Classics

By J.H. Tompkins

lllustration by Mie Hommura

Forty years ago the country woke up to a war that had mushroomed out of control. The air in Washington, D.C., was so thick with lies that it was tough to breathe. Voters throughout the South had their rights denied to them; sleepy college campuses were waking up to a world that was frightening and exciting at the same time. And Scott McKenzie's treacly "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" - one of least-inspired songs ever to grace the hit parade - was walking the point for a PR campaign that would be remembered as San Francisco's Summer of Love.

If you're going to San Francisco/ Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair/ If you're going to San Francisco/ Summertime will be a love-in there.

Forty years down the road it's difficult to find anyone whose actual memories of that time have not been overwhelmed by hyperbolized accounts found in venerable news magazines such as Life and Time. Strangers with cameras flocked to Haight Street to gawk at a grimy posse of long-haired runaways who'd arrived only a step or two ahead of the tourists they'd attracted. The rest is something like history.

Fast-forward from the "endless" Summer of Love to the seemingly endless Summer of Rove: things haven't changed much - not really, anyway. The government again is involved in a war whose popularity is plummeting in direct response to the money spent and lives lost fighting it. Military strategy and media coverage once charitably described by pundits as wishful thinking are looking more like a pack of lies with each passing day. Battered combat troops need help, and the prospect of a mandatory draft hovers over foreign policy like a bad dream.

In fact, it may be possible to update McKenzie's hit with only a few minor changes:

If you're going to San Francisco/ Be sure to wear an iPhone on your hip/ If you're going to San Francisco/ Summertime is going to be a trip.

The love-driven soldiers of the summer of '67 were tough to take seriously. They favored raggedy clothes, fell prey to every STD known to man (at the time), and bathed infrequently. Were it not for kindly tourists who turned their pockets inside out - and for community soup kitchens - the makeshift community in Golden Gate Park certainly wouldn't have lasted as long as it did, which wasn't very long. And yes, almost all of the myths have been debunked: hippies didn't get us out of Vietnam any more than Ronald Reagan tore down the Berlin Wall; communes weren't that great for women (even Mother Earth); hallucinogens led more to psychosis than enlightenment; and you could count the number of blacks, Asians, and Latinos who pitched their we-are-the-world tents in the Haight back then on three or four hands.

So what? This goofy, white, drug-addled instant was still much more than the sum of its parts. It was no union riot or march on Selma, but it reawoke people to the power of community and activism. Within a year or two, many thousands of young people had taken a page from those who came to San Francisco: they'd looked out at a world consumed by war and the lies that floated war, and they'd washed their hands of problems they didn't create. They opposed the world by trying to imagine and bring about a new one.

Of course, they didn't succeed completely, as evidenced by the mess we're in today. But just as the worst of '67 has its parallels today, so does some of the best. The Summer of Love's pie-in-the-sky goal of achieving world peace by opening oneself to new experiences reawakened in our culture an eternal restlessness. We march; we talk to others about problems; we attend our Burning Mans and bluegrass festivals; we recycle; we try different spiritualities, flavors, lifestyles, and products. We wander from sensation to sensation, hoping it all adds up to some greater good somehow. There are far worse things to base a life on than hope and openness, whatever the risk of self-absorption.

Most important, however, was the tough-to-pin-down but very real sense back then that these self-professed freaks were united in opposition to the world from which they were escaping. The beliefs binding San Francisco's flower children were odd at best, but they offered an alternative to the straight and narrow. It has been correctly pointed out that the love-in set tended to live on the largesse of the straight world they were professing to leave behind. They were, above all else, opportunists - a criticism often leveled at today's radicals and war protestors. But that didn't stop the pioneering dropouts from broadcasting their gospel to the world.

