Streetwise: Holiday Scenes Across San Francisco
by Frank Dunnigan
As the old year draws to its inevitable close, there is excitement in the air as people celebrate various religious and cultural holidays, including Bodhi Day, Boxing Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Simbang Gabi, Winter Solstice, Yuletide, and more. Looking back through OpenSFHistory photos, here are several examples of local festivities.
Market and 3rd Streets, December 24, 1910. (wnp37.02598; Marilyn Blaisdell Collection / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
Looking south down Third Street from Market to Mission Street and beyond on the evening of December 24, 1910. One of the world’s most famous singers, Italian-born Luisa Tetrazzini (1871-1940), enjoyed a career as an opera and concert performer from the 1890s through the 1920s. After some legal difficulties in New York that blocked her performances there, she announced “I will sing in San Francisco if I have to sing there in the streets, for I know the streets of San Francisco are free.” She was successful in her New York legal case, but kept her commitment to sing in the streets of San Francisco on Christmas Eve of 1910. At the corner of Market and Kearney near Lotta’s Fountain, Tetrazzini climbed onto a stage and put on a spectacular performance for a crowd of 200,000 to 300,000 San Franciscans (out of a total population of 417,000) from dusk until evening.
City of Paris, circa 1912. (wnp37.02764; Marilyn Blaisdell Collection / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
Santa driving a toy roadster and a little girl riding a polar bear were part of this holiday scene at the City of Paris department store in 1912.
Civic Center Plaza, December 1919. (wnp27.1991; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
Two ladies pose in front of a public Christmas tree at Civic Center Plaza in December 1919.
Baker and Fell Streets, December 1927. (wnp4.1895; photo by Christopher Helin / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
This holiday scene of toy soldiers with Santa Claus is from a Shell gas station located at Baker and Fell Streets in December 1927.
Powell and Post Streets, December 1929. (wnp37.01765; Marilyn Blaisdell Collection / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
Union Square Christmas tree and crowd of revelers in December 1929. Well before the white marble façade was added to the large building to the right of center, which operated as I. Magnin in the post-World War II era from 1948 to 1994, and more recently as an expanded portion of Macy’s. Years later, Macy’s took over sponsorship of the tree in Union Square. In February 2024, the company announced the planned closure of its adjacent complex, set for 2025 after the sale of the store’s property at the site. In November 2024, news reports began to indicate interest in the Macy’s buildings by multiple real estate groups, suggesting that Christmas of 2024 might well mark the end of Macy’s corporate sponsorship of this holiday tradition.
Pacific Heights home, circa 1930. (wnp14.0311; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
Christmas gifts around a Christmas tree in a San Francisco home, circa 1930.
Market and 4th Streets, December 1945. (wnp67.0116; Jack Tillmany Collection / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
First post-World War II holiday shopping crowds on Market Street near Fourth Street in December 1945.
Market and Grant Streets, December 14, 1956. (wnp25.3813; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
This small sidewalk Christmas tree lot was located on Market Street and Grant Avenue in 1956.
Crown-Zellerbach Pavilion, circa 1959. (wnp14.2087; Courtesy of a Private Collector)
New Zellerbach Plaza bank branch with a Christmas tree in the lobby and wreath above door, circa 1959.
City of Paris, January 1974. (wnp25.10295; photo by Judith Lynch / Courtesy of a Private Collector)
City of Paris rotunda in January 1974—a must-see spot each holiday season for many downtown visitors.