After Sunnyside was laid out and lots went on sale in San Francisco in 1891, there were a lot of unusual newspaper advertisements pushing property sales in the new district during that first year. (More wacky Sunnyside ads in the second post in this series here.)
The initial splash took place on Sunday 26 April 1891, with half-page ads in at least three San Francisco newspapers: the Chronicle, the Call, and the Examiner.
This was followed by a campaign that included long narrow columns like these, and classified ad pages peppered throughout with references to Sunnyside, many of them inane.
Some of the ads border on lunacy, and the text suggests that no one was completely certain that the name of the new neighborhood was one word, ‘Sunnyside’–or two, ‘Sunny Side.’
“Ye Fluids of Electricity! Go it! and waft ye the cars to Sunnyside; to Sunnyside, the beautiful; to Sunnyside, the liveliest tract in San Francisco; to Sunnyside in–IN–San Francisco, for Sunnyside is in the city, not way out in the country-boom district, but legitimate city property.”
(More wacky Sunnyside ads in the second post in this series here.)
For the alternate approach of the real estate firm marketing lots in Sunnyside in later years, check out this post: 1909: ‘Beautiful Sunnyside in the Center of San Francisco’
Resources:
- San Francisco Chronicle archives available through the SF Public Library Articles and Databases – page down to San Francisco Chronicle (sign in with library card):
- San Francisco Call archives available through California Digital Newspaper Collection
- San Francisco Examiner archives available through Newspapers.com (Paid subscription; free trial available.)
