Despite the rumours, San Francisco is easily navigable to tour. Each district comes with its own unique culture, history and vibe to experience. From The Castro to the Marina and back to Chinatown there is a colourful list of neighbourhoods mixed with raw energy and eclecticism.
I’m making my way on foot to The Haight. The commonly known cross streets of Haight-Ashbury (or “hashbury” as dubbed by Hunter S. Thompson) are famous for being the founding place of the flower-power hippie movement of the 1960’s. This was due basically to cheaper rents. In 1967 the “Summer of Love” was the catalyst of the movement with an influx of people from all social backgrounds in excess of 100 000 moving to the area, creating a hippie revolution. Sharing became an aspect of everyday life with communal living, sharing of resources (whatever they may be), a free clinic and of course, free love.
I’m making my way on foot to The Haight. The commonly known cross streets of Haight-Ashbury (or “hashbury” as dubbed by Hunter S. Thompson) are famous for being the founding place of the flower-power hippie movement of the 1960’s. This was due basically to cheaper rents. In 1967 the “Summer of Love” was the catalyst of the movement with an influx of people from all social backgrounds in excess of 100 000 moving to the area, creating a hippie revolution. Sharing became an aspect of everyday life with communal living, sharing of resources (whatever they may be), a free clinic and of course, free love.
Puffing my way from Lower Haight to Upper Haight I pass the usual array of cafes and restaurants. Lower Haight is not as developed as Haight-Ashbury, but it has an equally, yet only smaller, eclectic mix of merchandise. It creates a prequel of charm leading up to the main attraction. The record stores are tiny and cramped, but with big personality.
I step into Rookie Ricardo’s Records and see the owner and his friend at the back of the room casually chatting. There are retro orange plastic records hanging like mobiles and orange plastic coverings over the lights. African dancing murals are painted on the wall. For a small shop they have made use of space well to produce a decent selection of old soul music and rock with a few turntable listening stations.
The next shop reeks of reefer. There are a couple of T-shirt racks and in the back in a small room there appears to be a team of people producing music. Everything here has that alternative, underground, rough and dirty feel. This is perhaps due to its past – “stemming” from the movement of the 60’s, which originated or “flowered” in the Haight!
I step into Rookie Ricardo’s Records and see the owner and his friend at the back of the room casually chatting. There are retro orange plastic records hanging like mobiles and orange plastic coverings over the lights. African dancing murals are painted on the wall. For a small shop they have made use of space well to produce a decent selection of old soul music and rock with a few turntable listening stations.
The next shop reeks of reefer. There are a couple of T-shirt racks and in the back in a small room there appears to be a team of people producing music. Everything here has that alternative, underground, rough and dirty feel. This is perhaps due to its past – “stemming” from the movement of the 60’s, which originated or “flowered” in the Haight!
My appetite for Russian Literature is whet at the aptly named anarchist bookstore, 'Bound Together'. Shelves of old hardbacks and mainly Dover publications (an American publisher that reprints books that are no longer issued by their original publishers) are stacked together in this second-hand store. There’s a musty smell, but the vibe is buzzing with plenty of young folk stopping in to find a good read. I leave with six or seven new titles for my “to-do” list. Unfortunately, I can contain myself better in a clothes store than a book store, and clothes are usually lighter in the backpack!
Walking through the Haight it is easy to forget you are in a neighbourhood where people actually live (some with homes, some living on the street). Looking up there are reminders in the architecture. All the buildings and apartments are renovated Victorians and Edwardians, colourful and iconic of San Francisco.
I walk past a costume shop, and laugh to myself because many of the people in this area have their real life costumes on and they are often scarier! People-watching has never been more of a revelation. I see one lady has taken to her face with a black marker, drawing big racoon-like circles around her eyes and black clown lips. We can thank Reagan for this.
I find a routine of tattoo parlours and psychedelic head shops. Creative shop-front designs evoke a sample-taste of what you may find inside. Street art and graffiti is a viable product in Haight. ‘Soul Patch’ offers henna, tattoos and piercing and has a painting of a skull sitting on a lotus flower to allure customers. Insightful murals decorate the street, making the walk more enjoyable.
Vintage goes with Haight like cheese goes with wine. There are an abundance of stores to get lost in like ‘La Rosa’ and ‘Held Over’. I meet with Cecily Ann, somewhat a veteran of the Haight scene of the sixties. Fashion model-come-vintage entrepreneur, Cecily’s store, ‘Decades of Fashion’ has apparel dating back over a century showcasing an expansive collection of vintage cowboy boots, classic ladies hats, and Edwardian attire. Cecily informs me of the up and coming Edwardian Ball where her shop will have a stall and without doubt will be where many of the costumes hail from. ‘Decades of Fashion’ is kind of like the Museum of Vintage - you can write off the experience as “educational” or it can be a shopper’s heaven with a plethora of exciting new wardrobing opportunities!
At the end of the road, just before you hit the Golden Gate Park, you will come across a famous record store, ‘Amoeba’, with its vast collection of records, DVD’s and more. Amoeba is a fame of its own, regularly hosting both international and national bands, playing in store.
Across the road is San Francisco’s first ever metal only record store, ‘Shaxul’, which offers a niche market for those head banging “dirty vinyl pushers”.
Across the road is San Francisco’s first ever metal only record store, ‘Shaxul’, which offers a niche market for those head banging “dirty vinyl pushers”.
My mother shared some memories from her youth with me, when young girls and boys would pass out flowers to pedestrians. This no longer exists. However, each unique shop, pub, cafe and specialty store in the Haight has its story. As gentrification makes its way into the district plenty of the power of the sixties remains intact here, a little piece of hippiedom remains, like the scent of ganga in the air, the glimpse of a Seargent Pepper’s T-shirt, and the disconnected eyes and murmurings of the lost souls wandering the street searching for something they gave up a long time ago...
