00:00:05.410 - 00:00:32.250

this thing doesn't record real well, what's that like? I just want to say that this photograph of the, what is that? Is that a bull? And your dad, what's your dad's name? Alright, I'm talking this is Jim Bergen I'm talking to Lyman Hopkins here in Petaluma.

00:00:32.260 - 00:00:53.330

We're looking at a photograph of his dad and a group of what are the producers and this was one of the farm bureau, you can see him, he's kind of in a uniform. Oh yeah, God it's not in uniform. And the issue was Trying to get

00:00:53.330 - 00:01:10.370

the producers to use pure bred bulls. Yeah, they all had scrub bulls when we came here in 1913 and promoting good bulls and trying to get them to spend some extra money for good bulls instead of scrub bulls. And it worked over a period of years

00:01:10.370 - 00:01:44.220

of work. How Long was he managing? 10 years, 1913. Okay. I don't know. Um Yes. Okay then We have a picture, we're looking at a picture of the office, the original, the original office that was built about, it was built pretty near right away. I think

00:01:44.220 - 00:02:13.750

it was built 14 Where the streets do you remember? How old were you at that time? 11 where the streets paved them? That they're still gravel streets downtown? Was Kentucky street was the rocks called? It was with Kentucky street? The main street or was the main

00:02:13.750 - 00:02:37.300

street Kentucky street was just as important as stores. Even in those days, you used to go around the block around and around and everything was on the two blocks the circle. I'd like to, if I could take this one and maybe after that one. Right. Um,

00:02:37.310 - 00:03:00.590

but it is the, this this one, I don't know if you remember that's the best one I can find. That's the only one that my dad and I and the first car that corroborated premiere ever had, that's a 1916 model T four Roadster and after they

00:03:00.590 - 00:03:17.270

use it for a few years, solly of manatee Larmer and solly wholesalers in san Francisco who are instigators of the, to start the creamy to get the farmers organized and have a cooperative creamy up there because they needed to produce hot alarm and solid. And what's

00:03:17.270 - 00:03:33.860

the name of the firm? What kind of butter butter butter cheese I guess. I don't think they had a they were one of the biggest in san Francisco and they're the ones that got my dad to come up here, He was working in running a creamery

00:03:33.860 - 00:04:00.420

in santa and they got them to come up here and organize the farmers, see if they go for it and they did. So then they got together and raised the money and you know, in, in this book, it was one of the, one of the, you

00:04:00.420 - 00:04:29.110

worked for him for years off and on, everybody knows it, it's their business. Well, it's I guess it's still operating in san Francisco, It wasn't challenged after years later worked for him in bandon Oregon and crescent city. So it was a big outfit. Always one of

00:04:29.110 - 00:04:59.410

the biggest that had screaming all over the west. I it will come back. Yeah. So anyway anyway I started to say they one of or Solly was a good friend of my dad's and He had a buick 19 10 Buick Sedan, Buick Touring Car and he

00:04:59.410 - 00:05:13.960

never used it. And my dad needed a car and all he had was this one but they wanted to turn it into a truck. So he loaned him the car and I thought my dad to drive it and uh so he had that Buick to run

00:05:13.960 - 00:05:31.150

around here alone. So then they took this, they need the truck. So they put they put an extension on this, a big heavy duty extension with chain drive using this motor and this body part for that matter. Just took this off and put a body on

00:05:31.150 - 00:05:46.000

it and we used it to go out and get. In fact I drove a year for years and went out to get chileno Valley to get fresh cream fresh milk so that they could deliver it locally. Otherwise everything came in sour because they didn't have refrigeration

00:05:46.000 - 00:06:04.670

in those days time to melt the cream and it was sour when they bring it in and can the next day. Oh yeah with plenty of bacteria at this hour. But that didn't hurt the that is but it did hurt local, you know, didn't have any

00:06:04.680 - 00:06:18.410

fresh milk for the locals. So how did they, how did it work as far as the locals buying fresh milk did they? It wasn't about to go out and you know I'd go out. Yeah we bottle it, bring it in a bottle and delivered to the

