Louis Zelinsky was sleeping peacefully in an apartment above the Premier Theater on N. Santa Cruz Avenue. The Monday evening movie crowd—possibly there to see Wallace Beery in The Champ, or maybe the innovative animated creation of newcomer Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse—had long since dispersed.

It was likely a light weeknight crowd on Feb. 20, 1933, and even lighter gate receipts given the fact that the Great Depression had ended less than two years earlier. Still, Zelinsky, the manager of the theater, was no doubt happy to get to sleep after his long night's work in the movie house below.

His sleep, however, did not last long.

It was 1:50 a.m. on Tuesday when a bomb planted in the ticket office below exploded, sending bricks and debris 50 feet into the street, damaging the sweet shop next door, waking residents blocks away and throwing Zelinsky out of his bed.

Luckily, Zelinsky was not seriously injured in the blast, but "Louis" was not so fortunate.

"The only casualty was 'Louis,' the happy little canary that for months has been singing happily in the [sweet shop] window," wrote the Los Gatos Times-Observer in an historical piece in 1958. "Louis' gilded home was a twisted wreck and he was dead."

The culprits, said to be "unidentified terrorists traveling through Los Gatos at a high speed in a black car," had been seen loitering at the theater several nights earlier. The bomb had been slipped through the slot in the box office.

Henry Noble, chief of police at the time, blamed the bombing on labor troubles, but Zelinsky refuted that claim, indicating that "the theater had been operating on a 'pay what you can' admission basis."

The Premier Theater, originally The Strand (opened in 1915), was rebuilt, later to become the Los Gatos Theater and eventually the Los Gatos Cinema in the same N. Santa Cruz Avenue location.

But the bombing remains as part of the town's history from an era—the 1920s and '30s—that was marked by wild times, violence and desolation across the nation.

It was the era of the Roaring '20s, prohibition, the Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt's WPA. But in Los Gatos, called "the Gem City in the Valley of the Heart's Delight" in Bruce Franks' account, "A Walk Downtown," residents were insulated from many of the stark realities facing much of the nation.

The '20s didn't roar as loudly in Los Gatos as they did in other parts of the country, and the Depression wasn't felt here quite the way it was elsewhere. However, Los Gatos did suffer the effects of the violence of the period.

Just months after the theater bombing in downtown Los Gatos, the town was rocked again when "orchard terrorists" bombed the home of Sam Riccatto on Aug. 8, 1933.

A newspaper account of the day described the attack as the "ninth 'black hand' terror bombing in Santa Clara County," and the explosion and subsequent fire destroyed the orchardist's home. The family was spending the night in San Francisco, otherwise "all would have been killed," said Police Chief Noble. Orchardists and merchants were the targets of the attacks.

Fire also took its toll in town during the 1930s. The world-famous Novitiate Winery was destroyed by fire in January of 1934, but was promptly rebuild and stands today as Testarossa Vineyards.

The Great Depression

The economic conditions of the time were abysmal across the nation. Pleas of "hey, buddy, can you spare a dime?" could be heard throughout the land from 1929 through 1931, but not so much in Los Gatos. The Hotel Lyndon hailed its "best year" in July of 1930, and the Los Gatos Mail News wrote, "Business conditions which are said to be quiet in parts of the country are good in this locality."

People were working thanks to employment opportunities in orchards and canneries, and nearly all of the homes in town were occupied.

"Real estate men report conditions are better and good sales are reported in the dry goods line," wrote the Mail News. "Grocery receipts are about the same as last year. Gasoline dealers are smiling again with prices stable."

"A good barometer is seen in postal receipts and telephone subscribers, which have shown an increase," the Mail News continued.

L. H. Neumann, the proprietor of the Hotel Lyndon, told the Mail News on July 31, 1930, "This summer has been the best we have ever had."

In the same edition, J. D. Farwell, a leading businessman in town at the time, added, "Here in Los Gatos we have not felt a depression of any consequences. The so-called depression is largely mental."

"One reason why business is a little slow at this season is that many of the ranchers dried their apricots this year," explained businessman Herbert L. Roberts, "while last year they sold them green and by this time had their money."

The local newspaper also had an answer for merchants hoping to gain financial success in the period: "If you have the right goods, and the right prices, and tell the world about it through the Mail News, there is no depression at all in Los Gatos."

