DOING AMERICA
WITH
BOB
DAMRON
The "Amsterdam of America", Baghdad by the Bay", and the "Barbary Coast", have all been used to describe San Francisco. Chinatown, the Golden Gate, Market Street, and "Little Cable Cars, climbing half way to the stars", have helped immortalize it in song.
It is the Mecca for tourists from around the world, and all are welcomed save fast-fadingAnita Bryant, who compares San Francisco to Sodom and Gomorrah. Old Acid Tongue should suck less Florida Oranges, and stick to housekeeping in her Virginia hideaway.
There is too much to see and do in San Francisco, to attempt to chronicle it all here. I will focus briefly on the five major . gay areas, here bars can be open seven days a week from 6 A.M. to 2 A.M.
Polk Strasse (Street) is the oldest! From Union to Ellis the cruising goes on day and night. The legendary P.S. Restaurant, at 1121 Polk, offers lunch, dinner, entertainment, and Sunday brunch is a "Must". The New Bell Saloon, with a spirited and mature crowd at Polk and Sutter, has entertainment nightly and is always packed. The Butcher Shop, and Yacht Club serve dinners nightly, while the Cinch, Kimo's and Wild Goose (just off Polk on Pine) are more for cruisin', and boozin'. Two small but interesting Disco's are Buzzby's at 1436 Polk, and the popular nearby N'Touch. Oil Can Harry's on Larkin at Ellis, is just one block over from Polk. San Francisco's best Mexican Restaurant is the Casa de Cristal, just around the corner on Post Street, across from the new and popular Liberty Baths. The Le Salon Book Store is directly across the street from the P.S., and nearby are Leather Forever, The Town Squire, (men's fashions), Gramophone Record Shop and Ben Hur Books.
South of Market is the infamous Folsom Street Area, where the "bike," leather and levi guys let it all hang out. Febe's at 11th and Folsom, and the Ramrod at 1225 Folsom are the grand daddys of them all. As are some of their customers. Hot spots are the Boot Camp at 1010 Bryant, with a wild back room, the Brig, Leatherneck and Ambush. The latter two are the only beer bars in town. Others in the area include the End Up Disco at 6th and Harrison. Le Domino (a good French restaurant) at 17th and Florida, and Nick's Trading Post Emporium, (leather, clothing, jewelry, books, toys, etc.) at 960 Folsom St. The South of the Slot at 979 Folsom is home of the FFA, and the CBC's new San Francisco Club Baths at 330 Ritch Street has just opened and should be hot!
HIGH GEAR/DECEMBER 1977
The Castro-Market area is a phenomenon of the last few years virtually without parallel. Some twenty or more establishments are to be found within a block or so of Castro and 18th. Most are cruise bars, like the Midnight Sun, Elephant Walk, Castro Station, Men's Room, Badlands, Pendulum, Toad Hall, and Bear Hallow. After the bars close this corner becomes the busiest "Meat Rack" west of Christopher Street. The Jaguar Book Store at 4077 18th just off Castro is noted for its wild back room. Alfie's, 2 1/2 blocks east of Castro is currently the hottest all male disco, and has the hum-
RIP-OFF
By STEVE JOBE Each year thousands of gay people are ripped off by mail order companies promising to send products that never come.
Hundreds of new mail order companies are started each month in the United States. Many are started on less than $100.00 and a few classified ads or mailings. Many of these fail within the first year of operation causing many customers to feel cheated. Dealers only need a Post Office box to conduct their businesses. The box number has been for many a way to maintain anonymity. For most, however, it is a necessity as the Post Office prefers large volumes of mail be picked up rather than delivering it. The state of California requires mail order dealers to disclose the legal name and street address along with advertisements using P.O. boxes.
The Federal Trade Commission has set laws and regulations for mail order dealers to follow. Mail order dealers must fill orders within 30 days or notify the purchaser why not unless the buyer is so notified in the original advertisement.
Agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, The U.S. Postal Service, The Food and Drug Administration, The U.S. Patent Office and The Library of Congress are constantly policing, investigating, and overseeing this commerce as a part of their broad responsibilities. Since there are many mail order "houses", it is
SO
piest numbers anywhere! It is located at 2140 Market St. One half block East is Church Street Station, a 24 hour coffee shop where everyone congregates after 2:00 A.M. Another fine restaurant nearby is The Mint at 1942 Market St.
Downtown San Francisco is. not what it used to be, but does have three good restaurants, Gordon's at 118 Jones St., Sutter's Mill at 315 Bush St. and No. 25 Trinity Place. The latter two are especially popular days. Adonis was the first all gay book store in America, and is located at 384 Ellis St. They also offer private screenings of movies. Other popular bookstores are Turk Street News at 66 Turk St. and Frenchy's at Turk and Taylor Sts.
A new area coming up again is the Haight Ashbury, home of the flower children of the late sixties. Bones is a good neighborhood type disco at 1840 Haight, and a hot looking new spot called the I-Beam, will probably end up with a 'unisex' crowd. A mile or so from here is
almost impossible to monitor them all.
Many times the mail order dealer is not the one who is deceitful. Unfortunately, the U.S. Postal Service still has never solved the problem completely of lost or stolen mail and probably never will. One local mail order dealer in Akron has had seven orders out of 600 in the past eight months lost in the mail. The number is small, but it could be your order!Also, many orders contain no address to send the goods to and many addresses are incorrect due to the negligence of the purchaser., More suprisingly, however, many customers never even write back when they do not receive thier goods. When you decide to buy through the mail remember a few simple rules to follow:
1. Keep your original advertisement or brochure.
2. Be sure to include the name of what you ordered, your payment, your name and address.
3. Never send cash; send check or money orders.
4. If 30 days pass and you have heard nothing write the company and include your original order.
5. If 15 more days pass and you still haven't received your goods or haven't heard from the company, take your form of payment receipt and your original brochure with a copy of your order to the U.S. Post Office and file a complaint. The U.S. Post Office is fair regarding the seller and the purchaser, so
12200 EUCLID AVE. 421-9359 GENESIS 1:29 delicious vegetarian cooking"
CLOSED
MON. TUES.THURS. 11:00a.m.-10:00p.m. .-11:00p.m.
FRI. SAT.
SUN.
11:00a.m.. 4:00 pm-10:00p.m.
don't be afraid.!
the Lion Pub at Sacramento and Divisadero, and up and down sort of place with a good ad campaign.
The Ladies' bars are greatly scattered and include Peg's Place at 4737 Geary, A Little More, Mother G's, Scott's Pit, and Maud's Study.
Gay Hotels include the Liberty Inn, Mark Twain and Grand Central.
Never perhaps was a refrain more true than the lyrics "I left my heart in San Francisco." For you lucky ones, this can be an oft repeated theme! San Franciscans are more than willing to give as much as they can take.
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See America. Find a friend.
WITH BOB DAMRON'S ADDRESS BOOK '78
BARS BATHS DISCO'S HOTELS BEACHES RESTAURANTS USA-PUERTO RICO-VIRGIN ISLANDS GUAM CANADA
$5
PLUS $1 POSTAGE & HAMBLIG
IN CANADA $6 from
RLS, Inc., 100 Granby St., Toronto M5B 1J1 (416)366:6792
Also available wholesale
BOB DAMRON ENTERPRISES PO BOX 14-077-SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA 94114 (415) 626-4692
"Don we now our gay apparel, fa... lala... la., lala.. la.. la."
UNUSUAL CARDS FOR YOUR FRIENDS JEWELRY PLANTS STATIONERY HUNDREDS OF ASSORTED INTERESTING ITEMS AND GIFTS
Park Centre. 241-3212
PASSALAQUA FOODS 11316 EUCLID AVENUE
IN UNIVERSITY CIRCLE 721-9106
OPEN MON SAT 9:00 A.M. MIDNITE SUNDAY 11:00 A.M. 8:00 P.M.
A FULL SERVICE STORE FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE FRESH MEATS PRODUCE BEER
WINE