Oakland Underfoot

719 Lincoln Avenue, Alameda

The only example of this mark in Oakland dates from 1958.

18 Monticello Avenue, Piedmont

This is way later than my next-youngest mark, from 1974.

100 Isleton Avenue

I hope this romance has lasted.

3201 Birdsall Avenue

Young Monica left the handprint. She’d be 28 today.

2240 Wood Street

This address was until recently Bernabe & Brinker’s business site. I don’t expect to see this mark anywhere else, but there are two of them here.

524 7th Street

I haven’t been able to figure out what to call this shape; for a long time I thought of it as a “block oval,” but someone suggested “barrel.” That works if you picture a wine barrel, which is stored on its side, rather than the historical ideas of a pickle barrel, a cash-on-the-barrelhead barrel or a barrel-worn-by-a-broke-guy, which is upright. Works for me.

5922 Chabot Crest