Celebrate with the Magic Parlor at a Holiday Tea at the Old Mint

Please join me at a very special Holiday Festival and fundraiser at San Francisco’s beloved Old Mint. Vignettes from the San Francisco Magic Parlor will be featured throughout the event!

Magically, Walt

The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society’s

Annual Holiday Tea at the Old Mint

Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The Old Mint, 88 Fifth Street at Mission, San Francisco

You are cordially invited to join us in the elegant Counting Rooms of the Old Mint, a National Historic Landmark, for a memorable afternoon. Experience delicious food, period perfect entertainment and décor, and a glittering exhibit created especially for this event.

For your enjoyment before or after Tea:

·       Magical Vignettes of Famous San Francisco Personages
Performed by Walt Anthony of the San Francisco Magic Parlor

·       The Dickens Fair Carolers

·       Tours of the Mint Vaults

·       American Tea Culture: Steeped in Silver, An Exhibit of Tea, Rare Coins, and Dazzling Silver

·       A Silent Auction and a “Grab and Go” table to shop for Perfect Holiday Gifts and Décor. A preview of auction items will be available on the sfhistory.org website by November 1, 2013.

Select either the Royal Tea service at 12:00pm or traditional Afternoon Tea at 3:00pm. The menu for both services includes scones, clotted cream and jam, sandwiches and pastries—complemented by premium teas and sparkling wine. The Royal Tea also includes a seasonal salad and savory.

Where:

The Old San Francisco Mint, 88 Fifth Street, San Francisco, California

Times:

~~Royal Tea served at 12:00pm / Afternoon Tea served at 3:00pm
Magical Vignettes of Historic San Francisco Personages at
11:30am, 1pm, 1:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm

Tickets:

Reservations required, $85 Royal Tea, $75 Afternoon Tea

Information and tickets online at http://www.shop.sfhistory.org/Holiday-Tea_c9.htm / Or call Lisa Bower at (415) 537-1105 ext. 100 / Please inquire about private rooms available for parties of 12-48

RSVP:

Please reserve your places by Monday, November 25, 2013.
Tickets will be held at the door.

The History of the Old Mint Building in San Francisco by Larry See

Built in 1874, at one time the Old Mint held about one-third of all of the gold in the nation. It sits on bedrock just ten feet below the surface. The foundation is four feet thick, with two-inch reinforcing iron bars interlaced all though it. The walls are a combination of very thick sandstone on the outside with granite and brick in the interior. Huge heavy iron shutters protect the windows. The ceilings are approximately 20 feet high, with graceful brass lighting hung from the ceiling.

The Old Mint’s ground level floor has a central hallway running the length of the building with beautiful continuous massive vaults on both sides. These vaults were used mostly for coin and gold/silver storage, as currency was rarely used west of the Mississippi. The colorful large stamping mill on this floor was not operational here, but was brought here when the building was a museum in the 1930s.

The upper floors include the Gold Vault, Gold Ingot Room, the Stamping Room (coin stamping), and, at the top of the stairs in the center of the building, the Pubic Office of The Mint, once the only place the public was allowed to enter. Miners, dentists, and business people entered here to drop off their gold or silver to have it assayed and weighed, and later picked up their equivalent coin/currency. This was all done under the watchful eye of armed guards looking down from a narrow catwalk, a la Alcatraz.

In the earthquake and fires of 1906, the Old Mint was spared through the heroic efforts of 50 Mint employees plus 10 men from the Army, all led by Superintendent Leach, with no help from the Fire Department. The glass windows got so hot they melted like butter, flames licked through window holes, and the sandstone exterior began to flake off with explosive noises like the firing of artillery. There was an artesian well directly under the inner court of the Mint providing it with its own independent water system. Just ten days before the earthquake, the roof water tanks and hydrants had been installed. This incredible luck, coupled with the hard-fought battles of the tight band of employees, saved the Mint, while all other building around them burned to the ground. The fact that there was very little flammable wood in the primarily stone and iron building was also an important factor in its survival.

The Old Mint, currently undergoing a complete facelift. The Mint Project, which has set a goal of a little over $90,000,000, now has about $30,000,000 "in the bank." The renovation of Mint Alley, the old Jessie Street, is now done. Both our US Senators, among others, are working very hard on this project.