TOPLESS San Francisco, a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

North beach is the Italian quarter of San Francisco, and it runs into chinatown. This is the famous corner of Broadway and Columbus.
From the web
"No history of North Beach would be complete without the place that made titillating history in the 1960s and launched a young waitress like a sputnik into the topless night skies of San Francisco legend.

Carol Doda gave topless dancing a bouncing start by turning her 34s into an ample pair of 44s. In June of 1964, Carol Doda launched her 44 attack by wearing a topless bathing suit designed by the legendary Rudi Genreich, and danced her way into infamy. A part of Carol's act called for her to gyrate while descending to the dance floor atop a piano that was powered by hydraulics. As the piano began its slow erotic descent, Carol moved suggestively, powered by her own inner hydraulics, perched on the piano like a bouncing candelabra for an invisible Liberace. There never was a show like it.

Carol retired from the Condor in the 1980's and today she is proprietress of Carol Doda's Champaign and Lace Lingerie Boutique.
There is another piece of Condor lore that's worth bearing in mind. One night after closing, one of the bouncers of the club, along with one of the dancers, decided to make beautiful music together while lying atop the hydraulic piano. At some point during this symphony, the switch was hit and the piano began its slow rise to the ceiling. In time, the bouncer and the dancer were pinned to the ceiling, the dancer cushioned protectively by the bouncer who lay atop her, both of them squeezed between the ceiling and the piano like a bartender squeezing a lemon. The dancer was discovered alive in the morning by a janitor. The bouncer wasn't quite as lucky.

"North Beach in San Francisco may be best known as home to the Beat Generation. Alan Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Neal Cassady — who inspired the writing style Kerouac adopted for his successful book ‘On The Road’ and later served as the driver of the psychedelic bus 'Furthur,' with Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters chronicled in Tom Wolfe's 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' — and many other Beatnik poets and writers who lived and performed their live readings here.
ruth weiss — beat poet and friend of Kerouac and Cassady — continued to give live performances in North Beach long after many of the other beat poets had left or died.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded City Lights Bookstore in the North Beach neighborhood in 1953. The bookstore has served for forty-eight years as a meeting place for writers, artists, and intellectuals.

A statue of Benjamin Franklin, donated to the city in 1879 by Dr. Henry Cogswell – can be found in North Beach's Washington Square.
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is on the north side of Washington Square park with Columbus Avenue to the west and Broadway to the south."

Big Al's is in referce to Al Capone. Joe diMaggio grew up around here.

aloyho, paulartus, odemira, MarekP, john_c, weswang, nwoehnl, betogrein, Jeppe, peter1892, Rinie_Hoff, eza1701, pamastro, singuanti, Emile, mlopes, nilolabrador, danbachmann, yesyuvraj heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

aloyho (6798) 2005-07-01 3:24

Hi Cristina,
This must be an interesting place and you have captured the atmosphere well with all those signboards and colours. I like the sharpness and details and I can see good lighting too. Well done!! Regards.

paulartus (805) 2005-07-01 5:04

Hi Cristina. Thanks for the very thoughtful and well written note. It's a great picture with a lot to tell about America. Interesting signs and buildings. Maybe a little too cropped at the bottom? It wuld have been nice to see the feet of te man on the left.

cmarino (2490) 2005-07-01 7:30

Olá Cristina,
Gostei da foto. Apenas concordo com o Paul quanto ao cropping.
Uma foto simples e representativa do local. O que vejo aqui é um trabalho sem aquele monte de PP, mas que produz um resultado agradável e informativo. Gosto disso.
Abraços,

Celso

MarekP (4750) 2005-07-01 9:08

Hi Cristina,
A beautiful colorfull picture and very interesting note. I agree with Paul -- you should leave more space in the bottom, but anyway, I like it.

Thanks,
Marek

john_c (24666) 2005-07-01 9:38

Hi Cristina. A fascinating scene accompanied by a still more fascinating note. I passed through here in May on a walk and missed the shot. You have done a great job of framing, cropping, and presenting the street scene here. The colourful signs and POV give us a very good feel for the ambience of the area. A great posting.

