Here along the rim of San Francisco Bay you pass the sparkling pier
buildings (now and then of Spanish mission architecture) of the Toyo
Kisen Kaisha Oriental S. S. Co., of the American Hawaiian S. S. Co., the
Kosmos Line, and the Pacific-Alaska Navigation Co., among others. While
on New York's West Street you see the structures of the White Star Line,
the Cunard Line, the Red Star Line, erected in masonry of a sort of
mammoth and glorified garage architecture, funnels and masts peeping
over the top; and further down the frame sheds of the Morgan Line, the
Clyde Steam Ship Company, Savannah Line, Lackawanna Rail Road, Hoboken
Ferry, and so on. But the tastes of the sailor man as a shopper appear
to be very much the same whether he is along the London docks, on West
Street, by Boston piers or here on the Embarcadero. In this the West
and the East do meet.
The æsthetic taste of the water front inclines, very decidedly, to the
ornate. As (presumably) a present to a lady and a decoration for the
home the favorite object seems to be a heavy china plate. A romantic
landscape, or a moonlight scene, or perhaps a still life study of portly
roses is "hand painted" in very thick pigment on its face. Its rim is
plaited in effect, like the edge of a fancy pie, and through numerous
openings in this rim is run a heavy ribbon by which to hang it on the
wall.
Next in prominence in the window displays of water-front bazaars is the
set of bleary-colored glass ware (upper edges bound in gold) which I
take to be designed for the purpose of serving punch, or perhaps
lemonade--a large bowl of warty surface, with a number of cups to match
hanging from hooks at its brim.
The water front obviously is strong for the amenities, the arts and the
refinements of life. Bottles of perfume (with huge bows of ribbon at
their necks) are in great abundance in its shop windows; as also are
packets of boudoir soap (Dawn Lilac seems to be the favorite), toilet
powders, silk initial handkerchiefs, opera glasses, ladies' garters of
very fluffy design, feminine combs ornamented with birds in gilt,
exceedingly high stand-up collars for gentlemen, banjos, guitars,
mandolins, accordions (of a great variety of sizes), harmonicas, playing
cards, dice and poker chips.
As for the rest of the display, it is a multifarious collection: rubber
hip-boots, hair clippers, money belts, brogans, bandana handkerchiefs,
binoculars, tobacco pouches, spools of thread, pitch-black plug tobacco,
hand searchlights, heavy underwear, woolen sox, razor strops, tin
watches, shaving brushes, elaborately carved pipes, trays of heavy
rings, and here and there some quaint curiosity, such as a little model
of a sailing ship in a bottle which it could not have entered through
the mouth, or some such oddity as that.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account