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Silicon Valley Historical Association

Silicon Valley Vintage Ads, Articles, Maps and More

Vintage advertisements, articles, maps and ephemera with links to Silicon Valley's past.
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  • San Jose, California Map from 1911

    San Jose, California Map from 1911

  • 1902 Statement of a registered Chinese Laborer to the Collector of Customs Port of San Francisco, California

    1902 Statement of a registered Chinese Laborer to the Collector of Customs Port of San Francisco, California

  • Advertisement in a 1929 Palo Alto newspaper: Silver Black FOXES for Sale

    Advertisement in a 1929 Palo Alto newspaper: Silver Black FOXES for Sale

    Silver black Foxes. The only Foxes in Santa Clara County that are registered in American National Fox Breeders Association, and the only Foxes in Santa Clara County of the original Dalton-Tuplin strain from Prince Edward Island, Canada. All stock pedigreed, pure-bred and registered. Public invited to visit the ranch. Still few pairs for sale from $1250 to $1500 a pair. For information write Chris A. Neddersen, Deputy County Tax Collector, Hall of Justice, San Jose: or call at Ranch, northwest corner of Homestead Road and Mt. View, Cupertino, Saratoga highway.

  • 1870s Practical sun motor

    1870s Practical sun motor

  • 1939 Palo Alto Times Newspaper: New Stanford Radio Invention Heralds Revolutionary Changes

    1939 Palo Alto Times Newspaper: New Stanford Radio Invention Heralds Revolutionary Changes

    This image of the 1939 Palo Alto Times Newspaper front page shows both a warning from Hitler and a story about the Varian Brothers : "New Stanford Radio Invention Heralds Revolutionary Changes."

  • Everywhere-ness - a strong feature of Bank of Italy 1929 Advertisement

    Everywhere-ness - a strong feature of Bank of Italy 1929 Advertisement

    Like a mailbox, there's always a Bank of Italy conveniently near. Everywhere-ness - a strong feature of Bank of Italy 1929 Advertisement. The Bank of Italy merged with the Bank of America, Los Angeles, in early 1929, and on November 2, 1930, the merged banks became officially known as the Bank of America.

  • 1890 Victorian charcoal drawing of an infant in San Jose, California

    1890 Victorian charcoal drawing of an infant in San Jose, California

  • California Truck Rental Company in Oakland - 1948 Advertisement

    California Truck Rental Company in Oakland - 1948 Advertisement

    This advertisement came from the 1948 Oakland phone directory. Rent A New Truck. Drive it Yourself. "Everything furnished except the driver." Low rates by hour - day - week or year. Quick service. Best insurance. Hundreds of trucks. Any make or size ready at once. California Truck Rental Company, 2801 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, California. Phone: TEmplebar 2-4546. Member: National Truck Leasing System - NTLS.

  • Oakland Telephone Directory from April 1952

    Oakland Telephone Directory from April 1952

    This Oakland Telephone Directory from April 1952 covers the following cities: Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro and Parts of El Cerrito and San Lorenzo.

  • Twin City Little League They're the Champs newspaper article from 1961

    Twin City Little League They're the Champs newspaper article from 1961

  • Cub Scout Wolf card for Sunnyvale California resident Gordon Gardner in 1957

    Cub Scout Wolf card for Sunnyvale California resident Gordon Gardner in 1957

  • 1929 Bank of Italy Advertisement from the Palo Alto Times Newspaper

    1929 Bank of Italy Advertisement from the Palo Alto Times Newspaper

    The Bank of Italy merged with the Bank of America, Los Angeles, in early 1929, and on November 2, 1930, the merged banks became officially known as the Bank of America.

  • Palo Alto Acres Map from the 1919-20 City Directory

    Palo Alto Acres Map from the 1919-20 City Directory

    Palo Alto Acres: You're earning big wages now. What will you have tomorrow? Buy Now On Monthly Plan: Only $50.00 per acre cash required; interest 6 per cent. Live on your little farm, hold your city business. Transportation: S.P. Main Line, Electric Line, Street Car, Paved Roads Easy Commuting Distance from San Francisco Plenty of Water at Easy Depth Garden Soil, Low Prices, Easy Terms Poultry, Rabbits, Berries, Vegetables, Fruits - A Life Income

  • 1929 Peralta Pigeon Farm Advertisement

    1929 Peralta Pigeon Farm Advertisement

    Peralta Pigeon Farm ad from 1929. SQUABS. Dressed Squabs ready for the oven at all times. Home Made Jams and Jellies. Fresh eggs. Fresh Poultry: Chickens - fryers, roasters, fricassees, turkens, ducks, turkeys. Fresh Cultivated mushrooms. Free delivery in Palo Alto and Vicinity. On the highway, Menlo Park, M.A. Denton.