John

weswang (18247) 2005-07-01 10:50

Wow, Cristina, What a story. I will make sure to visit that place next time I go to San Francisco. Although the big sign there and it is a red light zone, it looks normal from outside. With your historic stories, this becomes a very special place and very special scene. Thank you for sharing the knowledge and sharing this well taken picture.

migsy (351) 2005-07-01 12:24

I do like this shot. I did read the notes about the missing feet. I agree that it's best to have "complete" people if you're going to have people in the picture at all (at this distance). Still a very nice street photo.

nwoehnl (122) 2005-07-01 14:13

Olá Cristina. A very interesting photo of an area of San Francisco that we get so see far less frequently on TE than let's say the Golden Gate Bridge or Coit Tower or Pier 39. I like the tall signs going around the street corner and making a good repetitive element in the upper part of your frame. Also, it's good to have the people included (missing body parts or not) and the colors are very nice. Lastly, I like your note and how the green traffic light ties into the story you gave in your responses to Paul and Marek ;-)

betogrein (2232) 2005-07-01 16:04

Belíssima foto, ótimas cores. Parabéns...

Jeppe (18654) 2005-07-01 18:16

Oh Cristina - what a history this corner holds behinds it walls - Lots of new words for me to learn - my english not that good ;-)

A fine capture as well - thanks for sharing both story and photo.

peter1892 (1681) 2005-07-01 19:02

Hi Cristina - as already mentioned, it's a different side of San Francisco than we usually see in photos! That is a great story in your note - I walked right past this place when I was over a few weeks ago (I was visiting Black Oak books a few doors away & didn't notice this place, honest!).

Great scene, great shot!

Rinie_Hoff (9340) 2005-07-01 19:56

Quite a famous corner here, Cristina.
I like the busy picture with all the signs.
Greta note, too bad for the bouncer.

We have a celebrity like that in the Netherlands, she's called Phil Bloom and appeared totally naked on TV in 1967 in a show of the most progressive network here. The lady is still famous ;-)

eza1701 (3345) 2005-07-01 20:21

It's an interesting photo and an excellent note to go with it Cristina. Thank you for the image and the enjoyable read.

pamastro (7296) 2005-07-01 20:49

Interesting story. The photo is nice, too. I like the neon signs mixing with the old facades. And the places they are gives it that spicy feel. I think more space at the bottom would be good but driving and photographing like that is a bit difficult. I think this might look pretty neat at night when the neon is all lit up. Although I don't know if you'd want to be in this neighborhood at night with a tripod and camera.

singuanti (15250) 2005-07-01 23:04

Hi Cristina. Wow that's some note, and it gives me a new appreciation for your shot. Given how quickly you had to compose the shot I think you did well. I don't mind the lack of bottom space. Thanks for sharing this place with us Cristina!

Galmeida (12559) 2005-07-02 12:02

Hi Cristina,
From S.Francisco, in my past professional and tecnological life I have great memories. I'm voyaged but not south or north America. The mteher of my mother is from Amazonas in Brazil and my father is Continental Portuguese. I think the mixture is good like also in all the world. Good notes, a nice sreet marketing and modern exchange communicating social daily life.

I would like to be present in the elements of this picture you took.

Thanks very much for your natural approach, good work and Portuguese point of view! I'm waiting for your Azores Posts, but when you decide.

Best to you.
Fernando

Emile (20352) 2005-07-02 19:50

Preciosa foto Cristina.
Muy buenos colores, colores vivos, con una composicion excelente.
Gracias por tu nota explicativa, muy interesante.
Felicitaciones.

pedropranto (117) 2005-07-02 19:53

+ 1 foto com optimas cores, muito interessante :)

mlopes (494) 2005-07-03 8:47

Cristina... a nota está fantástica, a historia da Carol é incrivel ;)

A foto tem umas cores e definição incrivel, para nós portugueses (pelo menos para mim) associo imediatamente os grandes paineis de neon ao EUA.

Mário

Burberry1 (6041) 2005-07-06 16:58

Hello Cristina:)))
A very succesful shot!
Great POV, light and visible atmosphere of this "most wanted" place:)))
Really nice framing...I could buy a plane ticket even tomorrow:o)

Best regards,
A

ckuhn55 (2670) 2005-07-08 23:43

Great history lesson here...thanks

nilolabrador (1469) 2005-07-14 3:02

Picture and the note makes a very long story and an incredible document. Great! great! great!

Polonaise (5802) 2006-03-04 16:45

One of those great american cities I've never been to, which I consider a shame.
Now after your photo (and incredible note)I start to look around for my travel pyjamas, and extra pack of film rolls.
Salute Cristina
Great work
George
Say hello to your husband.