In July of 1931, as the woes of the Great Depression were winding down, Mayor I.D. Mabie summed up the economic period: "Los Gatos has escaped the major force of the depression, both spiritually and commercially."

During the period, with agriculture such a prominent commerce in the area, the Hunt Brothers Cannery employed 400 of the town's 3,168 residents during the canning season.

Still, the town did not escape the economic crisis completely. Police officer Lyman Feathers created what was called the "Feathers Hotel" where the transient unemployed could get a bed and meals.

Even Mayor Mabie recognized that it wasn't the time for civic improvements when in December of 1931 he said that "the present is no time to plan for extensive city improvements" since "the average property owner has felt called on to curtail his expenditures." Sounds like it must have been an election year.

And with that, Los Gatos went about its business.

Steady progress

Progress was steady in downtown Los Gatos—before, during and after the depression. A new firehouse was constructed in 1927, all telephone poles downtown were removed in favor of underground wires in 1931 and the council banned all chicken coops from the sidewalks.

A modern firehouse was constructed at the corner of Tait Avenue and W. Main Street, and opened in July of 1927. The building that served as the firehouse still stands, now the location of the Los Gatos Art Museum.

Telephone poles were removed from the business district in the 1930s following a ruling by the town council members on April 16, 1931, to remove the "unsightly" poles in the downtown area. "They are relics of yesteryear which we can easily dispense with," wrote the Mail News. "With the poles down, Los Gatos will be a different looking place."

Telephone service was an indicator of the town's growth. Subscribers had grown from 326 when the Los Gatos Telephone Company was established in 1910 to 1,200 by 1925. Number service began in 1927.

A headline in the Sept. 30, 1928, Mail News reported that "Council Votes Signs and Chicken Coops Off of the Sidewalks."

"There have been many complaints against chicken coops that remain on the sidewalk all day," said the Mail News, reporting that the council took prompt action to eliminate that fowl activity.

A week earlier, the town had determined it was time to remove the granite horse trough in front of the Hotel Lyndon since horses were becoming a rarity, replaced by the more modern motor car.

It was the job of Superintendent Charles M. Sullivan to clean out the trough, and when he "found two old buckets, a lady's slipper, pocket comb, gin flask, iron pipe, rubber hose, and several live fish" there one Friday morning, the trough became part of the town's history.

Dry town gets wet

Like the rest of the country, Los Gatos was dry during the years of Prohibition from 1917 through 1933. But, like the rest of the country, there were incidents of residents illegally imbibing.

In January of 1931, Robert W. Gilmore lost his license to operate the Los Gatos Cigar store at 35 N. Santa Cruz Ave. when it was determined that he allowed "boys under 21 years of age to frequent his place, and that he permitted gambling and intoxicating liquors."

At the same time, "Sleepy" Frederickson was fined $3 by Judge R.R. Bell for selling "moonshine" whiskey.

Four years earlier, in March of 1927, the billiard parlor at the same location lost its license because of gambling after men playing cards "began a game of stud horse poker which continued until after midnight," said the Mail News.

Proprietor J. McAinsh claimed that "he tried to stop the game several times, but that the players would not listen to him."

Some town residents were no doubt thrilled to see the headline in the March 23, 1933, Mail News that proclaimed "Los Gatos May Become Wet Town."

The town did "get wet" in the 1920s with the construction of the Los Gatos municipal pool in Memorial Park, located just below the Main Street bridge.

A small park was built on land donated by early Los Gatos settler W.C. Shore (whose great-granddaughter, Elayne Shore Shuman, still lives in town). Shore drove teams of oxen across the plains in 1849.

The park, originally named Bunker Hill Park when it was dedicated in 1897 on the 122nd anniversary of the American Revolution's Battle of Bunker Hill, grew in the early days of the 20th century as additional land was donated for public use. In 1920, following World War I, the park was renamed to honor the fallen veterans, and a cannon from the war was placed in the park.

By the middle of that decade, residents wanted more—a new swimming hole. So by a 399-160 vote, residents passed a $22,500 bond to fund the construction of a community pool (a far cry from the nearly $3 million needed for the recently completed aquatic facility at the high school). It was completed in 1927 and remained open until 1954 when the park was closed to make way for the new freeway.

It cost a quarter to take a swim back in the 1920s, and that included a swimsuit and towel.

School days

The decade of the 1920s was an important time for education in Los Gatos, with the opening of two new schools and the creation of the Los Gatos Union High School District.

Voters passed a measure in 1922 which led to the formation of the high school district.

At the same time, construction was already under way for the new grammar school on University Avenue, which would open the following year.

Dedication ceremonies for the Los Gatos Grammar School were held on Nov. 9, 1923. Cecile B. Hall was the principal of school at the time, and on the faculty members was second-grade teacher Louise Van Meter, for whom the elementary school on Los Gatos Boulevard is named.

Among the members of the first graduating class at the grammar school was William Balch, who still lives in town as a resident at The Meadows.

The school, later to become University Avenue Junior High School and now the popular Old Town, would expand to include a playing field located behind it and across the creek. A footbridge connecting the school and the fields was dedicated in April of 1926.

Improvements to the town's high school were also made in the decade. The new facility—which remains the main building today—was dedicated on Jan. 17, 1925. The original high school building then became the woodshop.

"The new school is semi-classical in type with broad lofty lines which are truly inspirational," wrote Nevada Marie Spilles in the 1925 Wild Cat annual. "No detail has been omitted in making the High School one of the best in the State."

In May of 1931, Oregon educator Prentiss Brown signed on to become the high school district superintendent and new principal of Los Gatos High School. Brown, for whom the auditorium was named in 1968, would remain in the post until 1955.

Douglas Helm, the longtime teacher and administrator, joined the faculty in 1923, serving as the football, basketball and baseball coach for many years. The football field—Helm Field—is named for him, and he coached football until turning over the duties to Fred Canrinus in 1938.

In the 1931 Wild Cat annual, it's interesting to note that girls hockey was called "the most successful sport of the year." The girls field hockey team continues to be one of the winningest sports at the high school in the 21st century.

One of the most famous Los Gatos High School students was 1934 graduate Olivia de Havilland, who went on to Hollywood stardom as Melanie in Gone With The Wind. De Havilland was a high school class officer at the same time that local legend Betty McClendon (class of '31) served as the student body secretary.

Over the hill

The trip over the Santa Cruz Mountains from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz still isn't an easy one, but it was a rough and rugged trip by horseback or buggy in the 19th century. That terrain became a whole lot more accessible by 1921 with the completion of the first paved highway over the hill.

The 16-foot wide, curbed Portland Cement highway was built with funds created by a 1911 bond issue to link "county seat laterals," according to a report by California Highways and Public Works in November of 1937. It opened on Aug. 26, 1921, according to Mail News reports, with more than 8,000 automobiles traveling the 20 mph roadway.

The "Boulevard to the Pacific Ocean" was a federal military road, connecting Army troops based in San Francisco to Monterey's Fort Ord.

The slow going over the narrow, winding mountain road created traffic jams through the hills that backed up into downtown Los Gatos, the only area of county access to the highway.

"There have been Sunday afternoons when returning traffic from the Santa Cruz area would back up as far as five miles southerly from Los Gatos unable to move, due mainly to the inadequacy of the road," according to the traffic report.

As quickly as the next decade, it because clear that there was a need for a larger, more modern highway over the hill and the State Highway Department constructed what we would become to know as Highway 17. Though still treacherous, the new highway improved conditions for making the drive to the coast. The new section of highway was opened in 1939.

The opening of the new, modern highway spelled the beginning of the end for Holy City, a small mountain community built by religious zealot "Father" William E. Riker in 1919. According to Richard Beal's Highway 17: The Road to Santa Cruz, the community grew from a handful of followers to 300 or so who helped run the tourist-oriented businesses on the old Santa Cruz Highway. Billboards like "Holy City answers all questions and solves all problems" and "See us if your are contemplating marriage, suicide or crime" enticed visitors into the small town.

But when Highway 17 opened and allowed motorists to bypass the old highway, "the city began to decline," according to Beal.

The new highway was "approximately two miles shorter" and featured about "one-seventh the amount of central angle of curvature" as the old route, wrote H.R. Judah, chairman of the California Highway Commission, in 1937.

The highway, the influx of automobile ownership and the advent of the Peerless Stages (the bus line established in the 1930s) were just a few of the factors that led to the abandonment of rail travel in the period.