  • The Arlington Hotel in Santa Barbara, California postcard - circa 1918

    The Arlington Hotel in Santa Barbara, California postcard - circa 1918

    This 1918 postcard shows The Arlington Hotel in Santa Barbara, California. The original hotel was destroyed in a 1909 fire. This postcard shows the new hotel that was rebuilt in 1911.

  • American National Detective System 1948 Advertisement

    American National Detective System 1948 Advertisement

    This advertisement came from the 1948 Oakland phone directory. American National Detective System. A Matchless 24-hr. Service. J.M. Lotta, Principal. Licensed and bonded. 19 years of success. Winning 95% of our cases is your guarantee. Formerly with U.S. Government. Expert shadowing, speedy & accurate results in domestic matters that stand in court. Personal histories and employees checked. Records & People traced throughout America. Guards and escorts furnished on all occasions. We are interested in child welfare that their home environment is what it should be. Hidden assets located. Recommended by clientele from coast to coast for honesty, efficiency, dependability and secrecy. In domestic cases we are pleased to help as a property rights and child custody. We have also restored many broken homes. Agent will gladly call if you wish. 522 Hobart (in San Francisco) next to Y.M.C.A. The best in recording conversations, handwriting detection and flash photos.

  • 1965 San Francisco themed circular puzzle box by Springbok

    1965 San Francisco themed circular puzzle box by Springbok

  • Winchester Mystery House estate tour ticket from 1984

    Winchester Mystery House estate tour ticket from 1984

    Photo of a Winchester Mystery House estate tour ticket from 1984. The Winchester Mystery House is located at: 525 S Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California.

  • Roberts Butchers and Grocers in San Francisco 1943 Advertisement

    Roberts Butchers and Grocers in San Francisco 1943 Advertisement

    Located in San Francisco at 2849 California Street, Roberts Market was established in 1889 as a meat, fish and poultry store where almost everything was delivered by horse and buggy. The business is still open today, but has moved to the Woodside and Portola Valley area. The image in this photo came from a 1943 advertisement.

  • Pere Brie Bridel USA Turlock, California cheese box

    Pere Brie Bridel USA Turlock, California cheese box

    Bridel USA was a cheese distributor that was located in Turlock, California in the 1980s. The company was located at 1400 West Main, Turlock, CA 95380.

  • Belmont Theatre THE FILM LEAGUE membership card c. 1949

    Belmont Theatre THE FILM LEAGUE membership card c. 1949

    Membership card for THE FILM LEAGUE - A Club for the Study of Cinema membership card advertising dates of 2nd and 3rd meetings on June 18th and June 25th - c. 1949.

  • Fairmont Hotel San Francisco 1909 Advertisement

    Fairmont Hotel San Francisco 1909 Advertisement

    The Crowning Achievement of the City, in Itself One Vast Achievement. This is a 1909 advertisement for the hotel. The hotel was managed by the Palace Hotel Company during that time.

  • Stella K. Johnson - Largest Corset & Girdle Store in the World Oakland, California

    Stella K. Johnson - Largest Corset & Girdle Store in the World Oakland, California

    This advertisement is from the 1948 Oakland telephone directory. The ad boasts that the Stella K. Johnson store is the largest corset and girdle store in the world (back in 1948).

  • California Mutual Building & Loan: Now is the best time to build! advertisement from 1929

    California Mutual Building & Loan: Now is the best time to build! advertisement from 1929

    This advertisement is from a 1929 Palo Alto Times newspaper. The ad reads that: Now is the best time to build! Note that the company states that their resources are over $10,000,000.00.

  • Wm. R. Staats Co. First Bond House to Originate in California 1925 Advertisement

    Wm. R. Staats Co. First Bond House to Originate in California 1925 Advertisement

    Vintage advertisement showing the Wm. R. Staats Co. established in 1887 and located in the Alexander Building at the corner of Montgomery Street and Bush Street in San Francisco, California. This was the first bond house to originate in California.

  • Barndollar Letter Service 1948 Advertisement

    Barndollar Letter Service 1948 Advertisement

    This advertisement came from the 1948 Oakland phone directory. Barndollar Letter Service. Mimeographing, multigraphing, multilithing. Complete mailing service. Established in Oakland since 1911. 324 - 13th Street, Room 302, Oakland, California. Glencourt I-3808.

  • Title page from an Aldine Press book c. 1531

    Title page from an Aldine Press book c. 1531

    This image is a title page from an Aldine Press book, circa 1531. Aldus Manutius was a Roman printer who arrived in Venice at the end of the 15th Century. The Aldine Press printing office was started by Aldus and became famous in the history of typography. The press was the first to issue small (easy to carry), affordable books. There is a connection between the European Renaissance and the technological discoveries in Silicon Valley. Both technological eras produced great information revolutions. Five hundred years ago in renaissance Europe, it was the invention of the printing press and the evolution of small, affordable books that created an information revolution. In Silicon Valley, it has been the invention of the personal computer and the evolution of the Internet that has created a new information revolution.

  • The Friars Matchbook Palo Alto, California

    The Friars Matchbook Palo Alto, California

    The Friars was a restaurant/club that was open in the 1960s in Palo Alto, California. Located at 4101 El Camino Way, the restaurant advertised luncheons, dinner, cocktails and live entertainment.

  • 1961 Twin Cities Little League Roster and Schedule KTIM AM Radio San Rafael, California

    1961 Twin Cities Little League Roster and Schedule KTIM AM Radio San Rafael, California

  • 1925 Shell Company of California advertisement - Everywhere in the West

    1925 Shell Company of California advertisement - Everywhere in the West

  • Get a Farm Home in Semitropical California 1913 Advertisement

    Get a Farm Home in Semitropical California 1913 Advertisement

    Advertisement in a 1913 newspaper advertising semitropical California property in San Francisco, California.

  • Design plans for the U.S. Post Office in San Jose, California in 1875

    Design plans for the U.S. Post Office in San Jose, California in 1875

  • Benepe Feed Barn: A choice home for horses 1907 Palo Alto Advertisement

    Benepe Feed Barn: A choice home for horses 1907 Palo Alto Advertisement

    This is an advertisement from a 1907 Palo Alto City Guide that reads: BENEPE FEED BARN. A Choice Home for Horses. I have one of the most thoroughly modern and best equipped Boarding and Feed Stables in this part of California and will be pleased to talk with Horse Owners. Corner of Hamilton Avenue & Emerson Street (Palo Alto, California). Dr. H. L. Benepe

  • Santa Clara County California Post Office Postmaster Appointments in the early 1900s

    Santa Clara County California Post Office Postmaster Appointments in the early 1900s

  • Bank of Italy cash bag  - on exhibit at the San Mateo Museum

    Bank of Italy cash bag - on exhibit at the San Mateo Museum

    This is a photo of a Bank of Italy cash bag that was on exhibit at the San Mateo Museum. The Bank of Italy was founded in 1904 in San Francisco, California, and eventually became named Bank of America.

  • Buy Your Home in the Beautiful Santa Clara Valley Orchard Park Tract 1929 Advertisment

    Buy Your Home in the Beautiful Santa Clara Valley Orchard Park Tract 1929 Advertisment

    This is a 1929 newspaper advertisement taken from microfilm. Buy Your Home in the Beautiful Santa Clara Valley Orchard Park Tract now opened. City conveniences, fruit trees, new, modern schools (elementary and high) within two blocks. Price depends on location - special prices will be made for a short time to those who plan to build at once. Sensible restrictions. Richard Hook, Jr. Realtor. Tract office: Bush Street at S.F. Highway. Mountain View - Telephone M.V. 345.

  • Title page from an Aldine Press book c. 1531

    Title page from an Aldine Press book c. 1531

    This image is a title page from an Aldine Press book, circa 1531. Aldus Manutius was a Roman printer who arrived in Venice at the end of the 15th Century. The Aldine Press printing office was started by Aldus and became famous in the history of typography. The press was the first to issue small (easy to carry), affordable books. There is a connection between the European Renaissance and the technological discoveries in Silicon Valley. Both technological eras produced great information revolutions. Five hundred years ago in renaissance Europe, it was the invention of the printing press and the evolution of small, affordable books that created an information revolution. In Silicon Valley, it has been the invention of the personal computer and the evolution of the Internet that has created a new information revolution.

