Quake Revives Memories of 1906

The terrible tragedy of the recent San Francisco earthquake recalled a group of history buffs who formed San Francisco 1906, an association of collectors who collect earthquake memorabilia.

The name of the group, of course, recounts the 1906 San Francisco temblor, which, at 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, killed about 1,200 people, destroyed about 28,000 buildings and devastated almost 500 city blocks.

The founder of the group was San Franciscan Ron Ross, also founder and chairman of the San Francisco History Collectors Assn.

In terms of collectibles stemming from the 1906 earthquake, Ross himself had acquired photos, newspapers, magazines, personal letters, melted (from the fire that followed the earthquake) mason jars, ash-covered coins and even some dishes that survived the quake.

The dishes, incidentally, were acquired from a 90-year-old woman who had survived the temblor.

Among other rare items in Ross’ collection are a pre-earthquake 1906 canvas map of San Francisco showing city blocks and buildings, passes signed by the governor to allow residents to return to their ravaged neighborhoods and a post-earthquake panorama photo of the city, more than six feet long and displaying San Francisco in smoldering ruins.

Among the newspapers in Ross’ collection is a rare edition of the morning San Francisco Chronicle, printed the evening of April 17 and dated April 18, 1906, for morning distribution.

The April 18 edition, which contained a review of Enrico Caruso’s performance at the San Francisco Opera House, never reached newsstands because of the quake.

San Francisco’s most recent earthquake undoubtedly will generate memorabilia for future collectors and historians.

San Francisco 1906 has a mailing address of 118-A Liberty St., San Francisco, Calif. 94110.

Regarding the number of inquiries we get weekly on where to get information on everything from collectible advertising and political memorabilia to toys and tokens, author Tony Hyman of Claremont has a book that should be of interest to most collectors.

Titled, “I’ll Buy That!” (306 pages, indexed, Treasure Hunt Publications, P.O. Box 699, Claremont, Calif. 91711, $24.25, including tax), the publication is a directory of more than 500 people (including addresses and telephone numbers) who are buyers in dozens of collectible categories.

Many of the buyers in the directory also provide other services such as appraisals, newsletters and price guides.

Hyman’s tips on finding a buyer, setting a price and other collectible hints add to the value of this coffeetable-size paperback.

Mailbag

About our column on thimble collectibles, Laura Faris of Alhambra writes that in recently mentioning a national club of thimble collectors we missed one right here in the Southland--the Southern California Thimble Collectors.

The club, she says, started in 1979 and meets every two months.

Starting in January, the club meets at the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, 520 E. Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale.

For further information, Faris’ telephone is (818) 284-5060.