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What is Sparkletack?
Sparkletack is the blog and podcast of a guy who's obsessed with diggin' up San Francisco history. » About Richard
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Blog/Podcast Updates
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San Francisciana
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"Keep up the great work! I’m loving the music, production, information, attitude, research, humor, and the website with extras on each episode! Yours is one of the best published, most polished and well-done podcasts out there!"
Shop my Bookshelf!
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A few of my favourite San Francisco-centric reads ... historiophilic pleasure guaranteed or double your brain cells back!
The Barbary Coast
Herbert Asbury's mesmerizing survey of Francisco's dark, filthy & frantic underground history, whose denizens -- freaks, bullies, hookers, dandies, opium smokers, and loose nuts of every variety -- are absolutely unforgettable.
Roughing It
Samuel Clemen's wide-eyed account of his Western transformation into Mark Twain. It's half-autobiography, half-high-grade B.S., and 100% entertainment! Here's my review of Uncle Mark's work: »
River of Shadows
The subtitle -- "Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West" -- just hints at the depth of history and analysis in this beautifully written and meticulously researched work. Fascinating and gorgeous ... read my review: »
San Francisco Memoirs
1835-1851: Eyewitness Accounts of the Birth of a City
The sleepy village of Yerba Buena becomes the boomtown of San Francisco -- in the voices of its own residents.
More San Francisco Memoirs
1852-1899: The Ripening Years
In this sequel to Malcolm Barker's "San Francisco Memoirs", the saga continues; from the Gold Rush to the Gilded age, San Franciscans tell our story in their own words.
- For deeper perusal of my San Francisco history books, visit the Sparkletack bookshelf at Powells.com:
The Podcasts:
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 05.18.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 05.11.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 05.04.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 04.20.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 04.13.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 04.06.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 03.30.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 03.23.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 03.09.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 03.02.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 02.23.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 02.16.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 02.09.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 02.02.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 01.26.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 01.19.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 01.12.09
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 01.05.09
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, December 22-31
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, December 15-21
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, December 8-14
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, December 1-7
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, November 24-30
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, November 17-23
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, November 10-16
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, November 3-9
- Timecapsule podcast: San Francisco, October 27-November 2
- Timecapsule podcast — San Francisco, October 20-26
- Timecapsule podcast — San Francisco, October 13-19
- Timecapsule podcast — San Francisco, October 6-12
- Timecapsule podcast — San Francisco, September 29-October 5
- Timecapsule podcast — San Francisco, September 22-28
- Something new: weekly Time-capsule podcast, September 15-21
- #66: alma de bretteville spreckels
- #65: memories of an argonaut
- #64: san francisco’s treasure island (pt. 2)
- #63: san francisco’s treasure island (pt. 1)
- #62: samuel holladay, pioneer squatter of lafayette park
- #61: lefty o’doul — the man in the green suit
- #60: starr king and the california civil war (pt. 2)
- #59: starr king and the california civil war (pt. 1)
- #58: the crocker spite fence
- #57: the reber plan for san francisco bay
- #56: lotta crabtree — the san francisco favourite
- #55: caruso, the palace, and the 1906 earthquake
- #54: the notorious lola montez
- #53: the bella union and the barbary coast
- #52.5: the trolls of san francisco
- #52: adolph sutro, the populist millionaire
- #51: the columbarium and the caretaker
- #50: the balclutha and the chantey sing
- #49: sam clemens and the celebrated jumping frog
- #48: mark twain and the great earthquake of 1865
- #47: robert louis stevenson — chinatown treasure
- #46: san francisco fortune cookie
- #45: frank chu just shows up
- #44: moving the dead — san francisco cemeteries
- #43: san francisco motorcycle club — since 1904
- #42: alexander leidesdorff — the black millionaire
- #41: the golden gate bridge, a modest proposal
- #40: luisa tetrazzini and christmas eve
- #39: the great diamond hoax
- #38: rudyard kipling in san francisco
- #37: philo t. farnsworth
- #36: birth of san francisco #3
- #35: birth of san francisco #2
- #34: the san francisco twins
- #33: andrew smith hallidie — father of the cable car
- #32: letter from the gold rush, 1850
- #31: carville — a lost neighborhood
- #30: streets of san francisco #2
- #29: the legend of black bart
- #28: birth of san francisco #1
- #27: patty hearst, revolutionary sweetheart
- #26: streets of san francisco #1
- #25: charles cora and the 2nd vigilance committee
- #24: alcatraz
- #23: the wave organ
- #22: the china clipper
- #21: Emperor Norton
- #20: fog city
- #19: the mission burrito
- #18: firebelle lil — elizabeth “lillie” coit
- #17: the san francisco "conversation"
- #16: san francisco pyramid
- #15: the golden gate bridge and suicide
- #14: the golden fire hydrant of san francisco
- #13: the wild parrots of telegraph hill
- #12: san francisco blue jeans
- #11: straight razor morning
- #10: the ruination of fatty arbuckle
- #9: schadenfreude and san francisco high society
- #8: corpseflower at san francisco conservatory
- #7: san francisco shanghai
- #6: where’s the food?
- #5: san francisco fireworks – on the air
- #4: steam beer – the authentic san francisco style
- #3: street flowers
- #2: dogs in the pharoah
- sparkletack #1
