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The Mystery of an Abandoned Cabinet Full of Kodachrome Slides in San
Francisco

Aug 16, 2023
Matt Growcoot
     
Cabinet full of Kodachrome slidesThe mystery cabinet full of
fascinating Kodachrome slides found on the sidewalk.

A mystery unfolded when a cabinet full of Kodachrome slides was
discovered lying on the sidewalk in a San Francisco neighborhood.

The 920 Kodachrome slides shows San Francisco in the 1960s undergoing
changes as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system was built, the
subway beneath Market Street was constructed, as well as fascinating
photos of daily life in the Californian municipality.

BARTOne of the mystery slides shows a section of the BART Tube
segment being constructed.
Market StreetMarket Street under construction for the new BART and
Metro subways, circa 1966.

In fact, there was not just one cabinet stuffed with Kodachrome
slides -- there were three. But only one of them found its way to
local photo collector David Gallagher who could not believe the
treasure trove one of his social media followers had brought to him.

"I was knocked out," Gallagher tells the San Francisco Chronicle.
"People bring me stuff and it's not always great. But these were
pretty amazing -- things I'd never seen before."

Where Did the Kodachrome Slides Come From?

Initially, Gallagher had no clue who the mysterious photographer was
or how the slides had come to be dumped on a random sidewalk.

The local historian even put up flyers appealing for information on
the whereabouts of the two other cabinets and who the photographer
is.

Flyer for the cabinets.

But after the Chronicle published their article this weekend, a
relative of the photographer stepped out of the shadows to reveal
that his father, a schoolteacher by the name of James Martin, was the
author of the photographic slides.

"He loved San Francisco. He lived here his entire life, all 90
years," Ted Martin tells the San Francisco Chronicle.

"He was a big sports fan: Giants, Warriors, 49ers. He worked hard. He
did his day job and then did night school and other things for extra
money."

Fleishhacker Pool Swimmers in Fleishhacker Pool which closed in 1971.

Fisherman's Wharf

Martin, who died in 2019, would take photos and transfer them to film
reels so he could make slideshows which he would use in
presentations.

However, the Kodachrome slides were dumped on the street by another
of Martin's sons who had "purged" the cabinet -- a decision that
wasn't popular with the rest of the family.

While Gallagher is glad to know the identity of the mystery
photographer, there is still the matter of the two other cabinets
that are missing and presumably chocked full of Martin's fascinating
photos.

Cabinet

It's not the first time Kodachrome slides have appeared on a
sidewalk, back in 2016 a bag of them turned up in New York City.

If you have any information regarding the missing cabinets, head over
to Gallagher's website, SFMemory.org.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Image credits: All photos by James Martin/SFMemory.org

News
kodachrome, kodachromeslides, mysteryslides, sanfrancisco
     
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