Thought Paper #7

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Eva Dunn

Professor Stacy Asher

Art 195

November 3, 2012

Chinatown

            This week for my SF Signage class, we took a field trip to Chinatown.  After doing some research on the area, I learned that San Francisco’s Chinatown is the largest Chinatown outside of Asia. Isn’t that interesting?  Well, I also learned that, according to the San Francisco Planning Department, Chinatown is the most densely populated area west of Manhattan.  Through my research, I learned a few other interesting things about Chinatown that I will go over later on in this Thought Paper.  On another note, I find it absolutely incredible that San Francisco has so many different cultures and “districts,” if you will.  One second I can be in North Beach eating some Italian food, and the next second I can be in Chinatown enjoying a nice mooncake.  And if I want to get really crazy, I could go straight to the financial district and watch all the businessmen pass by.  That’s what makes San Francisco such a beautiful place—its diverse culture.  On this field trip, I got to see just a slice of San Francisco’s culture, and it was absolutely wonderful.  Visiting Chinatown provoked me to do a little research on the history of the Chinese in San Francisco, which, in turn, helped me understand many aspects of the area, including the signage.

            The Chinese in San Francisco did not have it easy.  They first immigrated here between 1850 and 1900.  After that, because of the language barrier, they sought out labor jobs such as in factories or on the transcontinental railroad, a famous and laborious undertaking.  Many of the immigrants had unfair working conditions due to their race.  After the unemployment Panic of 1873, the Chinese were even more discriminated against.  Immigration was then extremely limited for the Chinese, who had to go through a lengthy immigration processing at Angel Island—they could be held there for months in conditions not unlike concentration camps.  So, the history of the Chinese in San Francisco has not been pretty, and the large population of immigrants in such a small area can be seen today in the signage and setup of Chinatown.

            The signage in Chinatown serves as more efficient than anything.  Because of the large population of people within Chinatown, there are many different signs that compete for one’s attention; however, the signs are not extremely detailed or new.  A lot of the signage in Chinatown looks low-quality or older, with most of the signs being plain with merely a few words on it for description.  Below is an image of Chinatown in 1972.  It looks almost the same as it does today—with signs that are efficient and to-the-point.  However, today Chinatown utilizes more color and light in it’s signs whereas before it was just plain black and white (I know the picture is black and white but I believe the signs were black and white as well).

            Overall, the signs and setup of Chinatown reflects the dense population of people within the district.  The Chinese in San Francisco did not have an easy start and they continue to struggle to thrive within Chinatown.  However, Chinatown is one of my favorite places in San Francisco because it is so different and so cultured.  Where else can I go to get an authentic, delicious pork bun?