San Francisco History Podcast – Sparkletack

the notorious lola montez [ 36:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

This week’s podcast grapples with the unbelievable legend of Lola Montez, the gorgeous Irish peasant girl with the soul of a grifter and the heart of a despot. She lived about three lifetimes’ worth of adventure, turning Europe upside down and provoking a revolution in Bavaria before conquering Gold Rush-era San Francisco with her scandalous “Spider Dance”.

Join me as I bravely trail this tempestuous adventuress across the world from London to Paris to Munich to San Francisco. Lola Montez was the inspiration for the phrase that’s probably already ringing in your head — “whatever Lola wants, Lola gets. She was self-created diva royalty who, in her own words, was “always notorious, never famous”.

For further edification:
» Research files from Bruce Seymour’s Lola Montez : a Life, an incredible resource
» Biography and photos
» Gravesite information
» Lola’s Grass Valley house
» George Macdonald Fraser’s “Harry Flashman”
» King Ludwig I of Bavaria– Wikipedia
» Ein Koenig und Seine Anregungen – Berliner Zeitung, 1998

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the bella union and the barbary coast [ 26:32 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

All sorts of San Francisco legends shared her stage and its Barbary Coast history, among them Oofty Goofty, Big Bertha, Lola Montez, Emperor Norton and little Lotta Crabtree. Today’s podcast tells the story of the 60 years in which the “Bella” was the most popular show in town.

For further edification:
» The Barbary Coast – Herbert Asbury, 1933
» San Francisco Theatrical Memories – James Madison, 1925
» Women in Early San Francisco
» Emperor Norton – Sparkletack
» Marriott’s “Avitor”

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the trolls of san francisco [ 10:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

The history of one of these hidden layers is, however, little known and rarely spoken of – I refer of course to the San Francisco trolls.

Though some hold that the trolls are a primitive people original to this area, and were in the hills even before the native american Ohlone, other, more reputable sources hold that the first trolls, or “underground peoples” as ethnocultural historians have named them, were actually disappointed miners, distraught by the dissipation of their golden gold rush dreams. Unable to return to their long-abandoned wives and families in the east, they utilized their skill at mining to create networks of caverns well hidden within the many hills of the young city.

And they are with us to this day.

For further edification:
» Trolls of San Francisco – setting the facts straight
» trance music – oddly, a favourite of trolls
» Mumiy Troll – Russian pop band – not really trolls at all
» San Francisco hill map – troll hill locations
» Troll – the completely inaccurate and biased anti-troll movie

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adolph sutro, the populist millionaire [ 27:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

This week’s podcast explores the history of the millionaire philanthropist who gave so much to our city and whose story is — amazingly — almost forgotten.

For further edification:
» The Western Neighborhoods Project– outsidelands.org
» Sutro bio from 1898 – sfmuseum.org
» Sutro Baths – National Park Service
» Sutro Baths – San Francisco Public Library
» Sutro properties photos

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the columbarium and the caretaker [ 28:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

In an attempt to answer the oft-voiced question "what is that thing, anyway?", in this week’s podcast a visit is finally paid to this sumptuous Victorian repository for cremated remains, the baroque center of what was once a 167 acre cemetery in the center of San Francisco. It’s a spectacular building, but the real discovery comes in the form of its soulful caretaker, Mr. Emmitt Watson.

For further edification:
» the Neptune Society
» Columbarium – sfhistoryencyclopedia.com
» Emmitt Watson interview – sfgate.com
» mystical connections?
» extispicy – blog entry
» Bernard Cahill – architect
» Columbarium – google maps

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the balclutha and the chantey sing [ 18:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

The Park Service website reads simply "sing traditional working songs aboard a floating vessel."

The songs? Sea chanteys. The vessel? A majestic iron-hulled squarerigger called the "Balclutha". I had no idea how inspiring the experience could be, nor how powerful. It turned out I had inadvertently wandered into a 25 year old San Francisco tradition: the “chantey sing”. This monthly gathering not only serves as a fascinating tie to our maritime history but also happens to be a unique and thriving San Francisco community.

Although I had gone down to the pier with no intention of doing research for a podcast, after five minutes on board I knew that "sparkletack #50" would be the perfect occasion to share this wonderful story.

