California Flower Market records, 1890s-2014

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Summary

Creators:
California Flower Market, LLC
Abstract:
The records of the California Flower Market, Inc. include photographs, photograph albums, manuscript materials, books, articles, ephemera, and audiovisual materials from the late 1800s to 2014, with the bulk covering the period 1910 to 1990. Together they tell the story of the California Flower Market, Inc. from its beginnings in 1912 when 54 Japanese American flower growers joined together as shareholders to create the organization.
Extent:
10 Linear Feet 5 record cartons, 2 manuscript boxes, 7 oversized flat boxes, and 2 photograph album boxes.
Language:
Materials primarily in English, with some in Japanese.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, date]; California Flower Market Records, MS 4152; [box number, folder number]; California Historical Society.

Background

Scope and content:

The records of the California Flower Market, Inc. include photographs, photograph albums, manuscript materials, books, articles, ephemera, and audiovisual materials from the late 1890s to 2014, with the bulk covering the period 1910 to 1990.

The California Flower Market, Inc. was founded in 1912 by Japanese American flower growers in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1923, Italian American flower growers established the San Francisco Flower Growers Association, and in 1924, the two groups opened a 22,000 square foot covered flower market at 5th Street and Howard Street in San Francisco. Soon after, the Peninsula Flower Growers Association, established by Chinese American flower growers, moved into the building. Although all three associations are represented in the collection, the bulk of material covers the California Flower Market, Inc.

Manuscripts and ephemera document the purchase and move to various buildings occupied by the California Flower Market, as well as the San Francisco Flower Growers Association and the Peninsula Flower Growers Association. These spaces include a wholesale market at 5th and Howard streets in San Francisco, established in 1924, and buildings at 6th and Brannan streets where the San Francisco Flower Market, as it is now officially known, currently exists. The photographs consist of gelatin silver prints, negatives, slides, albums and duplicate images of photographs used in the publication of the book Living with flowers: The California Flower Market history. Many of the photographs are of growers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California, including Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro, San Mateo, Petaluma, Redwood City, Sunnyvale, and San Jose, and show multiple generations of flower growers along with their families and crops. Other photographs are of the Flower Market and span its time at different locations. Audiovisual materials include two 16mm prints and several VHS copies of a documentary on the San Francisco Flower Mart produced in 1977, and an assortment of advertisements, promotional materials, and conference proceedings from flower industry gatherings.

Biographical / historical:

The flower industry in San Francisco and the extended Bay Area dates back to the late 1800s when flower sellers would gather at an outdoor flower market at the corner of Kearney Street and Market Street in San Francisco. Conveniently located, it enabled growers to transport their produce to the market using the Southern Pacific and Key System ferry lines and trains. From its inception, the flower market served growers primarily represented by three ethnic communities: Chinese Americans, Italian Americans, and Japanese Americans.

The California Flower Market, Inc. was founded in 1912 by Japanese American flower growers in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1923, Italian American flower growers established the San Francisco Flower Growers Association, and in 1924, the two groups opened a 22,000 square foot covered flower market at 5th Street and Howard Street in San Francisco. Soon after, the Peninsula Flower Growers Association, established by Chinese American flower growers, moved into the building. Although all three associations are represented in the collection, the bulk of material covers the California Flower Market, Inc.

During World War II, the United States Army ordered the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans living on the west coast of the United States. Many Japanese American flower growers and florists lost their land and businesses, while some were able to lease their properties to non-Japanese American growers. The California Flower Market, Inc. board president Sam Sakai continued managing the business of the Flower Market by mail while he and his family were incarcerated, first at the Stockton Assembly Center and later at Rowher incarceration camp in Arkansas. Sam Sakai returned to the Bay Area in 1945 where he re-established the California Flower Market, Inc. board of directors and successfully negotiated the return of leases in the Flower Market.

In 1956, all three flower grower associations moved from 5th and Howard to a new location at 6th Street and Brannan Street in San Francisco, under the name San Francisco Flower Terminal. The building covered 135,000 square feet and could accommodate 100 growers. In the 1990s, the joint market committee, consisting of the California Flower Market, Inc. and the San Francisco Flower Growers Association, re-branded under the name San Francisco Flower Mart. Today, the market is known as the San Francisco Flower Market, and is one of only five wholesale flower markets existing in the United States.

Acquisition information:
The California Flower Market records were donated to the California Historical Society by the California Flower Market, Inc. on December 18, 2019.
Custodial history:

The California Flower Market records were donated to the California Historical Society by the California Flower Market, Inc. board of directors in December of 2019. The collection comprises materials created by Flower Market administrators, shareholders, or customers. Prior to donation, the material was stored at the California Flower Market offices at 6th and Brannan streets in San Francisco.

Processing information:

Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Original caption information and labels from photograph envelopes, when available, was transcribed onto protected sleeves. Where captions were illegible, the archivist's interpretation is enclosed in square brackets. The language of the original captions, which includes editorializing comments was retained. Archivists also used captions and identifying information from Living with flowers: The California Flower Market history by Gary Kawaguchi in their descriptions and notes. The collection was arranged into series based on the original order of the records as maintained by California Flower Market, Inc. staff.

Arrangement:

The records are arranged in six series: (1) organizational and administrative records; (2) financial records; (3) meeting minutes; (4) publications, printed material, ephemera, and clippings; (5) photographs; and (6) audiovisual materials. Photographs in series 5 have been further arranged in subseries. The series and subseries arrangement of the records is as follows:

Series 1: Organizational and administrative records, 1910-1983 Series 2: Financial records, 1933-1998 Series 3: Meeting minutes, 1948-2010 Series 4: Publications, printed material, ephemera, and clippings, 1950-2012 Series 5: Photographs, 1890s-2000s

Subseries 1: Photograph albums, 1920-1940 Subseries 2: Early photographs, 1890s-1930s Subseries 3: Duplicate and miscellaneous photographs from Family Album of California Flower Market, Inc., 1939-1940 Subseries 4: Flower Market photographs, 1940s-2000s Subseries 5: Photographs used in "Living With Flowers", 1890s-1993 Subseries 6: Florists' photographs, 1950s-1980s Series 6: Audiovisual materials, 1977-2000s

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

California Historical Society collections have been transferred to Stanford University Libraries. Collections will be unavailable as Stanford accessions them and updates records. Please contact chscollection@stanford.edu with any inquiries.

Terms of access:

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the California Flower Market, Inc. were transferred to the California Historical Society (CHS) in December 2019 by the California Flower Market, Inc. Reproduction or publication of materials in this collection beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of CHS. Please contact rights@calhist.org.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, date]; California Flower Market Records, MS 4152; [box number, folder number]; California Historical Society.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
chscollection@stanford.edu
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