The mass media and the popular culture it spawned that brought us the Summer of Love are a lot bigger today. (They may have been zonked out of their gourds, but those kids knew how to get attention.) The lively, rebel-inspiring photos in America's weekly news magazines that spread word of San Francisco's hippie enclaves were merely a tiny advance guard of the information age - the Internet and the intricate, endless web of infobytes and images that feed it. Thinking that the power of the Internet will change the world for the better may be just as crazy as thinking that dropping acid would shield villagers in Vietnam from napalm. But the unity and courage that united many San Franciscans 40 years ago is worth remembering as today's dropouts and rebels use all the tools at their disposal to try to counteract the narrow scapegoating and uncontrolled greed of our rulers.

Editor's Picks

BEST BAND OLDER THAN GRANDMA THAT STILL ROCKS THE JAMS

You'd think that after 125 years they would call it quits already. But the Golden Gate Park Band have a pretty sweet deal going: they can play whatever they want almost every summer Sunday afternoon at the Spreckels Temple of Music. Operas, marches, show tunes, foot-tapping jazz - they're all in the band's repertoire, shared with the public for free. And they've lately started incorporating folk music and traditional numbers from around the world into their playlist, occasionally performing with local ethnic dance companies. Back in the day (think 1888), one imagines, ladies with parasols and men with canes and bowler hats would come flocking to hear them. Today times are, of course, a tad more laid-back. Park patrons in Tevas and Levi's follow the tunes rung out by the 30 or so well-seasoned members of the band to a sunny spot near the de Young and let the Sousa and Copland shower over them. Regardless of their audience's casual couture, however, the Golden Gate Park Band remain a living, breathing, tuba-wielding harking back to historical San Francisco, keeping us happily swinging.

www.mindspring.com/~nemoyten/ggpb

BEST GLOWING PRODIGIES

The San Francisco Youth Symphony Orchestra may be the Mini-Me of the more fully developed San Francisco Symphony, but they do just fine on their own, thank you very much. For the past 25 years, members of the SFYSO - ranging in age from 12 to 20 - have done everything classical-minded from performing for Queen Elizabeth II to collaborating with Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover. They also put on a darn good show: under the musical direction of conductor Benjamin Schwartz, the young virtuosos travel all over the world spreading their youthful musical exuberance and polishing their professional technique before moving on to the big leagues. Whether backing narrator Bobby McFerrin for Peter and the Wolf or busting out a Symphony Pathétique to die for, these young players are always one note ahead of the pack.

www.sfsymphony.org

BEST ORANGE DREAMSICLE

In a day and age when desserts have gone overly upscale, the St. Francis Fountain continues to turn out top-notch tasty treats at unpretentious prices. Caramel milk shakes, Guinness floats, ice-cream-topped brownies - the list is as diverse as it is decadent. One of the oldest ice-cream parlors in the city (it opened in 1918), the St. Francis has recently undergone a hipster renaissance, gaining popularity with a solid menu far beyond your typical diner fare, quality-wise. And while the burgers with chili-cheese fries are worth a visit, the desserts will make you stay awhile. Try one of a variety of banana splits - such as the Battleship or the Love's Delight - all employing different deviations on deliciousness with Mitchell's ice cream. Of course, the crown jewel on the dessert menu is the Orange Dreamsicle, a creamy citrus sherbet masterpiece that could make Willy Wonka blush.

2801 24th St., SF. (415) 826-4200

BEST SLY PRIVATE EYE (FICTIONAL DIVISION)

For the past 35 years, an anonymous sleuth has pounded the mean streets of San Francisco and its environs in what has become one of the longest-running, most critically acclaimed series of private eye novels ever written. Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective has tangled with kidnappers, crazed alcoholics, and various other shady characters in cases running the gamut from locked-room puzzles to violent vendettas - without losing his hard-boiled edge. Even after 31 novels and a passel of short stories, Pronzini's naturalistic, character-driven series has yet to lose its freshness or descend into formula, and a new Nameless novel is like an evening out with an old friend; you don't know quite what it will be like, but you know it will be a good time. (A new installment in the series, Savages, comes out this summer from Forge Books.) We may not know who he is, but we're certainly glad Nameless is on the case.

BEST PIPE DREAMS

Despite constant technological advances, there are still some things better made by human than machine. Food. Wine. Sex. And of course, musical instruments. Perhaps this is why the march of time hasn't marched Schoenstein and Co. Pipe Organs right out of business. The company, founded in San Francisco in 1877 by a German immigrant, continues to provide custom-built organs to churches, orchestras, and universities nationally and internationally - and it's still making, repairing, and voicing pipes in the Mission District building where it's done business since 1928 (although the company has grown so much that its headquarters recently relocated to Benicia). The Mission building is a San Francisco Registered Landmark, just like the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower. But it seems that the 130-year-old business, which is the oldest and largest pipe-building firm west of the Rockies, could be declared a kind of landmark in and of itself.

3101 20th St., SF. (415) 647-5133, www.schoenstein.com

BEST FULL-THROATED CHORAL EXPLOSION

Back when the gay-rights movement was all about building community through the arts rather than through hair products, activist Dick Kramer sought to revive the 19th-century European choral tradition. The original director of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, he founded his own group, the Dick Kramer Gay Men's Chorale, in 1982. Reorganized as the Golden Gate Men's Chorus in 1988, the group has tackled increasingly ambitious and delicious musical programs and embraced an open inclusion policy - you don't have to be gay to sing! - although it remains a member of GALA Choruses, the international association of the gay and lesbian choral movement. Now under the direction of Grammy Award-winning Joseph Jennings, the GGMC performed Stravinsky's Mass in May and celebrated its 25th anniversary with a huge concert in June. It also takes part in innumerable fundraisers and puts on a heavenly holiday spectacular that you wouldn't believe. Sadly, Kramer passed away this year, but the GGMC keeps giving voice to his passion for choral community.

(415) 668-GGMC, www.ggmc.org

BEST GREEN NEWBIE HQ

Most of the Bay Area is a zone 16. For nongardeners, this means our climate is so plant friendly that even you, the notorious killer of indoor spider ferns, can be a successful outdoor gardener! So put on your sun hat and clogs and make your way to one of the best places to develop a green thumb, Sloat Garden Center. Whether you have room for but a few containers on your back porch or are looking to landscape your entire yard to attract butterflies, you'll leave here with the necessary supplies and knowledge. And even though the center has expanded to 10 locations around the Bay since first opening in 1968 on Sloat Street in San Francisco, it has retained its independently owned character on-site and off, engaging in local school garden projects and other worthy green causes.

2700 Sloat, SF. (415) 566-4415, www.sloatgardens.com

BEST EMPORIUM OF ZEST

Our city's nothing if not a bit spicy - and we don't just mean that in the sense of being so damn sexy. No, it's also home to an incredible spice (and herb and essential oil and tea) emporium. For more than 25 years Neil P. Hanscomb's aromarific San Francisco Herb Co. has peddled all of the above, plus potpourris, dehydrated vegetables, nuts, and seeds to customers near and far - everything from astragalus to yucca, arrowroot to vanilla, anise to ylang-ylang. Desperate for bergamot in bulk, a pound of raw pumpkin seeds, a fistful of fenugreek? The operation ships all over the world, but its 14th Street flagship store is a showroom of savory scents that deserves a visit from any culinary connoisseur or sensual masseur in need. Kitty cuddlers take note: SF Herb is also the best deal around for high-grown catnip.

250 14th St., SF. (415) 861-7174, www.sfherb.com

BEST FEDORAS WE ADORE-A

One thing that's always separated us well-coutured city slickers from hicks in the sticks has been a quality hat, particularly a fine fedora. To score a real tony topper, glide into Goorin Brothers Bold Hatmakers on Washington Square. The fedoras found there are especially fashionable - and reasonable: most are in the $30-to-$40 range. The variety is impressive too; hats come in standard felt as well as cloth, leather, straw ribbon, and faux fur. And although it's been making hats for wholesale since 1895, Goorin Brothers isn't afraid of new styles. It stocks a collection of trucker hats to rival Von Dutch's, and its ivy caps - available in leather, knit, and cloth - get the jump on Kangol. Matching purses and shoulder bags help you complete the look. Cha. Yet it's the charming interior of the store that inspires us to tip our hat, to the chandelier, the sliding ladder to reach the voluminously stocked upper shelves, and the palpable air of swank nostalgia.

