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Tribute - John Gorman's vintage San Francisco

Kino said:
Believe it or not, you used to be able to send Children via the US Mail.
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What a great tidbit of history. Never heard of that before. And the link to Smithsonian Magazine has a lot of interesting articles, so thanks for that.
 
I love the sailors under the Navy Blues sign. This is 585 Market St., San Francisco, on July 1, 1945. And the women and girls are dressed up. You won't see torn jeans or yoga pants in these photographs!!!
 

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I would say this photographer had a no-frills studio, plus it's dwarfed by the apartment building. And that seems like a funny place for the Wonder Bread billboard; somewhere in 1940s San Francisco.
 

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koraks said:
Awesome! Too bad it's most likely gone.
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It's likely gone but maybe not! I will try to find the negative that has the address. This was scanned from a print instead of the neg. I would love to see today's street for comparison, so I will hunt for it and report back!
 

Was your father a published photographer? I googled his name as a photographer and got several Jon Gormans who are currently active photogs. The first two images in this post impress me as his work would have enough appeal for publication of his works.

stan
 

See post #33—he was a working PJ for the S.F. Examiner for forty years.
 

Interesting to see another John Gorman photographer out there. (The rodeo guy is pretty good.) My dad lived from 1920-2005. He was not published in a book although I've seriously considered making one. Like Ben 4 said above, he was a press photog, details in post #33. For now, I'm enjoying posting some of his most interesting photos here to appreciative members.
 
This was the only way to rescue the baby when she crawled between two houses and got stuck. That's how they built them in San Francisco back then, super close together. The fireman got her safely out and she wasn't hurt. This shot won my dad a first place award in photojournalism. It ran in the S.F. Examiner sometime in the early 1960s.
 

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Not much space there—good thing the fireman didn't get himself stuck too!
 
Levy Bros., founded in 1872, closed in 1986 — department store with many locations in the Bay Area back in its heyday. 55 E. 3rd Ave., San Mateo. Google Earth shows this big building is all still there but their shots are not very good. Cars: second from left, 1937 Ford Coupe; next a 1937 Dodge; unsure of the next one but the convertible is a 1932 Packard Dual Cowl Phaeton; my car expert said to note the fender skirts on the coupe after the Packard, considered a rarity since most people took them off. (The reason I have a lot of street pictures is because my dad shot them for real estate companies for about 20 years. Not sure of the purpose but I have all the negatives.) Date taken: Jan. 1946.
 

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One thing that's striking in a this and the other street photos is the survival of the basic form of the buildings—there are certainly changes shown in the then and now images, but the bones of the mid-century buildings are clearly discernible.
I do love seeing the old cars as well, and please pass along our appreciation to your car guru. I wonder why owners removed those fender skirts?
 
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