The interurban railroad in the Santa Clara Valley had already stopped operation. In March of 1933, the last electric train left Los Gatos for Saratoga and San Jose, marking the end of an era. The interurban railroad has served the town since 1904.

The end of rail travel directly from Los Gatos to the coast ended in the summer of 1939. Rail ridership had already diminished because of the autos and bus lines, but heavy storms in the winter of 1939­40 damaged the track and tunnels in the Los Gatos canyon, marking the end of the Suntan Special to Santa Cruz.

Town celebrations

Pageants were a big part of town life through the 1920s and '30s, and the biggest of them all came on Aug. 6­7, 1937, with the Golden Jubilee that celebrated the 1887 incorporation of the town. Ruth Comfort Mitchell—the wife of state Senator Sanborn Young—was the author of the pageant that year that featured more than 300 Los Gatans on stage and virtually all town residents in some capacity.

The Youngs lived on Cypress Way in Los Gatos. She had a renowned literary career, that included penning the Broadway play, The Sweetmeat Game, that premiered in 1916. He served from 1925 through 1938 in the state senate, his primary interests being the conservation of wild animals and narcotics control. He is credited with abolishing saw-tooth animal traps, and he sailed with his wife from New York to Geneva in 1931 as President Herbert Hoover's delegate to the "Opium Conference."

The town's pageants were first directed by Wilbur Hall and held behind the current Civic Center in what was a natural amphitheater. Pageant Drive stills exists in town, the small road off of Main Street that goes between the library and the Bentley dealership.

One of the most elaborate pageants of them all—Keang Foo, the Exile—was presented by Hall in 1921. After The Magic Lamp in 1929 and the Gypsy King in 1930, the pageants were suspended during the years of the Great Depression before the Golden Jubilee of 1937.

The Jubilee provided an opportunity for townspeople to celebrate the survival of the rocky economic period just passed and to look forward to the days of prosperity ahead. Little did they know at the time what they faced on the horizon.

Aug. 26, 1921—The 16-foot, curbed Portland Cement highway, the first paved road through the Santa Cruz Mountains, opened.

March 31, 1922—In response to a need for a unified high school district, voters passed a measure which led to the formation of the Los Gatos Union High School District. J. Warren Ayer took over for Irving W. Snow as the high school principal in 1922.

Nov. 9, 1923—Dedication ceremonies were held for the newly completed Los Gatos Grammar School, later to be known as University Avenue School.

Jan. 17, 1925—The new high school building was dedicated.

April 6, 1925—A $22,500 bond passed by a vote of 399-160 to finance a swimming pool that would be constructed in Memorial Park. The park, previously Bunker Hill Park, had been enlarged and given its new name in 1920 to honor those who had died during World War I. The park remained a community gathering spot until its closure in 1954 to make way for the new freeway.

July, 1927—A modern firehouse was constructed at the corner of Tait Avenue and W. Main Street. Jack Sullivan was the fire chief at the time, serving in the post from 1920 through 1955. The building that served as the firehouse still stands, now the location of the Los Gatos Art Museum.

May 1, 1931—Prentiss Brown, a well-known educator from Oregon, was named the high school district superintendent and new principal of Los Gatos High School.

July 30, 1931—The Los Gatos Mail News, ancestor of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, celebrated it 50th anniversary. The subscription cost was $2 per year ... in advance.

March, 1933—The last electric train left Los Gatos for Saratoga and San Jose, marking the end of an era—the interurban railroad which has served the town since 1904 was abandoned

Jan., 1937—Football star Nello Falaschi of Los Gatos, who had played high school ball at nearby Bellarmine Prepatory, was given a hero's welcome following his participation in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day as a member of the Santa Clara University football team. Falaschi was an All-American for the Broncos.

Aug. 6­7, 1937—The town celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the 1887 incorporation of the Town of Los Gatos.

Oct., 1938—Legendary author John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath while living in a house in what is now Monte Sereno. Steinbeck wrote the classic novel in long hand and it was later typed by his first wife, Carol Henning.

July 5, 1939—Highway 17—then called Highway 5—opened, providing a more direct route over the Santa Cruz Mountains from Los Gatos to the coast. The three-lane roadway included a center passing lane, called the "suicide lane."

1939—The train from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz made its final run. Following heavy storms in the winter of 1939­40, the railroad abandoned the line because of heavy damage to the track and tunnels in the Los Gatos canyon.