Oklahoma City is also known as "The City" to people in it,
and in fact, in the whole state. A hundred miles away, in
Tulsa, if you say you're going to The City, people know you
mean OKC.
As to Bogart's Spade mailing a letter addressed "City"
instead of "San Francisco," I recall that as being common
practice in many cities and towns in olden days. I believe
the practice drew on the presumption that a letter mailed
thusly would be delivered within the bounds of the city in
which it was mailed. In Dallas in the Fifties, we used to get
mail addressed to our street address, "City." Obviously not
something to do if you're writing to someone in another
"city."
Jim Beaver
> Having lived in the Bay Area for 10 years (in the
suburbs, Fremont), San
> Francisco is basically just known as "The City". If
you say that, everyone
> knows what you are talking about, there is no other
City, and no
possibility
> of their being another one to bay area inhabitants.
If you say "San Fran"
> and you sound like a dork. "South City" is term I
heard a lot in the past
as
> South San Francisco is basically a totally different
place.
> I've been to a lot of cities but I have never
encountered a place like
S.F.
> It is really a very small place geographically with
a very diverse
> culture.Hammety's and the Maltese Falcon atmosphere
just add to my image
of
> this place.
>
> Rob
>
> > Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 00:40:22 -0500
> > From: "M Blumenthal" <
blumenidiot@21stcentury.net>
> > Subject: RARA-AVIS: Theme of the month - San
Francisco
> >
> > We are moving a little north this month. I was
thinking about books
> written
> > about the two cities. Except for books with the
LAPD being an important
> > element, books about LA rarely seem to be about
an urban area. Chandler
> and
> > Ross MacDonald wrote about southern California
but mainly their favorite
> > suburb. Most books set in San Francisco seems
to have the gritty feel
of
> > the city. I am always struck by Bogart in John
Houston's version of The
> > Maltese Falcon when he is mailing the package
holding the falcon Captain
> > Jacoby gave his life to deliver. All Bogart
writes is his address and
> 'City'
> > There is no possibility of there being any
other city.
> >
> > I have to confess the only time I ever was in
San Francisco was when I
was
> > picked up at the airport, driven
> > driven through it to Berkely and then driven
back a few days later. My
> image
> > of the city has been formed by movies like
Bullitt and the Dirty Harry
> > series. I have also read Hamett, but that's a
view of a city two
> generations
> > past. Greenleaf's Tanner and Prozini's Nameless
have written many books
> set
> > in the city, but they are marginally hb. Joe
Gores' DKA series which are
> > almost PI procedurals have their foundation in
his having worked for
> twelve
> > years as a private investigator/skip tracer. .
He has written a lot of
> stand
> > alones as well. They are often set in San
Francisco such as HAMMETT and
> > INTERFACE. I guess we can discuss Hammett's San
Francisco of the late
> 20's
> > and the 30's or these modern
writers.
> >
> > Anyone who lives in the city or knows its
relevance to hb fiction is
> welcome
> > to contribute.
> > Mark
>
>
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