November, 1909 found Napa County residents busy with not only daily living but also beginning the preparations for the upcoming holiday season. The newspapers of the day were filled with stories about autumnal celebrations, among other things.

The first hint of the 1909 holidays to come was an article, dated Nov. 3, about a Napa city council meeting and turkey raffles. The Napa Daily Journal reported a proposed new ordinance would prohibit livestock drives, domestic animals trespassing on private property and turkey raffles within the Napa city limits.

Local attorney J.T. York, on behalf of his client, M. Schwartz, requested the council amend the ordinance to allow for the continuation of turkey raffles. York stated that for years Schwartz had held holiday turkey raffles within his Main street cigar shop. York went on at great length about how those raffles benefited local farmers and downtown Napa merchants. Apparently, York managed to sway the council to protect that tradition as they voted to allow turkey raffles to continue within Napa city.

The following day,     Nov. 4, a page one article of the Journal covered the details of Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Chapman’s 50th wedding anniversary party. The blissful couple were showered with gifts of fine china, crystal and more. They also received heartfelt toasts and fitting speeches from their family and friends. Numbering nearly 60 people, the last names of those guests would probably be recognized by many locals today.

The husband of this golden anniversary pair was an early settler of Napa. Lyman Chapman had lived in Napa since 1849, 60 years at the time of the article. As a contractor, he built the first wood frame building in Napa. According to the Journal, it was the American Hotel, known as the Owl Hotel in 1909. It stood at the corner of Third and Main streets.

While the Chapmans basked in the afterglow of their 50th anniversary party, other locals were gearing up for more events. One such group was the Ladies Guild of St. Mary’s Episcopal church, who were preparing for their annual gifts fair.

Similar to Community Project’s Fancy Fair, the St. Mary’s Ladies Guild had booths filled with handmade crafts and foods. The 1909 fair also featured a comedy farce performed by locals and a dance. According to the Journal, “the affair was a social and financial success.”

About two weeks later, another fair was held by the Ladies Guild of Napa’s Baptist church. “The New England dinner served … was pronounced as excellent.” The Nov. 19, 1909, Journal continued, “The booths with their fancy articles of every kind did a rushing business and many were the gifts purchased to gladden the hearts of little ones on Christmas.”

Within that same Journal edition, advertisements from local businesses highlighted their Thanksgiving merchandise. For instance, Winship, Beard and Company, a department store once located in the Behlow building at Brown between First and Second streets, offered dishware to foodstuffs. “For Thanksgiving Dinner: Turkey — We have a hundred Berryessa Valley grain-fed birds engaged and are taking orders for them now. Chestnuts - For stuffing. Genuine Italian nuts at 2 lbs. for 35 cents; Newtown Pippin Apples, Fancy 4 tier stock. $1.25 Box ...,” said the 1909 advertisement.

By mid-November 1909, all the local merchants focused on Thanksgiving in their advertising, including furniture stores. Treadway and Company, located on Main street in downtown Napa, advertised hand-crafted bird’s-eye maple dining tables for sale.

While many local residents were preparing for their own Thanksgiving Day celebrations, other locals were working on commercial and community-wide events. Local restaurants were inviting the culinary challenged to their establishments for Thanksgiving Day dinner.

The Star Restaurant at 105 S. Main St. promised a “splendid” six-course holiday meal. The menu included creamy tomato soup, fried oysters with shoe string potatoes, roasted turkey with cranberry sauce, pies and more for 50 cents.

The Star restaurant advertised no reservations would be taken. Other local eateries, including the Modern Cafe, encouraged reservations, Their menu featured the requisite turkey, but they did offer different courses, such as mock turtle soup, all for 50 cents.

As those kitchens were bustling with activity, two local organizations were busy with holiday event plans for, as the Journal wrote, “Thanksgiving Eve.” The Native Daughters of the Golden West hosted a dance on Nov. 24, 1909. While a notice of the upcoming event was posted in the newspapers, the Journal printed no follow-up story about it.

The Journal did report on the Hermann Sons Masquerade Ball held at the Armory Hall. The Journal wrote, the event “... was all that could be desired in point of social enjoyment. The hall was filled with maskers, all bent on making merry. There was the beautiful, the grotesque, the sublime and the ridiculous, all mingled in an assemblage of many colors.”

With an admission price of 75 cents per couple, the evening included live orchestra music, a buffet of refreshments and four grand prizes for the best costumes. The festivities “continued until a late hour of the morning and all had a most enjoyable time, “ wrote the Journal.

With feet rested and stomachs filled with Thanksgiving dinners, locals had even more to enjoy during November 1909.

The following day, Mother Nature had a surprise in store for all Napa county residents. “Moon Eclipsed,” read a Nov. 27 Journal headline. For about an hour, 11:01 p.m. Friday. Nov. 26 to 12:03 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, the moon was in total eclipse. The Journal described that celestial sight at length, “the moon took on a beautiful pink tint, during which at the height of this colorful period, the light and dark silhouettes of the lunar tracts and the crater Tycho were seen without the aid of a magnifying glass.”

Today, the autumn is overflowing with events and every type of opportunity to fill one’s calendar. Apparently, residents of Napa County 100 years ago also enjoyed an event-filled November.