Haight-Ashburry

[Midget]

Was anyone there in the 60s-70s? Do you like it? What was it like? Has anyone that was there then, returned, and seen it now? Has it changed? I just read somewhere that is was really commercialized and such, now.

[purplemoonbeams]

I went there a couple years ago. It's just a lot of shops selling shirts with the original Haight-Ashbury street sign, and record stores. Really cool shirts, but yeah it's commercialised. And it's pretty dingy now. Everyone was very friendly, but it smelled pretty bad and there were a lot of bums. Mind you, it is a fun place to go for the day

[ImmortalDissident]

Bums are no problem, for me at least. If they approach me I'll talk to them. They don't want anything but a dollar and some company. In fact, everyone should take a homeless person to lunch at least once in their lives. Good times though.

[LaurelBayTree]

one of my friends went there ove the summer and brought back a t-shirt and a pic of the street signs. is there starbucks like on every corner there?

[MEltingpOpsicle3]

Bums are no problem, for me at least. If they approach me I'll talk to them. They don't want anything but a dollar and some company. In fact, everyone should take a homeless person to lunch at least once in their lives. Good times though.
I agree!!!!

[MoonjavaSeed]

well i don't know much about it, but i know my dad went there.... i'll ask him. god man he went far too many places. anyone ever hear of walken's glen?

[m6m]

is there starbucks like on every corner there?
No.

There are almost no chain stores in either the lower or upper Haight.
Nearly all the storefronts possess a funky unique character, and are locally owned.

True, the wild spontaneous freedom has been toned-down alot.
But unlike most of Yuppie Wonderbread America, you can still find little flames of the wild un-tamed heart flickering up and down the Haight.

[BobbinBecca]

My in-laws lived on the Haight in the late fifties and early sixties. The Mormon Church owned a property right on Haight-Ashbury where they had meetings, lol! I know when I lived there a couple years back the drum circles in the park were great, and all the shops were fun. I can't get phat beads like on Haight

[Midget]

That's cool that there aren't chain stores, though...I was picturing them as chain stores and crap...at least they are unique, but still...heh. Thank God...no Starbucks. :P

Moonjavaseed--I've heard the name Walken's Glen, but I know nothing of it...why do you ask? :)

[shameless_heifer]

I belive that there was indeed a startbucks on the corner of Haight & Ashbury.. it use to be the Drug Store Cafe.. very famuse place where all the hippies hungout.. it was later bought out and changed into an Icecream Parlor call Magnolia Thunder Pussys.. the had the infamuse Pineapple Pussy Sundee.. I lived in the Haight for 11 yrs..I saw a lot of places and people come and go..the Haight is where I was reborn at.. I became the person I am today from what I learned back then in the Haight..it was LOVE LOVE LOVE everywhere.. Peaceful folk living freely..the pigs as they were called then..were hard to deal with at times.. but the gatherings of the people and the music was outta sight..we grooved to a different beat they we do now.. but the ones of us that stayed true to the cause are still doing their part to help change things for the good of all..I would like to relate everything about the Haight.. but it would take yrs to get it all out on post.. I am working on a book that I hope will be made into a movie.. it's acually 3 books in one.. part 1, 2 and 3.. the three phazes of my life in the Haight..the first book is from 66-67 my first yr in the Haight.. then the rest that follows till 77 when my last stay was.. it would make an exelent movie..

[m6m]

That's cool that there aren't chain stores, :)
Almost no chain stores.

Ronald MacDonald has one of his carnal charnel houses at the very end of Haight on Stanyan.
But that's been there since like '69 or '70.
And there's a little supermarket across the street from Ronald that is part of a small local chain called Calla Foods. Or, at least it used to be Cala Foods.

I used to deliver the newspaper on Stanyan when I was a kid back in the late '60s.

You say you want to know what it was like?
Why?
Why make yourself miserable?

Why ask about the last spirited gasp of a deperate generation.
A generation who desperately saw the soft suffocating pillow of cozy materialism descending down upon our face.
And in the end; chose to conform.

Forget it.
Go back to class.

[LaurelBayTree]

i have the movie "woodstock" a documentary about the three days of love, peace, and music. has anyone every seen it who was there and saw themselves?