1612 Stockton, SF. (415) 402-0454, www.goorin.com

BEST BAR FROM WAAAY BACK IN THE DAY

You've probably cruised through here for a Saint Patty's Day celebration or two. Maybe you met a friend for an easy evening of drinks and conversation. Or perhaps you've never had the pleasure of visiting the Little Shamrock, one of the city's oldest taprooms and a grand institution. The Shamrock's been serving suds since 1893 and sailed right through prohibition as if that sad period of history never happened. The well-worn interior is full of odd memorabilia and photographs from the end of the 19th century, and there's a thirst-provoking sign out front that reads, "We've been here 113 years and our prices prove it." We're here to tell you that their prices do prove it - making the Shamrock one of the best places to sample whiskeys, for which it rarely charges more than $7, even for single-malt Scotch.

807 Lincoln Way, SF. (415) 661-0060

BEST PLACE TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD

Folks sitting around talking about model numbers and rare train engines. Cramped aisles and shelves piled with as much inventory as possible - with the implication, perhaps, that things shouldn't be disturbed unless absolutely necessary. That's how hobby stores are supposed to be. And that's exactly how Chan's Trains and Hobbies is and has been since 1973. The little operation buys, sells, and repairs I-, G-, Standard-, O-, S-, HO-, N-, and Z-gauge model trains. It also stocks everything you need to build a scale layout, from miniature trees and trucks to farm animals and churches. For city dwellers, cramped for space, it carries several Z-gauge starter kits (around $200) that will fit on your kitchen table. And for public transit enthusiasts there's even a few white-and-orange HO-gauge Muni streetcars from the '70s. Model rockets, cars, planes, and ships - Chan's is a classic spot to while away a Sunday afternoon, planning ultimate infrastructures.

2450 Van Ness, SF. (415) 885-2899, www.chanstrains.com

BEST 30 YEARS ON THE STREET

Nostalgia for the Summer of Love began almost as soon as the season ended - even for people who'd never been to San Francisco. For Pablo Heising, the unofficial mayor of Haight Street, the ideals of community and consciousness that he gained from the hippified Haight in the '60s were not easily set aside. On April 30, 1978, to general public approval, the annual Haight Ashbury Street Fair entered the world, with Heising as midwife, and it has been going strong ever since. Like many an endangered street festival in San Francisco (and much like those rose-colored, haze-enveloped '60s), the fair has not been without its controversies. Some neighbors have complained, outdoor alcohol sales have been discontinued, and the future of the 30-year-old event seems to hang precariously by a thread. All the more reason to toast its resilience now. Like the rest of us hopeless idealists, the fair has weathered a lot of teapot tempests. Long may its freak flag wave.

www.haightashburystreetfair.org

BEST DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL

In 1977, just as punk rock was crawling from the gutters of New York and London, Steve Runyon was hard at work in San Francisco establishing what would become one of the most important college radio stations of the era, KUSF, 90.3 FM. Now 30 years old, the station has broadcast the soundtracks of a few generations of left-of-the-dial audiophiles - and provided a model for countless other commercial-free stations around the world. But the impeccably progressive and varied taste of KUSF's finger-on-the-pulse music programming is only half the story. Much of the station's weekly schedule is devoted to cultural and specialty shows such as World of Opera and Shoestring Radio Theatre, and the ethnic groups served by the station include the Chinese, Finnish, and Turkish American communities. For 30 years, we've been all ears.

