Capital Intentions: Female Proprietors in San Francisco, 1850-1920 (The Luther H. Hodges Jr. and Luther H. Hodges Sr. Series on Business, Entrepreneurship and Public Policy)

Late 19-century San Francisco was a booming marketplace in which some women stepped beyond their roles as wives, caregivers, and homemakers to start businesses that combined family concerns with money-making activities. Edith Sparks traces the experiences of these women entrepreneurs, exploring who they were, why they started businesses, how they attracted customers and managed finances, and how they dealt with failure. Using a unique sample of bankruptcy records, credit reports, advertisements, city directories, census reports, and other sources, Sparks argues that women were competitive, economic actors, strategizing how best to capitalize on their skills in the marketplace.Edith Sparks is the author of 'Capital Intentions: Female Proprietors in San Francisco, 1850-1920 (The Luther H. Hodges Jr. and Luther H. Hodges Sr. Series on Business, Entrepreneurship and Public Policy)', published 2006 under ISBN 9780807830611 and ISBN 0807830615.