Digital Transgender Archive

San Francisco LGBT Business Ephemera Collection

"Consists of ephemera collected from businesses owned, operated or frequented by members of the LGBT community located in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. Businesses in Russian River, San Jose, Sacramento, Berkeley and Oakland are also represented. Types of businesses include: bars and clubs; cabarets, performance venues and theaters; restaurants; bookstores and publishers; newspapers and magazines; art galleries; clothing and retail stores; BDSM (bondage) and sex toy shops; video stores and movie theaters; pot clubs and marijuana dispensaries; hotels and inns, and other travel or tourism related businesses. Also includes national corporations marketing to the LGBT community. The bulk of the material dates from the 1970s through the 1990s. While most of the material is intended for business related purposes, it is also reflective of LGBT community building and activism, and its literary, art, music and entertainment scenes. Types of ephemera include: advertisements, event announcements, benefit and show fliers, postcards, invitations, theatrical playbills, brochures, direct mail, sales catalogs, menus, napkins, tickets, letterheads, business cards, and some internal business communications and financial records."