There’s nothing like the holidays in Union Square. Christmas tea at the St. Francis, the giant five-story tree at Neiman Marcus, ice skating in the heart of San Francisco and crowded sidewalks galore.
We recently dug in our archives here at KQED and discovered footage of Christmastime at Union Square from the late ’60s and early ’70s. Longtime locals will recognize bygone stores like FAO Schwarz (“Welcome to Our World of Toys”) and City of Paris, and vintage toy enthusiasts will notice the train sets and robots. The fashions are decidedly of the era, too—if you look closely, you’ll even see a longhaired, bellbottomed hippie among the tweed coats and three-piece suits.
Union Square is still a shopping mecca at Christmas—enjoy this brief glance at how it used to look.
