OVER THE YEARS AT
VETERANS CAB COMPANY,
SAN FRANCISCO.
Photo Mix 1982-2003.
It is hard to believe that I have been with the Veteran's Cab Company of San Francisco (also
known as the Speck Cab Company) since 1982. After I got hired by Bill Skiff to drive the night shift, I only saw him on
rare occasions since he worked the day shift. So sorry Bill I never got a chance to photograph you over the
years. Each night I was usually given a cab by one of the night dispatchers - Bill Harp, Bobby Harp or
John Fitzsinger. I didn't always have my camera with me, but when I did I would usually
take some photographs at the taxi garage.
The following photos span over twenty years - from my
first years at Veterans Cab to the last day their garage was on the southwest corner of
11th and Harrison Streets in San Francisco, December 30, 2003. The photographs were shot
randomly, I never planned to group them together on a web page.
Dispatcher and cashier Bill Harp at his work station
in the early 1990s. I got to know Bill well over the years. It is my opinion that
we had respect for each other. I felt like I lost a " second father" when Bill passed
away last year.
John Fitzinger photographed here in the early
1980s. Fitzinger worked the radio and window in the 1890s.
When I first started working at Veteran's Cab Company Bobby
Harp usually worked only Monday and Tuesday nights. To see a better version of this photograph,
go to the page entitled "A Cabdriver's Story".
John Maus in the late 1980s. Maus was the radio dispatcher on weekends.
He passed away in the mid-1990s.
Morse receives a birthday cake for his special day, early 1980s.
Mr. Lee enjoys some of John Maus' birthday cake. Lee pumped gas for many years
at the cab company.
Tommy Bright was the night shift radio dispatcher for many years.
Here's another shot of John Fitzinger. This was shot on a color Ektachrome slide.
I liked the way it looked in black and white, so I converted it with Photoshop.
Here I am in a Veterans Cab. I do not remember who shot this.
Taxi driver Randy Miller.
It was a rare sight when Tommy Bright worked at the window.
Drivers wait to pay their rental fees and gas costs (also known as gas and gates) at window.
Driver Steve Tinney cleans his cab before going out onto the streets.
Tinney and I have been friends since meeting at the garage 21 years ago.
A driver cleans his windows inside the garage.
Larry Mitchell counts cash at the window. When I first started driving at Veterans Cab Mitchell used to drive nights.
Some nights Mitchell, Paul Kozak (current owner of the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon neighborhood newspapers)and a few
other drivers, including myself, would meet for dinner.
It's driver Richard Banks. I remember he was a real nice guy. Unfortunately he died
in the 1990s.
I had to include at least one more photo of Bill Harp. I still miss him.
Steve Tinney in the late 1990s driving down California Street.
Jack (left) shoots pool with another driver on December 30,2003, the day before the
company moved to its new location on Marin Street.
Driver Tom Barrera leaves the garage on 11th Street for the very last time.
This is the way the taxi yard looked on the day before the big move.