A mid-century Christmas in Napa County
During the era known as the mid-20th century, Napa County residents put a modern spin on celebrating Christmas from how Santa Claus arrived to the rising social movement advocating public service. But underneath that sleek and modern wrapping the traditions of the holiday remained the same – gathering with family, friends and community as well as sharing the cheer of the season with those in need.
During the 1960s, the Vietnam War was a constant news item in both the print and televised media. The Christmas Eve 1966 issue of the Napa Register published an article with a local angle about care packages and aide to both U.S. soldiers and civilians in that war-torn country.
Its headline read, “Operation Merry Christmas Scores Hit With Napa GIs.” The article featured two servicemen with local ties, W.O. Thomas J. McFarland, a helicopter pilot and Capt. Tom Bullock.
McFarland, who had served 16 months and 1,200 combat hours in Vietnam, was enjoying his 45-day leave in Napa with his aunt and uncle, Mrs. and Mr. Harold McFarland. During his duty in Vietnam, he received mail on a regular basis. McFarland said, he “received more packages, letters and greeting cards than all his crew put together.” Those pieces of mail were all sent from Napa County residents. He added, “I think the people of Napa County are wonderful!”
The second soldier, Bullock, while still serving active duty in Vietnam, wrote numerous thank you notes to local residents for the packages and cards they had sent to him. One of those notes was an extra-special correspondence. The Register reported that it “was a personal letter to his grandmother, Mrs. Marguerite E. Steele, 15 Arrowood St., who recently retired from Napa High School,” adding, “His letter to Mrs. Steele described a project that may spark more action here.”
Bullock spoke of how he and the rest of his battalion were assigned the responsibility of assisting a nearby village improve their living conditions as part of a Civic Actions Program. Bullock went onto list a number of completed infrastructure improvement projects. He also reported they provided regular healthcare for the Vietnamese villagers.
Bullock added a personal note. “Since I am battalion civic affairs officer, I have gotten to know the people quite well, and they really are wonderful people. I’d like to spend all my time helping them.” He continued with another project to add some joy to their lives. “The day after Christmas we are going to sponsor a party for the village children and hand out little gifts.”
His address was tlisted for those who may have wanted to help with donations of supplies for the villagers. The article closed with, “These are just two servicemen whom Napa County residents have supported through the Napa Register’s ‘Operation Merry Christmas.’”
While many locals willingly helped fulfill the mission of the Register’s philanthropic endeavor, they also took the time to enjoy the local festivities of the season. One of the most popular holiday scenes and events was hosted by Cudaback’s Nursery, once located on Jefferson Street south of Old Sonoma Road. Several years ago, before passing away about three years ago, Emily Cudaback fondly remembered their annual open house and outdoor decorations that drew large crowds of devoted customers and admirers.
Emily began her recollections with a bit of background about the horticultural business. It was started by her future father-in-law, Harold Cudaback, in the early 1930s when she was a child living in Vacaville.
Following World War II, Harold’s son and Emily’s husband, Bob Cudaback, managed the family business to eventually own and operate it. Bob was the one who had the building most people remember as the nursery constructed on the property. At about the same time, the Cudaback Nursery Christmas gift shop and open-house event were begun.
Emily said, “That year, my husband asked me if I would help sign people in at our first open house. I had a job from then on.”
At the gift shop, Emily said, “we carried gift-ware and ornaments we had bought at gift shows. A lot of that merchandise was from Europe.”
She continued to decorate her own Christmas tree with some of those ornaments. She added, “Charlie Rossi (a long-time Cudaback employee) was instrumental in helping me select that merchandise at the gift shows. He also created many of the beautiful displays in our gift shop as well as made our Christmas open-house events memorable.”
The Cudaback Nursery Christmas special events, the open-houses and gift shop continued through the early 1970s until the business closed in 1974. Although decades have passed, Emily said, “There still are people who remember all of it and still talk about our Christmas open-houses and gift shop with great fondness.”
Another sentimental remembrance of the community were the two outdoor decorations adorning the Cudaback property. They were a pair of Christmas scenes – a nativity display and a Santa scene. These large displays were the creation of local artist Louise Tessin Roats. She hand painted the wooden figures with intricate detail. The nativity scene was located near the Harold Cudaback home located near the nursery. The Santa display with his sleigh, reindeer and elves was set up near the business. Both were illuminated by a series of flood lights. These displays drew large crowds of observers by vehicle and on foot. Today these Christmas scenes are privately owned.
The Cudaback Christmas outdoor decorations were traditional in theme and style, however, many of the decorative items in-stock for the Christmas open house and gift emporium definitely reflected the mid-century modern design aesthetic. That sleek and industrial vibe was also part of a promotional event for another local retailer.
For generations the customary arrival of Santa Claus was usually via some form of ground transportation, such as a combustion engine vehicle or even a reindeer or horse-drawn sleigh. But in the 1960s, Father Christmas made quite an impressive arrival in a futuristic conveyance. It was a public relations gimmick for the newly opened Montgomery Wards department store at Bel Aire Plaza. (This building is now a Target store.) Also, at that time, the shopping center and its parking lot were configured differently than today. In contrast to today, it had little to no problems with congestion.
However, on that sunny December day the north Napa shopping center was packed with not only children eagerly waiting to see Santa, but also avid aviation enthusiasts wanting to see Santa’s modern sleigh. In awe, that crowd witnessed the Man in the Red Suit arrive in a helicopter constructed of Plexiglas and metal framing. It was a first for Napa. This unique arrival of Santa Claus also became a long-remembered Christmas memory for those Bel-Aire shoppers.
This trio of local Christmastime accounts from 60 years ago or so reflect a unique time in history, the post-World War II modernism. While the general ethos at that time was to discard all things old and traditional, even when wrapped in the industrialism of that era, the longstanding core values and practices of Christmas continued to be celebrated by Napa County residents.
Merry Christmas!
