

Published in collaboration with Sierra College Press.
- Price: $18.00
- Pages: 256
- Carton Quantity: 40
- Publisher: Heyday
- Imprint: Heyday
- Publication Date: 2nd June 2020
- Trim Size: 5.5 x 8.5 in
- ISBN: 9781597144995
- Format: Paperback
- BISACs:
HISTORY / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
HISTORY / United States / 19th Century
HISTORY / United States / 20th Century
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Mining
“Premier historian Gary Noy has created the finest and most entertaining compilation ever of stories documenting ‘the best bad things’ of nineteenth century California.… Never before has this been so well told and supported by such a vast array of primary sources.”—Gary Kurutz, Director Emeritus, California History Room and Special Collections, California State Library“Hellacious California! confidently carries the reader into the everyday lives of early Californians. The focus on Californians’ popular pastimes …, with an eye on vice, decadence, and scandal, makes this book a rowdy tour.”—Dr. Patrick Ettinger, Professor of History, California State University, Sacramento; Former Director of CSUS Public History Program and the Capital Campus Oral History Program
“One of the best reads about the state I love! History penned with a sense of humor, insight, and compassion … Fascinating vignettes of California’s early years of expansion, exploitation, and unbridled human nature reveal the vibrant complexity of forces at work that established the Golden State.”—Beverly Lewis, Director, Placer-Lake Tahoe Film Office; Past President of FLICS (Film Liaisons in California Statewide), the professional association of California State Film Commissions
Introduction
1. Black-Legs, California Prayer Books, and Twisting the Tiger’s Tail: Games of Chance
2. Anti-Fogmatics, Coffin Varnish, and Oh-Be-Joyful: The Demon Drink
3. Grizzly Bear Steak, Sourdough Slapjacks, and Whole Jackass Rabbit: Gracious Dining and Gluttony
4. Spittoons, Quids, and Cigarillos: Tobacco Culture
5. Demanding Satisfaction, Frogstickers, and the Slogging Fraternity: Dueling, Knife Fights, Fisticuffs, and Animal Baiting
6. Sparking, Philanthropic Importation, and the Hospital: Courtship, Divorce and Prostitution
7. Put’s Golden Songster, The India Rubber Man, and Pedestrianism: Eccentric and Extraordinary Entertainments
8. Hornswogglers, Honey-Foglers and Humbugs: Scoundrels and Charlatans
BibliographyAcknowledgments
About the Author
Published in collaboration with Sierra College Press.
- Price: $18.00
- Pages: 256
- Carton Quantity: 40
- Publisher: Heyday
- Imprint: Heyday
- Publication Date: 2nd June 2020
- Trim Size: 5.5 x 8.5 in
- ISBN: 9781597144995
- Format: Paperback
- BISACs:
HISTORY / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)
HISTORY / United States / 19th Century
HISTORY / United States / 20th Century
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Mining
“Premier historian Gary Noy has created the finest and most entertaining compilation ever of stories documenting ‘the best bad things’ of nineteenth century California.… Never before has this been so well told and supported by such a vast array of primary sources.”—Gary Kurutz, Director Emeritus, California History Room and Special Collections, California State Library“Hellacious California! confidently carries the reader into the everyday lives of early Californians. The focus on Californians’ popular pastimes …, with an eye on vice, decadence, and scandal, makes this book a rowdy tour.”—Dr. Patrick Ettinger, Professor of History, California State University, Sacramento; Former Director of CSUS Public History Program and the Capital Campus Oral History Program
“One of the best reads about the state I love! History penned with a sense of humor, insight, and compassion … Fascinating vignettes of California’s early years of expansion, exploitation, and unbridled human nature reveal the vibrant complexity of forces at work that established the Golden State.”—Beverly Lewis, Director, Placer-Lake Tahoe Film Office; Past President of FLICS (Film Liaisons in California Statewide), the professional association of California State Film Commissions
Introduction
1. Black-Legs, California Prayer Books, and Twisting the Tiger’s Tail: Games of Chance
2. Anti-Fogmatics, Coffin Varnish, and Oh-Be-Joyful: The Demon Drink
3. Grizzly Bear Steak, Sourdough Slapjacks, and Whole Jackass Rabbit: Gracious Dining and Gluttony
4. Spittoons, Quids, and Cigarillos: Tobacco Culture
5. Demanding Satisfaction, Frogstickers, and the Slogging Fraternity: Dueling, Knife Fights, Fisticuffs, and Animal Baiting
6. Sparking, Philanthropic Importation, and the Hospital: Courtship, Divorce and Prostitution
7. Put’s Golden Songster, The India Rubber Man, and Pedestrianism: Eccentric and Extraordinary Entertainments
8. Hornswogglers, Honey-Foglers and Humbugs: Scoundrels and Charlatans
BibliographyAcknowledgments
About the Author