Gold Dust Lounge, San Francisco

Another one of the Gold Dust’s notable celebrity patrons was the San Francisco Chronicle’s most well-known columnist Herb Caen (April 3, 1916 – February 1, 1997).

Herb had many favorite bar stools around San Francisco but his favorite was at the Gold Dust Lounge. Where was Herb’s favorite seat in the house?

“We all sat in the back in front of the band,” recounts Ann Caen. Herb and his wife Ann would close the Gold Dust on many nights palling around with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. “At the end near the drums where you can get a perspective of the whole house,” is how former Mayor Brown described their prized seats in a February 14^th interview with Cat Hill:

Former Mayor Willie Brown: “I went to the Gold Dust over a long period of time, historically speaking.  I palled around with Herb Caen, the famous Pulitzer prize winning columnist and for our City, he wrote for the Chronicle and the Examiner over periods of time.

Much of what we would do at night would include a visit to the Gold Dust Lounge because Herb played drums and the one place in town where musicians would permit him to join the band every time he walked in was the Gold Dust Lounge.  So, my memories go back to that.

And we would turn the Gold Dust Lounge into a dance facility without a dance permit, literally, with him playing drums and all the other things that were going on there around what I call the piano bar, was always a good evening.

The musicians that were there were such talented musicians that they really needed no rehearsal, they would just start playing whatever was working that night.  Or, invariably, there would be musicians from other parts of the City performing other places and they would make their last stop for the evening the Gold Dust Lounge.  So, you regularly had jam sessions at the Gold Dust Lounge…spontaneous explosions by people with the horns and the guitars.

It was a well-placed venue for that kind of action and one that the locals DEARLY loved.  And the people who visit San Francisco would come to look at us and see we were in the zoo and they were zoo observers.  That’s how good it really was.

My time at the Gold Dust Lounge was when I actually wandered into the political world back in the early Sixties until Herb died in ‘97.  These were regular visits, not infrequent visits, over a period of 40 years.  They were always the last stop on our menu of whatever we were doing on that evening…

We never did start at the Gold Dust Lounge…I think the Gold Dust Lounge appreciated us more at the end of the evening then they would have at the beginning.

I loved the ambiance of the Gold Dust Lounge.  The openness.  I loved the spirit.  There was never a downer.  I don’t think there was one downbeat song.  It was always upbeat, it was always good, always enthusiastic and never with any evidence of sadness.  That’s what I loved about that place.  It always made you feel good, no matter what your problem was, you go in the Gold Dust Lounge, your troubles were gone…

Prized seats

The music is raised behind what would be another bar.  Then there are the seats.  Those are the prized seats in front of the band, particularly at the end near the drums where you can get a perspective of the whole house.  Those were our seats.  Whoever was there usually had to get up if we came in.  We got real special treatment…”

In Herb Caen’s own words:

“I’m the last of the nightcap guys. I don’t mean I wear an old fashioned nightcap over my Dr. Denton’s with the patented drop seat and built-in booties. I mean that when a party ends and all the fogies are heading for their cars, I’m the one who says “Anybody for a nightcap?” It’s a generational thing. By me, it’s never too late for one for the road.

Only the gallant and gorgeous Ann was game so we headed for the last of the authentic nightcapperies, the Gold Dust on Powell…” Man Playing Typewriter, Herb Caen, San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday March 26, 1996

The Gold Dust has been a beloved hangout to countless patrons over the years, some of them notable celebrities like Janis Joplin. Below is an excerpt of an interview Cat Hill did with Jim & Gracia Bovis (owners of the Gold Dust since ’66) on the history of the Lounge. Jim & Gracia shared their Janis Joplin story:

Jim: “All kinds of celebrities used to come in to the Gold Dust”

Gracia: “Janis Joplin came to the Gold Dust.  Elizabeth Arden turned her down.  She wanted to go in and have a facial.  She looked pretty wild, she had rings on her fingers and her hair was out here.  She looked like a hippie.  They refused to wait on her.  Then she went into the St. Francis hotel and they refused to wait on her too.  They actually just asked her to leave.  So she wandered into the Gold Dust”

Jim: The bartender at the St. Francis said she had to see a manager to have a drink and she said “why do I have to see a manager to have a drink?”  By the time she got to me I was behind a bar with a half a dozen people standing there.  So, she walked in, I just waved at her “no, don’t come in.”  And she wouldn’t leave.  In fact, I said “I’m not going to serve you.”  She said, “man, please let me have a drink.”