[Midget]

I've heard about it...never seen it. Thanks for all the information thus far, it's very interesting. :)

[LaurelBayTree]

the dvd of woodstock is wonderful...totally check it out.

[shameless_heifer]

I remember cala foods.. it was across from golden gate park.. there by the enterence..at the end of Haight Street..I walked down that path many a time on my way to hippie hill to play and frolic amongest the tribe of peacelovers and merry pranksters.. the never ending celebration of life and love.. the glow of energy that pulsated above the hill as we danced to the communal beat of love and understanding, we stood naked before Creator as we answered the call in our wildest of hearts and our purest of ideals..gathering as one voice one spirit.. one Creator..forevermore..Blessed Be..

[MoonjavaSeed]

That's cool that there aren't chain stores, though...I was picturing them as chain stores and crap...at least they are unique, but still...heh. Thank God...no Starbucks. :P

Moonjavaseed--I've heard the name Walken's Glen, but I know nothing of it...why do you ask? :)
oooooooooh my dad went there. ....he said it was even better than woodstock i just wanted to know if anyone else had been.....wait he said it was like 10 times better than woodstock.lol. the bands sound better too from what i've heard

[~Sam~]

Man, we had our car burgled in the Calla parking lot(which joins the park, same side, and is across from the Stanyon Hotel) when we were out there a couple of years ago. We were staying in the Stanyon Hotel. They did a beautiful job in restoring that hotel. I can remember standing on the corner of Haight and Stanyon in '65 looking up at that ratty flop house, thinking that someone should take care of that old lady.

One time, it was a Sunday morning, the Dead were playing on a flatbed trailer in the panhandle. I was tripping my ass off, and they began to play Saint Stevens... good trippy dance tune... anyways, I began to dance, then I began to dance farther and farther away from the music. The music followed me almost all the way to where the buffalo are fenced in. I took one look at their eyes (the buffalo's) and yelled into the sky; "Liberate the Buffalo!". And I did. It took SF's finest 2 days to round up those critters. Even the mounted pigs had a hard time with the woolies... buffalo are Really big and deadly dangerous.

Someone asked about woodstock. Yup, I was there. Years later, when I finally got to see the video, there I was. Towards the end of the flick, when Hendrix is playing, you'll see a girl standing in front of the stage with her arms up on the stage... that be me.

The Haight got really nasty in '67. Smack and Crank ruled the streets. That's when I beat feet. I wonder how many butterflies and birds starved to death because all the flower children picked their only source of nourishment.

[LaurelBayTree]

I remember cala foods.. it was across from golden gate park.. there by the enterence..at the end of Haight Street..I walked down that path many a time on my way to hippie hill to play and frolic amongest the tribe of peacelovers and merry pranksters.. the never ending celebration of life and love.. the glow of energy that pulsated above the hill as we danced to the communal beat of love and understanding, we stood naked before Creator as we answered the call in our wildest of hearts and our purest of ideals..gathering as one voice one spirit.. one Creator..forevermore..Blessed Be..
i really love your imagery here. i can almost smell the scents and hear the love. wish i was there. there was a thread a while back about some of the young ones like myself being reincarnated from the 60's and 70's. i do not know if i was but i do hope and if i was i will keep on truckin...peace

[Midget]

(((HUGS EVERYONE) Geez...you have no clue how happy I am that I've found this site. It's so cool to be in such a good space, with like minded people...:) Love you guys all! Peace!

[redhatter]

http://www.glenphotos.com/summerjam/sj1.html

[balko]

Not being mean, I'm all about that place and such but...

Wouldn't you be able to just relate this and the Hippies to something like...Bebop and Harlem? It would be the samething...just the Hippies were on a large scale, and their time changed music.

[HippieFlowerGirl67]

I'd like to go there and check that place out!

