photographer unknown
I
was writing another article about the year 1958 (see link below). The
ferries that crossed the San Francisco bay were discontinued that year.
Writing about it brought to mind one of the most fantastic personalities
concerning ferry boats that ever lived. She was
Juanita Musson who ran various restaurants from 1953 to 1984. But it is Juanita's Galley in
Sausalito in the early 1960's I will never forget.
One of the old San Francisco ferry boats, the Charles van Damme, built in 1916, was a sidewheel ferry that carried cars and passengers between Richmond and San Rafael for 40 years. It was bought by Donlon Arques at auction in 1959. He brought her to her final resting place at Gate 6 in Sausalito. Juanita opened her restaurant, Juanita’s Galley, on the first level of the ferry.
I distinctly remember Juanita; she was quite a piece of work; when someone who was obviously a tourist came in and stood hesitantly at the door, she would scream at them (no matter WHERE in the restaurant she was at the moment) to quit gawking at the door and sit anywhere. She was so loud (crass is a better word) it sometimes made the tourist scurry back out the door. No matter, there were more people waiting to get in. Her most famous quote was, "Eat it, or wear it!" She could arrive at a table holding her pet pig or monkey and might answer a complaint about the food by dumping a heaping plate into the patron's lap.
waiting for the next tourist
photographer unknown
She
was born Juanita Hudspeth in rural Texas in 1923. She lived around the
southwest in her youth, and married a soldier named Richard Musson in
Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1944. After the war ended, Richard Musson was stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco.
She was fodder for Herb Cain's column in the San Francisco Chronicle.
“I first ran across Juanita, or she across me, when she opened
Juanita’s Galley in Sausalito during the middle 1950s. She was and is a
big girl — some 225 pounds of quivering, pulsating heart concealed in an
amorphous mass. Since she liked to eat and drink, obviously, she liked
other people to drink and eat. “– Herb Cain, Chronicle, 1975
“Juanita
Musson has been described as the drinking man’s Julia Child. I don’t
know if that’s accurate, but I like the sound. Style writer Cynthia
Robins called her brash, bibulous and bawdy. Now, that I know about.” — Jim Wood, Examiner, 1991
M.F.K. Fisher said, "I often ate at her place...because she was such a colorful character..." "The food
was good home-cooking, prepared with a mother's love & served with
the style of a lubricated longshoreman."
“Her
‘ear muff' prank consisted of sneaking up behind an unsuspecting diner
and swinging each muumuu-wrapped breast up against the victim’s ears.
Then she would cackle loudly and leave." — Sonoma Index-Tribune, 2/28/11 (she muffed me once! It was the second time in my life that had happened; the first not by her, but that's another story.)
Juanita wearing her "uniform" muumuu (1976)
photo by Lewis Steward
Not surprisingly, she was friends with madam and eventual mayor of Sausalito,
Sally Stanford. Juanita was asked if she'd worked for Stanford and she'd reply, “I never charged a nickel from a horizontal position.”
Juanita
herself said more than once she was no angel, “but I ain't never turned
away an animal that didn't have a home, and I ain't never turned away a
man who was hungry.”
She
was fond of animals - most of her places featured assorted pets of some
kind, wandering in and out. They included monkeys, chickens, goats,
dogs and cats (that would NEVER get past the health department now). Once or twice she adopted an orphaned fawn deer (see fawn link below).
After
three bawdy years, it was closed by a gang fight and what has been
gracefully called the triumph of Juanita's "generosity over her business
sense." The Internal Revenue Service seized the Galley as Juanita was
somewhat careless about taking care of her taxes.
Jaunita Muson (2006)
photographer unknown
Juanita died from a stroke on February 26, 2011, at Agua Caliente Villa, a resort hotel turned retirement home in Sonoma County. She was 87. Her ashes were scattered in the bay off Sausalito.
photographer unknown
photographer unknown
photographer unknown
There is a great video with the
ferry boats in operation on YouTube
There are two books concerning Juanita Muson
Juanita: The Madcap Adventures
of a Legendary Restaurateur
and
Juanita's Eat It or Wear It Cookbook
after the recipes there are some great photos
with commentaries by Juanita,
well worth buying for the
entertainment value if nothing else
Links to Juanita stuff:
Most
of the information I got was from the links listed below but there was
MUCH more information in them than I have used. Check them out to find
out more about Juanita and the Charles van Damme.
The Sausalito Historical Society
webpage devoted to Juanita.
Juanita's
Eat It or Wear It Cookbook is available through
Alibris and
Amazon
ferry boats in operation on YouTube
(CAUTION: it is PG rated).
Adios, Juanita, I don't think anyone who met you will ever forget you.
Styrous ~ March 2, 2013
There are two other related (believe it or not) Viewfinder articles:
