Cable Car Collectibles
Our most beloved mode of transit is, of course, the cable car, as good an example as any of San Francisco's adamant refusal to curtail the eccentric. Inside a handsome old brick powerhouse on the slopes of Nob Hill are the motors, gears, pulleys, and 10-foot winding wheels that make the system run, and housed nearby is a museum of century-old artifacts, vintage photographs, blueprints, tokens, punches, transfers, and mechanical devices. There are two items for sale, though, that really stand out: solid brass conductor's bells, the ones that add as much to the city's sonic landscape as foghorns and Chinese funerals, and authentic old enamel street signs from the 1940s. Either would make a unique keepsake for aspiring and authentic San Franciscans alike. - MS
Street signs, $25-$50; bells, $70; 1201 Mason (at Washington), 474-1887.
Mile High Mini Kit.
Barista Digital Italia espresso machine.
Acqua di Parma's Holiday Candle Set.
Nichë pillows.
Spa Seven.
Jason Crandell's yoga classes.
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Custom Beans
For nearly six decades, Graffeo of North Beach has been blending fresh Arabica coffee beans from Colombia, Costa Rica, and New Guinea and roasting them daily in small quantities and in three varieties: dark, light, and a Colombian they decaffeinate through the chemical-free Swiss Water Process. If you're lucky enough to live in the neighborhood, simply follow the seductive aroma of roasting coffee beans to the firm's trim and friendly outlet at Greenwich and Columbus. The coffee's also available at local restaurants and specialty shops, or you can ship a little bit of San Francisco to a bereft out-of-towner and make yourself a friend for life. - MS
$11.50/lb. regular, $12.50/lb. decaf; 735 Columbus (at Greenwich), 986-2420, www.graffeo.com.
A Good Show
There's nothing quite like the thrum and excitement of live theater, especially when the words take flight, a strange new world emerges from the proscenium, and actor and audience form a vibrant common bond. The American Conservatory Theater is one of the nation's outstanding repertory companies, and for several decades now happy theatergoers have enjoyed oftentimes brilliant, reliably innovative matinees and evenings of classic and modern tragedy, comedy, and everything in between. Make your favorite dramaphile happy by giving her ACT season tickets. She'll get the same excellent seat throughout the seven-play season, discounts on additional single tickets, free same-day ticket exchange to another date upon request, prepaid discount parking at the Hilton a block away, and discounts on classes in voice, movement, and other theatrical disciplines. - MS
Price varies; 405 Geary (at Taylor), 749-2228, www.act-sf.org.
Mission Christmas
What could be more San Francisco than a Day of the Dead altar from Galería de la Raza in the Mission? Every autumn, as the days grow darker and the wind colder, Día de los Muertos celebrants remember dearly departed friends and family with processionals, music, incense, and candles. A signature aspect of this part-Aztec, part-Catholic holiday is the offerings made to our brethren on the other side. The Galería's beautifully constructed 3-inch wooden altars are the ideal setting for photos, keepsakes, votive candles ... anything to keep your favorite phantoms at hand. You might even want to offer up one of the organization's fantastically decorated, richly colorful sugar skulls (available in three sizes), or a pound of organic, fair trade, shade-grown Zapatista coffee produced by grower cooperatives in Chiapas. - MS
Altar, $20; skulls, $2.50/1-inch, $5/2-inch, $10/3-inch; coffee, $9/lb.; 2857 24th (at Florida), 826-8009.
