A cross section of Bay Area history
Over the span of seven years, Amber Whitson spent countless hours digging beneath the topsoils of her home on the Albany landfill. With each item meticulously unearthed, cleaned, and catalogued, Amber’s “nifties”—as she calls them—have amassed into a collection of discarded treasure that at one time opened the doors, churned the machines, and lined the pockets of bygone East Bay residents. Once the abandoned refuse of human value and utility, these items now serve to highlight a unique cross section of Bay Area history: a story of industrialization, consumption, convenience, and waste; a testament to our arrogance and ambivalence; our coercive relationships with nature and its materials; our wars, our craft, our vanity, our play.
Collected by Amber Whitson, curated by Bradley Penner, photographed by Albert Jiang and Jennifer Yip.
Bradley Penner is the Editor and Lead Reporter of Street Spirit.