"Christmas week events in Berkeley a century ago included a program of holiday music played on the Campanile bells on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and numerous services at local churches, including traditional Christmas Eve midnight services. The Berkeley Daily Gazette reported that the December 1925 days would be "essentially a home festival" with people gathering for private rather than public events. However, hundreds of people did go on organized Christmas Eve and Day caroling."
"All public offices and UC Berkeley were closed (classes had ended on Dec. 8 that year), and almost all Berkeley stores were closed "after a strenuous business season covering the past six weeks." The Berkeley Downtown Association ran ads thanking people for shopping locally. Someone broke into three Berkeley homes on Dec. 23 but was apparently a "sentimental burglar who refused to steal Christmas presents." He unwrapped all of them, though, presumably to see what they contained."
Berkeley's 1925 Christmas week featured Campanile bell music on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and numerous church services, including traditional midnight services. Local coverage described the days as "essentially a home festival" with people favoring private gatherings, though hundreds joined organized Christmas Eve and Day caroling. Weather was fair and moderate with light southerly winds. All public offices and the University of California were closed, and almost all stores shut after a strenuous six-week business season; downtown ads thanked local shoppers. Incidents included a burglar who unwrapped but did not steal presents, a Santa impersonator mistakenly roughed up at the wrong address, and a seven-year-old struck by a car who suffered only minor bruises and whose new doll survived. The fire chief warned that flammable Christmas trees and decorations could become "death traps for their loved ones" and urged caution.
Read at The Mercury News
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