  • Ming's Restaurant matchbox from the 1980s

    Ming's Restaurant matchbox from the 1980s

    Ming's was an iconic Chinese restaurant that was located at 1700 Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto, California. The restaurant was open for 58 years and closed for business in 2014.

  • 1961 Twin Cities Little League Roster and Schedule KTIM AM Radio San Rafael, California

    1961 Twin Cities Little League Roster and Schedule KTIM AM Radio San Rafael, California

  • Boom at Half Moon Bay 1908 Advertisement

    Boom at Half Moon Bay 1908 Advertisement

    Boom at Half Moon Bay. Prices to be advanced again April 1st, 1908. Now is the time to buy at City of Naples. The City of Naples is now known as Miramar City of Naples near Half Moon Bay, California.

  • 1878 Ink Stamp: Golden Rule Book Store

    1878 Ink Stamp: Golden Rule Book Store

    In 1878, The Golden Rule Book Store was owned by E. J. Gillespie and was located at 158 South First Street, San Jose, California. This ink stamp was in the book "The New Bryant & Stratton Counting House Book-Keeping (1878).

  • Gold mining mural in San Francisco, California, near Embarcadero at Spear Street near Mission

    Gold mining mural in San Francisco, California, near Embarcadero at Spear Street near Mission

    Located near the Embarcadero at 101 Spear Street near Mission, the Rincon Annex Post Office was the last great WPA project. The original theme was to be a cycle of twenty-four murals showing San Francisco's history. Anton Refreigier, a Russian immigrant from Woodstock, New York, won the competition. He came to San Francisco and quickly familiarized himself with the history of the city. The Second World War broke out during the course of the project, and production was stopped on the mural, only to be completed after the war. The initial concept was to end the cycle with 1939 World's Fair on Treasure Island, but given recent events, Refreiger decided to extend the series to twenty-nine panels. He ended the project with the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge, the war, and finally with the creation of the United Nations in San Francisco.

  • Palo Alto Garage Durant Six 1929 Advertisement

    Palo Alto Garage Durant Six 1929 Advertisement

    This advertisement is from a 1929 Palo Alto newspaper.

  • Palo Alto Shorthand School for Private Secretaries 1929 Advertisement

    Palo Alto Shorthand School for Private Secretaries 1929 Advertisement

    Secretarial Training Prepares you for Success. Palo Alto Shorthand School for Private Secretaries. Located at 310 University Avenue (Suite 216, 218, 220), Palo Alto, California.

  • California Nursery Company Niles California Advertisement c. 1915

    California Nursery Company Niles California Advertisement c. 1915

    Vintage 1915 California Nursery Company - Niles, California advertisement. Fruits and ornamental shrubs, plants, vines and roses are the gifts of nature that become a living part of your home. Of pleasure to you as well as to the passerby. We are specialists in the propagating of this plant life and have over 800 acres devoted to growing the most complete assortment of everything in Fruit and Ornamental Trees. Write for our catalog, it is free. Geo. C. Roeding, President.

  • Oakland's Chapel of the Chimes 1948 Advertisement

    Oakland's Chapel of the Chimes 1948 Advertisement

    This advertisement is from the 1948 Oakland phone directory. Chapel of the Chimes. Cremation - niches - urns. Largest and most beautiful on the continent. Under perpetual care. Pipe organ lovers are invited to listen to our great organ on Station KRE - Dial 140. Weekdays: 8 a.m., 1 and 10 p.m. Sundays: 4 and 10 p.m. Visitors Welcome 9 to 5 o'clock every day. A booklet containing helpful and instructive information FREE to visitors, or by mail upon request. Beautiful - reverent - lowest cost. 4499 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland 11, California. Direction: Lawrence F. Moore. Piedmont 5-0123.

  • Oakland, California Yellow Pages phone directory from May 1963

    Oakland, California Yellow Pages phone directory from May 1963

  • 1961 Twin Cities Little League Roster and Schedule KTIM AM Radio San Rafael, California

    1961 Twin Cities Little League Roster and Schedule KTIM AM Radio San Rafael, California

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    Wm. R. Staats Co. First Bond House to Originate in California 1925 Advertisement
    Bank of Italy cash bag  - on exhibit at the San Mateo Museum