[Cow Palace]

This charming compendium documents human and animal hopefuls competing in the Grand National Livestock Exposition at the famed Cow Palace in San Francisco. Included are images of champion heifers such as Tim Topper, a one-thousand pound Hereford who took home first-place in 1959. Victory is a double-edged sword (carving knife?), as many of the bovine champions were auctioned after the contest. One photo shows Black Shadow, the 1950 winner, who (according to the snipe on the verso) was purchased by the Cliff Hotel for 2,562.50 (2.50 a pound), and was dinner for the hotel guests that same evening. There are sweet portraits of children from the 4H club and elsewhere competing in the junior competition and oddball images such as an image of Patti Walker, the Dairy Queen of 1957, presenting a trophy to John Bush, the cow-milking champion.

The Daly City “Cow Palace” is an indoor arena completed in 1941 by the WPA on the border of San Francisco. Originally intended, as its name suggests, as a center for livestock expositions, the onslaught on Pearl Harbor soon after its opening led to its temporary usage as a troop holding site and war repair garage. Livestock shows resumed in 1946 which were consistently successful. Cow Palace was designated for public use in 1949 and began to be used for other presentations such as concerts, sports events, and two Republican National conventions. Recurring events include the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus since 1948, Disney on Ice, the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair, and most famously, used as the home of the San Francisco Warriors (now called the Golden State Warriors). Some notable standalone events include the 1949 U.S. Heavyweight Boxing Championships; appearances by J.F.K and Martin Luther King Jr.; and performances from musical legends such as the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Liberace, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, the Doors, Neil Young and Crazy Horse Metallica, Nirvana, and Prince. In 1982, the pavilion was featured in the film The Right Stuff and the second installment of the Star Trek films. Cow Palace remains in active use today and while sports events take up the majority of bookings, the arena continues to house the largest rodeo and livestock expos.