Speaking of Cameras

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/32-stunning-photos-of-san-francisco-in-the-40s-and-50s

For those who actually lived there,  this photo is probably emblematic of the real San Francisco.   It was taken in July, of course. 

An interesting coincidence:  when I was growing up my mom had a friend whom we all referred to as Grandma' Burry and who haled from San Francisco.  In her apartment there was an oil painting of a dark blue grey apartment building with patches of blurry orange and yellow doing for windows all set amid other indistinct dark grey-green-blue objects in the back ground and foreground.  "Where's that?"  I asked.  

In many ways SF (like other US cities at the time) was kinda run down and tacky. But it was affordable and liveable. It had a mix of people in different walks from different walks and something known as laissez aller.

I'm pretty sure I spent a night in that building, btw.