Valentine's Day Time Warp

Today's Throwback Thursday photo from the Archive takes us to Valentine's Day, 1946 and catches a busy street scene at the intersection of Sutter and Stockton.

Outdoor Shot of Traffic Congestion Looking East on Sutter St. From West Side of Stockton St. | February 14, 1946 5:21 PM | D5053

Like today, the 1946 rush hour on Stockton and Sutter bustles with cars, pedestrians and public transit with Market Street providing an always-interesting backdrop.

This '46 scene is, however quite different from the Sutter and Stockton of 2015. Sailors in their uniforms wait with ladies in skirts and hats underneath a traffic signal at lower right. Old Market Street Railway Company streetcars wade through a long string of autos while running on the #2 and #3 lines. And a plethora of small shops and restaurants fill the bottom floors of every building. The corner shop seen at frame right has a sampling of cutesy Valentine's Day stuffed animals in the window and banners advertising candies, no doubt enticing passers-by to grab a few last minute gifts for their sweethearts.

All these years later, the buildings (with the exception of the Galen Building at 391 Sutter, frame right), businesses, vehicles and certainly fashions are totally different, but hopefully this year's Valentine's Day will bring the same atmosphere of love and hurried excitement as people take to the town to celebrate their love for each other and this beautiful city.

And you can be sure that catching transit at this spot won't be a problem. Today there are twice as many Muni routes at this intersection as there were in 1946.

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