00:06:18.940 - 00:06:33.240

To the stores. So when did you model it? I mean like when did that start bottling milk? Did that start right away that way? I didn't even might have done a year or two. I don't know but I didn't I didn't know they did it before

00:06:33.240 - 00:06:52.370

the 30 years. Oh yeah they didn't do it in a big way. Oh yeah we had clover brand butter, our clover brand milk and butter. I don't know what year it was but when I was pretty small I remember when they named when they decided on

00:06:52.370 - 00:07:12.850

clover brand as a brand name. We discussed it at home. My mother worked in the creamy too, she was the first book keeper. They discussed it for days and I was against it because uh just little kids get in the conversation. I was against it because

00:07:12.850 - 00:07:26.380

I didn't think they raised enough clover around here to use clover as a brand name but my dad thought it was a good name. So that's what it ended up rubber band. It's kind of got a long way you bet. Yeah this is looking across the

00:07:26.380 - 00:07:53.510

street from the front from the from the front of the office looking across that's still there. That this is dr Larson, I wish we had I wish we had a picture of the whole finish in 1914. Oh yeah, so that was a 14 or 13 I

00:07:53.510 - 00:08:05.250

think it was 14 I think they waited a few weeks a few months after we stand before the first fact they had to build a building before they did it. But do you have any pictures in there? You know I think I looked through it all.

00:08:09.860 - 00:08:35.980

I think these are this is just a blow up. The one that you showed here that you recognize the face you know this is a he was head buttermaker in the early days. He has two sons around here but I think they're all gone now. Well

00:08:35.980 - 00:09:00.000

had it even in those days, early days. One of those guys is that google mary I think. Well this would be him, it might be one of these two. This is this is a headband, that's all he was. The head was he the first buttermaker, wow.

00:09:07.270 - 00:09:35.500

No, I don't think so. He came maybe for five years later. First quarter, I don't know if they had a buttermaker as such. They had the manager of the manager that that is the had manning plant. Plant manager 1st was Chandler is Chandler and he was

00:09:35.500 - 00:09:54.890

there for several years and then he bought an orchard down the valley and left and and that's when George Dondero was called. My dad got to come up here. That's good. I don't know anything about George. So he was he was a manager eventually came up

00:09:54.890 - 00:10:09.770

as a buttermaker. Oh is that right? And was he working someplace else? And they got there, he was in san Francisco, I don't know what he's doing when he's working with my dad and the woman and knew he was a buttermaker. And so they hired him

00:10:09.770 - 00:10:33.550

and he came up first thing he might have been hired as a foreman, you know, platform and then after him was fred Rollins as well as plant manager, but they were over the butter makers. And I don't know whether hans vino was there in those early

00:10:33.550 - 00:10:58.920

days, I guess he was he was there an awful long time and the old guy that used to clean out the floors and was always in hip boots was there for many, many years. I went to school with all these kids. Yeah. Um when Dondero started,

00:10:58.930 - 00:11:23.610

you know anything about his background, you know, I'm starting to recognize him. Well, oh yeah, what were you asking? Do you know anything about Dondero after he became, after he came up here and he was like a plant manager and eventually he succeeded your dad. That's

00:11:23.610 - 00:11:57.350

right. Was he like groomed for that job or Well. He was he was a very aggressive, active, fine man, very active specifically. And everybody knew George was quite an entertainer and his wife was too and he just automatically slid into the job when my dad left,

00:11:58.660 - 00:12:18.920

My dad left because he was kind of sick that year. And he wanted to, he wanted to do his own marketing here instead of shipping everything out of town, shipping anything to the wholesalers which they were doing another day, 1923, that was Francisco San Francisco. And

00:12:18.930 - 00:12:41.120

the incidentally uh he felt that they had gone far enough now selling that way and he wanted to merchandise his own and make that extra money for the farmer for the cooperation members, Minotti who was, they called him the king of the Italians king of the

00:12:41.120 - 00:12:58.740

what? He came up here and and went all over the country and sold them on the idea that they were doing better, so on to them and they would be going on their own and talk them into two, talk to board of directors into buck bucking

00:12:58.740 - 00:13:15.040

my dad, my dad says, well I worked for 10 years to get to the point where we can really make some success outfit, make money for the farmers, we should merchandise their own and I'm ready to do it. I said, well they voted him down. So

