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CHRISTMAS

Look back at Christmas 100 years ago in Glendale

A giving city for sure, Glendale residents supported one another, especially during the holiday season

Posted 12/24/22

A hundred years ago, December, 1922, Christmas in Glendale, a city of less than 3,000 people, was notable for its spirit of giving.

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CHRISTMAS

Look back at Christmas 100 years ago in Glendale

A giving city for sure, Glendale residents supported one another, especially during the holiday season

Posted

A hundred years ago, December, 1922, Christmas in Glendale, a city of less than 3,000 people, was notable for its spirit of giving.

Louis Sands, who lived in the palatial Manistee Ranch house, had started a tradition two years prior of distributing candy to the local children. The Boy Scouts sponsored a Christmas cantata to raise money for equipping a boys’ playground. The Glendale News announced, on the front page, its belief that “the leaven of good is more pronounced than that of the opposing forces,” followed by a tale of giving by both the rich and the poor. The tale referred to the giving practice as a “White Christmas,” prompting a community response.

Glendale then held what it called a “The Great White Christmas.” But the white was not for snow, it was for the huge fir tree in the park that the citizens had illuminated, and included what the Glendale News reported as “the giving of selfless gifts of candy, toys, food, and clothing…gifts not only for the needy, but also for those who are lonely, homesick or ill.”

It was a popular activity that even captured the attention of the Parent-Teachers Association, which chimed in with a pie social to raise funds to purchase gifts for the holiday event. The News had high praise for the “merchants and public-spirited men and women of the community” who contributed food and necessities, and “the committee, which worked all day until after ten that night took gifts to forty-nine families, averaging four children to a family.”

Chrysanthemums went to those who were ill, and baskets of “dainties and sweets” were given to the elderly who were separated from their families. Numerous residents received baskets filled with everything they would need for Christmas dinner plus several days following: “a big plump chicken, a sack of flour, lard, beans, coffee and cakes, candy, nuts and fruits as well as toys for the little ones.” Others received the food basket plus clothing, fuel, bedding and playthings for the children.

The News reported that, “Many were unable to thank the committee because of the tears that sprang from hearts full of gratitude.”

Glendale Stresses Clean Up and Paint Up

Even though Christmas was just days away, the holiday was not the only focus of news in the December 21, 1922 issue of the Glendale News. A “Clean Up and Paint Up” campaign also dominated the news admonishing citizens that a clean city helps deter disease. At that time, death was often the result of diseases such as typhoid, cholera, or tuberculosis, popularly called consumption or the white plague. Smallpox was also on the minds of Glendale citizens as they watched friends and family members die of the disease.

The campaign was triggered when Governor Campbell, during an early December visit, referred to Glendale as “The City of Johnson Grass,” thus raising the hackles of the small community. The Commercial Club (an organization similar to today’s Chamber of Commerce) responded to the insult by deciding to do something.

Under the leadership of President Heatwole they determined to “march forth and wage war against not only Old Man Johnson Grass, but against the tin can, the rubbish pile, the weeds on vacant lots, and in fact against every sort of filth and dirt that infect the city.”

The city then joined the cause and decided that December 25 through December 30 would be the main campaign period, partly because it heralded the start of the new year and partly because the school children, who were on holiday, could be enlisted to help. A Mayor’s Proclamation announced the campaign, and it was the topic of the Commercial Club’s meetings, ads by local businesses, and the agenda of the town council.

Headline after headline in the newspaper called attention to the project:

“Fighting the White Plague”

“You Clean Your Clothes, Why Not Your Town”

Slogans were peppered throughout the newspaper:

“Health means wealth. Clean up for both.”

“Clean possessions make good impressions.”

“The scrub brush and the paint brush are mightier than the sword in civilization’s struggle forward.”

“Banish dirt, dust, and disease, and live longer.”

Glendale’s Hometown Christmas

In 1922, Christmas was much like hometowns around the country in this post WWI period, and the focus was on family activities.

Prohibition was in its third year, and Glendale, which was founded as a temperance colony, easily went along with the nation’s restrictions, so alcohol was not part of the holiday festivities.

The Woman’s Club was thriving and presented what the Glendale News described as “A Christmas Frolic…a most delightful dancing party to be given at the clubhouse Christmas Night.” The newly organized Rotary Club received its charter from the International Order of Rotary that December, an important step for the fledgling community.

The newspaper reported several students returning home from college for the holidays, and friends and family members visited from as far away as Tennessee and as near as California. Several residents were reported leaving for the holidays with California a popular destination.

The Christmas season was also the occasion for the Commercial Club to give a summary of the sea-son’s activities.

Agriculture dominated the city’s commerce, and at the December meeting it was reported that “4,800 laborers have been brought in to harvest cotton…and a member of the dairymen’s associated stated that the quality of cattle was much superior to that of the past.”

There had been public indignation over high prices for months, but during the holiday season, ads in the local paper touted popular Christmas gifts: vanity cases, fountain pens, tobacco pouches, razor and strop, Kodaks, or an electric washer for mother that “will make her happy the rest of her days.”