Gracia: “Meanwhile a customer wrote down “THAT IS JANIS JOPLIN” and showed Jim”

Jim: “I said, “Janis Joplin doesn’t mean anything to me. I didn’t want her to stay.  Finally, when she wouldn’t leave I said, “what do you want?”  “A double screw driver,” she said.  And I said, “do have any money?”  I see a lot of hippies, they walk in, say “gimme a drink” then they walk right out.

But she had her hippie purse full of money. She sat down. She got up to play the juke box. A guy by the name of Mike Maloney wrote down on a napkin, “Jim, she’s a famous rock star.”  When she came back from playing the jukebox I said, “hey are you an entertainer, something like that, a musician?”  She said “Yes, I am.”  She said, “you have my records in your jukebox.”

And after that when she was in town she would come in and say hello, have a drink.  She was a very lovely lady.

She used to shake the dice to see who was going to play the music.  At the time, all the bars, they had dice to determine who would pay for the drinks and so on.”

The Gold Dust Lounge- 1966

Even though “Bustles & Beaus” was a burlesque bar where two waitresses slid simultaneously down a fire pole every half hour or so, as stated a 1960 Examiner article, they couldn’t compete with Carol Doda taking her top of in North Beach at the Condor Club in 1964.

As long time Gold Dust bartender Chuck remembers, men thought to themselves, “clothes, no clothes, clothes, -no clothes.” So, business died at “Bustles & Beaus,” which made way for the birth of the Gold Dust Lounge. Current owner Jim Bovis was working up the street at the Yankee Doodle and he bought the lease. The rest is history.

In the words of Historic Preservationist Christopher Verplanck:

“Bustles & Beaus was a burlesque bar, replete with scantily clad cocktail waitresses dressed in Victorian-inspired outfits embellished with – you guessed it – bustles and bows. On the half-hour, waitresses would go up to the mezzanine level above the bar and slide down a fire pole near the front of the bar, where there was also a stage for them to perform. At one time the line to get in the bar went around the block, but when Carol Doda went topless in 1964 at the Condor Lounge, business began to drop off.

Gold Dust Lounge owner Jim Bovis was working at the Yankee Doodle at 447 Powell Street when Bustles & Beaus closed in 1965. He acquired the lease on the space, made a few changes, and opened it as the Gold Dust Lounge in 1966.

Jim’s brother Tasios became a partner in 1970.

Jim Bovis remodeled the exterior of the bar in 1966 to open up what had been a dark, windowless interior.

In addition to building a window and seating area, he removed the fire pole and stage at the front of the bar, shortened the bar by several feet, and built a bandstand at the rear of the bar. He also painted the red flocked wallpaper gold. Otherwise, he left the interior alone, leaving the red carpeting and upholstery, as well as the ceiling murals, bathroom doors, and light fixtures.

Jim’s wife, Gracia, painted several oil paintings of the cocktail waitresses of the Gold Dust Lounge. These still hang from the walls of the bar.

In 1974, after the marquee was hit by a truck one too many times, Jim and Tasios Bovis had it shortened from 14’-2” to 81” and installed the backlit plastic signs…

When it opened in 1967, the Gold Dust Lounge was exclusively a cocktail lounge, serving no beer or wine. Says Jim Bovis:

“When I first started out my special was a 76 cent Irish coffee. Cocktails were 60 cents. All the drinks were 60 cents. Martinis and Manhattans were before dinner drinks. Drinks were also small at the time. Glasses were small. It was straight alcohol served on the rocks, over ice. At the time, one person could come in and have 5 or 6 drinks but they were an ounce or less. Now they’re an ounce and a half. There was no beer or no wine. We’ve only served draft beer over the last 20 years.”

After the Techau Tavern had its day at 247 Powell, the space was leased to a business man named Milton Kreis.

He remodeled the interior into a Gay Nineties/ Barbary Coast themed cocktail lounge. No, the term “Gay Nineties” has nothing to do with a Gay bar in the nineties. It’s an American nostalgic term that refers to the decade 1890s.

Much of the décor in the Gold Dust today is from the “Bustles & Beaus” era. Crooner Bing Crosby is rumored to have partnered with Milton Kreis on this business venture. To quote Cat Hill’s protest song “Save the Gold Dust Lounge,” Bing Crosby in the fifties, did my ceiling and my lights.

If you take a look at the door to the woman’s washroom in the Gold Dust, you’ll see anotherremnant of these days gone by.

