By Amy O’Hair
All things Fazekas can be found linked on this page, including information on restoration.
Most houses in the city have numbers on their fronts; there are a small part of the house’s exterior decor and often escape notice. On my recent socially distanced neighborhood walks I’ve been looking at them. Many houses in Sunnyside, as well as neighborhoods all over the city, have numbers encased in little frames like these.
There turns out to be an interesting history behind these numbers that begins with an artist named Anton Fazekas (1878-1966).
The Sculptor and the Designs
Fazekas was the designer and manufacturer of these ornamental house numbers, each with a little bulb to light up the digits. He patented three models in the early 1930s. They were solidly fabricated of die-cast iron, and held space for four or five numerals depending on the model, with large, plain, readable numerals made of enameled metal. Later he added italic numerals. The digits slotted into the back and were secured with a little bar that screwed down. The hood protecting the bulb could be removed, allowing the bulb to be easily changed.
In the Factory Salesroom
This undated photo shows Anton Fazekas with a display wall of his diverse offerings behind him, and in his hand the actual patents for the numerous items he invented. The identity of the man on the left is unknown, perhaps his partner in later years.
Below are Fazekas’s three models of illuminated house number designs, with the drawings from their patent applications. I have given them my own names, though no doubt Fazekas had his own model names or numbers for each, but I did not find them.
The Classic
This model, filed for patent in February 1932, is the most common style. The original style had space for up to four digits, but later he manufactured a version with space for five.
The flat surfaces of this model are decorated by stippling, with distinctive hexagonal bosses set on square bases at each of the four corners as well as at the center-top and center-bottom. The upper edge rises to a shallow center point, and the lower edge has shallow steps which break up the horizontal, two on each side of the center. The hood conceals the bulb (under the protruding center-top boss), as well as the two screws that affix it to the building. The hood extends on either side only to the edges of the upper corner bosses, and is affixed by one screw at the center-top point, by which it can be removed to change the bulb.
The Deco
This model is much less common in the city, but I find it more distinctive. Fazekas filed this patent slightly earlier, in June 1931. It has space for up to five digits.
This model makes extensive use of the embossed triangle as space-filling motif. There is a row of five nearly equilateral triangles along the bottom edge, with elongated triangles at either side. The top sports a protruding, faceted, triangular-shaped hood to conceal the bulb, which rises to a shallow point at the center-top and is decorated with a square at the center and two elongated triangles on either side. The hood is affixed with a screw at the top point, and the whole unit is attached to the building by visible screws on all four corners–something Fazekas modified later, certainly finding that two screws were sufficient to the job.
The Slimline
This is the simplest of the three, with a smaller hood for the bulb and no extra bulk. Fazekas filed the patent for this design at the same time in 1932 as the ‘classic’ model shown above. The patent drawing is slightly different from the model as it was manufactured later.
It had space for up to five digits, and features a hood with a square protruding boss hiding the bulb. For surface decoration, it is adorned with fish-scales on the hood, and along the sides and bottom there are finely ridged strips outlined by thicker ridges. The unit is affixed to the building with two visible screws at each side. The hood is for bulb held on by two screws at the upper corners.
The American Art Metal Catalogue, 1940
Thanks to Robert Dobrin of ElectraChime.net, I can present a few pages from Anton Fazekas’s catalogue, showing the incredible range of items on offer from his company.
The text on the first page includes a list of the many products, such as door chimes, door grilles, mail boxes, ornamental push-buttons, and so on.
“We have invented and patented the FIRST and ONLY ILLUMINATED HOUSE NUMBER with removable hood surface type. Therefore San Francisco is the birthplace of this useful invention, and San Francisco is the the first city in the United States were [sic] 100 percent of the new houses are using ILLUMINATED HOUSE NUMBERS. During the past eight years FORTY THOUSAND of these ILLUMINATED HOUSE NUMBERS were installed in the Bay Region.”
The writer, perhaps Fazekas himself, goes on to call out the “disharmony” of the usual mishmash of styles of the domestic harware found on many hosues–of mail boxes, door bell buttons, door grilles, and necessary items.
“We are producing all these in artistic design and in perfect uniformity, harmonizing with each other and with any style of house.”
Leave the Light On
I’ve seen many of these units on houses in the city with their little bulb glowing—who knows for how long, as some early lightbulbs had much longer lives than later incandescents with their engineered obsolescence.
From Budapest to San Francisco
Anton Fazekas emigrated from Hungary in 1904, age twenty-six, having already trained in his field in Budapest.[1] He belonged to the Magyar ethnic group.[2] He first lived in Manhattan, where he met and married his wife, Etta, who was also Hungarian. They came to San Francisco after the 1906 Quake, where he did plaster work at first. All of his life, when asked to put his profession on documents, he said “sculptor.”[3]
His company, American Art Metal Works, operated from 1913[4] through the early 1950s. It was located at 13 Grace Street, off Mission Street in the South of Market district. Anton and Etta also lived above the shop.
No doubt he sculpted the figures on the marquee photographed for this advertisement, which predates his house-number invention. (Could it be that Etta was his model and muse?)
Grander Work in Gold
Fazekas’s work in ornamental metal was hardly limited to the little house-number units. When City Hall was rebuilt in 1915, he did the ornate gold-leaf work around the windows.[5]
The following year, for the big campaign to light up Market Street and create a “Path of Gold,” Fazekas did the gold-leaf work on the famous street light fixtures.[6] Read more about those here.
For the Motherland
In the mid-1920s, Fazekas was involved in benefit work for children afflicted by tuberculosis in his homeland, Hungary. He helped organize a VIP-studded fundraiser ball at the Fairmount Hotel in May 1924, after which he traveled to Hungary in August.
In 1926, in conjunction with the visit to the city by a public health official from Hungary, he organized another benefit for the children. Hungary had had a high level of mortality from TB for many years after WWI, but, beginning at this point, the disease was brought under better control—although the country subsequently reversed those advances when it fell under Soviet rule after WWII. [7]
For his passport application, Anton Fazekas had a photo taken, looking much as he does in the previous one.
Early Marketing
His metal works firm had other contacts over the years, but nothing touches the sheer volume of the illuminated house-number units it manufactured from the year he patented it to his retirement in the early 1950s. I estimate many thousands of San Francisco houses still carry the units, including my own in Sunnyside.
A good indicator when you are onto something good is when people steal your idea. In 1934, Fazekas was forced to defend his patents for illuminated house numbers against several imitators. He won.[8]
Fazekas sold the units directly at the beginning, as shown in these classified ads.
In 1937 the Stoneson Brothers contracted with Fazekas to provide the house numbers for the mock-Georgian manor houses of their Lakeside tract (now part of Merced Manor), as well as the door chimes and door grilles. View one of his magnificent door chimes here.
The Women behind the Campaign
The quality and appeal of Fazekas’s unique ornamental and practical designs do not fully explain the preponderance of his work adorning San Francisco houses. To widely popularize the units would take another unique effort—a campaign by city clubwomen to get them installed across the city, which took place from 1938 to 1940.
The drive begin in January 1938 when Mayor Angelo Rossi formed the Citizens City Beautiful Committee, in order to get the city into shape ahead of the Golden Gate International Exposition, which was to open the following year. Part of the agenda was installing lighting—for trees, buildings, streets. “Shine for ’39” was the campaign slogan. The humble but novel illuminated house number was one of the many items chosen as a focus.
Soon the San Francisco Women’s Chamber of Commerce (SFWCC) launched a campaign—the first of four campaigns—doing the practical and unpaid work of going door to door, urging homeowners all over the city to install the units.
At the end of the year, the writer of the clubwomen’s column, “The Deuce of Clubs,” reported the efforts by the SFWCC to get all homeowners to install the lighted numbers by the date of the opening of the Golden Gate International Exposition in February, or, failing that, by the date in April that was set out as “San Francisco Day” at the fair.[9] Always good to set concrete goals.
‘Real Money Maker’
Buoyed by the attention of the Mayor’s committee and the clubwomen, someone associated with Fazekas solicited and trained salespeople to market the units, working from a light industrial building around the corner from the metal works on Grace Street. I don’t know how the operation was coordinated, or who did the installations and electrical hookups, but surely Fazekas himself oversaw the work.
