May 27, 2005
Oh, for the life of a sailor in Gold-Rush San Francisco! Those hard-luck men and boys were lucky enough to witness the birth of a brand new wild west verb up close and personally: Shanghai!
Well, maybe not so lucky after all… the results were perhaps picturesque, but not at all pleasant.
Here are a few images from the period… cameras were few and far between, of course, but the image of the bar girls here is priceless…
Check out The Sea Wolf by Jack London (1904) for a vivid look at the harsh realities of life on the sea.
Sparkletack was the blog and podcast of a guy obsessed with diggin' up San Francisco history. The site is on permanent hiatus.
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May 28, 2005 at 7:41 pm
thanks colin, i appreciate the nice thoughts — glad i could contribute a good memory or two to your day. i’m thinking about doing a whole show about the bushman one of these days… a genuine character!
May 27, 2005 at 7:41 pm
Enjoyed your Shanghai podcast nearly as much as I enjoed visiting your city a few years ago. Give mty regards to The Bushman !! Your mention brought back some good memories.
Colin
Liverpool
England
October 17, 2008 at 5:20 am
Richard,
Fantastic Blog!
As a former bay area resident I was familiar with the term, ‘shanghaied’ and what it meant, but not the history.
Fascinating!
Muchas gracias amigo,
Happily Retired in Ajijic, Mexico,
Joel
http://www.CasaPreciosaAjijic.com