July 12 to Oct 12, 2024, in the west window of the Flood Building, One Powell Street at the Cable Car Turnaround. Open every day from 9AM to 9PM.
Union Square Photos from the Selle Collection
Using modified 35mm movie cameras, Selle and his fellow vendors could be out for hours, recording 1,500 black and white images on a 100-foot roll of film.
When Joe Selle decided to close his office on Market Street, he didn’t know what to do with the hundreds of rolls of developed film. Almost by chance, they ended up in the archives of Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. There they remain, far from home, a collection of over 1.3 million photos that tell the story of a city in transition. It may be the world’s largest collection of street vendor photographs.
Now with the benefit of digitization we can travel back in time to explore a world so changed. Or has it?
For the installation at Powell and Market Streets, we selected photos taken nearby. When you look closely, you can recognize familiar landmarks that remain a fixture of the downtown landscape—the façade of the Flood Building, cable cars, trolleys, Macy’s.
As San Francisco reimagines its future, these forgotten photos offer a portal to the city’s always surprising past.
For more information:
- See 1,000s more photos and learn about the Selle Collection.
- Browse Selle Collection photos by year at foxmovieflash.com.
- Read Carl Nolte’s 1974 San Francisco Chronicle profile of Joseph Selle.
- Watch an interview with Charlie Rester, a Fox Movie Flash photographer.
- Michael Lerner Creative Director
- Elsa Cameron Program Consultant
- David Suurballe Photo Curation
- Hugh Livingston Media Consultant and FX Programming
- Andrew Eskind Photographer and Director, PhotographyDatabase.org
- Mary Panzer Historian and Curator
- Christopher DeWinter Graphics
- Kim Ireland Web Services
- Karin Flood President, Flood Corporation
All Selle Collection photographs courtesy of the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York.
6 thoughts on “Destination Downtown”
I’ve always had a fascination about Union Square. Whenever I would go – beginning in the mid-1980’s I felt as if I was walking into a magical mystery tour full of sights, sounds, and people of all walks of life. I would take all my visitors to San Francisco there to witness LIFE. One of the first times was with my friend Brenda and we were approached by a woman photographer with a box camera. She took our photo. We paid – maybe $5 – and then she sent us two black and white photos in the mail. What a delightful memory. I still have the photo. Whenever I would go to Union Square, she would be there trolling for subjects. Wish I remembered her name. Union Square, to me, is community, flowers, Macy’s, I.Magnin, street flower vendors, hot dogs, the St Francis and of course, the beautiful Goddess of Victory statue by Robert Ingersoll Aitken atop the Dewey Monument. Still today when I go there I am transcended by her presence.
I have warm memories of going Downtown on Saturday in the late 40’s You had to get dressed up in your good clothes, ride the old muni above ground. Our destination was always the Emporium. We would head immediately to the basement where we would always find affordable bargains. I remember my sister and I would each get a dime to spend and we would head right over to the lady that was selling pretty colored glass beads for 10cents. We would each get some and when we got home we would make bracelets.
I also remember there was a lady that sat under the stairs in a little open space with her sewing machine and repair ladies silk stockings. I remember at Christmas going up to the top floor,
It was magical and so festive…There was always someone outside walking the street with a camera who would take your picture, we never had our picture taken it didn’t fit in Mom’s budget…another great memory , in the sixties, the Enporium started to stay open until 9:00pm every Monday night. My sister and I would meet at the Emporium after work and shopped until we dropped…Those were the good old days when things were so much simpler. You could drive all the way down Market st to the end, you could be dropped off or picked up anywhere downtown, what has happened to the good old days.
As a kid, going downtown was always an adventure. It was always full of people. But what stands out was not just the sights, but the sounds of clanging streetcar bells, news vendors shouting the latest headlines and the fragrance of the many flower stands.
Some of the highlights were looking in the window of Mayflower Donuts and watching them coming out on a conveyor belt, getting a root beer float at the Roos Bros. fountain and visiting Woolworth’s. My aunt worked at the ice cream fountain in Hale Bros. Department Store si I would get an ice cream cone. Coming and going on the old streetcars was all part of the fun.
