In 2021, the California Historical Society launched a project to capture the many voices of the Flower Market: growers, wholesalers, florists, former and current staff, board members, and others whose stories are part of the history of the Market. The California Flower Market at 6th and Brannan in San Francisco was founded by Japanese, Chinese, and Italian immigrant flower growers at the turn of the 20th century. Today, the market is officially known as the San Francisco Flower Mart. In a series of interviews conducted by the California Historical Society, Flower Mart staff, flower growers, and retail florists—often spanning generations—talk about their experiences and memories of the market.
Read the transcripts and listen to audio clips as they talk about the role of the Flower Market in their lives.
These clips are edited from longer interviews conducted over 2021-2022.
Click on the link below each video to access full transcripts on CHS’s digital library.
Denise Barnett
Denise Barnett, owner of Blossoms flower shop in the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo for 37 years, talks about how she got started in the flower business and the changes she has seen over the years, including how the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s impacted the flower industry.
Valerie and Robbin Lee
Valerie and Robbin Lee of J. Miller Flowers, are second-generation owners of a retail florist on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, taking over the business from their mother, Mary H. Lee, who purchased the store in 1970. Valerie and Robbin talk about their customers, and the buying trips they take weekly to the flower market.
Click here for full interview transcript
Willy Neve
Born in San Francisco but raised in Italy, Willy Neve returned to the United States in 1947 at the age of 19 and, following in his father’s footsteps, started working in the flower industry. In this clip, Willy talks with the Flower Market’s Rose Robinson and Jeanne Boes about the design shows that the Flower Market would hold each year, as well as the Market’s café – a local institution amongst growers and sellers.
Click here for full interview transcript
Bob Otsuka
Bob Otsuka, former Executive Vice President & General Manager of the Flower Market, worked there for 28 years. Here he describes the functions of the Flower Market and some of the challenges it faced over the years.
Click here for full interview transcript
Wilton Lee
Wilton Lee talks about how his family started their business, Lee’s Florist & Nursery, in Berkeley,
California, and the changes it has gone through over four generations.
Click here for full interview transcript
George Robert Koch and his son, Keith
George Koch, a retail florist, worked in the flower industry for nearly 70 years. In this clip he talks about the different vendors in the Flower Market and the many friendships he made along the way.
Click here for the full interview transcript
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