It's the 70s, Man!

Gus Van Sant is shooting his film about Harvey Milk's life, Milk, in the Castro. As part of the shooting, a number of stores have been dressed up to look like they did in the '70s.

Okay, that's an extreme example. Most of it is more mundane, like the way U.S. Bank has become Eureka Bank:


A lot of the time, it's hard to tell what (if anything) has changed:


This is actually the only change that I makes me nostalgic: this is a Diesel store now, but it was a Bank of America branch when I started coming to the Castro in the mid-90s. And so it is again (at least on the outside):


I've been getting slices at this place since the mid-90s. I had no idea it was 30 years old. The sign parallel to the street (with "Pizza", etc.) is for the film.


I was really worried when I heard that Hot Cookie had become Double Rainbow. Hot Cookie is my favorite cookie shop, and always a good place to go for some sugar before (or after) going out.




Fortunately, once you step inside, it's all cookies.


Here's the site of Milk's camera store. Other than a small mural in a second story window, this site is usually not marked. I only found it a couple of years ago.



Peeking inside and seeing the camera supplies was a real trip:




Oh, and in case one is tempted to try and believe it really is the '70s, reality soon intrudes: