On a gray San Francisco afternoon, a burst of color on Sanchez Street cuts through the gloom: spinning pinwheels, bubbles filling the air and a small metal box filled with trinkets meant to brighten someoneโs day.
Known as the Castro Trinket Trade, the curbside setup near 16th Street has become a neighborhood attraction.
โIt’s very fun and very community-building and community-oriented. Everyone loves it; kids, adults, you name it,โ said Emily Izenman, the creator behind the project, which is next to the steps of her home.
Izenman, 28, initially came across trinket boxes in other states. After encountering one in the Outer Sunset, she was inspired to put together her own.
After four months of preparation, including designing the box and accumulating trinkets, she opened the Castro Trinket Trade for business March 7.
The boxโs pronouns are she/her, and visitors are expected to follow one basic rule: take a trinket, leave a trinket.ย ย
Initially, a few people did some trinket-taking but disregarded the trade-in aspect of the deal.
Clearer wording on the trinket trade box, as well as padlocks and metal chains (primarily used overnight), and warnings that security cameras are operating, have helped improve trinket box behavior.
The trinkets themselves, arranged in and on top of the box, include small and large figurines, jewelry, stickers, erasers, buttons, key rings and pens.
Some trinkets are handmade or vintage; others are odd, such as clay pumpkins with quirky facial expressions. One standout item: a mini-trinket-trade box that someone left inside the Castro box.ย
Queer-owned businesses in the neighborhood have also contributed items, such as a free drink ticket from Midnight Sun, a bar on 18th Street.
โIt can be anything, really,โ said Izenman, an avid trinket collector herself. โI want the box to reflect whatever the community brings to it.โ
Izenman works remotely as a community manager for Sermo, a social network platform for physicians. That allows her to see the trinket trade box action โ and listen to peopleโs comments โ from her apartment window.
โI will literally hear so many compliments, like, โOh my God. What is this? This is so cute. Did you see this?โ Everybody kind of has their own way of discovering it,โ she said.
Within months, similar trinket trades have popped up throughout San Francisco neighborhoods. Thereโs the Noe Valley Trinket Trade on Sanchez and Alvarado streets, the Richmond Trinket Trade on 23rd Avenue between Balboa and Anza streets, and the Sunnyside Trinket Trade at 256 Monterey Blvd.
Running a trinket trade in the cityโs historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood holds a certain significance for Izenman, who identifies as bisexual.
โIn the Castro, itโs specifically a space for people to come and just stop by and have a slice of queer joy when there’s a lot going on in the world right now against LGBTQ people and just different diverse groups in general,โ she said.
To encourage connections, Izenman set up a pint-sized mailbox. Every Thursday on TikTok, sheโll read a few of the notes people dropped in and offer trinkets to their authors.
On one note, a person shared that their father was undergoing radiation and feeling down, but when he came across the trinket trade box, it lifted his spirits. Izenman sent the note-writerโs father a goody bag.
People also express themselves on rainbow-hued scratch paper shaped like hearts, horses and squares. Many are clipped to a hanging display on the side of Izenmanโs staircase.
โThanks for keeping my walks entertaining!โ one of them wrote recently.
In April, Izenman had an Easter egg hunt at the trinket trade, and the top three plastic egg finders won trinkets.
Sheโs also introduced a โFind the golden ticketโ game, with the ticket hidden somewhere in or near the trinket box. The winner gets to select a prize, among which are plushies, Smiskis โ small, glow-in-the-dark creatures created in Japan โ and trinkets sheโs curated from her trove, based on a personโs interests.
Since introducing the Castro Trinket Trade, Izenman heads outside every morning, prior to its 9 a.m. opening, to ensure everything is tidy, organized and secure. She then periodically checks in on it throughout the day.
Plus, itโs growing. Last month the purple-painted planter beneath the trinket box, which keeps the display upright, transformed into โ what else? โ a fairy garden.
Full of succulents, small houses, various sized mushrooms and a plethora of figures, including buddhas, gnomes and animals, itโs a miniature fantasy village.
Next on the to-do list is a bench with fairies spray-painted on it. The idea is to offer visitors a spot to sit and take it all in, while also giving children something to stand on to peer inside the box. Thereโs more to come, Izenman promises.
โI want to keep thinking of games and ways to make people excited,โ she said. โIt’s like a whole side gig I’ve created for myself.โ
The Castro Trinket Trade is located on Sanchez Street between 15th and 16th streets. Itโs open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. throughout the week โ rain, fog or shine.