I was new to the city from Minneapolis. My first job here was at the EMPORIUM on Market St in 1978. I was energized and loved being part of this thriving metropolis.
I loved the food-counter at Woolworth (candy-counter too) which could be easily accessed through the new Bart underground and the Mayflower tea room on Maiden Lane (being fancy) but probably also hit some of those semi-fast dive touristy lunch shops on Powell and of course the bars where all the Chronicle/Examiner writers and workers hung out was a must after work (behind Emporium).
I missed Christmas on the Emporium roof but a morning exercise class on the roof gave us the aerial view which was breathtaking. Being a buyer I also spent a lot of time shopping Macys (our competition). I knew Macys so well I could navigate quickly for my espionage excursion and then for my own personal gratification. I loved Macys “Shop On Union Square” which was a mandatory stop on the way to my bus going home. I ended up owing Macys my first born and it took me awhile to get solvent.
I worked the week and would find myself venturing downtown again either Saturday or Sunday, shopping Lohmans, 22Steps, and any other new fashion forward stores that would pop up.
There were a lot of new places at that time and I remember checking out Crocker Plaza and other adjuncts to Union Square
I knew where all the restrooms were…I Magnin’s the Best!
I hid in the stairwell at I Magnins when an earthquake hit – didn’t even feel it.
Who found out when I reached 1st floor accessories (another shopping ground)
It was stimulating to be in downtown San Francisco. It was fun, you wanted to check out all it offered and it felt good to show it off to friends and family.
My earliest memory of downtown San Francisco, was taking a ride on the Ferris Wheel on the roof of the Emporium (now Westfield Mall). I must have been about 5 years old, but it was so high and dramatic that I remember it clearly 55 years later.
Growing up in Louisville, Kentucky my Southern Belle mother made a delightful fuss about “Going Downtown” together. She’d select a hat out of her gorgeous hatboxes, dress in smart suits & heels–and make sure I wore a stylish dress & Mary Jane shoes. Before the big box stores came, before people moved to the ‘burbs, going downtown was The Thing. Dept. stores like Stewarts, Bycks & and Caufield’s Theatrical Costumes were an occasion. These one-of-a-kind stores were backed by local Ky. Derby-winner money or high-toned outfits from mother ships in Chicago or New York.
Small treasure shops & services were also nestled downtown. My mom & I loved to draw & would sketch out a dress or gown, buy fabric downtown, then take it to a downtown seamstress to make it so. Ever since my mother taught me the joys of “Going Downtown” I’ve loved to “dress up”–and sashay down the boulevard, as it were. 🙂
===When I moved to San Francisco– to follow a man–downtown’s UNION SQUARE helped sweeten the deal. He took me to public events in Union Square or great restaurants. With one trip & a quick park in the underground garage, you could shop Nordstrom, Macy’s, Coach, Saks or window-shop at pricey Neiman-Marcus or Gump’s. When 6-floors of Britex Fabrics were in its heyday, I’d design a dress, take it to a downtown dressmaker and have her create an original, just I did with my mom growing up. Downtown WAS an occasion. We’d go to Chinatown and North Beach–& make it a day.
Today, most people shop online.
Today, people are afraid of crime and homeless. The Pandemic made us scaredy-cats.
In 2021-2022, 7% of SF ‘s population left our beautiful City by the Bay. At least 40 stores have abandoned The Square.
I still love ‘Going Downtown.” Besides trying on clothes to see if they actually fit, there are sexy little nightclubs like the Piano Fight, to hear comedy or music. Stores still open up downtown. IKEA recently opened a store. Australian, Asian and European tourists still flock here. Some visionary developers propose converting some downtown stores to lofts and apartments, like New York City.
Bring it on. Let’s not abandon our legendary Union Square. Let’s make experience–not convenience our North Star. Hats off to Community-Arts for creating this wonderful installation of vintage San Francisco photographs. They help us remember this heyday.
Take a break from online. Forget cheap-ass malls. Grab your squad and go downtown