Samuel Brannan - The sell 'em shovels Marketer

by Alan Petersen

Posted: 13 years ago 4 replies

OFF TOPIC

"Don't dig for gold, sell the shovels" is a cliche bandied out a lot but it's one of my favorites. I never thought much about the history of it just that merchants selling supplies to miners made more money than those miners digging for gold during the CA gold rush.

As a new resident to San Francisco I was doing some reading on the history here and I came across Samuel Brennan. A merchant and publisher who promoted the hell out of the gold found, triggering the gold rush.

The locals wanted to keep it quiet but word got out. Hundreds of thousands of people came from all over the U.S. and the world starting in 1849 looking for their fortune digging for gold. While Samuel Brennan happily sold them the supplies.

It was he, not a miner, that became California's first millionaire.

PBS - THE WEST - Samuel Brannan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Gold_Rush

Anyway just thought it was cool to learn more about the man behind the cliche.

Also interesting, he lost his entire fortune in the end so no happy ending of sipping margaritas on the beach.

Bill Farnham 13 years ago

As a new resident to San Francisco...

Alan,

I remember when you said your wife got transferred and you were moving to California...

I'm so gald you guys ended up in San Francisco, for a while at first I was afraid it might have been So Cal...

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
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- myob 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Bill Farnham
  
  I'm so gald you guys ended up in San Francisco, for a while at first I was afraid it might have been So Cal...
  
  Alan, you went to the wrong place. There's still lots of gold left here in So Calif.
  
  The New California Gold Rush Los Angeles
  
  Thanks
  
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Lazy

13 years ago

I was raised in the Bay Area, and did the first years of my adult life in San Francisco. It's easily my favorite place on earth. When the time comes to put a down payment on my next piece of property, you can be sure it'll be in San Francisco or Berkeley.

Congrats on the move, and if you want the best burrito in the city, head over to Cuco's on haight and fillmore. They're only open on weekdays, and they're cash only, but holy crap is it good stuff. Right across the street is Kate's Kitchen, home of the best hash browns I've ever tasted.

Cheers!

Thanks
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Alan Petersen

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Bill Farnham

Alan,

I remember when you said your wife got transferred and you were moving to California...

I'm so gald you guys ended up in San Francisco, for a while at first I was afraid it might have been So Cal...

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities.

Thanks Bill. It was a trip! We have 3 dogs so I didn't want cargo them on a plane so we drove 2,000+ miles. Got stuck in Lyman, WY and Truckee, CA because of snow storms in the mountains and jack-knifed trucks but we did finally make it. And my wife and I are still married.

Originally Posted by myob

Alan, you went to the wrong place. There's still lots of gold left here in So Calif.

The New California Gold Rush Los Angeles

As a California newbie, I'm noticing a Socal, Nocal thing going on. The words "Northern California should ceded from Southern California" has been uttered. The even warmer weather would be nice though.

Originally Posted by Lazy

Thanks Dude! I have been on the quest for the best burrito. I've had a couple of them at Zapata s on Castro but I figure there has to be better so I'll go try Cuco's. I'm not too far from Haight.