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San Francisco circa 1921. "Dorris 6-80 touring sedan at Spreckels Mansion." Latest entry in the Shorpy Compendium of Cretaceous Conveyances; by 1924 the Dorris would be extinct. 5x7 glass negative by Christopher Helin. View full size.
The car was registered to Mrs. Mattie A. Frank (1877 - 1962) of 2555 Webster Street, San Francisco. Her husband was Albert Frank the president of S. H. Frank and Company who was being driven around in a Locomobile Town Car at this time.
S. H. Frank and Company sold shoe supplies along with shoe findings, and they were also tanners and leather dealers. The firm is still in business today (founded 1857).
Just curious....We have seen many pictures of new cars from various manufacturers in the 20's and 30's shot in San Francisco. We tend to think of car production back then happening in the east, especially Detroit. Did these early car manufacturers ship cars to San Francisco for promotion shoots or did California have a thriving car industry we never heard about?
[Christopher Helin wrote a continuing series of automobile feature articles for the San Francisco Examiner, illustrating them with these photos of dealer and owner vehicles. -tterrace]
The doors on the hood are vents, as noted by Shorpy reader Zcarstvnz in an earlier Dorris post. The little compartment below and in front of the driver's door housed an air compressor for supplying air to the tires.
Can anyone say what those two small panels on top of the hood are for?
One does not get the full understanding of this being at the top of a hill until seeing:
https://sf.curbed.com/2014/11/25/10018636/behind-the-hedges-and-inside-t...
And the historic view will never be seen again until the fortress-like privacy hedgerow is removed.
https://sf.curbed.com/2014/7/31/10065838/here-now-a-photo-tribute-to-dan...
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