Children from San Francisco
What it is:
Two cabinet cards, each measuring 4.25 x 6.5 inches.
What I know about it:
Photographer is J. G. Hucks of the New York Gallery in San Francisco, California. Otherwise undated and unidentified.
Comments:
I figured I’d post these together since they make a nice pair. I’m assuming the child on the pedestal is the same as the child on the bridge. I’m also guessing that the child on the pedestal is a girl and the child standing next to the pedestal is a boy, but I could be wrong. (A joke about gender confusion in San Francisco would be too banal here, so I’ll refrain.) From what I could find about the photographer online, sorting through the overlapping ownership of the New York Gallery, this photo would probably be from the late 1880s. I walked by 25 Third Street out of curiosity. (For people familiar with San Francisco, if you’re walking down Third from Market, it’s the first address past the Hearst Building on the left.) The building there now is old, but I don’t think old enough. And it was in the area destroyed by the Great Fire in 1906. (The fire did more damage than the quake.) With that in mind, I went online and found what I think may have been the building where these photos were taken. In this photo looking down Third Street from Market, assuming it was taken at Market, it would be the building on the extreme left, with the old Hearst Building just out of frame. You can see the city is already on fire in this photo. Although I believe the New York Gallery had already ceased operations by 1906, anything left would surely have been wiped out in the conflagration.
Pics of Then 
Not only do I love your photos, but the historical/current background information adds so much to the story. I look forward to each day’s post.
Thank you! Same with yours.
I agree with Gingko!
Thanks! 🙂
I wonder if that building was where there is a bar now (next to the ugly building with Office Depot?).
Yes, I think that’s the same building you’re talking about. It’s similar, too, in the way it’s retail space on the ground floor with two floors of office space above. If you look at the old photo, the building with “Printing” along the top would be where the Office Depot building is now, and the gap between the two buildings would be Stevenson Alley. That’s if the photo is labeled accurately.
I will be in that area in the near future, so I will take a good look!