"Sure the cable car's loadin' at Market and Powell,
Because of the bargain, they're sellin' at Owl..."
This old-time radio jingle invokes the important intersection in Stewart Bloom's photo poster. The Owl Drug Company and a variety of other businesses occupied the ground floor of the Flood Building, which since 1953 has housed one of Woolworth's largest outlets.
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This Classical Revival flatiron building with Beaux Arts detail was designed by Architect Albert Pissis in 1904 for James Flood, Jr., son of one of the "Silver Kings." It is a reminder of the great San Francisco fortunes made in the Nevada Comstock Lode in the 1860's and 70's. At twelve stories and 370,000 square feet, this steel frame building with brick curtain walls and Colusa sandstone veneer was the largest building in the City at the time of its construction. A grand curvilinear lobby of polychrome marble and granite connects Market and Ellis Streets.
When it had been occupied for about a year, the fire resulting from the 1906 Earthquake damaged the building. It reopened in 1907, with Southern Pacific as the principal tenant. After S.P. moved to its own new building at the foot of Market, the Flood Building was remodeled in 1917 to house primarily medical and dental offices. Another tenant of this period was Pinkerton's Detective Agency, for whom Dashiell Hammett, creator of Sam Spade, worked in this office around 1921.
In November of 1949, it was announced that the Flood Building would be demolished within two years and replaced with a three-story structure housing Woolworth and offices. However, with the increased need for federal office space brought on by the Korean War, the government appropriated offices in the building, forestalling demolition. In the meantime, Woolworth entered into a long-term lease agreement, assuring the building's survival. A City Landmark since 1982, the building is still owned by the Flood heirs.
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Newspapers on the street corner stands were reporting "Heaviest Rain of Season Hits Bay Region", to which the patent-leather look of the streets in this photo gives ample testimony. The two streetcars and the cable car on the Powell turntable bear the familiar white fronts of the Market Street Railway, privately owned competitor of the Municipal Railway. The cars of the Market Street Railway ran on the two inner tracks, the Muni's 1, K, L, M, and N, which today run under Market Street, ran on the outer tracks. "The Roar of the Four" typical of rush hour work days, was relatively quiet this Saturday, the 20th of March in 1937. Seven years later, San Francisco voters approved the Muni's purchase of the private company. The two systems were consolidated on September 29, 1944, and within a few years, the old Market Street Railway lines were converted to bus service, including the #6 and #8 shown here and the 31 Balboa line, whose tracks can be seen fuming off Market onto Eddy Street.
The prominent motor vehicles seen in this sparse traffic include a 1935 Packard and a 1928 Buick right in front of the Owl Drug. The white car to the left of the cable car is a 1936 Chevrolet, and just to its left is one of San Francisco's unique "birdcage" traffic signals, invented and patented by Ralph Wiley, head of the City's Department of Electricity, and first installed in the 1920's. The delivery truck at the near comer is a 1928 or 1929 Ford.
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Powell and Market offered shopping, as well as dining and entertainment, clearly evidenced by the States Restaurant sign. The Clinton Cafeteria, on the Powell Street side of the Flood Building, where you "Pay only for what you select," featured Vinton La Ferrera's orchestra every evening. Moore's is "The Home of Hart Shaffner & Marx Clothes", (just visible in the upper right comer of the photo), which was located in the 1930 Moderne building at 840 Market. Their weekend newspaper ads said that gabardine is a 'must' in every well dressed man's wardrobe this season." Tilton's was a clothier for young men, advertising a stock of over 3000 suits, "For a well dressed Easter." To top it off, Berger's offered Dunlap Hats for spring, "Light as a feather. Smart as they make 'em." A $1.00 Beauty Kit was among "the bargains they're sellin' at Owl."
San Francisco Architectural Heritage. A non-profit member-supported organization dedicated to the preservation of architecturally, historically and culturally significant structures in San Francisco.
For information, call (415) 441-3000.
Stewart H. Bloom
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