Historic Preservationist Christopher Verplanck explains further:

“In 1960, the former Techau Tavern space was leased to Milton F. Kreis, a Southern California-based businessman who in 1955 had opened a combination drug store and restaurant at 301 Geary Street, where The Golden Pheasant had been located.

In the winter of 1960, he began remodeling the space at 247 Powell street into a Gay Nineties/Barbary Coast-themed cocktail lounge called “Bustles & Beaus.” The interior remodel, by Design Group Inc. of Beverly Hills, cost $10,000 and was completed by a contractor named Elvin Stendell. The redesign kept the existing ceiling and bar in place, but the space was shortened by at least 25’.

The Art Deco back bar and light cove above the bar were removed, as well as the mural on the north side of the old Techau Tavern. The interior designers substituted faux and real Victorian elements in place of the Art Deco ornament, including brass electroliers, flocked wall paper, and salvaged Victorian furnishings and decorative art, including a large gilded mirror, marble sinks for the toilet rooms, and a Victorian-style back bar which may also have been salvaged.

It is important to keep in mind that much of the Western Addition was in the process of being demolished by the Redevelopment Agency at this time, and Victorian spolia was abundantly available.

In addition to this, a massive ceiling mural was created. In interviews with Gold Dust Lounge owners Jim and Tasios Bovis, Milton Kreis’ silent business partner in Bustles & Beaus was none other than singer and actor Bing Crosby. According to the story, Bing Crosby commissioned a set painter at MGM Studios in Los Angeles to paint the murals of nude women on the ceiling of the bar.

Bustles & Beaus was a burlesque bar, replete with scantily clad cocktail waitresses dressed in Victorian-inspired outfits embellished with – you guessed it – bustles and bows. On the half-hour, waitresses would go up to the mezzanine level above the bar and slide down a fire pole near the front of the bar, where there was also a stage for them to perform. At one time the line to get in the bar went around the block, but when Carol Doda went topless in 1964 at the Condor Lounge, business began to drop off…”

The Gold Dust was the Powell Street entrance to the Techau Tavern in 1918- 1922. That Techau got busted for prohibition violation. After the Techau closed, 247 Powell was a florist shop. When Prohibition ended in 1933, 247 Powell was a bar again. In 1947, 247 Powell was renamed the Techau Tavern. The bar and ceiling of the Gold Dust remain from this Techau time period (see postcards below).

Again, we refer to historic preservationist Christopher Verplanck:

“After Techau Tavern closed, the bar at 247 Powell Street was converted into a florists’ shop, called the Art Floral Company. Building permits from 1923 indicate that the front of the store was remodeled to house the new business. Also known as the Pelicano-Rossi Floral Company, the business occupied the storefront at 247 Powell Street until after the end of Prohibition in 1933. It is not known whether a speakeasy operated at this location, although it is possible given the connections to other hidden locations in the building, including the basement of the Elkan Gunst Building or the mezzanine level above the former bar. Newspaper articles do not indicate that Art Floral Company was ever raided, so it is likely that it was a legitimate flower shop. Not long after Prohibition ended, the Art Floral Company moved out of 247 Powell Street.

Between 1936 and 1938 the storefront was leased to a man named William Nard, who ran a bar at this location. Nard’s brother Walter was the bartender. Meanwhile, what had been the restaurant portion of Techau Tavern at 333 Geary Street became one of the famous Compton’s Cafeteria chain. In 1939, 247 Powell Street was again briefly called the Techau Tavern, but in 1940, city directories indicate that it was owned by a bartender named George Kammerer. It is not known whether he ran his bar as the Techau Tavern or not. It is likely that there may have been licensing issues over the name. Kammerer continued to lease and run the bar at 247 Powell Street until the end of World War II. The existing Art Deco bar, entrance doors, and ceiling were likely installed during this time.

The year 1947 witnessed the rebirth of the fabled Techau Tavern at 247 Powell Street. Leased by Mr. F. Joseph Williams, owner of The Golden Pheasant at 301 Geary (now Weinstein Gallery), the bar at 247 Powell was renamed the Techau Tavern. A postcard published around 1948 shows The Golden Pheasant and the neon-lit marquee of the Techau Tavern.

Another postcard published around the same time shows the interior. From this image one can tell that the bar was then somewhat longer and that the bar itself and the ceiling of the Gold Dust Lounge remain from this period.

