Tag: Tullig

Known better as the Lavender Man, Anthony Barrett was well known in San Francisco as the blind man who for some 45 years sold small packets of lavender from a booth, outside the Emporium on Market Street, San Francisco, at one time, the largest shopping centre west of Chicago.
Anthony was born and raised in Tullig, Millstreet, and emigrated with his sister Catherine to the US in 1901. He found employment in the mines of Arizona, but an explosion there in 1905 saw him lose his sight. He went to San Francisco  for treatment but his sight was gone forever. Unemployed and desperate he bought some lavender, put it into simple paper wrappers, displayed them on a tray suspended on his shoulders and took a stand (in later years he sat) at the west entrance to the Emporium. There he was to remain—a living landmark.
He was quiet, well presented and made many friends there. He was helped by a family friend Liz O’Shea, who was originally of Minor Row in Millstreet, with whose family he lived with them for many years. With Liz, he returned to Millstreet for the summer of 1928.
He died on March 26th 1955, at Laguna Honda Hospital, aged 75. He had been sick for three years, and his presence was missed outside the Emporium. So well known was he that this photo of him appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle at the time of his death. [read more …] “Anthony Barrett – The Lavendar Man”