John O. (buzzby) -
Written in 1933
Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld on + 1193 more book reviews
When I first started reading this, I didn't realize that it had been written in 1933 and that the author also wrote Gangs of New York and other books detailing crime in cities such as Chicago and New Orleans. But as I started to read this, it became rather obvious that the book was written in a less politically correct era when Chinese were referred to as Celestials or Chinamen and some of the words used such as bagnio (bordello or brothel) are little used today.
But overall, this is a very extensive history of San Francisco and its vices from the time of the gold rush in the 1840s up until about 1917 when the city closed most of the "bagnios" that thrived in the section of the city known as the notorious Barbary Coast. I lived in the Bay Area for about 13 years during the 80s and 90s but I was really unaware of most of its wild past. A lot of this was fascinating and perverse. Included in the history were immigrants from Australia who started some of the earliest gangs in the city and targeted much of the Latino population. The gangs were called the "Hounds" and the "Sydney Ducks" and they were instrumental in the forming of the Committee of Vigilance in 1851 to rid the city of their presence. A lot of the book focuses on the brothels and prostitutes of the era including young Chinese girls who were smuggled from China and forced to work in small "cribs" in the city. It also tells of the Chinese gangs called tongs and their wars with each other. And then there was the plight of the sailors who embarked in the city and were taken for anything they had.
There was a lot of detail about various personages who played a part in the story including brothel owners, gamblers, dance-hall girls and performers, etc. Some of this in the later chapters became a little tedious and I ended up skimming some of it. Overall, I would only mildly recommend this if you are interested in the history of San Francisco when it was its wickedest...
But overall, this is a very extensive history of San Francisco and its vices from the time of the gold rush in the 1840s up until about 1917 when the city closed most of the "bagnios" that thrived in the section of the city known as the notorious Barbary Coast. I lived in the Bay Area for about 13 years during the 80s and 90s but I was really unaware of most of its wild past. A lot of this was fascinating and perverse. Included in the history were immigrants from Australia who started some of the earliest gangs in the city and targeted much of the Latino population. The gangs were called the "Hounds" and the "Sydney Ducks" and they were instrumental in the forming of the Committee of Vigilance in 1851 to rid the city of their presence. A lot of the book focuses on the brothels and prostitutes of the era including young Chinese girls who were smuggled from China and forced to work in small "cribs" in the city. It also tells of the Chinese gangs called tongs and their wars with each other. And then there was the plight of the sailors who embarked in the city and were taken for anything they had.
There was a lot of detail about various personages who played a part in the story including brothel owners, gamblers, dance-hall girls and performers, etc. Some of this in the later chapters became a little tedious and I ended up skimming some of it. Overall, I would only mildly recommend this if you are interested in the history of San Francisco when it was its wickedest...
