Who could resist? They were meant to catch the eye. Perhaps the most notable thing about any of the Doggie Diners was that 10-foot-tall, 300-pound, grinning dachshund sporting a white chef’s hat. His bowtie so jaunty, his wide-eyed, pointy-nosed grin so . . . odd? OK, oddly charming. Maybe inviting, I guess. “Hot dog, Coke,…
San Franciscans, that’s for sure. And here we find them watching a life-sized redwood log, complete with seven sets of legs! The massive timber float and its detached bits is seen marching itself up 4th and Market in the Shriners Parade of 1932. The powerful California redwood industry would later be vilified for its greed…
A singing lark and a speeding Lark, both are creatures of the dawn. From 1941 until April 8, 1968, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company operated the Lark overnight passenger train on the 470-mile run between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Lark was train #75 (northbound) and #76 (southbound). It was the only all-room/roomette sleeping…
Back in 1937, super wealthy San Franciscans William and Lurline Roth became the second owners of the grand Filoli estate located in Woodside, California. (Think “Dynasty,” the 80’s TV show that was actually filmed there.) Well, the link to Hawaii tourism lies in Mrs. Roth’s maiden name, Matson. From the early 1920’s until the 1970’s,…
After the death of her husband in 1893, Jane Lathrop Stanford became sole trustee of Stanford University. For the next ten years, she involved herself in the daily running of the institution. She worked closely and often butted heads with Stanford University president, David Starr Jordan—particularly over issues of academic freedom and political patronage. By…
