out of the trippy past

The old Crystal Palace... it was originally a home for Spanish American war vets. Then the last one died and a pair of freaks bought the place. Would have been around October, November 1965. The windows were musty with a century's worth of grime... totally dark inside. Cleaned the place up and rented all the rooms as is, to other freaks. Mostly the crystal crowd, and some acid freaks. The lobby was everyone's living room. Dope dealing, sexual freedom, good times all around. Then toward the end of 1966 it began to go the way of all good things, as San Fran filled up with the throngs of flower children from across the country (like lemmings streaming toward the Pacific shore)... and ripoff artists came to prey. But for a moment in time there was nothing like it. Not anywhere but there. It was the endpoint destination of the great magical mystery tour that was life at the edge of The Wave. BTW, the name? It was scrawled in chalk beside the front entrance, and was "The Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Girls... Boys Too.

photos:  the hippy hang out/garbo interviewing a prospective boarder, john barrymore