author archive
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
book review — “Historic Photos of San Francisco”
I read a lot of books on San Francisco and California history. And though these posts are labeled “book reviews”, the only books you’ll ever see here are those that I’ve really enjoyed. In short, if you see it here, it’s a great book — I’ve no urge to write about the stinkers! And [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Historical book reviews, San Francisco history blog by richard - sparkletack
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
SFist: “A Jitney Elopement” — Charlie Chaplin’s San Francisco film
File this — again — under “there’s ALWAYS a San Francisco connection”.
A reader recently alerted me to the fact that Charlie Chaplin, America’s favourite clown (and perhaps the most influential performer in motion picture history), shot one of his bazillion-odd silent movies on location in and around Golden Gate Park.
“A Jitney Elopement” is classic [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in From the community, Just plain cool, San Francisco angle, San Francisco history blog, Video by richard - sparkletack
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Pacifica is back!
When last we encountered this goddess-behemoth, she was being blown up by the Navy at the end of the ‘39 Pan-Pacific Exposition. The mythical goddess Pacifica — symbol of the Fair — had loomed over Treasure Island for the duration, a sternly imposing concrete figure of some 80 feet tall.
Though sculptor Ralph Stackpole had [...]
4 Comments » - Posted in From the community, Just plain cool, San Francisco history blog by richard - sparkletack
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
sparkletack facebook group
Web 2.0 here we come … there’s a brand new Sparkletack group on Facebook.
You can post photos and video, add links, start a discussion, or just join the group and show your enthusiasm for Sparkletack and San Francisco history. And if you’re not already part of Facebook, it’s painfully easy to join.
C’mon, drop by [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Media, San Francisco history blog by richard - sparkletack
Sunday, April 6th, 2008
tour review — san francisco ghost walk
I love San Francisco, I love history, and I love walking. Luckily for me, there are a billion walking tours out there. Every so often I participate in one of these, try to pick up a thing or two, and take some notes for you. Ratings systems provide a useful shorthand, but your mileage [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in From the community, Walking tour reviews by richard - sparkletack
Friday, March 21st, 2008
san francisco steam coffee?
I ran across an old and beautiful (not to mention HUGE) coffee urn in front of a Portland antique store today. Just like a magpie, shiny objects catch my eye — so I stopped to check it out.
It’s become a running joke that there’s always a San Francisco angle, and sure enough there [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in Just plain cool by richard - sparkletack
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
sparkletack reviewed by “San Francisco City Guides”
Sparkletack is featured in this month’s “Guidelines”, the newsletter of the non-profit San Francisco City Guides. You know about them already, right? Free tours all over town run by smart, dedicated volunteers? I’ve experienced several (and reviewed a couple (1, 2) of their offerings, so it seems only fair that they’d take a [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Media by richard - sparkletack
Friday, March 14th, 2008
SFist — “not even jackassable”
The latest from my little column over at the SFist:
“Not Even Jackassable”
We perused the recent SFist post about the pitiable state of San Francisco’s streets with a certain sense of nostalgia for the good ol’ days. You know, the days before this newfangled “asphalt paving” even entered the scene.
In the Year of the Gold [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in SFist by richard - sparkletack
Monday, February 25th, 2008
1907 harrison street mainline — photographic google map
It’s my favourite thing, finding physical evidence of times past in the landscape of contemporary San Francisco. That’s why I was delighted when Aaron, a Sparkletack reader, sent me to a page of photographs snapped by a railfan in 1907.
The website displaying the photos is the passion of Amtrak engineer (and native San Franciscan) [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in From the community, Just plain cool by richard - sparkletack
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
SFist — whiskerless waiters at the palace hotel
The latest from my little column over at the SFist:
Whiskerless Waiters at the Palace Hotel
In the middle part of the 19th century, a thick set of whiskers were an essential facial feature of every man of Victorian respectability.
These were not simply expressions of pride or masculine peacock vanity, but due to a whole rainbow [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in SFist by richard - sparkletack
Friday, February 15th, 2008
book review — “The Bottle Imp”
I read a lot of books on San Francisco and California history. And though these posts are labeled “book reviews”, the only books you’ll ever see here are those that I’ve really enjoyed. In short, if you see it here, it’s a great book — I’ve no urge to write about the stinkers! And [...]
No Comments » - Posted in From the community, Historical book reviews by richard - sparkletack
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
the fog rolls in — 24 hours in 144 seconds
This is spectacular.
Twenty-four hours of San Francisco are compressed into less than three minutes of time-lapse video, gorgeously captured from the hills above Sausalito. The city and bay spend most of the day almost buried by a dramatically roiling mass of fog, which finally whisks itself out to sea to reveal the sparkling lights [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Just plain cool by richard - sparkletack
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
#66: alma de bretteville spreckels
It’s one of San Francisco’s best-loved monuments — the figure of a heartbreakingly beautiful girl balancing lightly atop a granite column high above Union Square. She soars above both pedestrians and pigeons, gracefully clutching trident and victory laurels, lifting her shapely arms in triumph over the city of San Francisco.
It was intended to [...]
11 Comments » - Posted in San Francisco history podcasts by richard - sparkletack
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
SFist — “Leg Bones for Baseball Bats”
Researching San Francisco history means spending way too much time sitting in the dark. In the library, I mean, staring at microfilm of old newspapers. Hours of scanning those scratched and blurry archives makes me a little punchy, so I blinked and rubbed my eyes at this gruesome headline from the February 13, 1902 [...]
5 Comments » - Posted in Just plain cool, SFist by richard - sparkletack
Friday, January 4th, 2008
tour review — victorian home walk
I love San Francisco, I love history, and I love walking. Luckily for me, there are a billion walking tours out there. Every so often I participate in one of these, try to pick up a thing or two, and take some notes for you. Ratings systems provide a useful shorthand, but your mileage [...]
Sparkletack is the blog and podcast of a guy who's obsessed with diggin' up San Francisco history. 