For further edification:
» Hyde Street Pier – National Park Service
» Hyde Street Pier virtual tour
» chantey history
» more chantey history and lots of songs
» Todd Menton – chantey featured on Sparkletack

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sam clemens and the celebrated jumping frog [ 16:20 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

Though the rest of the country thinks of Samuel Langhorne Clemens as a southerner, it was a spell in San Francisco and the wilds of California which turned young Sam into "Mark Twain".

This week’s podcast tells the story of how a misfired duel, a bungled gold-mining claim, a suit for libel — and yes, a frog — conspired to create a work which took New York by storm and helped to forge an American original.

For further edification:
» The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
» Sam Clemens biography – albert paine
» Mark Twain in the west – pbs.org
» Annik’s “domain-jumped” website – restored!

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mark twain and the great earthquake of 1865 [ 17:23 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

By now just about every San Franciscophile has been alerted to the fact that April 18th of this year will mark the centennial of the 1906 earthquake — the Big One which destroyed the city that once was, and gave rise to the one which we inhabit today.

But the “Great Quake” of 1906 was only the second to bear the name.

The first great quake happened in 1865, and though its memory has faded somewhat, the coincidental presence of the young Sam Clemens (or Mark Twain, as the nation would soon discover) in San Francisco has preserved it. In this week’s podcast we’ll travel back to October of 1865 and listen to an American literary icon reminisce about that day.

For further edification:
» 1856 earthquake newspaper reports – sfmuseum.org
» Mark Twain in the West – pbs.org
» The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

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robert louis stevenson - chinatown treasure [ 30:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

San Francisco has a long-standing reputation as a literature-loving town, as evidenced by government statistics ranking us as having the highest per-capita spending on books in the country. Over the decades this city has nurtured a number of notable writers from Mark Twain to Dashiell Hammett.

However, there’s one literary memorial in town that has always puzzled me. That is the apparently incongruous monument to Robert Louis Stevenson set in the midst of Portsmouth Square, Chinatown’s open-air living room.

Robert Louis Stevenson? I know him as the author of one of my most beloved boyhood books, Treasure Island, but what was the connection with San Francisco – much less Chinatown?

For post-podcast edification:
» Stevenson essays – especially Across the Plains
» All things Stevenson
» One of a legion of Stevenson biographies

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san francisco fortune cookie [ 16:15 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

On a tour of the alleyways of Chinatown last week I learned something that I hadn’t heard before — namely, that the world-famous Chinese fortune cookie was invented right here in San Francisco.

That’s right — the fortune cookie is just about as Chinese as french toast is French. Which is to say, not at all.

Our young guide gave us the outlines of a history that is apparently well known around here, but something told me that it could bear a little further investigation — so I began to dig. it wasn’t long before I’d uncovered a number of competing claims, with contradictory connections to Japan, China, Los Angeles and of course, to San Francisco. Though a definitive answer remains elusive, have a listen and draw your own conclusions.

For further edification:
» Chinatown Alleyway Tours
» weird cookie fortunes
» Fortune Cookie Writer – New Yorker interview
» nice summary article

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frank chu just shows up [ 20:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

Downtown San Francisco on a Tuesday afternoon, and every businessman’s face looks the same. Whatever happened to eccentric and iconic characters like Emperor Norton and Oofty Goofty?

You search the streets, hoping desperately for a flicker of life or a flash of the eccentricity that once shaped our city. Then you spot something out of the corner of your eye. It’s a sign of some sort, with letters fluorescing brightly on a black background. It looms over the downtown lunchtime scene like an alien invader, moving inexorably towards you as you stand transfixed in the center of the sidewalk. It is upon you! You scarcely take in the bearer, a diminutive Asian man in wraparound sunglasses, because his neatly uppercase signboard, resplendent in red and green and luminous blue, communicates intensity:

12 Galaxies
titrokutikel covetousness
cnn: lexkroxanicul coverage
cuxgrozenikal
centrifuges rheumatoids
concubines

The message was different yesterday, featuring “triogonic scandal” and “dectrogonic skeptical preemptive miscreants”. Don’t be shy, scratch your head — but don’t forget to smile, because your wish has been granted: You’ve just encountered Frank Chu, man on a mission, and grade-A San Francisco eccentric.

For further edification:
» Wikipedia link
» starve.org – interview
» SF Gate – faq
» Zegnatronic Rocket Society – fansite
» 12 Galaxies – fansite
» FrankChu Tribe – fansite
» Brain Terminal – video
» This revolution will be televised – video
» TJ Crowley – blog
» 12 Galaxies – nightclub

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moving the dead - san francisco cemeteries [ 40:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

There are only three cemeteries left within the city limits of San Francisco.

