Lost Bay Area Stories

An Exploration into Obscure Bay Area History

Colorized Photo of the Day

1940's General Motors exhibit at Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco. Transparent Car with Pontiac Chassis and Body by...

Colorized Photo of the Day

1924 Photo of a Flint Automobile with Ghiradelli Square in the background.

Colorized Photo of the Day

C.W Smiths Yum-Yum treat stand during the 1930's at Playland in San Francisco

Colorized Photo of the Day

Yosemite in the 1920's

"The Bonded Woman" SF Billboard, 1922

I love old movie billboards. This one was in San Francisco in 1922. Betty Compson was a rising Hollywood startlet and had early...

Marcian Rossi's Lost Fortune (Part 3)

San Jose's Marcian Rossi was an interesting local character as I've mentioned in other posts.. He was the overseer of the family's...

"The Rich Man's Burden", 1921

Ironically, this debate a hundred years ago is the same one that we're having today. Sources: San Francisco Call, October 5, 1921

Marcian Rossi - The Author (Part 2)

I've already posted about San Jose resident Marcian Rossi's collection of Marco Polo era maps and their noteworthiness. I've also posted...

Fah Teh Loy's Outrageous Bifurcated Pantaloons

Cultural norms and modesty were amusingly different a hundred years ago. Showing legs and ankles were a sign of avant guard fashion. ...

Marcian Rossi's Invention (Part 1)

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Marcian Rossi's claim to fame was that he held a collection of maps from the Marco Polo era. He...

Marco Polo and the San Jose Connection

There was an Italian San Jose resident and local tailor/machineist that lived in the area 100 years ago who's lineage connected him...