From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:
Today Aunt Tillie took me shopping in Chinatown. I am not afraid of it anymore because the Chinese men don’t wear pigtails like they used to or those funny little hats with a sort of cherry on top. But just the same, I am always glad when we get to the top of the hill on Grant Avenue and I can see the flags waving from the top of the White House department store.
Here are some photos from OpenSFHistory of Chinatown as it looked in 1910:
Photos: OpenSFHistory / wnp15.599, OpenSFHistory / wnp15.1154, OpenSFHistory / wnp14.1154
Photos: OpenSFHistory / wnp15.704, OpenSFHistory / wnp37.00149, OpenSFHistory / wnp26.481, OpenSFHistory / wnp59.00111
Below is a photograph of opening day of the White House in 1907, flags waving:
I recall going with my mother when I was a child to the White House department store before it closed in 1965 — at that point it had moved from its original location at Post and Grant to Sutter and Grant:
