Los Gatos Weekly-Times file postcard

The late A.J. Bacigalupi, for whom a local street is named, once named this intersection 'The Elbow of Town.'

Picture from the Past

Old-timer remembers the town's familiar quotations

By John S. Baggerly

'Speak that I may know thee." Thus spoke Hamlet when he saw the ghost of his father, the murdered King of Denmark.

Shakespeare flourished in Elizabethan times, but even before that, the spoken word enhanced stories and news reporting. So it is with our own local history, such as in 1930 when the Bank of America Building was completed at the northeast corner of N. Santa Cruz Avenue and W. Main Street. Local resident A. J. Bacigalupi was once an attorney for A. J. Giannini, whose Bank of Italy in San Francisco matured into the Bank of America.

Bacigalupi once said: "This corner will be known as 'The Elbow of Town.'" Today, Bank of America stands at the southwest corner of N. Santa Cruz and Almendra avenues.

This brings us to some memorable quotes uttered by locals during the past century, as collected over the years by this Old-Timer, Senior Grade:

"I'd go down to the creek and hook a trout or salmon for breakfast." -- Nino Grimaldi, also known for his work as "The Silent Tree Trimmer."

"If the safety of the nation depends on bake sales, I move we drop the project." -- Lyndon Farwell speaking to the Town Council about the post-WWII airplane lookout tower near Van Meter School. It was in disrepair and in need of funding; the Western Command's reply was a town bake sale.

"Please, would you write my obituary now so that I can read it?" -- An unusual request, but this writer obliged. The woman was pleased and so were her survivors after her death, when the obit actually ran.

"If you break one bad habit, don't take up another." -- Dr. Horace Jones reminding those who gave up smoking not to take up over-eating and overeaters not to cut down on food and start smoking.

"He's just a little boy." -- A nine-year-old boy was pitching at Balzer Field, and in the back of the bleachers, a row of adult males were heavily criticizing the beginner. Finally, the pitcher's mother, sitting alone in the bottom row, turned and chastised the peanut gallery with the aforementioned quote. The wise guys went silent and the "little boy" went on to become a powerful pitcher at Los Gatos High School.

Unrelated to the incident above, Ralph Elsman, President of San Jose Water Works and a Los Gatos resident, underwrote a minor division of Los Gatos Little League, when his grandson and others did not make it onto a team.

"I've got a kid down here with the best hands I've ever seen on a football player. This was Pete Denevi talking when he was head football coach at LGHS. Denevi had played against Billy Wilson when the latter was at Campbell High. Denevi also played with Wilson at San Jose State University; Wilson later became a top receiver for the new San Francisco 49ers.

Denevi also praised Saratogan Hugh Campbell, who played at LGHS, went on to success at Washington State University, the East-West Game and Hula Bowl games before starring as a receiver in the Canadian Professional League. Last news about Campbell was that he was an executive with one of the Canadian Leagues and that his sons had taken up not football but ice hockey.

Most Quoted: local veterinarian Marty Fremont. When engaged to neuter a male dog or cat, he was known to say: "A fellow hates to do this to another guy."

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Picture From the Past: Old-timer remembers familiar quotations

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