) The Haslett building had many tran­si­tions and also had its outer and inner major walls cleared from the supporting surfaces so it, like the Belli Build­ings, would at times drop small loose bits of brick. (Lucky to not be there during an earthquake!)

(BTW: My work loca­tions each lasted for a number of years as I was renting space and also working from my home.)

My move there was to free-lance for graphics which planned to be the art service for Klemptner Medical Adver­tising. Bob Buechert had moved Klemptner’s office from Down­town SF to Fisherman’s Wharf.

Cannery and Haslett Wharehouse
Cannery and Haslett Wharehouse 
Graphics NE Top floor
Graphics NE Top floor 
680 Beach Street and Cannery
680 Beach Street and Cannery 

In 1969, 680 Beach Street was called the Wharf­side Building. The photo shows it later, as a hotel. We were on the top floor. Our east windows viewed The Cannery and the one to the north viewed the San Fran­cisco Bay and Alca­traz. This new loca­tion, with distance from graphic services, presented prob­lems. If a photo­stat was needed, we depended on a messen­gers on bicycles.

This was BC (before computers.) The only art equip­ment in the studio was the pencil sharp­ener and an Art-O-Graph Model 1000 that was in a back room beyond the wall. (Years later, when graphics merged with with Roger Sheridan and Rudy Gomez, I bought the extra Art-O-Graph
and brought it home.

Tom Moulin
Tom Moulin 
Artograph Model 1000
Arto­graph Model 1000 
The Hibernia Bank 1892
The Hibernia Bank 1892 
The Hibernia Bank
The Hibernia Bank 
Haslett Folder
Haslett Folder 
Art-O-Graph at home
Art-O-Graph at home 

Besides the great amount of assign­ments from Klemptner, next door, graphics special­ized in designing annual reports The Hibernia Bank at 1 Jones Street was well known to native San Fran­cis­cans, I was able to develop this simpli­fied image for the bank’s folders. We also were hired to design and illus­trate The Haslett Company’s folder. Their ware­house and ship­ping company was at the time in Oakland, CA. Again the ​“style of the day” was requested for four illus­tra­tions in the folder.

Founded in 1895, the deYoung Museum is now a part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Fran­cisco so it isn’t listed as a land­mark. Before the M. H. deYoung Museum was re-modeled, we were able to promote the adult art classes that the deYoung was offering:: W.O.W. (WORKSHOP ON WHATEVER IS ART).
These were the days of the ​“Hippies” and red, orange and magenta were often being used.
This popular color combo, for art and lettering, chal­lenged read­ability. (What were we, and the client, smokin’?)

The MH de Young
The MH de Young 
WOW deYoung Classes
WOW deYoung Classes 
WOW Student
WOW Student 
WOW Poster
WOW Poster 
WOW Announcement
WOW Announcement 
RKO Inside
RKO Inside 

The classes that were offered, were great! I enrolled in a ceramics class and drove to the deYoung after work and ​“threw a few pots” on the wheel. I’d drive home from there through Golden Gate Park in the cold and foggy nights, I was exhausted but felt good from the work-out.

I would often take a bus to Beach Street. Waiting at a corner near the Federal Building, I was talking with an Indige­nous Amer­ican who suggested that I join him as he was going to Alca­traz. This was in 1969 when Alca­traz was occu­pied by native tribes following the 1868 treaty allowing native Amer­i­cans to claim federal land. They were lobbying to have the island rede­vel­oped as an Indian cultural center and school. (The island was held for nine­teen months.)
I said that I was sorry, but I had to get to work.

In 1972 I moved my home, north to Marin County. I had been driving in the city at night with city street­lights, but the only lights on the Golden Gate Bridge were from the car’s head­lights. When the bridge was built, there were plans for lights, but it wasn’t until June 22, 1987 that the roadway was lit. What a difference!

Golden Gate
Golden Gate 
American Express Holiday Card
Amer­ican Express Holiday Card 
Coit Tower
Coit Tower 
Coit Towere AMA luncheon
Coit Towere AMA luncheon 
Coit Tower NAVH Card
Coit Tower NAVH Card 

One unique occa­sion, it had to be in early 1974, when we were busy at our drawing boards, we caught sight of a man waving from the top walkway of The Cannery. We opened the two doors that open to a protected railing, to hear what the man was saying. He said that he could see that we were designers and asked to visit. As it turns out, he was carrying the proto­type of the newly created AD Markers! He sold us the double set (regular and fine tip) with a small case of insert tips for other various widths.

We also bought two sets of sets grays, warm and cool. The top of the cap of each marker showed each value gray, from 1 to 9.
So after forty-eight years do I still have one? Yes! And it’s not dry

Ann Thompson (who keeps everything).


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