Blog

San Francisco Gilded Age Shopping

September 2, 2025

The City of Paris Dry Goods Co., a luxury department store in San Francisco, operated from 1896 to 1972. Its Beaux-Arts architecture and iconic stained-glass rotunda made it a cultural landmark. Surviving the 1906 earthquake, it represented resilience. Although mostly demolished, the rotunda remains preserved at Neiman Marcus, reflecting the store's legacy.

The Historic First Transcontinental Phone Call

September 2, 2025

The first transcontinental phone call was made between New York City and San Francisco. The way we communicated, worked and connected was never the same.

The Corner Where Television Was Created: Philo Farnsworth’s San Francisco Breakthrough

September 2, 2025

In this episode we find out that without Philo Farnsworth TV may have not been invited for another 20+ years, and therefore, we may have never had social moments let alone gone to the moon.

The First Surf in the United States: How Three Hawaiian Princes Brought Surfing to Santa Cruz

September 2, 2025

From Prince to the Kings of Surf When people think of surfing in California, images of sun-kissed beaches, wetsuits, and iconic breaks like Malibu and Mavericks often come to mind. But the true origin story of surfing in California doesn’t start in Southern California at all. It begins in Santa Cruz — and it begins […]

The United Nations Started in San Francisco

August 21, 2025

Not in NYC, but in San Francisco. In this episode we will review why San Francisco, which countries were included-and those that were not, and what happened in San Francisco which still impacts the world today.