Tommy's Plants

Tommy's Plants at 566 Castro Street; This was a launderette prior to the gay era. It became Tommy's Plants in the early 1970s. Tommy was one of the first to be struck down by AIDS, which has obviously played a factor in store turnover in the neighborhood. The building facade is unusual here; it is sometimes found in old-style mortuaries. This neighborhood was probably the locale for "I remember Mama," a novel written in San Francisco about Norwegian immigrants, and possibly the mortuary owned by the plain man who marries "Mama's" spinster sister.