loading image

Cable cars are one of San Francisco's best known landmarks and have been featured on a wide variety of promotional items, especially those related to travel. Did you know San Francisco's cable cars date back to 1873? The cable car system was originally constructed to create a better way of moving people and things up San Francisco's steep hills instead of using literal horsepower. The cars grip wire cables running beneath the street, causing them to move with the cables. To stop the car, the operator releases the cable and puts on the brakes. An operator for the cable is called a gripman; there have only been three women grip operators to date. Only three of the original twenty-three lines established between 1873 to 1890 are still running: the Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde, and California lines. The cables under each line all run to a central power house and cable car barn located at the corner of Washington and Mason street, which is also home to the Cable Car Museum. Have you ever ridden on a cable car? Image: United Air Lines ticket jacket, 1974. Gift of Thomas G. Dragges. 2011.051.329 This image was posted on July 24, 2020.

Similar Instagram posts

Cable cars are one of San Francisco's best known landmarks and have been featured on a wide variety of promotional items, especially those related to travel. This image was posted on December 27, 2018. #sfhistory #unitedairlines #airline #ticketjacket #cablecar
#Onthisday in 1936, the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge opened to the public. This image was posted on November 12, 2021. #sfhistory #baybridge
Happy Birthday, San Francisco! This image was posted on April 15, 2022. #415day #sanfrancisco #sfhistory
Happy Friday! This image was posted on June 10, 2016.
This year, in tandem with our forthcoming airline poster artist exhibition, we will be highlighting posters from our collection every week. This image was posted on February 16, 2024. #avgeek #52posters #united
Airlines have customarily used landmarks to advertise their destinations. This image was posted on July 13, 2019. #twa #sanfrancisco #poster #1960s
This cover art on this seat-pocket flight information packet features various landmarks from Western Airlines’ travel destinations. This image was posted on February 03, 2017.

This post mentions the following things involved with the SFO Museum collection:

United Airlines. It is related to United Airlines (the company) .