Author: Caroline Yee, Graphics: Anna Szymoniak
The BRB Bottomline: Telegraph Avenue narrates a storied history as a hub of counterculture movements, activism, and overall vibrant community life. From its roots in the 1960s Free Speech Movement to the present-day economic challenges faced by its vendors and small businesses, Telegraph Avenue has continued to protect its unique cultural heritage amidst changing times.
The Telegraph Mystique
Known for its “world-class people-watching,” coined by the Telegraph Business Improvement District, Telegraph Avenue is the beating heart of the city of Berkeley, California with its hundreds of shops and restaurants and its proximity to the University of California, Berkeley. Telegraph’s vibrant culture, famed history, and economic health constitute its eccentricity. However, it can be hard to visualize today what Telegraph once was: a street that laid witness to one of the most dynamic eras in recent American history. In the sixties and seventies, young drifters and counterculture intellectuals flocked to Berkeley amidst political, social, and ideological rife due to its growing reputation of radicalism. All within the same decade, the Free Speech Movement was born and prevailed to fruition. Thousands rallied through the streets protesting against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. During the same time, student-led initiatives to prevent University development on a plot of land transpired in hopes of designating a safe space for community-gatherings, resulting in what we now know as People’s Park.
Simultaneously, those who called themselves ‘hippies’ were settling down in the neighborhoods located North of U.C. Berkeley’s campus and along Telegraph, located in Southside, living a simple lifestyle of love and honing their artisanship. From these hippies came the original art vendors of Telegraph. Unfortunately, as reported by street vendors today, over the decades, these art vendors have significantly decreased in their presence on Telegraph Avenue. Yet, though th artists’ presence is scarce, their legacy remains an essential part of Berkeley culture and socioeconomics, serving as living ties to the vibrant counter-culture movements of the sixties and seventies.
Photo: Nacio Jan Brown, published 09/03/2020 – Vendors outside of Cody’s Books
Cody’s Campaign
Counter to what some may assume, art vendors were not always amicably welcomed on Telegraph Avenue. It was only in the sixties – dubbed the “Golden Era for street vendors” in Berkeley by Berkeleyside, Berkeley’s nonprofit news organization – when privately owned stores, still existing today and including Annapurna and Moe’s Bookstore, began opening their sidewalks to crafters and vendors. The first to do it was none other than Cody’s Books in 1967, a well-loved store recognized for its dedication to serving Berkeley’s community.
Originally, Berkeley placed a strict ‘peddler’s law’ that required any street vendor to move every five minutes while on public property. Realizing that the sidewalk in front of his bookstore was private property, Pat Cody opened up “Cody’s Plaza” – the already existing sidewalk space in front of the store – to the first vendors: Hasan and Barbara Erfani, who were hoping to sell flowers in front of Cody’s shop. Soon after, others followed, and the front of his store became packed with more and more young vendors, hoping to make a living off of their craftsmanship. Months later, Cody fought against city officials on behalf of the art vendors and helped change the peddling ordinance, opening Telegraph up for vendors and merchants for the decades to come and making it into a melting pot of political activism, hippies, artists, and students. The three blocks from Haste Street to Bancroft Way became packed with vendors, competing over four-foot areas of sidewalk space to sell their wares. Thanks to Cody’s compassion and unfaltering ambition, the culture of Telegraph was changed forever.
The Pride and Joy of Berkeley: Small Businesses
Small businesses have historically been protected in Berkeley as they help the economy of Telegraph Avenue to flourish and, as a result, the city-wide economy as well. The arts and culture sector alone brings in $165 million in economic activity, provides 6,783 jobs, and accumulates $11 million in earnings from visitors to the city. In 1999, the Berkeley City Code banned “carry out service” and “quick service” restaurants, encouraging community members to dine in at local restaurants and consequently boosting the local economy. This ban lasted ten years and resulted in Berkeley’s reputation for having a top-tier restaurant scene.
Berkeley’s wide array of non-dining establishments has also withstood the test of time and the introduction of chain stores throughout the years. Bookstores, such as Pegasus and Moes, have held their ground against larger bookstore chains due to their unique histories in the city. Even iconic Berkeley clothing stores, such as Mars Mercantile, adapted to the presence of bigger fashion brands by shifting their business toward carefully-selected second-hand apparel, until this past summer. In a way, small businesses had the upper-hand over big chain stores like Barnes & Nobles or Adidas – both of which once existed on the street but eventually left – as they have been the backbone of the reputation and culture of Berkeley.
Tourism is an essential part of Berkeley’s economy with $11 million in earnings in the art sector coming from visitors of the city. Many of these tourists come to explore the rich history of the University that is so dynamically interwoven with Telegraph’s long-standing businesses. According to Stuart Baker, former executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District, many European tourists travel to U.C. Berkeley because they have heard about its history with the Free Speech Movement and its legacy of academic excellence. Some parents tell their children, “in Paris we had the Sorbonne, and, in the U.S., they had Berkeley.”
Facing New Challenges
In the past decade, online shopping, generational change, COVID-19, and the rising cost of living in Berkeley have forced many vendors to move their businesses to a more stable spot to sell unless they wish to risk the possibility of shutting down for good. Some of the street’s most longstanding vendors such as Tamai Pearson, seller of Batik-printed clothing and Rastafarian art, have mostly packed up their businesses, calling Berkeley a “ghost town” while determining that, most weeks, setting up shop is not worth it. Many require second jobs to stay afloat with the rising costs of living in California. Just last year, Berkeley was ranked the tenth most expensive city in the state of California, with median house prices at $1,059,500, according to the Economics Research Institute.