[RainbowCat]

i went there like 2 years ago, and it was great! everyone's friendly! and there's alot of great stores

[urbangal]

I went there back in the early 90's with my friend, a child of old hippies and just felt like I had come home. He took me all around SF on foot insisting we take no cars just hoof it and take public trans. I told him I wasn't a city fan but SF had me hooked instantly. I never forgot it; never will forget Jason. Whereever you are man, I hope you are doing what you wanted to do *hugs*
So now, I've not been back to SF since late 97. Time to return, definately.

urby

[audreyanne]

Hey All!just Yesterday,i Was In San Francisco At Ucsf When I Was Overwhelmed By Memories,and Realised How Still,i Love Sf...when I Took Care Of My Stuff There My Friend And I Walked Down The Hill,to The Haight.its Been At Least 12 Years Since3 Ive Been To The City,and I Lived There From 1975 At The Tender Young Age Of 17 Until 1980.i Sort Of Missed The Earlier Days,but I Did Meet People That Were Still Around From The 60s.they Were What I Termed Older At The Time,but They Were The Real Deal.any Way,i Had Alot Of Experiences That I Value Still,and 12 Years Ago We Had A Reunion.since Then I Havent Been Able To Find Any One .back To Yesterday,i Dug It Even Though There Seems To Be An Element Of Touristy-ness.but The Free Clinic Is Still There,and There Are Still Some Cool Shops There...even A Consignment Store.i Used To Make Jewelery And Sell It In A Consignment Shop On Haight St.blast From The Past..stopped In A Little Bar There And Had A Kama-kazi With The Owner There,and He Was There In The 70s.he Said Alot Of Folks Have Passed On,but He Still Saw A Few Old Timers That Looked Pretty Burnt...still,all In All,its Still A Far Out Place,despite All The Changes.there Used To Be A Veggie Restaurant Called The Psalms Cafe,but No More...did See A Whole Foods Store In The Vacinity Of Where The Co-op Used To Be.it Was A Good Time I Bought A Few Little Momentos,had Alot Of Fonde Memories..fun Just Hangin Out People Watching.youngsters All Hippied Out,smilin And Friendly.i Would Like To Go Back Soon If Nothing Else The Good Beads Are There!lots Of Handmade Stuff Just Beautiful Beadwork Like Hippies Were Talented And Creative And Groovy.i Wanted To Walk Over To The Panhandle But Ran Out Of Time:i Used To Live On Fell St Across From There.im Not Sure Who Lives There Now...we Sort Of Left That Area After A Visit From Vice...yah,its Still Cool Commercial And All.namaste Audreyanne

[WE1]

One day in late July of 1968 eating a Blimpie tuna fish sub on my way to hear the Steve Miller Band,Moby Grape and the Chambers Brothers at the Fillmore West. When I stoped for the red light when this guy pulls up next to me on a beautiful black Harley chopper with a custom pan head engine and a young girl on the back. After a few seconds; I could see the girls face and then she said "Sonny give me a fucking cigarette". The light turned green a few seconds after she was handed a cigarette and a lighter. A few seconds later I saw the young women was Janis Joplin and she was riding on the back of Sonny Barger's Harley Chopper who was the leader of the Oakland Hells Angels...:sunglasse

[shameless_heifer]

We1, what a wonderful story. brings a lot of memories from the past hanging out at the park with Pearl (Janis) and sitting in doorways on Haight drinking sourthern comfort in a brown paper bag. Sonny Barger was the president of the Hell Angels in the whole of the USA. He was in the Haight quite abit. Janis and him were seen together from time to time. I belive he spent some time with her up at Wheelers Ranch also. I had spent time around Sonny, as my hubby at that time had some friends from the Oakland Chapter, hubby and me had an antique store on Page St. between Clayton and Cole and we always had beer and, well, drugs. My hubby now deceased delt alot back then. They came and hung around, then some out of stae ones came and all hells angels broke loose. ( to be contenued at a later time)

[magicalprincesskid]

its not walkens glen, its watkins glenn, ny.

[gate68]

I remember cala foods.. it was across from golden gate park.. there by the enterence..at the end of Haight Street..I walked down that path many a time on my way to hippie hill to play and frolic amongest the tribe of peacelovers and merry pranksters.. the never ending celebration of life and love.. the glow of energy that pulsated above the hill as we danced to the communal beat of love and understanding, we stood naked before Creator as we answered the call in our wildest of hearts and our purest of ideals..gathering as one voice one spirit.. one Creator..forevermore..Blessed Be..Cala foods,they caught me walking out with a bottle of port.They were cool,just made me leave.Hippie hill,that was probably your pot I was smoking.Thanks again it was good.peace

Anybody hang out on Telegraph?