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UNCLE DONALD'S CASTRO STREET
Castro Business Ads from the 1970's
- page 3 -
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ALL AMERICAN BOY
463 Castro Street
A mens clothing store catering to gay fashion. Opened in the mid-1970's, its form-fitting tee shirts saying "All American Boy San Francisco" were soon seen all over the world. They expanded to New York and LA and are still in business.
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ALFIES
2140 Market Street
1977 - 1983
A very popular disco bar near Church Street. ALFIES replaced MINDSHAFT (73-77) which was equally popular. It was followed by a series of short-lived bars.
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COMPUTERLAND
2272 Market Street
One of the first consumer oriented computer stores, COMPUTERLAND opened in 1979. The Apple ][ was the computer of choice in those days.
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GOOD PROVIDER
584 Castro Street
A health food store with fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, as well as natural products. The owner/operator was Steven Scarborough. I thought he was one of the most handsome men in the Castro!
Now PO PLUS
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HIGH GEAR
600 Castro Street
A sporting goods and clothing store at 19th Street since the late 1970's.
now closed
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HOUSE OF HARLEE
538 Castro Street
A hardware and kitchen supply store in the mid-1970's.
New Chain Display
10% discount!
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LEATHER N THINGS
4079 18th Street
A custom leather shop in the Castro
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LION PUB
Divisadero at Sacramento
Not exactly in the Castro, but significant because it was very popular in the early 1970's and several of its employees left and got involved in opening TOAD HALL on Castro.
Lion Pub ads usually featured this logo or a variation of the theme.
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MAINLINE GIFTS
508 Castro Street
One of the earlier gay businesses on Castro owned by Jim Beale and his partner Rich Urbiztondo. Moved to 516 Castro after a major fire in December 1988. Skyrocketing rent forced it to close in September 2001.
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MAINLINE GIFTS
508 Castro Street
- see above -
I included this ad because I really liked the design. It ran as a full page ad in the program of "MOON OVER MIAMI", a midnight benefit show at the Castro Theater on May 14, 1977. All proceeds went to the Miami Gay Support Committee, fighting Anita Bryant's anti-gay Dade County Florida Initiative "Save Our Children".
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OLD GOLD
vintage clothing
2304 & 2380 Market Street
Dennis Mitchell and Joe DuBois started out with Old Gold (vintage clothing) and eventually had Old Gold For Men and Old Gold For Women. My recollection is that after Joe succumbed to AIDS (around 1982) my brother ran the businesses for a while - but it was too much for him to manage alone. Dennis later opened Bucks - a contemporary men's clothing store. - submitted by Bernie Mitchell
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PAPERBACK TRAFFIC
535 Castro Street
The first really gay oriented bookstore in the Castro. It was here that the book "The Mayor of Castro Street" first went on sale.
Paperback Traffic Used Books was across the street at 558 Castro.
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THE RULING ARM
4131 19th Street
A graphic arts, typesetting shop
right in the Castro.
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SAUSAGE FACTORY
517 Castro Street
A nice Italian restaurant on Castro since before it was a gay neighborhood. They are still going strong.
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TREE HOUSE
1884 Market Street
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One of the incarnations of the bar owned by JB. It changed to JB'S HOUSE in 1973, and EAGLE CREEK in 1975. In the 1990's the space was the headquarters of ACT-UP San Francisco. It is now empty.
JB was an institution in the SF bar scene since the mid-1960's. He knew everyone and worked everywhere. JB called everyone "Precious" and his favorite comment was "That's Attractive!" He worked at Trax on Haight until he died of AIDS in 1997.
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TRIFLES
4416 18th Street
A yummy pastry shop, but a little too far up the hill to catch on.
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TYSON GALLERY
2258 Market Street
An art gallery in the Castro
catering to local gay artists.
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WORK WONDERS
471 Castro Street
An upscale home furnishings store
location later became part of CLIFF'S VARIETY
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1808 CLUB
1808 Market Street
A popular sex club
location is now part of the
Gay Community Center
1800 Market Street
Built in 1894 as the Fallon Building and surviving the 1906 earthquake and fire, it was purchased by the Gay Community Center Project, designated a San Francisco Landmark in 1998, and opened March 3, 2002.
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CASTRO ADS - page 1