Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About San Francisco’s Cable Cars
Ever since they became a part of the city’s transit system, they have been iconic mainstays of its cityscape
- By Jeff Greenwald
- Smithsonian.com, January 04, 2013
Group of Muni Day Run Motormen and Conductors | May 22, 1947 (Courtesy of the SFMTA Photo Archive / ©2011 SFMTA)
From 1912 until 1944, there were two major street railways in San Francisco – one public (Muni) and one private (the Market Street Railway). The war effort led to a surge in the hiring of women and minorities. But while the private company promised women permanent jobs after the war’s end, Muni offered only “the duration and six months.” But one of San Francisco’s first African-American streetcar conductors—on the Market Street Line—was the poet Maya Angelou, who wrote about the experience in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou never actually worked for Muni; she left before the two railways merged in 1944. This photo, taken three years later, showcases the system’s diversity.
Comments (2)
Here's a great film taken from a San Francisco streetcar in 1906, just before the earthquake: http://www.flixxy.com/san-francisco-1905-historical-footage.htm
Posted by Don on January 8,2013 | 05:42 PM
I really enjoyed reading about the history of the cable cars, and the sound tracks of the bells added to the fun !! What a great touch !!!
Posted by roslyn miller on January 5,2013 | 09:28 PM