Soapbox Favorite
Between 1938 and 1955, the LA-based syndicated columnist EV Durling regularly exhorted people in his columns to install the units. “Illuminated home numbers should be compulsory. I am certain all persons employed as messengers and delivery men will agree with me.” “You can buy illuminated numbers for less than three dollars.”[10] Good sensible advice.
The SF Examiner supported the SFWCC campaigns, running editorials when the group was ramping up for another round of door-knocking and publicity. In March 1938, the editor said of the progress made by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce in making house numbers visible: “Now they’re getting somewhere.”[11]
“San Franciscans have been too coy about their addresses. They have made a secret of their house numbers, concealing the numerals in dark and mysterious retreats, as if the numbers were moon-flowers that would fold up in daylight.”[12]
San Francisco Leads the Nation
The clubwomen held a second drive in July 1939, when Mrs Cecil Cooley ran the committee.[13] When the third campaign was launched in November 1939, with the SFWCC appointing members to call on the home owners in every district in the city.
Miss Marion Feary, heading up the renewed effort by the SFWCC, said:
“Practically every new house built in San Francisco has illuminated address numbers, and many older places have also installed this aid to the stranger in the city. San Francisco lead the Nation in illuminated numbers, but we must keep plugging it if we are to keep our enviable position.” [14]
The following month the SF Police Chief William Quinn endorsed the women’s efforts, citing the importance of illuminated house numbers for doctors and police officers trying to find houses under urgent circumstances.[15] “The police like tourists have trouble finding an address if the number is hidden in the shrubbery.”[16] (Although a little lightbulb won’t trim your bushes for you.)
The Last Drive
Efforts by the clubwomen were renewed again for the fourth and final push in October 1940.
Forty thousand installed! Every dwelling! Anton Fazekas was headed for an excellent retirement.
Mrs William O’Donnell, president of the SFWCC, reported that the Chamber of Commerce in Des Moines, Iowa, was “requesting information on the procedure used to interest householders in illuminated numbers so it can start a similar drive.”[17]
The editors of the Examiner again endorsed the drive. “It is a convenience which householders owe their friends, as bright sign of hospitality.”[18]
By then the message about lighted house numbers had perhaps reached its maximum depth of saturation in the city. The Golden Gate International Exposition was over. Mayor Rossi’s City Beautiful committee was disbanded, having as its last project the restoration and installation of the “Pioneer Mother” sculpture in Golden Gate Park.[19] Read more about that statue here.
People’s attention turned to the growing threat of war.
Going Dark
In the days after Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941, the city came under blackout orders. Now that same organization of clubwomen was compelled to undertake a new campaign—to get homeowners to disconnect the bulbs in their new house-number units! City government had ordered these tiny bulbs included in the general blackout guidelines as a precaution.[20]
During the War, when metal supplies were in short supply for civilian industries, Fazekas turned his industriousness toward other pursuits. In 1942 he placed a want ad asking for two hundred gallons of aged Sauternes wine. I don’t know what he planned to do with it.
Still on the Wish List
After the War, the San Francisco Women’s Chamber of Commerce returned to their campaign, albeit with a much-reduced level of enthusiasm. In December 1945, lighted house numbers was still on their list of priorities, along with thirteen other items, such as improved transportation, better housing, and “harmony between business and labor.”[21]
There would never again be a similar concerted drive in the city—backed by newspaper columnists, editors, and civic leaders and committees—for such a humble home improvement as illuminated house numbers.
Standard Issue
The units continued to be used in new houses for some decades to come.
An editorial in the Examiner in 1948 trotted out the idea again, reminding homeowners, “Visible and illuminated house numbers can easily be placed. So why not fix them unless one is a hermit or a fugitive?” Perhaps it was a slow news day.
Even into the 1960s, Fazekas’s designs were being produced and installed by builders. Miraloma Park developers used them with great regularity on the greatly regular little junior-fives that lined the curving streets on Mount Davidson in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Cresta Vista, Coventry, and Molimo. Many of the houses have the ‘slimline’ design, although some are gone now.
The result is mixed, as this numbering unit has room for five digits, and many of the houses here need but one or two. Spacers—either for a full or half space—were used to separate the digits. A builder had discretion about how to display the house number, and the effect on these isn’t always pleasing.
