1925 — 101 years ago
From the Sonoma Index-Tribune of August 8, 1925:
A Vintage Sent Into Exile. Eight tank cars of Zinfandel, some 7,413 gallons apiece, have been pumped aboard the railway at El Verano and dispatched to Lodi. Natives, we are told, watched the good old stuff depart with tears in their eyes.
Ninety-Six and Still Behind the Plow. Mr. Loveall of Buena Vista, after whom the valley was named and now ninety-six years of age, has neither retired nor taken to a cane. He hires himself out for plowing jobs and works a team for eight hours at a stretch, the notice concluding with the challenge: Can Florida beat this?
The Seals Prefer a Tent at the Springs. The San Francisco ball club will train again at Boyes Springs, the experiment of decamping to Fresno having proved no success. Manager Putnam declared he would rather house the boys in a tent at the Springs than return to Fresno.
The Native Sons Lose Patience with the Plaza. Their pride stirred and their patience exhausted after years of hoping the city would beautify the historic square, the Native Sons waited on the trustees to offer their co-operation. Trustee Bates agreed to donate the use of his tractor and disc harrow toward the removal of weeds.
The Puree Is Spoken For. The Sebastiani cannery east of town is being readied for tomatoes alone, its entire output already sold to the Campbell Soup Company. The smaller fruit is to go into puree, the larger to be peeled for the solid pack.
A Wire, a Hunter, and Four Silent Hours. A high tension P. G. and E. wire was shot in two on Saturday, presumably by a hunter, the sagging cable then burning out the telephone lines at Schellville. The power was off for four hours and the switchboard girls were left menaced until the trouble was located.
1905 — 121 years ago
From the Sonoma Index-Tribune of August 5, 1905:
The Grocer's Ledger, in Full. P. Boccoli, near the post office on Napa Street, invites shoppers to weigh the merits of Baked Beans at 10¢ the large can, Sunset Laundry Bluing at 5¢, and a gallon of Fine Syrup, whose price the OCR has discreetly withheld. Salad Oil, quart bottle, remains a firm 20¢.
A Slicker of Long Acquaintance. An unnamed doctor, obliged to be out in all sorts of weather, writes that a Fish Brand Slicker bought many years ago has proven a valued friend for many a stormy day, and now, it having grown old, requests a price-list. His name, the makers note, will be given on application.
The Peripatetic Devotions of St. Francis'. Mass in the upper valley now follows a calendar of some intricacy, alternating between St. Francis' Church in Sonoma and Mervyn Hall in Glen Ellen by the ordinal number of the Sunday. On the fifth Sunday of any month so blessed, the two exchange their appointed hours entirely.
1885 — 141 years ago
From the Sonoma Index-Tribune of August 15, 1885:
A Modest Proposal Concerning Fools and Firearms. The paper reports that five or six men have been shot dead in this section of the State so far this season by excited hunters who, in the grip of "buck ague," mistook their companions for deer. The editor offers the view that guns are best kept out of the reach of fools and idiots, whose numbers these hunting exploits do much to establish.
The Case for a Cannery. The paper urges local orchardists to stop selling their fruit elsewhere and instead form a joint stock company to build a cannery and fruit-drying establishment right here in Sonoma. If others can make money canning and drying fruit, it reasons, so can our orchardists.
Ladies' Shoes, Considerably Reduced. J. G. — has marked down ladies' shoes from $2 50 and $3 to $1 and $2 50, a reduction advertised with some confidence at his boot, shoe and hardware store on the east side of the Plaza. The prudent shopper is assured there is no trouble to show goods.
Items retold from the original pages, which are in the public domain; the scans are courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society collection at the Internet Archive. The century-old OCR is imperfect — where a name or figure was illegible, we have left it out rather than guess.