00:13:15.040 - 00:13:52.520

he said, well then I resign. Yeah, he was, he wasn't well that could have been very old, you know, That was 19, he was born in 74, so 30 24 40 years old and 50 I guess he was, yeah, okay, so what do you do? So

00:13:52.520 - 00:14:15.130

he resigned and then a bunch of that were not in with the italian faction. Don't tell. This is not, it is uh they apparently they decided that they wanted my dad to stay and go along with his plan, but they had already voted at the board

00:14:15.130 - 00:14:32.370

that they weren't going to do it. So they got a petition up after he had resigned and they got a petition to have him stay. Well he wasn't interested in that and I guess it was kind of a disorganized sort of the thing. Anyway, so anyway,

00:14:33.370 - 00:15:04.790

equip and equip the start of the first creamy but dairy selling pasteurized milk in phoenix. Arizona. Oh yeah, so you went then you were, I was, I was grown in, I was getting married about 24, where you were working for the, I only time I worked

00:15:04.790 - 00:15:29.270

with premiums when I was in school made boxes and sanderson down here was a retired Ford dealer after just two years used to help me. So your dad went to Arizona and started a creamery. I mean a dairy dairy, they pasteurize the milk from a firm

00:15:29.270 - 00:15:56.020

that I was working for their family out of business. They were there decade. This is a picture. Well, I don't know that's, that's better coming off the turn now the west, those different yeah, I've got, you've probably seen this, This is just a building but the

00:15:56.030 - 00:16:12.140

building equipment now. Building site they tore down that what what's the matter with they're having a big water out of the water. Out of their hole in there. No, it was during the reign. It just filled up. Like here they just come up from the bottom.

00:16:12.140 - 00:16:29.420

I guess moisture was that was that that is a picture of the water. Right? I have a picture of the churns after these. The yeah I've seen them. Have you seen I don't have it with me though because it's up in the target was getting made

00:16:29.420 - 00:16:52.310

and I've seen them at every stage. My uncle worked there you know for 50 years or so. Bernie Hopkins, my mother's dead. They had the same name. Oh is he still around? No, he died way back. Oh here's a copy of this. It's just those are

00:16:52.310 - 00:17:14.540

called the Jensen. Mhm. That's the new one. But we have yeah we have 11 turn now the continuous that that's the one I saw the last time he had some kind of function showed us all through the plant and I guess I saw them but I

00:17:16.110 - 00:17:42.000

don't know what happened to these. I asked Jean Benedetti I talked to him the other day and he thought that one was still around but it's not I looked all over. You couldn't miss that. You recognize that. He's not right in the game. Yeah. Well it's

00:17:42.010 - 00:17:58.580

not really 20 years longer than me. But yeah. What about this? This probably is fairly recent too. But somebody brought that, that's a copy of a photograph. Somebody brought that in and they said it was from Helen buttons, one of her classrooms out there and I

00:17:58.580 - 00:18:18.430

just wonder if I'm looking for somebody that might recognize who those kids are. Because nobody, I haven't found anybody that knows who they are. You talk to people from that area. No, not really. I haven't a few but not, I don't well, there's a whole box

00:18:18.430 - 00:18:39.980

of photographs missing that some girl was taken care of when I talked to them up there last the officers, It was that last celebration. They had 70 years. That would have been nylon problem. Yeah. And we're trying to find it. But somewhere, you know, imagine it's

00:18:39.980 - 00:18:56.210

safe wherever it is that the question of finding. So we're really limited on the photographs that were using. If you talk to some of the very men out there in, uh, to rock. This is no doubt some of their kids, you know, being they live in

00:18:56.210 - 00:19:28.970

town now, did you live in town where about one lives on mostly part of hard to tell because one lives off by ST Hilda's off high street sunny slope and I back and on the end of the lane and lee lives on that's right Cherry Street.

00:19:29.790 - 00:19:52.220

Well, as long as they know, so hard, they know everybody that's born and raised out there on the dairy business all those years and they probably know all the kids that come here then when you're dead, what he wanted to start basically. What he wanted to

00:19:52.220 - 00:20:08.320

do was go retail, retail, retail. After he left his idea. I mean obviously I got done for not for, not for several years, I don't know how many years because I was, I was busy. In fact, I was in santa rosa for a while after that.

