Then: New Year's Eve, 1925

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Some would have celebrated quietly, of course; but New Year’s Eve December 31, 1925, was a bash for everyone in the Golden State who wanted to party hearty, despite Prohibition. The 18th Amendment was the law of the land; yet with several California counties defiantly “wet,” a thriving underground scene of speakeasies and private house parties characterized the holiday’s revelry. 

Too, nineteen-twenty-five was mid-decade of the Roaring Twenties, an era known for its over-all air of prosperity, and infamous for its changing—and somewhat rebellious— social norms: short, sleek “bob” hairdos, and brazenly short skirts for women, jazz music with Louis Armstrong’s “Hot Five” recordings a major influence on live bands, and energetic dances like the Charleston, Black Bottom, and Shimmy, all of which reflected the era’s carefree attitude.  

The economy was booming, and lifestyles were shifting towards an urban culture. Practically every home had that newfangled radio for news and entertainment, and on December 31 that year, California residents could tune in to the first attempt at a worldwide, New Year’s greeting broadcast, originating from New York. 

The increasing use of electricity, and the new notion of store charge accounts, were making household appliances like refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines more accessible to an emerging middle class.  Aviation was rapidly advancing. Automobiles, typically priced between $1,000 - $3,000, new—with Henry Ford’s Model T the most affordable for as low as $260—were becoming more commonplace now, thanks again to the innovative practice of purchasing on credit, with a small down payment followed by monthly installments.  

Popular songs included Sweet Georgia Brown, Yes Sir, That's My Baby; I'll See You in My Dreams, The Prisoner's Song, and St. Louis Blues.  F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a novel many contemporary critics believed captured the essence of the Jazz Age, was published to much fanfare on April 10, 2025.

On May 2, Kezar Stadium, the original home of the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders, opened in San Francisco.

Nonetheless, not everything in the Golden State was socially and economically positive. Earlier in the decade, the Ku Klux Klan had established a strong presence, and gained significant political power, in certain areas of Southern California. In 1925, the city of Anaheim successfully outed four Klan members who held prominent positions on the City Council. On June 29, the California coastline suffered a devastating earthquake that destroyed much of downtown Santa Barbara, causing 13 deaths and millions in damage.

In September, another uplifting shift as California celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary of American statehood with a week-long Diamond Jubilee in San Francisco. Festivities began September 5 and ended on the eleventh. Admission Day itself, September 9, was commemorated with parades, concerts, a grand ball, and fireworks.

Since the early 1900s, Hollywood’s burgeoning industry, and its activities, had continued to exert a major cultural influence, with movies a major source of entertainment. The Phantom of the Opera, a silent horror film starring Lon Cheney, premiered on September 6, 1925, at the Astor Theatre in New York; afterward released in theaters nationwide. 

Should any Californian question that times were indeed changing, they only had to look within. On December 12, 1925, Arthur Heinman opened the first “motel” (motor hotel) in California, at San Luis Obispo, a sure sign of an expected increase in automobile travel in the state. 

During December’s last days, an army of volunteers in Pasadena was busily creating dozens of elaborate Tournament of Roses floats for the annual New Year’s Day parade down Colorado Boulevard. Following the New Year’s Day 1926 parade, Alabama Crimson Tide and the Washington Huskies teams were scheduled to play in the Rose Bowl.

Happy New Year!