Century-Old Technology Does the Job
Many of the unit are still lighted up today, and still effective at night. (Need to fix the light in your own unit? This page contains detailed information.)
No Garlands for Imitators
Although there were many patents filed for other lighted house-number units during these years, I’ve not found any of those models on San Francisco houses.
Here are some of the designs—none of which offer the eye anything but functionality in design, and they clearly lack anything approaching Fazekas’s ornamental effect. It can be a long way between a patent and a manufactured and marketed product, and many of these never saw their way onto homes.
There are some other types of illuminated (or once illuminated) designs that did make it to the manufacturing stage, which I have spotted in the city. But many are made of materials that have not stood the test of time, like plastic. Here is a gallery of rogues, the local competitors to Fazekas’s design:
More from American Art Metal Works
Fazekas’s company also produced illuminated house number units to accommodate more than one number, for multi-unit buildings.
A favorite of mine is his mail slot, designed to match the ‘classic’ house numbers, which featured a charming rising sun.
He also patented a combination house number/mail slot/doorbell unit, which is a prized rarity in the outré field of house-number spotters.
Lastly, here is an ornamental door grille, which shows his trademark hexagonal bosses. This item fitted into the front door at eye level, and opened from the inside to safely allow a resident to see who was knocking at the door before opening it, and was sometimes called a speakeasy. [Thank you to Garrett from Pasadena, who wrote to enlighten me about this.] If you have seen one of these on a midcentury San Francisco house, please write me.
Eighty Years On
Fazekas’s designs have their own vulnerabilities—the most common breakdown is the loss of the protective hood and bulb. Although they came primed with dark grey out of the box, many were never painted and so have suffered weathering. The numeral plates have a tendency to rust around the edges. One I spotted employed an ornamental lion to plug the hole left by the missing bulb.
Still, many people have cared for their illuminated house numbers over the years, leaving a plethora of variously adorned little cast-iron metal sculptures in every neighborhood of the city
The End of a Working Life
Just after the War, Fazekas advertised to sell his business.
He didn’t find a buyer then, but he did find a partner after advertising again in 1949.
The new partner apparently took on the greater part of the work of the firm.[23] Finally, in 1952, at age 74, it was time to fully retire. He advertised again, but I don’t know if he was successful. In any case, Anton and Etta Fazekas moved to a house in the Excelsior district soon after.
The building on Grace Street went up in a big fire in 1955.
I hope this was not an insurance swindle to pay for the house. I’d rather think of him retiring on the profits of forty thousand little illuminated house numbers at two dollars fifty each. The lot lay vacant until 2019, when a condo complex was built on it.
After moving from the metal works, Fazekas lived another dozen or so years, before passing away in 1966.
A Widespread Legacy
Despite his work on the elegant glinting lights along Market Street and the gold flourishes at City Hall, the illuminated numbers on San Francisco’s houses remain the most accessible, if humble, work that Anton Fazekas leaves as his legacy today.
Addendum
In 1960, Anton’s nephew Leslie Joseph Fazekas (1916-2007) updated his uncle’s work, filing a patent for an illuminated house number plate, with this more modern design. View it here.
Don’t miss the follow-up post to this article, including more photos and renovation information. New additional photos found here.
The author thanks @VulcanStairway for instigating the unusual and slightly outrageous Covid-era folie à deux, filed for the ages under #aspirationaladdressfonts.
