Saratoga Stereopticon

Play 'Who Wants to be a Prunepicker'

By Willys Peck

OK, I'll have to admit that I'm an unreconstructed Regis Philbin phreak, or at least a dedicated Philbin phan. That guy who runs the TV quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" has carried the quality of suavity to unexplored heights. While I can't claim to be in that league, I still like the gimmick enough to introduce my own quiz format, "Who Wants To Be a Prunepicker." On the Philbin show, money--up to a million dollars--changes hands. Since that isn't possible here, I'm just saying that genius is its own reward, and in a distinctly Saratoga format. Not that it would matter, but the answers to these questions have appeared in the Stereopticon column over the past 5 ¹/2 years. So, here are the questions, each followed by four possible answers:

1. Saratoga owes its name to a:


(a) real estate developer
(b) mineral spring
(c) roll of the dice
(d) map-maker's mistake

2. The original name of Big Basin Way was:


(a) Main Street
(b) Timber Trail
(c) Lumber Street
(d) Avenue of the Americas

3. In addition to Saratoga, the town has been known as:


(a) West Side
(b) McCartysville
(c) Bank Mills
(d) Toll Gate

4. The building housing the Saratoga Historical Museum was built as a:


(a) nail parlor
(b) saloon
(c) hardware store
(d) drug store

5. The name on the interurban trolley cars that ran through Saratoga until 1933 was:


(a) San Jose-Los Gatos Interurban Railway Co.
(b) Toonerville Trolley
(c) Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
(d) Peninsular Railway

6. Redwood School on Fruitvale Avenue is on the site of a former:


(a) fruit dehydrator
(b) sewer farm
(c) ranch house
(d) vacant lot

7. In an article in the June 10, 1946, issue of Life magazine concerning the visit of actress Donna Reed, Saratogans were described as:


(a) filthy rich
(b) hillbillies
(c) farmers and friendly yokelry
(d) defying description

8. This reporter, in describing the house at the end of Marion Avenue (or Road) in which he spent his early childhood, quoted the monthly rent paid by his parents as:


(a) $1,500
(b) $750
(c) $15
(d) $100




Answers

1. (b) The mineral spring a mile or so up the canyon, discovered in the early 1850s, was found to have the same chemical content as Congress Springs, one of the water sources at Saratoga Springs, New York, hence the eventual name change.

2. (c) So-named because it was the route followed by lumber wagons coming down from the mills.

3. (b)(c)(d) There were post offices under the names of McCartysville and Bank Mills. Toll Gate was an informal designation. West Side was the original name of Cupertino.

4. (d) Built around 1905 as a drug store, the building was, over the years, a grocery and candy store, dry goods store and dress shop. Moved to the Historical Park, it was dedicated as a museum on July 4, 1976.

5. (a)(c) The original, longer name was changed to Peninsular Railway in 1909.

6. (b) The original Saratoga Sanitary District constructed a two-compartment septic tank on the site in 1912. It became hopelessly overloaded and the district acquired the surrounding orchard so that the effluent could be channeled into it. When Saratoga sewers were tied in with the countywide system, the site was sold to the school district.

7. (c) Donna Reed's visit was a publicity gimmick to get her "reindoctrinated" with small-town atmosphere in preparation for filming It's A Wonderful Life. Many Saratogans took a dim view of the magazine's rather patronizing view of the town.

8. (c) In the 1920s and '30s, houses were available and rents were cheap, even for the time. Things have changed

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