Gifts from San Francisco's museums

Sunset, Dec, 1986

Gifts from San Francisco's museums

Specialists are a challenge to shop for. Where do you find holiday gifts to pique the interest of that collector of Jalisco cats, those cable-car chasers, that know-it-all knot-tier, or that student of Italian culture?

Museum stores are a good bet. But if you don't find what you're looking for at the shops in San Francisco's major museums --the California Academy of Sciences, the de Young or the Palace of the Legion of Honor, the Museum of Modern Art--there are alternatives. Many of the city's smaller, more specialized museums also contain stores offering a wide variety of objects for the enthusiast. Some carry distinctive Christmas ornaments.

To get you started, we list several.

American Indian Contemporary Arts, 685 Market Street, Suite 270 (in the newly refurbished Monadnock Building); (415) 495-7600. Open noon to 5:30 Tuesdays through Saturdays. Stocks Southwest pottery, Navajo jewelry, blankets, rugs, books, posters, and prints.

Cable Car Museum, 1201 Mason Street; 474-1887. Open 10 to 5 daily. Store sells a wide range of cable car-related items, including books, T-shirts, models, posters, jewelry, and Christmas ornaments.

California Crafts Museum, Ghirardelli Square, Cocoa Building, second floor; 771-1919. Open 11 to 6 daily. One-of-a-kind handmade items include bowls, scarves, baskets, glass, and toys.

Galeria de la Raza, 2857 24th Street; 826-8009. Hours are noon to 6 Tuesdays through Saturdays. The shop specializes in Mexican folk art, including Christmas ornaments, silver jewelry, toys, and cards.

The Mexican Museum, Building D, Fort Mason; 441-0404. Open noon to 5 Wednesdays through Sundays. The museum shop ("la Tienda') carries folk-art animals from Mexico and Central and South America. You'll find Nativity scenes made out of matchboxes and candelabras; hanging ornaments, clothing, folk-art books.

Museo Italo Americano, Building C, Fort Mason; 673-2200. Open noon to 5 Wednesdays through Sundays. Created by Italians and Italian-Americans, items include Florentine wrapping paper and glasses cases, pottery dessert plates, silk scarves, sleek modern pen sets, jewelry.

Treasure Island Museum, Building 1; 765-6182. Open 10 to 3:30 daily. Inside the vast, curving exhibit hall built for the Treasure Island exposition of 1939, the tiny shop offers sailors' hats, books on the Pacific Fleet and the China Clippers, and sea services paraphernalia. Take Treasure Island exits from the Bay Bridge; stop at the guardhouse for a pass and directions.

Photo: Candelabra Nativities from Puebla and Peru, Jalisco cat and Guatemalan watermelon ornaments indicate range of Latin American items available at this museum store in Fort Mason

Photo: Paper replicas of World War II fighter planes, sailor caps, knot kits, history books, and more are for sale at Treasure Island Museum

Photo: Firenze and Milano are sources for many items in small, modern shop at Fort Mason's Museo Italo Americano