ENDNOTES
- As per ship manifests and naturalization documents at Ancestry.com. ↑
- According to Fazekas’s self-reported information on the 1920 US Census. ↑
- As per census records ship manifests, and naturalizations documents at Ancestry.com. ↑
- According to the classified ad that Fazekas placed in 1946 to sell the business, it had been established 33 years before: SF Examiner, 12 May 1946, p38. ↑
- “Anton Fazekas” [obituary], SF Examiner, 28 Dec 1966. ↑
- “Anton Fazekas” [obituary], SF Examiner, 28 Dec 1966. ↑
- Murray JF, Loddenkemper R (eds): Tuberculosis and War. Lessons Learned from World War II. Prog Respir Res. Basel, Karger, 2018, vol 43, pp 165-170. https://doi.org/10.1159/000481484 ↑
- “Patent Ownership Set,” SF Chronicle, 20 Sep 1934, p7. ↑
- “Deuce of Clubs,” SF Examiner, 22 Dec 1939. ↑
- EV Durling, SF Examiner, 29 Nov 1940; and EV Durling, SF Examiner, 18 Feb 1944. ↑
- “Getting Somewhere” [editorial], SF Examiner, 21 Mar 1938. ↑
- “Shining House Numbers” [editorial], SF Examiner, 9 Jun 1938. Also, “More Light” [editorial], SF Examiner, 28 Nov 1939. ↑
- “Annual Hobby Show Planned by Chamber,” SF Examiner, 6 Jul 1939. ↑
- “New Lighted Number Drive: Third Campaign to Open Wednesday at Luncheon,” SF Examiner, 24 Nov 1939. ↑
- “Quinn Backs Lighting as Safety Aid,” SF Examiner, 13 Dec 1939. ↑
- Quinn quoted in “Deuce of Clubs,” SF Examiner, 5 Nov 1940. ↑
- “SF Club’s Campaign Wins Fame,” SF Examiner, 2 Oct 1940. This researcher had a look at the middle-class houses of Des Moines on Google street-view, though failed to spot even one illuminated house number unit, so perhaps they did not take the women’s advice to heart. ↑
- “Light the Doorway! Illuminated House Numbers Increase” [editorial], SF Examiner, 21 Oct 1940. ↑
- “Beautification Group Appeals for Stature,” SF Examiner, 18 Feb 1940. ↑
- “Five new Blackout Rules for SF,” SF Examiner, 11 Dec 1941. ↑
- Hazel Holly, “Women’s Groups Plan Many Holiday Festivities,” SF Examiner, 11 Dec 1945. ↑
- Classified ad, SF Chronicle, 8 Jun 1947, p65. ↑
- Classified ad, SF Chronicle, 9 Oct 1949. ↑
Great story. After reading this, I replaced my bulb! Any suggestions on how to clean or restore the house numbers?
Hi Barbara – where did you find a replacement bulb?
Hi, Thomas, the bulb you can order its a BA15D. Also a do it yourself guide here: https://tincrab.com/house-numbers
You should pitch this as a story for the 99% Invisible podcast!
https://99percentinvisible.org/about/pitch/
That’s such a good idea that you are the second person to suggest it! I did so, but have not heard back from them.
If you were inclined, please double the chances by submitting the idea yourself as well… Thanks.
Amy! A marvelous revelation!
Mine must have been the lowest price model available–just a plain rectangle.
Whatever filigree details have been covered up with multiple layers of paint.
The house number is hard to read, but the back is no longer accessible for cleaning because it’s been plastered over.
Thanks for this tidbit of history!
I had just been wondering about these! Thank you. We have the Classic, sans lightbulb or hood. (The house was built in 1951, in the Portola.) Does anyone have a lead on replacing either item? We still have a working 15v transformer in the garage, but the light socket is rusted out. No one at Urban Farmer or Building Resources had a clue!
If you haven’t already, take a look at what barbarahughes shared below.
This image will help you with identifying what bulb or socket you might need based on the current one you already have. For my, I believe it is BA15d
http://www.bulbs.com/images/resource_section/base-types.png
I cleaned the numbers with a little Comet on the scouring side of a sponge, then I went over the rust marks with a black Sharpie, and found the MB-68 light bulb for $2.99 at the hardware store. LED bulb GRV Ba 1076 1142 COB 1511 LED light available online will shine brighter and last longer, we shall see!
Well, that was both fun, edifying, and potentially profitable. Our place has the 411 Melrose model.
If we push this hard, do you think Zillow would add a couple hundred grand to the house values?
I might argue with a couple of points in this nice article. My 1950 Sunset house has the same style as in one of the first pictures with the number 111. For a recent renovation, I had to clean it up, replace the bulb, and paint it nice gloss black. Somewhere along the line, I used a propane torch on it. It very quickly started to melt. This makes me think it is cast lead, or maybe a lead/tin mix. Fortunately I caught this quickly and no real damage was done. The other comment about engineered obsolescence does not seem likely. The bulbs used are run at about half their rated voltage. Therefore they are not very bright (no need to be) and the life of the bulb extended 10 to 100 times its rated lifetime. I was thinking of replacing the bulb with an LED, but my guess is that the current incandescent bulb will outlast me. The enameled numbers have a bit of rust on the edges, but is relatively minor. .