From 1947 until The Golden Pheasant closed ca. 1955, the Techau Tavern was physically linked to The Golden Pheasant by a door on the north wall of the bar near what is presently the bandstand. The Golden Pheasant was a bakery café that catered to families, and the Techau Tavern was probably a way to appeal to a male clientele. The Techau Tavern had a large metal canopy/marquee that carried a neon sign. The sign extended above the entire Powell Street sidewalk, as shown on a ca. 1950 menu from the bar. According to building permits on file at the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection, parts of the original marquee structure remain enclosed within the existing marquee.

After The Golden Pheasant closed Techau Tavern was leased to Mr. Lou Kavros of Daly City.Kavros ran it as the Techau Tavern for another four years before losing the lease in 1959…”

The Gold Dust Lounge was the Techau Tavern in 1918. What happened to the Techau?

It was raided by Federal Agents for Prohibition Violation in 1921.

In the words of Historic Preservationist Christopher Verplanck:

“From the time that it opened in the former St. Francis Theater, along with its bar at 247 Powell, the Techau Tavern was a roaring success. There was only one problem – the increasingly powerful Temperance Movement. Although never strong in hard-drinking San Francisco, the Temperance Movement had gained traction across the nation, particularly in the Deep South and in parts of the Midwest.

The passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, and the subsequent passage of the Eighteenth Amendment by two-thirds of the states, ushered in the prohibition of the manufacture, distribution, or sale of intoxicating beverages in the United States. Known simply as “Prohibition,” the act was never very popular in the heavily Catholic cities of the Northeast, the Midwest, and San Francisco.

At first many local law enforcement officers turned a blind eye toward restaurants and other establishments that continued to openly serve alcohol. This policy eventually backfired, as Federal authorities, angered over the open disobedience of the law, began raiding business establishments in the big cities where alcohol (mostly smuggled in from Canada, the Caribbean, or Mexico) continued to be sold.

Techau Tavern, despite its family friendly advertising was first and foremost a bar. Suspecting that it was still selling spirits, Federal agents raided 247 Powell Street on several occasions, beginning in July and August 1921. During the course of these raids it was discovered that Techau Tavern was serving alcohol to its customers. On October 31, 1921, A.C. Morrisson, manager of Techau Tavern, was convicted in a US District Court of having violated Prohibition, based on a raid that occurred on July 30, 1921, when officers found alcohol being served in the bar.

The raids appear to have been effective, because after 1921 Techau Tavern disappeared from the San Francisco city directories…”

If the gold painted walls of the Gold Dust Lounge could talk, what stories would they have to tell? They might start with how the Gold Dust used to be a part of a famous San Francisco tavern called the Techau. This high class tavern moved around the streets of downtown & 247 Powell was one of it’s locations (1918-1922). The Gold Dust was the front entrance to the Techau Tavern. At the time, the Dust connected to Lefty O’Douls (333 Geary) which was an old theater.

Christopher Verplanck, our volunteer historic preservationist, extensively researched this history for the Gold Dust landmark nomination. The following is an excerpt from the nomination to further explain this piece of San Francisco history:

“The Gold Dust Lounge occupies a commercial space that has been a bar for at least 94 years, beginning with the famous Techau Tavern (1918-1922 and 1947-1959)…

Techau Tavern, the earliest bar to occupy the storefront at 247 Powell Street, has roots that go back to 1870, when a German immigrant entrepreneur named R.J. Techau opened the San Francisco Oyster House at the California Market, which was located where the Bank of America Building is now. In 1885, he moved the business to 7th and Market streets and renamed it the Good Fellows Grotto. This restaurant and bar became a popular hangout for local San Francisco politicians – in particular Abraham “Boss” Ruef,” and other members of the Union Labor Party.

To be even closer to City Hall, Techau moved Good Fellows Grotto to the corner of Market Street and City Hall Avenue in 1890.

In 1899, R. J. Techau decided to move his business again, this time to Union Square. At this time he built a new four-story brick building for his newly renamed Techau Tavern and Hotel, which was located on the west side of Mason Street, between Ellis and Eddy streets (109-117 Mason Street). This business burned in September 1900, but Techau rebuilt Techau Tavern in this location.

After its move to Union Square, Techau Tavern became one of the most prominent restaurants and taverns for prominent San Franciscans during the tail end of the Gay Nineties. Early advertisements called it a “restaurant and family resort,” where people could listen to live musical entertainment.

