Store 6 (1948-1968)
Sutter & Stockton, San Francisco
In 1931, Paul Elder Jr. (1906-1995) quit a promising career as a cellist
and began working in Paul Sr's bookstore. He gradually assumed management
roles as his father's health declined, becoming president and manager
in 1943. Paul Jr. was joined in the business by his wife Eloise (1909-1973).
She was a former artist and coordinated the continuing series of book readings and art exhibits.
On 1 June 1948, four months after the death of its founder, Paul Elder & Company
made its final move to the southwest corner of Sutter & Stockton. Paul Jr and Eloise
were clearly putting their stamp on the 50-year-old business.
The new bookstore was a marked departure from the previous shops, where atmosphere
had been the overriding concern. Here architect Bolton White created a modern,
open design, using extensive street-front windows and a bright--one might even
say gaudy--color scheme.
As happened in 1909 and 1920, some furnishings were brought along from the old stores.
Bernard Maybeck's carved screens from the 1909 store were installed at the base of the
stairway, and gothic windows from the 1920 store were installed on the wall above.
On 6 July 1949 Elder opened a satellite store in the Mills Building at 228 Montgomery--the
same location where his father had started out fifty-one years before. The store stocked
mostly specialized books for the financial district clientele.
In October 1968, Paul and Eloise sold the two stores to the New York firm Brentano's and
retired to their home in Marin County. "My wife Eloise and I have been working too hard,
too long", he told the San Francisco Chronicle. He was also dissatisfied with the
increasingly automated and computerized world of bookselling. He didn't say what he
would do next, but he added "It won't be another bookstore. But I'll be enjoying myself -- I always do."