“San Francisco has no single landmark by which the world may identify it,” according to San Francisco in the 1930s, originally published in 1940. This would surely come as a surprise to the millions who know and love the Golden Gate Bridge or recognize the Transamerica Building’s pyramid. This invaluable Depression-era guide to San Francisco relates the city’s history from the vantage point of the 1930s, describing its culture and highlighting the important tourist attractions of the time. David Kipen’s lively introduction revisits the city’s literary heritage―from Bret Harte to Kenneth Rexroth, Jade Snow Wong, and Allen Ginsberg―as well as its most famous landmarks and historic buildings. This rich and evocative volume, resonant with portraits of neighborhoods and districts, allows us a unique opportunity to travel back in time and savor the City by the Bay as it used to be.

San Francisco in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City by the Bay (WPA Guides)

Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration

Reference

University of California Press

San Diego in the 1930s offers a lively account of the city’s culture, roadside attractions, and history―from the days of the Spanish missions to the pre-Second World War boom. The guide is revealing both in the opinions it embodies and in the juicy details it records―tidbits such as the bloodiest and most incompetently fought battle of the Mexican-American War, Emma Goldman’s abruptly terminated speech to local Wobblies in 1912, and even a delightfully anachronistic way to beat a San Diego speeding ticket. Brimming with tours that can prove challenging to retrace, this book reminds us of the changes wrought by seven decades of intervening war, peace, and biotechnology. Unlatching a remarkable trapdoor into the past, this compact and charming document of the Depression era invites repeated browsing and is generously illustrated with striking black-and-white photographs that bring the period to life.

San Diego in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to America's Finest City

History

Americas

Alive with the exuberance, contradictions, and variety of the Golden State, this Depression-era guide to California is more than 700 pages of information that is, as David Kipen writes in his spirited introduction, “anecdotal, opinionated, and altogether habit-forming.” Describing the history, culture, and roadside attractions of the 1930s, the WPA Guide to California features some of the very best anonymous literature of its era, with writing by luminaries such as San Francisco poet Kenneth Rexroth, composer-writer- hobo Harry Partch, and authors Tillie Olsen and Kenneth Patchen.

California in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the Golden State

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Books by Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

San Francisco in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City by the Bay (WPA Guides)

San Diego in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to America's Finest City

California in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the Golden State