Techau Tavern and Hotel were destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. By this time, R.J. Techau had already retired, and the new owners (members of the Younger family) decided to rebuild on a prominent corner “gore” lot bounded by Market Street to the south and east, Powell Street to the east, and Eddy Street to the north (today’s Hallidie Plaza). This iteration of the Techau Tavern was by all accounts quite exuberant, but perhaps too exuberant, because on April 26, 1909, the Younger family’s creditor, Albert Meyer, foreclosed on their mortgage, forcing them to sell.

The new owners, Carleton Wall and A.C. Morrisson, remodeled the interior of Techau Tavern in the “Spanish Renaissance style,” at the cost of $150,000. Advertisements from the era refer to Techau Tavern as a “high class family café” with elegant brochures to match.

Unfortunately the owners of Techau Tavern did not own the building, and in 1918 the Bank of America announced its intention to purchase the property occupied by the Techau Tavern, with the intention of demolishing it for a new bank building.

In need of a new home, Messrs. Carleton and Morrisson decided to lease the defunct St. Francis Theater at 333 Geary Street (now Lefty O’Doul’s). They then spent $50,000 to demolish the upper balcony in the theater, construct a basement, and build a connector to attach the former theater with a storefront in the Elkan Gunst Building next door. This storefront was located at 247 Powell Street (now the Gold Dust Lounge) in the 1908 Elkan Gunst Building. The owners of the Techau Tavern desired an entrance and a bar on Powell Street so that the former St. Francis Theater building at 333 Geary could be converted into a restaurant. This is the earliest known time that a bar operated at 247 Powell Street…”

There is so much history in the Gold Dust Lounge. Remnants of eras gone by. In the Spirit of our Love for the Gold Dust, we’ve been researching it’s history to put together the story of how it came to be. The more we discover about the parts that make up the whole, the more we realize why it’s a treasure to behold.

The following is an except of an interview from Cat Hill with Jim & Gracia Bovis on the history of the Gold Dust Lounge. Ever wonder about the lady in red in the portrait on your left when you walk through the Gold Dust’s swinging saloon doors? Gracia painted it! She also painted the image with the banjo and the self portrait that decorates the side wall of the Dust. Gracia would be modest & say oh, they were painted years ago, but we think they’re pretty cool.

Interview with Jim & Gracia Bovis, owners of the Gold Dust Lounge for 47 years:

“I opened the Gold Dust late’65,” said Jim.

“I remember Jim took me into the Gold Dust telling me he was going to buy this place as we’re sitting there with four customers in this bar.  He just felt that because it was on Powell street with tremendous traffic, he could build it up again, which he did.

Jim had beautiful cocktail waitresses so I decided that I was going to put them in costumes.  I made dresses with ostridge feathers around the hemline.  They wore high heels, red satin shoes, a plume in their hair.  They were really just spectacular.

I painted a portrait of one of the waitresses.  As you walk in the Gold Dust, the painting is on your left hand side.

The costumes probably lasted a year because it was rather costly.  The girls would sit down, the feathers would crack.

I don’t remember what they wore after they gave up the red dresses but that’s how Jim started, with these beautiful waitresses in red costumes,” recounted Gracia.

Hello Dusters, sorry for the lag time in between updates.

1. LANDMARK NOMINATION: On April 20th, our volunteer historian, Christopher Verplanck, submitted a letter to the Planning Department as a formal notice that Save the Gold Dust Lounge intends to go forward appealing the Historic Preservation Commission’s April 4th decision to deny the Gold Dust Landmark status.

Proposition J allows us to appeal the decision of the Historic Preservation Commission to the Board of Supervisors.

We will let you know as soon as we have a hearing date but the wheels are in motion.

2. PENDING LAWSUIT: Our lawyers are busy deposing everyone connected to the Bovis brother’s unlawful eviction by Jon Handlery. There are a lot of people working very hard to Save The Gold Dust Lounge from being replaced by the escalator of an unwanted Express Box Store. We are working hard to ensure Jim & Tasios Bovis have their day in court.

“Saturday night, Cat Hill came by and joined with Johnny Z and the Camaros to sing and lead the crowd in her song “Save The Gold Dust Lounge”, and she added “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger to keep the crowd enthused,” said Rich, drummer and bandleader of Johnny Z & the Camaros.

Stop by the Gold Dust Saturday nights to sign the petition and join in on the sing-along of the “Save the Gold Dust Lounge” song!

“Call Willie Brown, tell him I’m a part of this town, to Save the Gold Dust Lounge! Save the Gold Dust Lounge!”