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Mini Series, St Francis Hotel, Day 1 of 3
I thought we'd spend a few days looking into San Francisco's landmark St. Francis Hotel located on Union Square. The grand hotel is famous for a number of historic events and unusual facts. So many in fact that the hotel employs its own full time historian. One unusual fact is that the St. Francis is the only hotel in the world that will clean its guests' coins. This is extravagant service dates back to the 1930s when women's white gloves were soiled by handing used coins. The St. Francis will also exchange crisp new bills for any circulated currency. This focus on detail extends to fresh ocean water piped into the hotel's Turkish baths.

Another well-known feature of the St. Francis is the lobby clock. For more than one hundred years people have been reuniting under the huge clock, it has served as a meeting site for families and lovers, businessmen and tourist alike. During WWII the clock became a symbol of hope as many couples made a promise to meet there after the war when the troop ships returned. The historic Great Magneta clock was built in Vienna in 1856 and installed in 1907, three years after the opening of the hotel. It was the first master clock ever brought to the West and as a master clock, it controls all the other clocks in the hotel.

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