By Joe Bonadio

I can barely believe it myself, but as I type this there is only a week left until Christmas Day. Like the rest of this year, this holiday season is absolutely flying by, and if you’re like most of us, you’ve probably still got names on your Christmas list. If that’s you, I’ve got a great recommendation: Real Old Paper Gallery in Fisherman’s Wharf.

Movie posters are a sure bet for gifts, as this one for Steve McQueen and Le Mans shows. Price: $450

If you’re a regular on the blog, you’ve undoubtedly read about these guys here already. If not, then here’s the deal: Real Old Paper is the only vintage poster shop in Northern California, helmed by a gentleman by the name of Andy England. Andy opened his original location in North Beach all the way back in 2016, and I’ve been writing about him ever since. 

Many of you might be asking, what exactly is a vintage poster? After all, you don’t run across this kind of shop every day, so it warrants some explanation. 

Lambretta was an Italian competitor of Vespa, and this horizontal poster is a gem. Price: $625

These are original advertising posters, for everything from liquor to travel, from tobacco to classic movies, and everything in between. A lot of them are well over a hundred years old (thirty years is the cutoff for vintage in the poster world), and many are among the most recognizable images of the late 19th and early 20th Century. 

Posters for national parks are highly sought after, and this one dates to 1950. Price: $1,350

But more to the point on such an auspicious date: vintage posters make the most brilliant gifts. In terms of budget, most of the stuff in Andy’s shop ranges from $200 to about $3,000, but there is plenty in the single digits as well–and you can typically get a nice movie poster for a few hundred bucks.

Only the best kind of people patronize the Real Old Paper Gallery (Ahem).

Gifts aside, there are cool things of all sizes for your walls at home, so it’s worth taking the tour. From old Vargas pinups to obscure travel posters from the end of the 19th century through the Forties, Fifties and Sixties, there are hundreds of authentic pieces you simply won’t see anywhere else.

The gallery is open from 11-5 every day, and will be offering a local discount through the end of December, so check them out. 

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Real Old Paper Gallery
777 Beach Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-527-8333

realoldpaper.com