Lyn Magnuson Collection: Gallery 1 Gallery 2 Gallery 4 Gallery 5 Gallery 6 Marc Cassius Collection David Samuel Collection Dennis Dooley Collection Collection
Peggy Riemer Collection: Gallery 1 Gallery 2 Riccardi & Guy Holman Collections Weinstein Collection Miscellaneous Collection 2011 San Francisco Street Artists History
Names and captions for the pics are provided when known. If you recognize people and can provide names, it would be greatly appreciated. Again, please feel free to also include comments, anecdotes, or stories about various individuals, which will be posted below designated photos and attributed to the sender. When emailing me, Bruce Tackett, be sure to include the number of the picture you are referring to. Thank you.
You can also share information by going to The San Francisco Street Artists' Forum
My memories of Lynby Abe Petrow
First, I remember his pets. Clair, the giant Great Dane, who had 8 puppies in Lyn’s brown Chevy van parked in B-12. Sire unknown. Then there was the floppy eared rabbit, I think her name was Chloe. I remember Zoe, the 135 lb Rottweiler. Nice dog, loud woof. Zoe was in Lyn’s van parked on 4th avenue in Tucson before a show, the window was open, and a man walked by. Zoe started WOOFing at the man and the man asked Lyn to control his dog. Lyn said the dog was in the van and already under control. I realized that the man was Kurt, the promoter of the show. I tried to tell Lyn, but he wasn’t hearing it. Zoe was getting louder and so was Lyn. The promoter finally walked away. To this day dogs are not allowed in that FAMA show, either by artists or by customers.
Then there was his German Sheppard that he found in a shelter in Rohnert Park . Last year he decided she was lonely, so he found a dog on the internet, in Idaho . He drove there, paid $1800 for the dog, and brought it back to San Francisco . But the new dog hated his Sheppard, chased her all over the apartment, so he took the new dog back to Idaho . They took the dog back, but wouldn’t return his money. To make matters worse, he was stopped in Nevada and some medicine was found in his van, and he had no note from his doctor. It took $2200 to get out of that.
I remember his obsession to help his perceived family of street artists. In the early 80’s Lyn wanted to rent the upper story of the building across from Beach Street , the one with the gallery. He envisioned a place for street artists to sell year around, in any weather. He needed to borrow money for the lease, so he went to the bank. They said they needed to see his tax returns to show he made enough money. So he and an accountant friend created a tax return that showed $200,000 in income. The bank didn’t approve the loan, but the tax return accidentally got mailed. Months later a couple of tax agents came down to the street and said he owed $53,000 in taxes. I told him he didn’t have to pay it if he explained everything. But he said he should pay it, because he probably owed that much for other years. So he came out and sold every day until it was completely paid off.
Lyn was an excellent all-around jeweler. After he got out of the navy he went to Taxco , Mexico and studied goldsmithing for three years. He could lay down a perfect row of 10 diamonds in a strip of gold on a ring. He learned jewelry design, casting, rolling mill polishing, and hand engraving. I used to cast a signet ring for him that he designed. He would engrave a circle monogram on the ring by hand while the customer waited.
The emphasis was on design at the Taxco schools. To Lyn design was the most important aspect of a piece of jewelry. Every few years he came up with a new design, to which he totally committed his efforts. I remember the braided ring with the bands on either side, the folded rings made from rolling round wire flat and folding it over five times, the Chevron, and the Celtic wedding ring. He sold the Celtic bands over the internet one year and made over $100,000 in sales. The webmaster was getting 15%. Then he asked for 18%, Lyn said no, and the webmaster just found some Celtic bands somewhere else and put them on the site.
I remember when Lyn repaired a diamond ring for a customer on Beach Street . He charged her $100. During the repair, he lost the diamond somewhere in his shop. He searched for 10 hours. He went down to the Phelin Building and bought a diamond the same size for $2700 to replace the one he lost. He never told the customer.
Once when I was doing a show in Michigan I stayed at his two-story house near Detroit that had once belonged to his dad. After the show was over we went to the Henry Ford, a History Museum in Greenfield , also near Detroit . One of the best museums I have ever been to. Lyn was proud of all the designs that Detroit car makers had come up with over the years and showed me innovations that really advanced the industry, especially in the fifties.
When he was living in Michigan in the early nineties, he decided to do some craft shows in Florida , mainly to get away from the snow. He lined up five or six shows in February and March. The first one was Coconut Grove, and he completely sold out all of his jewelry. Knowing that the rest of the Florida shows could probably be as good, he rented a storage locker, bought a torch, dremel, and some wire, and converted the locker to a studio. He slept in his van and made jewelry in the locker until late at night. He managed to make money at three more of the shows, until they made up a rule that you couldn’t have a studio in a locker. Then he moved to a campground and made jewelry in his van for the rest of the shows.
A few years ago Lyn was driving down from Michigan to do a show in Arizona . There was a freak blizzard in Texas , and the highway patrol had closed off Interstate 10. Lyn had to be in Tucson the next day, so he ran the blockade. About 30 miles later, he ran off of the road, and spent the night in sub zero temperatures his van. He said he almost froze to death. Zoe was with him, which might have saved his life. The next day a snow plow pulled him onto the highway and he followed it and made it to Tucson . I think he suffered frostbite on his feet, and this untreated condition might have caused some of his later difficulties in walking. I didn't see him at any shows after that.
Lyn once said: “Never declare bankruptcy, because if you can figure out how to make enough money to pay all your credit cards, you will have learned how to make more money the rest of your life.”
Another time he said that Beach Street was the best training ground for sales in the world. “If you can sell a quality product to those disinterested and skeptical tourists walking down Beach Street, you can sell anything to anybody anywhere in the country.“ After he found out how well he could do at craft shows around the country, he said that his regret was that he did not try those shows sooner, and that he had wasted years on the street.
Maybe I (or we) learned something from Lyn’s life examples. First, of course, is never open a jewelry store in a bad neighborhood, even if it has always been your dream to have a store.
Don’t go to Idaho to get a dog.
Don’t drink.
Don’t run the blockade.
Don’t yell at anyone.
Take lots of photos.
And don’t use credit cards.
I heard once that when someone you know dies, you should live twice as hard
Log Onto
Lyn Magnuson Collection:
Gallery 1
Gallery 2
Gallery 4
Gallery 5
Gallery 6
Dennis Dooley Collection Collection
Peggy Riemer Collection:
