1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Earlier this year, 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: we finished up our West Coast tour and our last 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: stop there was in San Francisco. Whenever we have a 6 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: break on the tour, we have kind of a choice 7 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: of where do we want to spend our night off 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: in the place where we just finished the show or 9 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: the place where we're doing the next show. And I decided, 10 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: since I had never been to San Francisco, to choose 11 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: the one where we were doing the next show. I 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:40,879 Speaker 1: spent my night off there. And while I was in 13 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: San Francisco, I stumbled across the San Francisco Cable Car 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: Museum by happenstance, and right in the front of the museum, 15 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: I was immediately captivated by a plaque dedicated to someone 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: who was known as the Cable Car Lady. Cable cars, 17 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: of course, are an iconic part of San Francisco. In 18 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: San Francisco's cable cars are the last working system of 19 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: their kind in the world. The reason they haven't been 20 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: completely replaced by more modern modes of transportation is largely 21 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: because of the advocacy of women, and in particular the 22 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: advocacy of Fridel Klusmann, who is the person who became 23 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: known as the cable car Lady. Spain established what would 24 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: become the city of San Francisco in September of seventeen 25 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: seventy six, initially as a military post. A mission commonly 26 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: known as Missieon de Lores opened that October. Its more 27 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: formal name is Missieon San Francisco de Ossis, and like 28 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: the city itself, it was named for Saint Francis of Assisi. 29 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: The mission's purpose was to christianize the native population, and 30 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: it was built using conscripted labor from northern California's native peoples. 31 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: The area became part of Mexico after the Mexican War 32 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: of Independence, which ended in eighteen one, but it was 33 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty five before there was an actual European settlement 34 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: in the area beyond that mission and military post. That 35 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: settlement was the village of Your bu Buena. In eighteen 36 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: forty six, eleven years after Your bub Buena was established, 37 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: Captain John B. Montgomery captured it for the United States 38 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: during the Mexican American War. On January thirty of eighteen 39 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: forty seven, it was renamed San Francisco. San Francisco became 40 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: part of the United States, along with the rest of California, 41 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which 42 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: ended that war. At first, San Francisco's population was quite small. 43 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: By the end of the Mexican American War, there were 44 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: about five hundred people, including Europeans, Africans, Native Americans, and 45 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: Pacific Islanders. But after the gold rush started in eighteen 46 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: forty nine, the population of San Francisco boomed. We talked 47 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: about this a little bit in our Levi Strouss episode, 48 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: and suddenly tens of thousands of people were flocking to 49 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: the city hoping to strike it rich or to make 50 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: lots of money off of the people who were hoping 51 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: to strike it rich. The city grew incredibly rapidly, and 52 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: by eight seventy its population was about a hundred and 53 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: fifty thousand people, and one of its ongoing challenges was 54 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: transportation and shipping. If you have never been to San Francisco, 55 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: it is very, very hilly. Even if you've seen footage 56 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: of the city, and movies are on TV. The steepness 57 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: of some of the hills can be really incredibly startling 58 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: when you experienced them for the first time in person. 59 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: It was a huge, huge challenge to safely move people 60 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: and cargo up and down all these hills, especially in 61 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: the winter when the city could be very damp, and 62 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: all of this was also compounded by the fact that 63 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: the terrain was very sandy. Andrew Smith Halliday gets the 64 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: credit for coming up with San Francisco's famous solution to 65 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: this problem. Halliday was born Andrew Smith and was named 66 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: after his father, and he took the name Halliday later 67 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: on in honor of his uncle and godfather. So Andrew Smith. 68 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: The father and Andrew Smith Halliday the son had immigrated 69 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: to the United States from the UK during the Gold Rush, 70 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: although Smith returned home in eighteen fifties three. Halliday had 71 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: been a tinkerer since he was a boy, and Smith 72 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: was an engineer and inventor, and some of Smith's patents 73 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: were for wire rope, something that Halliday had worked with 74 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: him on and which other inventors had been refining and 75 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: developing as well. As the name suggests, wire rope was 76 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: like hempen rope, but it was made with wire and 77 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: consequently was a lot stronger. Since its initial development in 78 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: the early nineteenth century, wire rope had started to replace 79 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: hempen rope for our tasks that needed to something that 80 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: was particularly strong. So the Royal Navy had started replacing 81 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: hempen rope with wire in the eighteen thirties, and soon 82 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: it was also being used to pull heavy mind cars 83 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: that were loaded with ore, and to support aerial trams 84 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 1: and mountainous areas. Suspension bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge, were 85 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: also using wire rope for their suspension cables. Halliday started 86 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: working on an idea to imp oi wire rope in 87 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: a mass transit system in the early eighteen seventies. He 88 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: was reportedly inspired to do so a few years earlier 89 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: after witnessing a tragic incident. He had seen a team 90 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: of horses pulling a heavy load up one of San 91 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,919 Speaker 1: Francisco steep hills, being aggressively driven on by their handler, 92 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: only to lose their footing on wet cobble stones, and 93 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: he hoped that he could work out a system that 94 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: would be safe for moving people in freight, especially on 95 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: those steep hills. He wanted to eradicate quote the great 96 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: cruelty and hardship to the horses engaged in that work. 97 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: Halliday's idea was also informed by his time in the 98 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: mining industry that which happened after he arrived in the 99 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: United States. He had worked on a flume that transported 100 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: mining cars up and down a hill, with the loaded 101 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: cars being pulled up by the weight of the empty 102 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: cars coming back down. He'd also worked on aerial tramways 103 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: and suspension bridges. All of this relied on wire rope, 104 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: and all this work he was doing with what launched 105 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: the manufacturing of wire rope in California. He's like a 106 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: pre Disney imagineer with the ways he comes up with 107 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: to move stuff around. Yeah, a lot of his inventions 108 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: were pretty ingenious. When it came to San Francisco's hilly terrain, 109 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: he thought he could create an underground system of wire 110 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 1: ropes wound around a series of pulleys to pull cars 111 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,799 Speaker 1: above ground. And he called this underground system an endless 112 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: wire ropeway. And it required him to refine his wire 113 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: rope until it had enough flexibility and tensile strength to 114 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: handle all of this winding and moving without breaking. And 115 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: the system a powerhouse would drive the cable through the 116 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: endless wire ropeway. This was basically a bunch of giant 117 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: wheels that would move the cables as they turned, and 118 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: the system of pulleys that held everything at the right tension. 119 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: Although today's powerhouse is electric, the first powerhouses in the 120 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: nineteenth century were steam powered, so keeping all of this 121 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: running required huge amounts of steam and huge amounts of 122 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: coal to power the boilers that we're making all the steam. 123 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: At street level, the system involved a set of steel 124 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: tracks for the cable cars to run on, and between 125 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: these tracks is a slot. Under that slot is that 126 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: continually moving cable. And we could get into a lot 127 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: more detail here, uh, And there are several different setups 128 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: of how all this work which have evolved over the years, 129 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: but just to get a general sense of it, a 130 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: grip operator on the street car itself operates controls that 131 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: gripped the cable through the slot, and that cable pulls 132 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: the car, and today that cable moves at a steady 133 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: nine point five miles per hour that's about fifteen kilometers 134 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: per hour. As a side note, the word for the 135 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: person who does this job, grippman, is still widely in 136 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: use because it's a job that's been almost exclusively done 137 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: by men. Only two women have ever worked as grip 138 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: operators in San Francisco. The first was Fannie May Barnes, 139 00:07:55,320 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: who finished her training and started working. The grip operator 140 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: also let's go of the cable when necessary, for example, 141 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: when two cables for different lines cross over each other, 142 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: or when there's a curve or grade that the car 143 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: should coast through rather than being pulled. The operator would 144 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: also let go at the end of the line so 145 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: that the car could coast onto a turntable, which would 146 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: then be used to turn around and point the car 147 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: the other direction to go back down the same track. 148 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: Cable cars also have several breaks for things like going 149 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: down steep hills and for emergency stops. Holiday By the 150 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: time you started working on this was well known in 151 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: San Francisco. He was a respected businessman and engineer. He 152 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: was president of the Mechanics Institute. But at the same time, 153 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: a lot of people thought this whole cable car idea 154 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: was completely cockamami, so he had to struggle to get 155 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: funding before finally forming the Clay Street Hill Railroad along 156 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: with several other partners. Their first attempted line ran up 157 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: Knob Hill was a distance of hundred feet that's about 158 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: eight hundred and fifty three meters with a eyes of 159 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: three hundred seven feet or ninety four meters. The passenger 160 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: car looked a lot like the horse drawn passenger cars 161 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: of the day, with a grip car called an open 162 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: dummy replacing the horse They had a deadline to finish 163 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: this first stretch of cable car line, and that deadline 164 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 1: was August one, seventy three. They had been working on 165 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: it for quite a while, and as this deadline got 166 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: closer and closer, they got more and more frantic, trying 167 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: to finish it on time, even after working overnight. They 168 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: ultimately missed it by a day. But the first test 169 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: run on August two went exactly as planned, with one exception. 170 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: After the trip up the hill, which happened around midnight, 171 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: the car was all set to go back down around 172 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: four or five am, but the operator was too terrified 173 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: to do it. The hill was just so steep and 174 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: it was very foggy and dark, so Hallity took the 175 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: car back down knob Hill himself. I completely understand that fear. 176 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: That hill is steep. It is, and I mean I 177 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: won't even like bride roller blades down an incline like Idre, 178 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,840 Speaker 1: staying cabulately and even though they had missed their deadline. 179 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: Once that successful first trip happened, people started to get 180 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: really excited about Halliday's invention. It opened for public service 181 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,439 Speaker 1: on September one, eighteen seventy three. For the next four years, 182 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: Clay Street Hill Railroad was the only cable car company 183 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: in San Francisco, although many more followed after that. Ultimately, 184 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: eight railroad companies lay fifty three miles of track over 185 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: the eighteen seventies and eighteen eighties. Other cities also built 186 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: their own cable car lines as well. Holliday's original Clay 187 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: Street line in San Francisco was dismantled and replaced in eighteen. 188 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: On April eighteenth, nineteen o six, the Great earthquake and 189 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: fire did serious damage to the cable car system, including 190 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: destroying many of the cars, and by that point another 191 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: innovation had come along, electric street cars, which had been 192 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: developed in eight just a year before the last cable 193 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:06,439 Speaker 1: car tracks were laid down in San Francisco. The electric 194 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: street cars were more efficient and they were much less 195 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: expensive to build and maintain, so after the Great earthquake 196 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: and fire, most of the cable car lines were replaced 197 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: with electric street cars. But if you compare a cable 198 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,439 Speaker 1: car's performance to an electric street car in nineteen o six, 199 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: the cable car could still do a much better job 200 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 1: at managing San Francisco's steepest hills. So as most of 201 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: the cable car system was replaced with electric street cars, 202 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: the hilliest cable car routes were repaired and rebuilt as 203 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: cable cars. Street cars continued to improve, though, which meant 204 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,439 Speaker 1: that after a while they were better able to manage 205 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: San Francisco's hills as well. More and more cable car 206 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,960 Speaker 1: lines shut down, replaced by electric street cars and other 207 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: forms of transit. By the nineteen forties, there were only 208 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: a few cable car lines left. We will get to 209 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:06,599 Speaker 1: how they almost went away entirely. After a sponsor break 210 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: into the Market Street Railway Company in San Francisco was 211 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 1: going to shut down, voters approved a measure for the 212 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: city to buy the company, giving San Francisco control of 213 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: the Powell, Mason and Washington Jackson lines. The mayor at 214 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: the time was Roger Lapham, and after the Market Street 215 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: Railway handed over all of its assets to the city. 216 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: He had a photo op piloting one of the cars 217 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 1: that was formerly owned by Market Street all through the town. 218 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: But Lapham's relationship to the cable cars turned out to 219 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 1: be fraught. He had campaigned on the idea of running 220 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: the city in a business like way, modernizing and approving 221 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,600 Speaker 1: efficiency as the nation came out of World War Two. 222 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,680 Speaker 1: In six the city raised rates on the cable cars 223 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: from seven cents to ten cents, hoping to make the 224 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: system self sustaining. On top of that steep increase, the 225 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: ike went into effect while the operators were all on strike, 226 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,680 Speaker 1: and this contributed to a call for a recall election, 227 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: with Lapham himself signing the petition that called for it. 228 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: Although the city did hold a vote, the measure failed. 229 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,959 Speaker 1: Voters rejected the recall. Seven cents to ten cents probably 230 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: doesn't sound like that giant of an increase to a 231 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: modern ear, but like that's a huge percentage. Yeah, I 232 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 1: mean that's uh, you know, almost fifty increase. If you 233 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: if you amped that up to bigger numbers, like if 234 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: you were paying, for example, this isn't a real number, 235 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,079 Speaker 1: seventy dollars a month for parking and then it was 236 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: suddenly a hundred the next month, you would be alarmed. 237 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: It's a huge jump. Then seven, after all of that 238 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: had happened, as part of a citywide effort to modernize 239 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: and improve efficiency, Lapham started talking about shutting the cable 240 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: cars down completely and replacing them with buses. By that point, 241 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,319 Speaker 1: city was operating only the Powell Street cable car line. 242 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: California Street Cable Railroad, which had been formed by some 243 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: wealthy businessmen to get to their mansions on Knob Hill, 244 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: had another three lines, and those are the only cable 245 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: cars that were left in the city. So what the 246 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: city was talking about shutting down was those city owned 247 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: Powell Street lines. On January Lapham said this in his 248 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: annual message to the Board of Supervisors, which is the 249 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: city's governing body. Quote, I know there are strong sentimental 250 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: reasons for keeping this old, ingenious and novel mode of transportation. 251 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: The fact remains that the sentimentalists do not have to 252 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: pay the bills and do not have to run the 253 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: risk of being charged with criminal negligence in the very 254 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: possible event a cable breaks and a car gets loose 255 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: on one of our steep hills. This supposedly very possible 256 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: event of a cable break was really not all that likely, though. 257 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: Although there had been accidents on the cable cars, as 258 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: is the case with any mode of transportation, these accidents 259 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: had not been caused by cable brakes. Fraying sections of 260 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: the cable were repaired or replaced before total brakes could happen, 261 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:15,359 Speaker 1: and totally snapped cables are extremely rare. News spread immediately 262 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: about the mayor's plan to replace the cable cars with busses. 263 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle on January said, 264 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: junk the cable cars, Lapham says the antiquated system in 265 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: dangers lives. Another headline the next day read cable cars 266 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: on way out. City orders superbusses. Days of the grip 267 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: men are nearly over. Officials tired of operating at a loss. 268 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: But the news from city hall became a little disjointed 269 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: from there. On January James H. Turner, who was the 270 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: utilities manager, made a statement that totally contradicted what the 271 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: mayor had just said. He claimed that the ten busses 272 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: that the city had ordered weren't supposed to replace the 273 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: cable cars entirely, that they were just supposed to pick 274 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: up a few difficult and hilly roots, he said. Quote 275 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: the fact that someone in his office said that the 276 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: new buses would be used on Powell Street was just 277 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: sort of a rumor. And then Public Works Director Harry 278 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: Vinceanno said that there was no way that the incoming 279 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: buses could safely climb the hills in question in wet weather, 280 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: contradicting both the utilities manager and the mayor's previous statements. 281 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: He said the only way to make those hills safer 282 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 1: busses was a twenty four thousand dollar refurbishment job to 283 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: resurface those hilly streets, and no money had been earmarked 284 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: for such a project. An editorial in the San Francisco 285 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: Chronicle on February three read quote, bus lines would be 286 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: a good deal less expensive, but against this saving should 287 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: be waited first passenger comfort, which has some money value, 288 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: even if it cannot be demonstrated, and second the market 289 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: value of an institution, which helps make the city stand 290 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: out amongst cities of the world. Late or in February, 291 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 1: reports started to circulate that voters were going to get 292 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: to choose the fate of the cable cars, but it 293 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: turned out that news was not about the city owned 294 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,120 Speaker 1: Powell Lines. It was about those privately owned cable cars 295 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: that belonged to California Street Cable Railroad. The voters were 296 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: going to get to decide whether the city bought the 297 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: California Street Lines, not whether it kept the Powell lines. 298 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: And if the city did by the California lines, the 299 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: plan was to operate those but shut down Powell Street 300 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: because the Powell Street lines were the more expensive ones. 301 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: In the midst of all this chaos, two organizations came 302 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: together and held a meeting on March fourth. The two 303 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: host organizations where the San Francisco Federation of the Arts 304 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: and the California Spring Blossom and Wildflower Association. Also in 305 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: attendance at this meeting were the leaders of twenty seven 306 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: different women's civic groups from San Francisco, and the result 307 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: of this meeting was the formation of the Citizens Committee 308 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: to Save the Cable Cars, also known as the Save 309 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: the Cable Cars Committee. It's leader was Fredel Klusman of 310 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,200 Speaker 1: the Federation of the Arts. Klusman was a longtime resident 311 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: of the Telegraph Hill neighborhood. She was an artist who 312 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: had studied at the California School of Fine Arts, which 313 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: is now San Francisco Art Institute. In addition to her 314 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: civic involvement, she had been a member of the San 315 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 1: Francisco Women Artists and the San Francisco Artists Association. Even 316 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: though she was a fairly private person by nature, she 317 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: threw herself into the public effort to save the cable cars. 318 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: What followed was a series of dueling reports from city 319 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: Hall and from the committee. The city claimed that the 320 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: cars were unsafe, but the committee claimed the opposite, with 321 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: transit authorities actually backing them up on the idea that, 322 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: especially when it came to those extreme hills, the cable 323 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: cars were a safe way to travel. Another issue was 324 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: traffic congestion. The cable cars run on the same roadways 325 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: that cars used, and the Mayor's office argued that having 326 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: cars and street cars and cable cars all using the 327 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 1: same space was causing too many traffic jams. The mayor's 328 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: office correctly pointed out that the cable car system was 329 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: operating at a daily loss and claimed that the proposed 330 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,719 Speaker 1: bus replacement would be profitable. The Cable Cars Committee countered 331 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: that the year before, tourism had generated more than thirty 332 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,639 Speaker 1: four million dollars in revenues for the city, and that 333 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: getting rid of the cable cars would be a blow 334 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 1: to that industry. The committee also noted that the bus 335 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: system as a whole was not profitable at all, with 336 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: the cable cars, while offering much more limited service, also 337 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,679 Speaker 1: losing a lot less money than the busses did. A 338 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: statement of retention of the Powell Street System, which was 339 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 1: released by the Cable Cars Committee, put it this way, 340 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:49,440 Speaker 1: quote no one suggests the discontinuance of busses because they're 341 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: losing money. Any present monetary loss in the operation of 342 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: the cable cars is more than compensated for by the 343 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: wide publicity they give San Francisco Throughout the world. Lapham 344 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: kept hammering on the idea that the cable cars were 345 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: outdated and obsolete, including having one drawn through the city 346 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,440 Speaker 1: by a horse just to make a point. Kusman kept 347 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 1: pointing to the uniqueness of the cable cars and the 348 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: city's fondness for them and the character that they brought 349 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: to San Francisco, as well as their importance to the 350 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: tourism industry. Meanwhile, women across the city were gathering signatures 351 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: on a petition to put this matter to a vote. 352 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 1: This dispute between the city government and the Cable Cars 353 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:35,119 Speaker 1: Committee became national news. It was covered in publications like 354 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: Time Life. In the Saturday Evening Post, Glenn Hurlbert with 355 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: Greg Mcritchey and his orchestra released a song called the 356 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,719 Speaker 1: Cable Car can scherto. Celebrities started announcing that they wouldn't 357 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,199 Speaker 1: come to San Francisco if there were no more cable cars. 358 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: I read a whole collection of reports in The New 359 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: York Times that had this just delighted tone to the 360 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: whole spectacle, with one of them calling the cable car 361 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:10,600 Speaker 1: system quote anachronistic but eminently likable. That'd be a great epitaph. 362 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: Richard Gump, who was head of the retail enterprise. Gumps 363 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: put an ad in Time magazine asking for the opinions 364 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: of people outside of San Francisco, and all but one 365 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: of these sacks and sacks of letters that came in 366 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: said to keep those cars. And as a side note, 367 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: Dumps was founded during the Gold Rush and it was 368 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 1: still in business as of this recording, although there are 369 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: some news reports from August of this year which is 370 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: that say it may be out of business. By the 371 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: end of this year due to financial problems. Ultimately, it 372 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: started to look like all of that signature gathering and 373 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: knocking on doors and making calls and speaking that Kliffsman 374 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: and the committee we're doing was going to pay off. 375 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: A headline in the March six edition of the San 376 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 1: Francisco Chronicle, red Cable cars get a boost. San Francisco 377 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: women may force city to let voters decide. On March thirteenth, 378 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: Eleanor Roosevelt wrote about the dispute in her My Day column. 379 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: During a stay in San Francisco. She said that she 380 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: understood why people were so passionate about it, because the 381 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 1: cars were one of the first things that people thought 382 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: of when it came to San Francisco. But it also 383 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: went on to say that she thought the bay and 384 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: the bridges really offered the most charm. After months of effort, 385 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,679 Speaker 1: Kliffman and the Cable Car Committee were successful. They gathered 386 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: forty thousand signatures on their petition, and it was announced 387 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: that San Francisco voters would get to weigh in on 388 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: Proposition ten in November of This proposition would amend the 389 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,479 Speaker 1: city's charter to make the San Francisco Municipal Railway and 390 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: the Public Utilities Commission responsible for maintaining the cable car lines. 391 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: On election day, more than one hundred sixty six thousand 392 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: people voted yes on Proposition ten. Just a little more 393 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: than fifty one thousand voted no. This wasn't the end 394 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: of the struggling with the cars, though, and we'll get 395 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: to that after another quick sponsor break. Propositions ten was 396 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,160 Speaker 1: something of a temporary reprieve when it came to San 397 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,399 Speaker 1: Francisco's cable cars. There was trouble of one kind or 398 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 1: another for about four decades, everything from budgets to maintenance 399 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: problems to city officials trying again to winnow down how 400 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: many cable car lines the city had. In nineteen fifty two, 401 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: the city finally took over the California Street cable railroads 402 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 1: after Lloyd's of London canceled its insurance policy following an accident. 403 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: At first, the city continued to operate all of the 404 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: California Street lines, but it turned out that, contrary to 405 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: what they've been thinking back in, these lines were even 406 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: more expensive than the Powell Street lines. In nineteen fifty four, 407 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: the issue was again put to a vote, with two 408 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: competing propositions on the ballot. Proposition JA, which would have 409 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: kept all all of the lines running at full capacity, 410 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: was defeated Proposition E, which included the two Powell Street 411 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 1: lines and one California line, one by a very narrow margin. 412 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: This had involved another spirited campaign, with Kluchman once again 413 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: returning to the public eye and as one example, the 414 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: Playhouse Theater Group riding in cars and costume carrying signs 415 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 1: protesting the idea of shutting any of the cable cars down. 416 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: In the end, the three lines that remained after the 417 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,640 Speaker 1: passage of Proposition E were the ones that still exist today, 418 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: the Powell Hide Line, the Powell Mason line, and the 419 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: California Line. Also in the nineteen fifties, Rice Erroney the 420 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: San Francisco Treat was introduced by the d Domenico family 421 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: of San Francisco, and the famous jingle, complete with the 422 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: sound of a cable car bell followed in The product 423 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: packaging still features a silhouette of a cable car, and 424 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: the product itself has been advertised eised on the sides 425 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: of cable cars and as another side note, every year 426 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: since nineteen fifty five, cable car operators have had a 427 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: bell ringing competition. Now I want Ray SERRONI. It is delicious. 428 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty one, a plaque was unveiled in Kluseman's 429 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: honor at the cable car powerhouse on Mason Street. The 430 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 1: inscription is long, but we're gonna read the whole thing 431 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: because it's quite charming and it reads. On the morning 432 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: of January seven, San Franciscan's read the news that a 433 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: fleet of buses would replace the cable cars operating on 434 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: Powell Street. In this almost casual manner, San Franciscan's, who 435 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 1: have a feeling and an affection for their cable cars, 436 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: were informed that the most colorful transportation line in their 437 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: city was to perish. Indeed, the Powell Street line, starting 438 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,360 Speaker 1: at a turntable on Market Street, slipping past Union Square, 439 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: increasing the knob and Russian Hills on its meandering way 440 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: to the Bay, might well be the most colorful street 441 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,440 Speaker 1: railway in the world. Now it was announced the cable 442 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 1: cars would be scrapped and their tracks torn up, a 443 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: rumble of indignation was heard throughout San Francisco. At first, 444 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: this anger remained directionless for want of a leader with 445 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: energy sentiment dedication and an intelligent sense of history. It 446 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: was not long, however, before the embodiment of these qualities 447 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:23,120 Speaker 1: came forward, in the person of Fredel Klusman. San Franciscan's 448 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:27,680 Speaker 1: had found their general. Mrs Klusman organized the Citizens Committee 449 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,719 Speaker 1: to Save the Cable Cars, and the campaign against indifference 450 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: and shortsightedness was on. Mrs Klusman and her forces maintained 451 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,119 Speaker 1: that a life and death decision about the cable cars 452 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: should be made by the people, and not by administrative order. 