00:20:08.330 - 00:20:27.500

Then when I came back I was in the city for a while. What year were you born, 192, I was gonna ask you to remember the earthquake, dismissed it. We came west in 198, we saw the results of it. We lived in a refugee house on

00:20:28.470 - 00:20:47.580

two blocks from the ocean beach. Sunset san Francisco in 19 8 my uncle Bernie was, it was quiet lived there and he was in the earthquake. He had moved out here before and he was in this refugee house after the quake when we came out here

00:20:48.100 - 00:21:04.570

two years after he went through and he was down at the end of he was down the Embarcadero area, worked at the Palace Hotel, it's a bellhop or something And when the ceiling started falling in and on that morning at 4:00 or whatever time the Sheikh

00:21:04.570 - 00:21:18.010

was when he had a girlfriend who he later married in Alameda. So he rushes down, he was only two or three blocks from the ferry building. He rushed down and got the only ferry that left that day and went across the Alameda. So he didn't even

00:21:18.010 - 00:21:35.430

see the fire across the day. He got over there and I thought she'd be in trouble and in fact they didn't have any trouble over there at all. No fire just to shake. And of course in san Francisco and had the fire, it wouldn't fire. Right,

00:21:36.620 - 00:22:07.010

That was Bernie's brother. Bernie was creamy creamy in Oregon. Came down here about 19 17. I guess 60. This might be after you. That's why no one is. You know, you know joe they are, they remember their workers at the Yeah, I think that most of

00:22:07.010 - 00:22:38.700

these are after your time. These these probably are also you gotta go. It's interesting. I never heard that about, I didn't know that your dad had resigned. I thought you know, in fact of course I didn't know really much about it. It's

00:22:38.700 - 00:23:07.580

an interesting story. I guess there's not very many of them left over scraps they had. Alright, I'm not um most knowledgeable about the history of the agreement but I really appreciate your sharing what you remember some of what you remember. I'm sure there's lots more jumping

00:23:07.580 - 00:23:31.310

around in there. Where did you live at that time? Yeah, well we lived, we first at 35th street upstairs and we moved to 100 and 16 bodega Avenue and moved to 12 bodega avenue And we moved the 13th Avenue. And then we bought a house, 207th

00:23:31.310 - 00:24:03.400

street And the same people that we sold. Dad sold the house to in 1923 when he left Lives in the house that still stands looks just the same. And the 7th Street. Alright. Let's see now. As far as getting your pictures back it'll probably take as

00:24:03.400 - 00:24:26.560

much as up to maybe two weeks. Is that it? Would you mind if I just wrote your name on the back to make sure that. Okay. This is yours. Yeah, that was this was a postcard. I don't know what you want. Yeah, I'd love to take

00:24:26.560 - 00:25:18.220

that if you don't mind. Yeah, true. How are you both of these is that? I just pulled him out of the darn thing. Yes sir. Probably got others but I can't find Yeah, this is kind of short notice. If you come across

00:25:18.220 - 00:25:34.350

anything, let me I'll give you my card. Um When is your celebration is going to be there? It's May fourth is the actual, is the parade butter and eggs. I hope to come downtown and see it. One of the things we're going to do is we

00:25:34.350 - 00:25:50.210

just finished building a eight ft long pound of butter. I mean it's just a box but you know we're going to design it like a pound of butter. It's going to be walking down the street. But what is this parade? It's an egg. Yeah. Only we

00:25:50.210 - 00:26:16.800

call it butter and a revival of the old. You remember much about that. Remember what did you do? What dad ran in one year? Yeah, managed the fair that day. And they didn't like that either. Incidentally the word of directors, you know, his bosses because, well,

00:26:16.800 - 00:26:34.910

they didn't want him to spend time doing commercials. I mean, civic, things like that George Dondero was great at it, but they didn't like my dad to do it. I don't know. But then he did it anyway. And that's just another thing. Probably. Uh, I guess

