Hippies try smoking bananas
Here is a look at the past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle’s archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.
1992
March 5: The celebration of a major historic event is usually well supported, fun and non-controversial. But San Francisco is learning that the festivities commemorating the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage in 1492 is fraught with problems caused by a lack of federal and state support. The problem, said San Francisco public relations consultant Don Solem, is that “philosophically we’re in an age of anti-heroism, when big ideas get buried all the time, unless they involve baseball players, Michael Jackson or Madonna. We’ve come to the point where Columbus is viewed as a conqueror instead of an explorer.”
This is exactly the way he is viewed by Native Americans who “are very happy” that the celebration is in disarray, said Bobby Castillo of the International Indian Treaty Council. American Indians and Mexicans believe that Columbus’ landing started 500 years of genocide. “We’re not anti-Italian,” Castillo said. “But when we see people honoring Christopher Columbus, it’s the same as what Jewish people see when they see people honoring Hitler.”
1967
March 6: Bananas, the newest psychedelic adventure in Bay Area hippiedom, were being viewed with more amusement than enthusiasm in the Haight-Ashbury district yesterday. Several hippies conceded they had tried taking trips by smoking the dried scrapings of banana skins, but found the experience fairly mild. “And it’s a lot of trouble, scraping those bananas,” said one, “and then you have to dry it in the sun. It takes about four bananas to make one joint (cigarette).” The banana recipe offered in last week’s issue of the Berkeley Barb, the East bay hippies’ journal, suggested oven drying (at 200) degrees but several Haight Street habitues said they preferred the natural drying process. “You never know what the gas does to the banana,” a girl said. It is said that the banana trips were inspired by the recent hit song, “Mellow Yellow,” introduced to the world by folkrock singer Donovan. But at least a few Haight Street hippies were frankly dubious. “I think the whole thing is propaganda put out by the United Fruit Co. to sell bananas,” said one bearded youth.
1942
March 6: The hotly debated and inflammable case of the Negro motorman, Audley Cole, 21, of 2141 Bush Street, broke into the open yesterday as Nelson A. Eckart, acting manager of utilities, called for a showdown with Municipal Railway carmen. In a dramatic move to remove the stigma of race prejudice from the city’s civil service system, Eckhart ordered grumbling motormen to train Cole in the operation of a streetcar or face dismissal. Eckart’s order came simultaneously with the disclosure that several months ago, Utilities Manager Cahill ordered a two-day suspension penalty imposed on motormen refusing to train Cole. Under authority of their union local, Division 518, AFL Carmen’s Union, 10 motormen, defied Cahill’s order and were suspended for two days each. The men were reimbursed for their loss of wages by the union. The order, which came yesterday from Eckart, instructed William Scott, manager of the railway to suspend for four days any motorman who refuses to instruct Cole in the operation of a streetcar. The motorman who refuses a second time will be suspended for eight days. Threats to strike rather than to train the young Negro have been reported in the ranks of the union, which several months ago, voted to fine any member instructing Cole $100.
1917
March 6: Financed by the Bow Leongs in Portland, Bing Kong gunmen yesterday afternoon broke their peace pact of Sunday night and started in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Stockton and Seattle, tong wars in which seven Chinese have already been killed. While San Francisco’s Chinatown awaited a peace meeting of its six most powerful tongs, Bing Kongs shot and killed three Chinese, wounded a Filipino bystander, drove scores of Chinese into hiding and opened what police think will be the most bitter conflict of the tongs in recent years. The Chinatown Squad, heavily reinforced, patrolled in search of gunmen.
The war involves six tongs, with the Bing Kongs, Hip Sings, Suey One and Sin Suey Yings pitted against the Hop Sings and Suey Sings. The On Yicks, the seventh fighting tong in San Francisco, are expected to align themselves with the Bing Kongs and their allies. Back of the whole tong war, according to information secured by the Chinese Peace Society, is the advance of $50,000 to the Bing Kongs by the Bow Leongs, the leading Portland tong. The three shootings in San Francisco occurred almost simultaneously at Grant Avenue and Washington Street, on Pacific near Grant and on Stockton Street between Washington and Jackson Street, forty minutes before the scheduled peace meeting. It is reported that 200 gunmen from Seattle, Portland, Oakland and Los Angeles have been lured to San Francisco by the Bing Kong’s offer of $300 for the heads of several local enemies of the tong.