News & Notes
President ’ s Message
By Pamela Baird MVHA President
Lights out !
This newsletter is published four times a year by the MOUNTAIN VIEW HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION P . O . Box 252 , Mountain View , CA 94042 www . mountainviewhistorical . org
MVHA Board of Directors
President : Pamela Baird Vice-President : Robert Cox Secretary : Jamil Shaikh Treasurer : Vacant Past President : Nicholas Perry Historical Data : Vacant Membership : IdaRose Sylvester ( acting ) Newsletter : John Cortez ( acting ) Ways & Means : Vacant Director-at-Large : Lisa Garcia ( acting ) Director-at-Large : Gil Lane ( acting )
Newsletter Design & Layout by Nicholas Perry
MVHA Board of Directors Email : info @ mountainviewhistorical . org
Pamela Baird
The recent power outages in February and March are reminders that we live on a thin veneer of civilization . The electricity at our house was out for four hours in February and 36 hours in March . But many of our unfortunate neighbors had no power for �ive days !
We all scrambled to �igure out how to preserve food , prepare meals , navigate in a dark house and stay warm . Candles , a kerosene lamp , �lashlights and LED lanterns allowed us to eat a meal and get around the house .
This made me think about how different life was before homes had electricity . The city of Mountain View was electri�ied in 1902 . The primary use of early electri�ication was to provide streetlights and lighting in the home . Old photos of Castro Street from 1906 show telephone poles and electric wiring . Progress !
Prior to electri�ication , lighting Telephone poles line Castro Street c . 1906 was done with gas lamps ( many homes in large cities were wired for natural gas in the late 1890s ). If natural gas was unavailable kerosene lamps were used for lighting . Kerosene , gasoline , wood , and coal were used as kitchen fuels for the large cumbersome looking metal cookstoves . It took skill to modulate these fuels so that food cooked properly . Refrigeration was done with an icebox ( a large insulated box with a section for holding a block of ice which kept the contents cold ). Electric refrigeration didn ’ t become popular until the mid-1930s when Freon was used as a coolant .
1938 PG & E advertisement
Small electric appliances , such as toasters , irons and coffee pots , were introduced in the 1910s but widespread adoption didn ’ t occur two decades later . Early large electric appliances like washing machines and dishwashers were expensive and didn ’ t work well . A PG & E advertisement from the 1938 Mountain View Register Leader shows a woman using a wash board to do laundry . It reminded the reader how little electricity is needed to run your washing machine- go out and buy one !
When the power goes out we often think of not being able to use our computers , charge our cell phones or use lighting . But remember how different life was only 125 years ago prior to the electri�ication of Mountain View . And how lucky we are compared to the way our great grandparents lived .
— Pamela 2