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The Salvation Army was founded in London in 1865 by a former Methodist preacher and his wife, William and Catherine Booth, as a religious and service organization to help feed the cities hungry, especially at Christmas time.
Although the first American Salvation Army was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it was its founding in San Francisco, in 1883, that was to have the biggest impact on the whole of the organization.
What may have originally been a crab pot, was set up by the ferry to Oakland by a couple of the Salvation Army volunteers, to raise money to help feed the hungry for Christmas. This pot, now in red, has become one of their most iconic symbols.
A commemorative plaque, at the unusual location of sidewalk level, is on the first San Francisco building of The Salvation Army.
As seen 14 September 2022.