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California Flower Market Records
MS 4142
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
Title: California Flower Market records
Creator:
California Flower Market, LLC
Identifier/Call Number: MS 4142
Identifier/Call Number:
Archival Resource Key
Physical Description:
10 Linear Feet
5 record cartons, 2 manuscript boxes, 7 oversized flat boxes,
and 2 photograph album boxes.
Date (inclusive): 1890s-2014
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.
Language of Material: Materials primarily in English,
with some in Japanese.
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.
CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates:
https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/north-baker-research-library/
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The California Flower Market records were donated to the California Historical Society by
the California Flower Market, Inc. on December 18, 2019.
[Identification of item, date]; California Flower Market Records, MS 4152; [box number,
folder number]; California Historical Society.
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.
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
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.
Existence and Location of Copies
Photographs and selected documents have been digitized and are available online through the
California Historical Society Digital Library.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans -- California
Japanese American families
Japanese American farmers -- California
Cut flower industry -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area --
History
Flowers -- California
Floriculture
California Flower Market, LLC