Amazing, Amy!
Thank you for writing this. Very cool to learn about the history of the address plaque that also happens to be on my house! I’m actually replacing the light bulb as well, so thanks for the comments.
I am currently stripping the paint off mine as I’m having my house repainted. It is the classic and was installed in 1960 when the house was built. I repaired the socket and it works great. I have no rust on my numbers so the just need a little cleaning.
Would anyone know if there is a place that sells the replacement number metal tiles for the address? Mine has some rust and are showing there age. I really do not want to replace it with something modern. Also I am would like to find the Mail slot as mine was replaced with something modern.
Please let us know if you have found a source for the replacement number metal tiles. I need to restore mine as well. Thank you!
Please let us know if you have found a source for the replacement number metal tiles. I’m interested in the restoration process.
Absolutely the best info at the most appropriate time! I am hoping to interest a certain 2nd grader in the history of Fazekas’ endeavor and resulting success. His idea created a simple, creative and safe investment that aided progress and alleviated some external stressors for many locals.
I lived in San Bruno some years ago, west of Skyline overlooking the ocean (could see the Farallones from the place). Even though the house was much newer than the ones described here (probly built in the ’60s-’70s), it had an illuminated house number. Of course the bulb was long burned out, but I was able to get a replacement for it.
We have it all… except that the door bell chimes were replaced… in our 1928 house: lighted address # with bulb burning continuously as best we can tell – dimly but beautifully, the mail box sans only one screw, the latched round door peek hole perfect for scaring little gobblins at Halloween.
Thank you for putting this together. As someone who was born in the city, these little details were always interesting to me. My mid-century home near Mt. Davidson has the “classic” version, but needs a bit of TLC. Interestingly enough, my parents’ 1950s Westlake home in Daly City also has the “classic” style. To each their own, but I too often I see folks all over the city replacing these with modern numbers.
We recently purchased a 1927 Marina style duplex in NOPA that currently has modern numbering on it and would love to restore the original number plate. Would you know of any place locally or online that would sell these?
Congratulations! And nice to hear of your restoration intentions. Outside of Ohmega Salvage in Berkeley, which had some parts a while back, I know of no one doing restorations. https://www.ohmegasalvage.com/ – Which is too bad, because I know there are loose American Art Metal parts out there, and there are people who want them for the same reason you do.
Additionally, one person in the East Bay used the patent documents to have a 3D-printed replica produced, with very good results. https://twitter.com/oneirodynia/status/1326938407101104128 This could be a way to have the look without needing old parts.
I would also love to know if anyone found replacement number tiles or a good way to repair the oldest ones that have rusted. Thanks!
You are not alone. However, I have not heard of a reliable source for parts. Salvage yards are worth checking.
Careful re-painting of the numbers can be done — witness the photo of 129 Winfield on my latest post of Fazekas photos: https://sunnysidehistory.org/2022/12/21/a-phalanx-of-fazekas/ Someone with a steady hand, a good eye, and the knowledge of how to prepare the surface and what paint to use, could make this option work.
I’m sorry I haven’t got more to offer. Many people have written to ask. It’s an unfilled niche in home renovation!
I live in Southern Ontario Canada. I was visiting San Francisco, maybe 30 years ago. While wandering around I noticed the illuminated number signs on all of the houses. I fell in love with them and wanted one desperately. On a drive somewhere far south of San Francisco, I spotted a flea market. I couldn’t believe my luck. I found one of the number signs, identical to the ones in San Francisco! I brought it home and wired it up for a light. What makes this storey even more amazing, my home address number was 30. The number with this sign was 30, along with several of the blank enamel slide in spacers. It illuminated my address number for years. Fast forward, 35 years later, I moved and I look the number sign. The house number of my new home was 303. I had someone paint the number 3 on one of the spacers. It’s been illuminated ever since. It’s one of my favourite possessions.
What a marvelous and remarkable story!
Please send a photo if you’d care to. — SunnysideHistory@gmail.com