Faces in the Crowd

In the Bancroft Library Pictorial Unit, work continues on 115 panoramic Cirkut camera negatives being conserved and scanned as part of our NEH-funded work on the Edward A. Rogers Panama-Pacific International Exposition Photograph Collection.

Panoramic photo of crowd inside Fillmore Street Gate and the Panama Pacific Exposition, Nov. 2, 1915.
Fillmore Street Gate, San Francisco Day, Nov. 2, 1915. Scanned from a nitrate film negative, approximately 8 x 45 inches. (Edward A. Rogers Panama-Pacific International Exposition photograph collection, BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG, The Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley.)

 

The digital images produced give the chance to peer into these panoramic scenes and pick out small details – and often our gaze is returned by characters in the crowd, caught some 102 years ago.

Bald man in crowd tipping his hat.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG. A tip of the hat.

 

The panorama (pictured above) at the Fillmore Street Gate on San Francisco Day, November 2, 1915, is among the best crowd shots, and all the images in this posting are details from it. At center the throng recedes eastward into the distance, down the thoroughfare of popular amusements known as The Zone. At left the crowds fill the Avenue of Progress which leads toward the bay, past the Machinery Palace. At right are the entrance gates, with the ridge of the Pacific Heights neighborhood beyond.

Detail of crowd under the San Francisco Day banner at the entrance to The Zone.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

 

 

In the crowd there are so many marvelous faces (not to mention terrific hats!) that it is hard to select favorites.

Asian family in crowd.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

For a “world’s fair” there’s not a lot of diversity in this crowd. But this stylin’ family are holding their own.

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Grinning man with a box camera.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

This fellow’s bound to have a good time, and he’s ready to make memories with his handy portable box camera at the ready.

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Young boy in crowd selling balloons.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

This kid seems to have just made a balloon sale, but it’s serious work.

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Stern older woman in had with light veil.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

When mixing with hoi polloi, veils and a no-nonsense attitude are necessities for some. Even at a fair.

ESPECIALLY at a fair.

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Smiling woman in a large hat with long feather decorations on it.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

This lady is smiling even though she’s enjoying neither an ice cream nor a cigar. Perhaps she knows her hat is at the cutting edge.

It will be over 40 years before Sputnik challenges her design-forward look.

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Three odd looking men in crowd.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

Three distinct kinds of trouble.
Make that four.

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Women in hats in crowd.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

With all the fine hats, how can we choose a winner? – But wait! – Never mind.

The wee chap on the right steals the show!

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Woman in large hat with children, and a small girl with purse behind her.
Detail of BANC PIC 2015.013:01134P—NNEG

And this favorite auntie’s outstanding chapeau falls victim to another well-accessorized scene-stealer.

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Work on the Rogers Panama-Pacific International Exposition collection will continue through June of 2018, at which time digital images from over 2,000 negatives will be put online. In the meantime, we will share favorites, along with project updates, on this Bancroft Pictorial Unit blog. Check back again!

James Eason, Archivist for Pictorial Collections, Bancroft Library