Conversations with vendors today reveal that most attribute the pandemic lockdown as the most damaging time for their business. Unemployment in Alameda County peaked at 7.6% in 2020. 37% of all small businesses in Berkeley shifted to online sales or virtual services that year, shutting down in-person shopping. But, there are other reasons that contribute to the overall shortage in the quantity of sales for these vendors we see today, especially as the COVID lockdown continues to fade from our memories while most places attempt to regain normalcy.
Generational change, in which every new batch of students who come to Berkeley brings Telegraph further and further from the hippies of the 60’s, may be the leading culprit to the declining presence of art vendors on Telegraph. With each new generation, it becomes easier to pass by artists’ stands without a second glance. Many of the longest-standing vendors appear as strangers to most who don’t understand their historical role on the street. Additionally, for vendors who are mostly in their later years, perhaps less familiar with technology, and who painstakingly handcraft their wares, it becomes increasingly more challenging to compete for attention from students who have more ‘convenient,’ possibly cheaper alternatives online, like through Etsy – a global marketplace for artists and crafters to sell their handmade creations – or cheap jewelry brands. This escalation in competition remains relentless as online shoppers can purchase goods at any time of the day, regardless of business hours. “Window shopping” at vendors’ stands has largely been replaced by scrolling through websites.
A Witness To It All
While many have faced adversity in recent years, Diana Yoshida is now in her 51st year of successfully selling her jewelry on Telegraph. She grew up in the redlined neighborhoods of Berkeley until, eventually, starting her career as a school teacher. However, inevitably, her self-proclaimed “beatnik” tendencies propelled her to start selling jewelry. So, Yoshida commenced her journey in the era where hundreds of hippies and vendors would be packed into the three blocks from Haste to Bancroft. While pausing to serve customers every few minutes, she shared insight into her perspective of how Telegraph changed throughout the years, referring to the art vending community as a “dying breed.”
“A lot of [the vendors] got older. A lot of them died. A lot of them started doing other things, and there’s no one to replace them anymore because society shifted.”
Indeed, every decade further from the hippie movement brings new sets of cultural norms. U.C. Berkeley students who walk through Telegraph today often look at phones or rush to get somewhere through the thick crowds that amass on the sidewalks. The free-spirited, anti-establishment mindset has since transformed. “There’s no place for young people to hang out, and they have no initiative to because they just do everything on the phone.”
Even amongst vendors, Diana notes a change in culture as well. In the past, vending permits were given only to those who created their own authentic art. Today, some choose to re-sell crafts that they purchase from other sources due to budget constraints on things like time and resources. As for COVID, Diana was relatively unaffected by the lockdown due to her longstanding business and established customer base. Regular customers, an established source of income, frugal spending practices, and social security benefits are the factors that kept her afloat during the recent tumultuous years.
So, what makes her continue to sell jewelry despite how much Telegraph has changed since she began decades ago? Her answer reflects the love she has for her hometown (through the struggles and the triumphs) and her hope for the future of Berkeley: “This is my hometown. If the young people don’t abuse their democracy, I wanna see it out in my life. This is still the frontier, and we are the example for the rest of the world for democracy and for change.”
Telegraph Lives On
Current mayor Jesse Arreguin wrote about the importance of small businesses for Berkeley in 2022, in which he states, “It is my firm belief that public investments in the Arts and economic development go hand in hand. In addition to fostering civic pride, a flourishing arts scene will bring new visitors to our City and more revenue to local businesses.” His goals for uplifting artists post-pandemic include expanding outdoor commerce and increasing city funding for local artists by increasing the budget for the Civil Arts Grand Program to $500,000.
Student organizations like Telegraph For People have taken action to ensure the health and longevity of the street. They advocate for a car-free Telegraph, citing reasons of dignity and safety for pedestrians, allowing space for street vendors to sell their wares without “just being passed by by students trying to escape cramped sidewalks,” and for making Telegraph a destination rather than something to pass through. Additionally, the city holds ‘Second Sunday’ events every year that block off the street from cars and hold massive markets to boost local shops and restaurants and highlight the work of Berkeley’s artisans.
Berkeley holds a special place in the hearts of its transient student population, but it is the enduring presence of community members and business owners, particularly the art vendors who have weathered the storms of time on Telegraph Avenue, that truly defines the city’s culture. Their resilience, creativity, and unwavering commitment to their craft embody the spirit of Berkeley that enriches the entire community. They are vital contributors to our city’s cultural and economic health, and their continued presence and recognition must prevail long after our own U.C. Berkeley journeys have ended. By ensuring this, Telegraph Avenue may remain a beacon of diversity, creativity, and resilience for generations to come.
Take-Home Points
- Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley has a rich history as a hub of counterculture movements, activism, and vibrant community life, dating back to the dynamic eras of the 1960’s and 70’s.
- Art vendors have played a significant role in Telegraph Avenue’s culture, originally emerging from the hippie movement and contributing to the street’s iconic status in Berkeley. However, their presence has diminished over the decades due to various challenges.
- Despite facing adversity such as online shopping, generational change, and the impact of COVID-19, art vendors on Telegraph Avenue continue to persevere, showcasing resilience and dedication to their craft.
- The decline in art vendor presence reflects broader shifts in cultural norms and economic realities, including the rising cost of living in Berkeley and changing consumer behavior among U.C. Berkeley students.
- Efforts to support Telegraph Avenue’s vendors and preserve its unique character include advocacy for a car-free Telegraph, community events like ‘Second Sundays,’ and city initiatives aimed at uplifting and funding small businesses and local artists.