453 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: Against odds and disappointments, which would have discouraged a less 454 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: determined person. Mrs Klusman's efforts secured a place for the 455 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: Powell Street line on the ballot, and while the nation, 456 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 1: fascinated by this sentimental and nostalgic struggle, looked on, San 457 00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: Francisco went to the polls and by an overwhelming major 458 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: already said save the cable cars. This and future generations 459 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: are in debt to the cable car Lady, as Mrs 460 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: Clusman is affectionately known, and to the timely forces which 461 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: she organized. She not only preserved a way of transportation 462 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: that continued to serve and delight, but also saved the 463 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: city's trademark. In nineteen sixty four, San Francisco's cable cars 464 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: became a National Historic Landmark. There's actually one other street 465 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: car designated as a National Historic landmark in the United States. 466 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: That is the New Orleans St. Charles street car line, 467 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,360 Speaker 1: which is an electric street car. We tried to take 468 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: that street car while we were in New Orleans, and 469 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,120 Speaker 1: we failed because they were all full. Yeah, we were. 470 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 1: We were trying to do a leisurely look around ride, 471 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: and it kind of became apparent that people who actually 472 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: lived in the city needed it because it was already 473 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: crowded with people doing a leisurely look around, right, And 474 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: so we did not cram on. So that one was 475 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: designated as a landmark in and is the oldest continual 476 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: operating street car in the world. By nineteen sixty four, 477 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: politicians were well aware that messing with the cable cars 478 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,880 Speaker 1: was likely to be a hugely unpopular move. As one example, 479 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: Mayor George Mosconi remarked, anyone attempting to fool with the 480 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: cable cars in any shape or form is apt to 481 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: be run out of town on a spike. But while 482 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: it was taken for granted that trying to shut down 483 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: the cable cars would be a deeply unpopular move. Voters 484 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: weren't all that enthusiastic about approving funding to keep them 485 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:35,119 Speaker 1: well maintained. This is like the trial of public transportation everywhere. 486 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,200 Speaker 1: Being designated a National Historic Landmark had protected the cable 487 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: cars existence, but it hadn't really protected them from a 488 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: lack of maintenance and upkeeps. So by the nineteen seventies, 489 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: the cable car system was facing very very serious problems. 490 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: Everything about the whole cable car system had deteriorated through 491 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: everything from normal wear and hair to earthquakes. The result 492 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: was a massive restoration project in the early nineteen eighties, 493 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: spearheaded by then Mayor Diane Feinstein. The total renovation took 494 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: twenty one months, during which the cars were shut down. 495 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: It cost about sixty million dollars. The system finally reopened 496 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: on June one, four. That system is also currently undergoing 497 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 1: a gearbox renovation that has involved a few multi day shutdowns. 498 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: Fredel Klusman died October nine, eighty six, and her home 499 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: on Telegraph Hill at the age of ninety. Dianne Feinstein 500 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: called her quote one of San Francisco's truly modern heroines 501 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: in The turnaround at the end of the Powell Hide 502 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: Line at Fisherman's Wharf was named the Fridel Klusman Memorial Turnaround. 503 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: Klusman's effort to save the cable cars in nineteen seven 504 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: also led to the establishment of San Francisco Beautiful. That year, 505 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 1: she became its first president and remained so until her death. 506 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: That organization still exists today and advocates for civic beauty, 507 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: neighborhood character, and accessible public art. Today, the San Francisco 508 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 1: Municipal Railway or MUNI, is responsible for San Francisco's three 509 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: cable car lines. There are two types of actual cars 510 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 1: still in regular use. The California lines cars are larger 511 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: and they're open on both ends, with the open spaces 512 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 1: having a platform where people can stand and hold on. 513 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: The two Powell lines have smaller cars that have this 514 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: open area only on one end. There are also a 515 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: few restored cars from other models that come out on 516 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: special occasions. For the most part, these two types of 517 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 1: cars run the same way, although the cars on the 518 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: California Line can go in either directions, so when one 519 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: gets to the end of the line, it just runs 520 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: in the other direction. On the way back with the 521 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: flip of a switch. The cars on the two Powell 522 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,960 Speaker 1: lines run in one direction only, so when they get 523 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: to the end of the line, they're manually turned around 524 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: on a turntable. The powerhouse that runs all of these 525 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 1: at Washington and Mason Streets is also now home to 526 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:57,960 Speaker 1: the Cable Car Museum, which was established in nineteen four. 527 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:00,360 Speaker 1: You can go in there and see the miss Janery 528 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: that runs the underground cables, plus lots of retired cable 529 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: car models, lots of other information about San Francisco history 530 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,480 Speaker 1: and the history of the cable cars. I happened to 531 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:13,400 Speaker 1: walk directly past it after having climbed an incredibly steep 532 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: hill and then gone down the other side. And I 533 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: would have gone in there anyway, but it was particularly 534 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: appealing to be in a flat place for a few minutes. 