00:26:34.910 - 00:26:51.960

he felt he felt that he was hired to do a job and if he did the job, that was it. And if he wanted to help the town out, he was went on the they had a city attorney that was running the damn town and do

00:26:51.960 - 00:27:10.520

a dirty job of it. Very old. Time for their attorney guildhall. And the merchants didn't like the way he was running things. He wasn't supposed to be running, but he was a city attorney and he just got in power enough to handle people. It was a

00:27:10.520 - 00:27:32.720

small town, 50 506,000 population. That was when you 1913. So they needed somebody to get rid of gil hall. So in order to get rid of they had to get on the council and get the majority. So my dad and a couple of other the businessman

00:27:32.730 - 00:27:47.930

ran for council and got on the first thing that David gill. But then they didn't want, they didn't want to stay too long. But anyway, they stayed one term and then he was headed that he was also president of Chamber of Commerce and he was one

00:27:47.930 - 00:28:03.660

year He ran, he ran, as I say, he ran the egg day, which is a big thing in those days. It was a tremendous state. And I guess it was the biggest one they ever had. The one he ran. But there was a lot of percussions

00:28:03.660 - 00:28:20.870

from it because all those years they belly it because they didn't have any buildings on the fairground. They didn't have any big. All they need is a big warehouse or the river over. So he figured, well I'll get it for him. So he goes out and

00:28:20.870 - 00:28:41.080

he gets the father union carpenters to agree to bill it for nothing. So he goes in debt for for the outfit for a lumber to build it. And they built built for the first time. They had a building on the paragraph. Dad, building had it built

00:28:41.090 - 00:29:00.990

while he was running the thing, Well, they didn't make enough on the fair that year. This is the county fair, I guess I'm talking about it was a big day. This is county fair. And so they ran in a they had the pair, what do you

00:29:00.990 - 00:29:18.480

call it? Had to pay up afterwards. They didn't have enough money to pay it, so they had, you call it. Yeah, well it wasn't alone. The Chamber of Commerce had to dig up the dough. The members of the Chamber of Commerce's Merchant had, they got a

00:29:18.490 - 00:29:34.820

little extra dough that year. They never did forgive that, they got a building, but they got a building and that's what they wanted. So that's kind of an operator. He was, if he wanted something, he got it, didn't you know that chips forward? I don't say

00:29:34.820 - 00:30:02.540

he was right, I just say that's what happened. Let's see very questions. If you talk to some of the old time jeremy, he'll get very active because I know like cheetah fred cheetah, he was, he was one of them that bought my dad and I talked

00:30:02.540 - 00:30:26.750

to him a number of times over years at the Elks club. He never did forgive my dad for his part of the action when he quit because he didn't want to be at that time he didn't believe and going after this local trade retail, so he

00:30:26.760 - 00:31:10.560

never forgave your dad for one to the other side of the swiss side. Peterson Peterson got a bunch of boys. I know, I have, I don't know, I know they were very friendly beginning of time, you know that's true then we had Henry Arnold Japanese okay,

00:31:11.360 - 00:32:03.640

is that George's Father George, he's one of the directors now, but no doubt is, but they were on the border. Personal others what kind of a in italian? Well I better I better be getting back to um do you remember on on the old egg days

00:32:03.640 - 00:32:17.740

parade you were a kid when they started like you know when you came to where they haven't been and oh yeah, do you remember what what was a day like then what what kind of things with the same kind of things to do now are pretty

00:32:17.740 - 00:32:59.100

much only more so they were bigger than they had. Tremendous, great. Most of them had to do with chicken, butter, mustard chicken, all of the people trust all that. Yeah but I gotta get over what I think it yeah they had we had a guy named

00:33:01.150 - 00:33:36.580

strategy with manager, what was his name, Kerrigan. What about a guy named bys, somebody bites that one bites. The old man was first Children, one of the innovators. I thought somebody told me that it was his idea for the egg might possibly a bit I think

00:33:38.660 - 00:34:17.000

maybe more, I can't remember very well. Yeah great, got it. I know a bison related by marriage. Okay. It's okay. It's really, it's a good, so it is starting to blink, you probably do need batteries. Could be I just moved in, you can

00:34:17.000 - 00:34:17.780

tell that it's