(415) 386-5873, www.kusf.org

BEST BROWSABLE ARCHITECTONICS

It's no surprise that an architectural bookshop of superlative caliber would exist in San Francisco, given the city's world-renowned Victorians and Edwardians and its bevy of cleverly designed commercial buildings, such as the Transamerica Pyramid and the new Federal Building. William Stout Architectural Books sets a standard by which all specialty bookstores could be judged. The staff is knowledgeable; the store, with its vaulted ceilings and high shelves, is a bibliophile's wonderland; and the selection of books is extraordinary. One can find volumes on fine art, design, decorative arts, interiors, urban planning, and all stripes of architecture, from religious to landscape. William Stout's publishing house has released dozens of books, such as Poems for Architects, by Jill Stoner, and Acoustics: Architecture Engineering the Environment, by Charles Salter. And even the Web site is a study in elegant, useful design.

804 Montgomery, SF. (415) 391-6757, www.stoutbooks.com

BEST JAPANESE TREATS

The Okamura brothers of Japantown's Benkyodo Co. continue a rich tradition of confectionery pleasure that began when their grandfather opened the original shop in 1906; the operation paused only when the family was interned during World War II. Workers arrive at the crack of dawn every morning to make mochi (soft, sweet rice cakes) and manju (mochi with bean paste filling). The oldest (some say only) Japanese confectioner in San Francisco, Benkyodo is the kind of place where they still make every delight by hand, using family recipes they've long ago committed to memory. In addition to a busy counter chock-full of sweets, Benkyodo also contains a small luncheonette that is often crowded with ardent Asian-food fanatics. The company does enormous business around Japanese New Year (place your order now!), and some of its most enthusiastic customers are Japanese tourists eager to revisit the little joys of home.

1747 Buchanan, SF. (415) 922-1244, www.benkyodocompany.com

BEST INTIMATIONS OF FURRY MORTALITY

Just above Crissy Field, where dogs regularly frolic in unleashed glory, is another meadow, a tiny, picket fence-lined Elysium where all walks of companion species go for their final nap: the Presidio Pet Cemetery. This humble necropolis has been used as a resting ground for military pooches, parrots, and pussies since at least the '20s, when, according to the oldest headstone, CoCo (species unknown), "Beloved pet of the Poplewells," was laid to rest, in 1925. Many of the graves are simple, hand-painted wooden boards - eerily reminiscent of the plain headstones used for deceased human military personnel - while others, such as the engraved headstone for Fang D'Iguana, are far more elaborate. Whether your visit inspires Thomas Grey-style verse or morbid contemplation on the part of your pet, the views of the bay are stunning.

McDowell and Cowell, Presidio, SF

BEST PARTNER AT RINGSIDE

Should push come to shove with your perhaps not-so-benevolent landlord, the San Francisco Tenants Union could be an indispensable resource. Membership gives you unlimited counseling at its walk-in clinic and sets you back $40 (a sum roughly equivalent to your landlord's annual maintenance budget, maybe). Also included is a copy of the Tenants Rights Handbook. Now in its 10th pressing, it draws from more than 30 years of tenant attorneys' and SFTU volunteers' experience, laying out best practices in fighting evictions, contesting rent increases, and just about every other contingency to which renters may be subject. Relevant laws are included and explained, and there's even a section outlining the economics of real estate speculation - which might just clear up any lingering confusion about where your landlord is coming from and where your money, if not toward fixing the faucet, is going.

558 Capp, SF. (415) 282-6622, www.sftu.org

Editor's Picks

BEST BAND OLDER THAN GRANDMA THAT STILL ROCKS THE JAMS

BEST GLOWING PRODIGIES

BEST ORANGE DREAMSICLE

BEST SLY private eye (FICTIONAL DIVISION)

BEST PIPE DREAMS

BEST FULL-THROATED CHORAL EXPLOSION

BEST GREEN NEWBIW HQ

BEST EMPORIUM OF ZEST

BEST FEDORAS WE ADORE-A

BEST BAR FROM WAAAY BACK IN THE DAY

BEST PLACE TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD

BEST 30 YEARS ON THE STREET

BEST DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL

BEST BROWSABLE ARCHITECTONICS

BEST JAPANESE TREATS

BEST INTIMATIONS OF FURRY MORTALITY

BEST PARTNER AT RINGSIDE