535 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: Do you have a little bit of listener mail for us? 536 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:33,520 Speaker 1: I do. This is a correction. It is from Terraisea, 537 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 1: and Terisa says, Dear Tracy and Holly, I absolutely adore 538 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,479 Speaker 1: your show, but as a check I couldn't not notice 539 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: a mistake in your statement quote. The violence started in 540 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: Germany then spread into Austria as well as to Betton Land, 541 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: which Germany had recently annexed from the Austria Hungarian Empire. 542 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: That is from our episode on Crystal Knock. So that 543 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: land was annexed by the Munich Diktat from Czechoslovakia, not 544 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: from the Austro Hungarian Empire, which fell apart in nineteen 545 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: eighteen at the end of World War One. The establishment 546 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: of Czechoslovakia was formally announced on October eighteen. The Munich Diktat, 547 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 1: or as we often call it, the Munich Betrayal, is 548 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: still a very painful part of Czech history. Czechoslovakia was 549 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: basically informed by Great Britain and France that we could 550 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: either fight Germany alone or submit to giving up our 551 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 1: border regions to Germany. Our officials knew how hopeless and 552 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: tragic a war against Germany would be for us, so 553 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: they reluctantly capitulated on September thirty eight. Now, when I'm 554 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,960 Speaker 1: thinking about it, this is a great episode suggestion the 555 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: Munich dick took. Thanks for all the wonderful work you do. 556 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: I listen to your show on my commute to work 557 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:46,680 Speaker 1: when I do chores or some laborious and boring stuff 558 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: in the lab. I'm a scientist. Knowing that your episode 559 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,080 Speaker 1: is waiting for me makes me look forward to boring activities, 560 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: even to washing dishes. Have a wonderful day, to raise it, 561 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 1: to raise a thank you for this note A piece 562 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: of this not only did I know, but we have 563 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:04,880 Speaker 1: done it this day in history class episode about the 564 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 1: establishment of Czechoslovakia. What I did was when I saw 565 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: usdon Land, I was like, Okay, I gotta refresh my 566 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 1: memory about where exactly that was, because I did not 567 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: immediately recall. And the piece of information that my mind 568 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:23,280 Speaker 1: just sort of latched onto was its earlier history, not 569 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: what was actually current by the time we were leading 570 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: up to World War Two. So that was just my 571 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 1: failure to follow through one piece of information to its 572 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:37,280 Speaker 1: logical conclusion. We have also gotten several emails from people 573 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: living in Germany about how in Germany crystal knocked is 574 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: not really called that anymore. It is called Reich's program knocked, 575 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 1: which means exactly what it sounds like, the Reich's program 576 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: Night and Uh. The term crystal knock is still basically 577 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: ubiquitous in English language publications, including from like Jewish His 578 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: Three Centers and the World Holocaust Museum and and all 579 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: of that. So in Germany it is no longer widely 580 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,280 Speaker 1: used because it was basically a term that was coined 581 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 1: by Nazis as a euphemism, and so uh in in 582 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: Germany it's not typically used anymore for that reason. Outside 583 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:23,279 Speaker 1: of Germany, I don't think I found any source that 584 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 1: did not use it, so um, there is a little 585 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: disparity there. So thank you again Teresa for sending your note, 586 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 1: and to the folks that have written to us about 587 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:35,360 Speaker 1: Reich's program Nocht If you would like to write to 588 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: us about this or any other podcast or history podcasts 589 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,439 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. We are also on 590 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: social media at missed in History. That's where you'll find 591 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Our website is missed 592 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: in history dot com, where you will find show notes 593 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: on all the episodes Holly and I have done together 594 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 1: and a searchable archive of every episode. Ever. You can 595 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:59,680 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the 596 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,319 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, anywhere else you get your podcasts. 597 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 598 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,279 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. M