On February 18, the SFGate picked up a story from The 60s at 50,ย marking the fifty year anniversary for a three-part Chronicle series on the dismal state of coffee in restaurants. It’s a scathing exposรฉ, calling out restauranteurs for serving the city “swill”. According to the 60s at 50, newspaper sales soared because of the article and upscale restaurants improved their offerings.
There’s a lot of work that’s been done to up the ante with regards to restaurant coffee fifty years later. But there’s still plenty of work left to do.
Today marks the 50th anniversary one of the best โ or one the worst โ moments in local newspaper history: The day that the San Francisco Chronicle declared war on coffee.ย โA Great Cityโs People Forced to Drink Swillโย is arguably the most infamous local headline, taking on a life of its own over the last half century.
(And itโs an example of the dangers of community journalism. The city has since gone horribly in the other direction, with a scourge of overpriced Ethiopian blends and double skim caramel macchiato. A Great Cityโs People Forced to Wait in a Long Line for a Chai Latte โฆ)
After getting tipped off by Chronicle social lead Jeff Elder, who was tipped off byย The โ60s at 50 Blogย onย Twitter, I spent a couple of hours in the archives to take a look at the event.
Above is the front page from Feb. 18, 1963. This was the epicenter of theย Scott Newhallย era, when there was a screaming headline above every Chronicleย mastheadย flag. Whether it was a crime story, a sports victory or a campaign to clothe the genitals of pets (that happened), the 72 point headline appeared at the top of the page every day.
One fact that has been lost since 1963 is that the coffee takedown was actually a three-part series. And it was basically the same story, written three times.
Read more:
The 60s at 50: Monday, February 18, 1963: San Francisco coffee
SFGate:ย โA Great Cityโs People Forced to Drink Swillโ โฆ 50 years later
