Flooding and Neglect Threaten a Vintage Collector’s Hidden Gems

Willy has been collecting items since the 1960s. He used to be a Muni driver, a taxi driver, he even worked for the post office. But his collection is nearly ruined, and it’s a sad example of what happens to elderly residents in San Francisco who don’t have adequate support as they age and face unique mental health challenges.

Krystyl (@san.franciscovintage) is a volunteer and vintage collector who is helping Willy sort through his rotting and imperiled collection. She explains, “I got invited by a vendor acquaintance to what I thought was an estate sale a year ago. When I got there, I discovered it was actually a senior citizen in desperate need of money.” This is how Krystyl first met the gentleman who goes by the name Tiger Willy. “He was selling off his personal belongings in order to pay his bills.” 

Krystyl realized this wasn’t just an estate sale. “I offered to help him to see if I could make the most of the dollar to get better returns for him. He accepted my offer and I’ve been helping him clean out his basement.” Willy’s collection is in a 2000 square foot storage basement in a multipurpose building in the Bayview. He has been collecting since the ‘60s but he didn’t get the storage space until 1986.

On Willy’s Muni route, Playland-at-the-Beach was his last stop. When Playland closed one part of the park, he bought one of the original bumper cars. Then when Playland officially closed in 1973, he also bought the pinball machines from the arcade. Krystyl says, “That’s the kind of [treasure] you’ll find down there. Weird little knick knacks of history that’s been forgotten.”

Over time, Willy got into real estate and had disposable income. “He’d go to yard sales and antique malls. Rather than doing anything about it, he’d just wrap it up, put it into a box, and put it into this storage. His dream, one day, was to open a museum with all of this stuff.” But he stopped putting things into storage in 2002 or 2003. According to Krystyl, around that time the basement started flooding and the owner told him that he had to pick his stuff up off the ground. The owner explained, “If you don’t, your stuff could get damaged.” 

But for some reason, Willy didn’t. Instead, he shut down mentally. “He didn’t open the doors again until about a year and a half ago. Imagine…” Since then, there’s been years of flooding, dampness, and mold. Boxes have fallen over. “A lot of the things that were once valuable have now been destroyed because they’re rusty or there’s been water damage. It’s disgusting.” 

Content Warning: This video contains a deceased raccoon. Viewers be advised. 

Krystyl offered to help him sell the things of value, but she says the biggest problem is that the things of value “aren’t on the surface level. They could be buried in a box.” She’s spent the last year cleaning out anything that’s not salvageable. 

“The last dump run, we did almost 3000 pounds of trash out of there.” She says they’ve gone on multiple trips to the dump. And to add to the challenge, Willy is being evicted. 

“He’s behind on the rent,” she says. “I did an estate sale two weekends ago and not enough money is comig out of it.” She’s also been doing private appointments to try and help Willy raise money to pay his bills. 

“He’s almost 80 years old. The system has failed him in a lot of ways. He definitely has [mental health challenges],” she says. 

“The reason I inserted my foot into the situation was because I just saw a senior citizen that needed help. It had nothing to do with the stuff that was there. It was just this old man who was just trying to get someone to listen to his story and help him. Everybody was willing to humor him because he’s an old man, but nobody was willing to actually say, ‘Let me help you.’”

According to her Instagram 100% of the proceeds go to the elderly gentleman. When she started, the storage space was packed floor-to-ceiling. “Every day that I go down there, I’m throwing away something that is tragic. It sucks.” 

One of the best treasures Krystyl helped sell was a 1940s Old Crow advertising display. It’s a giant crow, about 2.5 feet tall, made of celluloid, wearing a tophat and carrying a cane. She says it’s supposed to look like an old dandy. “Probably worth quite a bit of money in pristine condition. In the condition it was in, it wasn’t worth anything and I was lucky to get anything for it.” The head was broken off and the item was missing its cane. It broke her heart as a fellow vintage lover.

Some Happy Endings

But on the flipside, Krystyl is happy that she was able to help save the Playland bumper cars. “They’re such a cool part of San Francisco history that no longer exists. Even though there was no stamp to them, just having the story made them extra special.” 

The person who bought the pinball machines owns a car dealership in Sacramento and plans to restore them for his waiting room. And the bumper car was acquired by someone from the Central Valley who has always dreamed about getting one to turn into an art car for Burning Man. “Hopefully they are living their best next life… Both of those outcomes, that’s Willy’s dream. He wants people to take things out of the basement that they’ll appreciate for years to come.” 

Help For Elders

Conservatorship is a hot topic in California. Krystyl doesn’t necessarily think that’s something that would benefit Willy. Instead, she wishes there was “the right mental health person who’s patient and understanding. Just to say, ‘Let me hold your hand to get to this next step.’” Especially when it comes to finances. “He handles day-to-day life pretty well. He can feed himself. He dresses himself. He goes to the doctor on his own.” It’s a stark reminder that mental health struggles, especially in elderly folks, show up differently or may not even be visible from the outside. Particularly if it’s in a dark, locked basement.

Climate Change Strikes Again

The storage unit began flooding in the 2000s. “It’s so close to the Bay that when the water started rising over there, the building’s so old… The drainage system just never got upgraded. The water has risen but the building hasn’t risen.” Even though the basement has a drain, it overflows a lot. “There’s not really much that could be done about that.” 

Krystyl says she’s helped look into the legality of whether Willy can recoup any of the money he’s lost. “He doesn’t have a leg to stand on. When the landlord notifies you that there’s a potential problem and tells you the steps that you have to take to mitigate said problem and you don’t do that… The liability falls onto you as the tenant.” 

Krystyl says, “If anyone wants to come shop his private collection (aka hoard) or meet him in person to hear about his story , they can reach out to me on instagram @san.franciscovintage. He’s VERY shy! But he looooooooves talking about the history of San Francisco and the changes he’s seen over the years.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with hoarding, there are resources. In San Francisco, you can visit https://www.mentalhealthsf.org/hoarding to find help, including peer support, training, counseling, and more.