SF History Talk - Mad Ave Meets Golden Gate Park: Ads, Souvenirs, and More

Part of our culture is based on the premise that someone’s worth allows them to earn money and, in turn, allows them to spend it on something they deem worthy. It’s the job of those advertising agencies, known by the moniker of Madison Avenue, to entice you to part with some cash in favor of their client’s product. With the fame of Golden Gate Park’s existence, since 1870, has come the use of the park to sell many kinds of things. For some it was the park’s co-location relative to residential real estate lots where the park was the “hook.” Also, there have been many forms of product promotion from grass seed to canned fruits to name a few. Souvenirs have also been another product to hawk. And none of these ever provided the park one red cent of income!

Presented by Christopher Pollock, the first Historian in Residence for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department since 2016. His latest publication is San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park: A Thousand and Seventeen Acres of Stories (Norfolk Press, 2020) and in process is San Francisco’s Parks (Arcadia, 2023). His various articles can be found in Eden, journal of California Garden and Landscape History Society, California History, published by University of California Press, and Outside Lands, journal of the Western Neighborhoods Project.

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