Entrance to Sutro Heights park at Land's End, San Francisco, Ca. The lion statues date to 1885 when Adolph Sutro opened his estate garden, a promontory overlooking the Cliff House and Seal Rocks, to the public. The lions flanked the ornate entry gate. Palm trees are a remnant of the once elaborate gardens.
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Memorial and tributes at the Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, Marin County, California where Robin Williams would frequently perform on comedy night. Shot with low res cell phone. I only met him once; we bumped into each other (literally) backstage at a Crosby Stills & Nash concert in Berkeley in 1982. A very sweet man....RIP Robin.
1934 Duesenberg J-370 Convertible, originally owned by Hollywood actress Mae West. Photographed at the 2013 Marin-Sonoma Concours d' Elegance, San Rafael, Ca. 1932 Packard 903 Deluxe Eight Sport Phaeton, originally owned by Hollywood actress Jean Harlow. The car has been restored with two tone paint and white walls but it is the same car as seen in the b/w photos with Jean Harlow. Photographed at the 2013 Marin-Sonoma Concours d' Elegance, San Rafael, Ca. Jean Harlow (1934) by George Hurrell 1961 Cooper T56 Mark II Formula Junior - Steve McQueen VIN:FJ-2-62 1961 - Cooper Works' Formula Junior European Championship winner 1962 - Owned and raced by Steve McQueen to several wins in California in 1962. Fully restored by Hardy Hall in England to race-ready condition. Photographed at the 2013 Marin-Sonoma Concours d' Elegance, San Rafael, Ca.
Original stereoview card of George Washington's tomb, Mount Vernon, Va. c.1866 albumen print by the renowned photographer Alexander Gardner. I picked this up on Ebay for $6..! A contemporary of photographer Mathew Brady, Gardner was famous for his photographs of the Civil War, portraits of President Abraham Lincoln, Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen.U.S. Grant, Gen. George Custer (among many others), the execution photos of the Lincoln conspirators, images of the American West and Native Americans. He is considered to be one of the most important photographers in American history. This stereoview is one of a series, "The Home of Washington Illustrated", he did for the Mount Vernon Preservation Association as listed on the back of the card. The Sun Valley neighborhood of San Rafael, Ca. was the location of the California Motion Picture Company (CMPC), a pioneer of feature-length films specializing in films about the early history of California. The studio complex was built in 1912 by George E. Middleton, a prominent San Francisco automobile dealer for the purpose of shooting promotional footage of the automobiles he was selling. He determined that his pretty wife, actress/singer Beatriz Michelena could star in movies made by his company and Middleton starred Michelena in 11 features for the San Rafael studio between 1914 and 1917. Michelena was talented but her demands for star treatment brought heavy expense to productions that continued to lose money and in 1916 CMPC filed for bankruptcy. Middleton and Michelena bought out the company in 1917 and renamed it Michelena Studios, finally closing for good around 1920 due to lack of profits and the rise of Hollywood. Today, almost 100 years later, the studio site where there once were cowboys and stagecoaches is now a quiet residential neighborhood with houses and trees. Kodak 3A Folding Pocket camera with special lens and shutter option. More details on my Kodak page.
From the autobiography of photographer Arnold Genthe, who made the most famous photographs of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire...."I found that my hand cameras had been so damaged by the falling plaster as to be rendered useless. I went to Montgomery Street to the shop of George Kahn, my dealer, and asked him to lend me a camera. "Take anything you want. This place is going to burn up anyway." I selected the best small camera, a 3A Kodak Special. I stuffed my pockets with films and started out." The 3A used 122 roll film that produced postcard size negatives 3.25x5.5 in. (Genthe's Negatives) This is my 1909 Kodak 3A Folding Pocket Model B-4 camera with special option Bausch & Lomb Zeiss Tessar series IIb lens and Compound shutter. This camera is most likely the same type that Genthe used for his earthquake photos. I have researched the early Kodak catalogs (images below) and the B&L Zeiss Tessar lens was a special option in 1906 with Volute shutter (the Compound shutter was introduced in 1909). The 3A camera was produced from 1903-1915. In 1910 Kodak introduced the name "3A Special" with the Zeiss lens and Compound shutter but before that time it was a 3A with "special" options. My particular camera has labels from the Earl V. Lewis camera shop in Los Angeles on the top and inside the film compartment. Earl V. Lewis was a well known enlarger and printer in the early 20th century. The shop was in business from 1906-1986. On the left Chinatown, San Francisco, Ca. c.1900 by photographer Arnold Genthe, looking towards 751-753 Clay St. from Brenham Place (now called Walter U Lum Place).and on the right the same view in 2012. Chinatown was devastated by the great earthquake and fire in 1906 and rebuilt. Note the platform shoes worn by these young girls to mimic the gait of women with bound feet.
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