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Re: End of the line for Franciscan Hobbies in San Francisco
Author: Tony Johnson
Date: 01-05-2014 - 00:30
Frisco Kid Wrote:
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> This is very sad news indeed for many reasons. I
> remember Franciscan very well, my dad was a
> regular customer for many, many years. If I recall
> correctly my dad was a customer when Bill Gunther
> had his first shop as a concession in the Emporium
> (The Big E) on Market st.
I also remember when the Emporium had quite a nice hobby store on the fourth floor. Around 1958 I began my interest in HO and the staff there was quite helpful. Around 1960 one of the clerks (Steve Dorian) was especially helpful and guided me in the hobby.
>
> I vividly remember the Ocean Avenue store, across
> the street from its present location. On Friday
> nights the store was open until 9pm and would be
> literally packed several deep all the way down the
> long counter. The place was amazing, stacked to
> the ceiling (and this store had a very high
> ceiling) with a tremendous amount of inventory,
> any item of which upon request could be located
> instantly and brought down for inspection and
> purchase. Model railroading, plastic models, RC
> planes, and model boats, and much more drew a
> large a loyal following. Bill Gunther Sr. was a
> great guy and I will always remember him wearing a
> green corduroy sport coat and tie, with that
> amazing tie-clip that was a combination
> train-plan-boat-submarine, anyone else remember
> that?
>
I also remember the floor to ceiling inventory at the old location. Occasionally I'd find some "hidden treasure" buried somewhere and my wallet soon became lighter. I also remember Bill always wearing the green corduroy sport coat and tie, but I don't remember the tie clip you described.
Two other places I would visit was John's Trains on Noriega Street, near 46th Avenue. It was the closest hobby store to where I lived. The other was M.B. "Bart" Austin's "Trains, Trains, Nothing But Trains" in San Mateo.
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is very sad news indeed for many reasons. I
> remember Franciscan very well, my dad was a
> regular customer for many, many years. If I recall
> correctly my dad was a customer when Bill Gunther
> had his first shop as a concession in the Emporium
> (The Big E) on Market st.
I also remember when the Emporium had quite a nice hobby store on the fourth floor. Around 1958 I began my interest in HO and the staff there was quite helpful. Around 1960 one of the clerks (Steve Dorian) was especially helpful and guided me in the hobby.
>
> I vividly remember the Ocean Avenue store, across
> the street from its present location. On Friday
> nights the store was open until 9pm and would be
> literally packed several deep all the way down the
> long counter. The place was amazing, stacked to
> the ceiling (and this store had a very high
> ceiling) with a tremendous amount of inventory,
> any item of which upon request could be located
> instantly and brought down for inspection and
> purchase. Model railroading, plastic models, RC
> planes, and model boats, and much more drew a
> large a loyal following. Bill Gunther Sr. was a
> great guy and I will always remember him wearing a
> green corduroy sport coat and tie, with that
> amazing tie-clip that was a combination
> train-plan-boat-submarine, anyone else remember
> that?
>
I also remember the floor to ceiling inventory at the old location. Occasionally I'd find some "hidden treasure" buried somewhere and my wallet soon became lighter. I also remember Bill always wearing the green corduroy sport coat and tie, but I don't remember the tie clip you described.
Two other places I would visit was John's Trains on Noriega Street, near 46th Avenue. It was the closest hobby store to where I lived. The other was M.B. "Bart" Austin's "Trains, Trains, Nothing But Trains" in San Mateo.
