Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide to San Francisco’s Alternative Communities

Full House

Broke-Ass Stuart has written a great piece for The Bold Italic titled “Full House” which is a guide to the alternative communities that came out of the city of San Francisco, California. He starts with the Bohemian Club (1872) and weaves his way through the years, describing the significant underground groups relative to San Francisco’s history including Suicide Club, The Cacophony Society, and the Jejune Institute. Illustrations for Full House were created by Yina Kim.

Some people run away to join the circus. Others run away to San Francisco. Those of us who live here know it’s actually the same thing. Since its days as a bawdy port city built on gold dust and dungarees, San Francisco has always been a town where open-mindedness reigns and people live whatever life they see fit. Because of this, the city’s history is colored with subcultures that have looked at the world around them and thought, Hell, we can do better than that…

Rusty Blazenhoff
Rusty Blazenhoff