Note the phrase carefully: “left” in San Francisco. There were once far more than just three, which makes perfect sense — after all, thousands upon thousands of San Franciscans have passed away since the establishment of Yerba Buena 170 years ago, and they all required a final resting place.

The question is, what happened to them… and where are they now?

I present today a short history of cemeteries in San Francisco, as well as the answer to the question of which three still remain.

For further edification:
» John Blackett’s San Francisco cemetery history – maps + photos
» San Francisco Genealogy – cemetery history
» San Francisco Virtual Museum – cemetery history
» recent Civic Center excavations
» San Francisco Columbarium

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san francisco motorcycle club - since 1904 [ 35:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

Established at the dawn of the century, the San Francisco Motorcycle Club has thrived for over a hundred years.

There are plenty of fossils in this town, relics of another age, but the SFMC represents living history, from the days when motorcycles were little more than heavyweight bicycles with engines squeezed into their frames — suspension negligible, handling worse — up through the modern era.

But this isn’t about machines, it’s about people — and the members of second-oldest continuously operating motorcycle club in the country are just a friendly group of folks who love to ride, and happen to represent a living, breathing slice of San Francisco history.

For further edification:
» San Francisco Motorcycle Club
» Dudley Perkins –hall of fame
» Dudley Perkins dealership
» Hap Jones –hall of fame
» Glenn Curtiss museum
» Online motorcycle museum
» Vespa Club ride of a lifetime
» Hollister 1947

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alexander leidesdorff - the black millionaire [ 27:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

It was 1841, and like so many of those who have washed up on these shores, then or since, William Alexander Leidesdorff was a man on the run from his past — a man trying desperately to reinvent himself on the blank canvas of the western coast.

Though hardly anyone remembers his name these days, he became essential to the fabric of Yerba Buena, honored and mourned by the entire city upon death. he racked up an unparalleled array of “firsts” in the city, state, and even country — not the least of which was his entry into the historical record as the United States’ first black millionaire.

Leidesdorff arrived in the village a tall, dark and handsome man, multi-lingual, highly educated, and an instant commercial success. Though well-liked in the village, he was by all accounts a lonely and solitary figure, his history shrouded in mystery. what had driven him to the far edge of the continent, and why is he forgotten today?

For further edification:
» fifties era biography –sfmuseum.net
» Leidesdorff day 2005

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the golden gate bridge, a modest proposal [ 25:20 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

“So what do you think of that beautiful bridge?” I started to say, but she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, an odd, wistful look in her eyes. “what is it?” I asked. She turned to me with a grave expression and said — “at the risk of sounding crazy, is there a reason that the bridge would be sad?” I understood just what she had sensed, and I suspect that you do too. There’s a blot on the bridge that mars its beauty. Every time I cross it, I think about those who have chosen to jump.

Officially, someone leaps off the bridge to their death about once every two weeks. The official toll is at roughly 1300 people since its opening in 1937. Only the recovered bodies are counted, however, and because of the swift currents heading out to sea many victims are never found.

This week’s show is dedicated to an unusual proposal. In some powerful way many jumpers who seek out the bridge as a means to end their lives are reflecting an established pattern engendered by the city’s history. If all they truly wanted was simply to end their lives, they could do it anywhere. but they don’t — they choose the bridge. San Francisco’s history is one of repeated destruction and rebirth — a pattern unconsciously reflected and tragically repeated by the jumpers, acting as characters in the final act of this repeating drama. What is being proposed is a way to change that script.

Havi Brooks, founder of the project, is an international teacher and an expert in recognizing problems in all sorts of narrative systems. Using a system of learning called the Fluent Self. She teaches people to read, deconstruct and heal their own problematic narrative patterns. Her efforts have proven to be successful in resolving all sorts of issues from the personal to the communal. Hours of debate about the nature of the problem and its relation to the history of the city have led to a concept that could not only cut down suicide rates, but add aesthetic beauty to the bridge — while not costing the city a penny.

For further edification:
» Lethal Beauty — SF Chronicle series
» Suicide Barrier Coalition
» Jumpers — New Yorker
» official site of the Golden Gate Bridge
» the Fluent Self

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