“THE BIG E – YOU CAN ALWAYS FIND IT AT THE EMPORIUM”
Christmas was always a big deal in my family. On Christmas Eve my father Chris, like many San Francisco Catholics, would take my brother Tony and me to the Wharf to buy fresh crab and Boudin’s french bread[1]. I’ve never been able to eat crab after watching them dropped live into those boiling barrels and then whacked into pieces. And as far as I can tell, the Gasparich clan was the only one in the City where Santa arrived on Christmas Eve and rang the doorbell as he was leaving.
Union Square during the holidays was nothing short of dazzling. There was the City of Paris’[2] live Christmas tree that had to be delivered every year through the glass dome on its roof, and the opulent window displays at I. Magnin and Gumps[3]. The San Francisco Ballet offered its seasonal “Nutcracker”, where kids got dressed to the nines and were rewarded with dessert at Blum’s or high tea at a swanky hotel. My first memory of high tea took place at the St. Francis Hotel[4]. I was so small that the waiter put a pile of phonebooks in the booth so I could reach the table.
And then there was the Emporium Santa Parade. The parade existed from 1927-1982. Santa arrived over the years on various modes of transportation: a sleigh, a motorcycle, a stage coach. In 1952 he outdid himself by coming down Powell in a chimney that had been precariously fastened to the roof of a cable car. Santa took different routes but always ended up at the front of the Emporium’s flagship store at the corner of Market and 5th, where carnival rides, including a Ferris Wheel, awaited the public on the roof. In 1982 Santa was replaced with TV personalities.
In 1898, ABC Dohrmann reorganized a store first founded by Adolph Feist two years earlier and renamed it Emporium. It remained in business for 100 years. Anthony Barrett, who was blind, sold lavender packets from a stall outside the store for 45 years. In 1927, the Emporium merged with Oakland-based H.C. Capwell, though each store retained their respective identities. After World War II, Emporiums expanded into Bay Area suburbs. In 1980, new ownership merged Emporium and Capwell’s to become Emporium-Capwell until 1990 when the name reverted back to Emporium. In 1995, the Emporium chain and its parent company were acquired by Federated Department Stores and its flagship store on Market reopened as a Bloomingdale’s adjoining the new Westfield Mall.
Today, the Emporium and I. Magnin may be gone, but Union Square is no less festive during the holiday season. There are garlands on every lamp post, pets up for adoption in the Macy’s windows, a ginormous Christmas tree with an ice rink in the square itself, and of course high tea at a number of local hotels. My daughter Katie and I continue the tradition of visiting Union Square during the holidays. It remains my favorite time of year to live in the City.
[1] Boudin’s: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3813
[2] I Magnin and Gumps: see story coming December 15th
[3] City of Paris: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4358
[4] St Francis Hotel: see story coming March 16th
