The image on this postcard was taken July 4, 1909 during the festive San Anselmo celebration. The building is the one we see today at 419-425 San Anselmo Avenue, home to Desta, Fig Garden and Reflections. The heavily remodeled building is the oldest building on the block, constructed in 1908 by James Tunstead. Its first tenants were a tailor, a drugstore and a candy shop as shown. John Brucker and his daughter Agnes, a milliner, lived in an apartment upstairs; he was the proprietor of the Gent’s Furnishing store. Mrs. Mary Kobicke, the proprietor of the Ice Cream and Candy Shop, and her daughter Iras also lived upstairs.
What is most interesting is the inscription on the back of the card written by one of the Bruckers:
“This was taken on the 4th of July. Had a big celebration here. We live above the store. Don’t look for the Bruckers on the walk for we are not there. Did not know they were to take the store. Where I marked the X [far left] is the canvas where they showed moving pictures & you can see the curtin fence, the baseball ground is write in the back of that in our backyard. We are fenced in with it. Where you see the 25¢ that’s where the gate is. Gents 25 Ladies 10 children free for the games. Have a fine ball games every Sunday at 2:30. We often watch for free.”
This confirms our understanding about the location of the Town’s baseball field during this time period before Town Hall and the Library were constructed in 1911 and 1915. It extended from the entrance to left of the pictured building, across Tunstead Avenue, which hadn’t been cut through, to an open field beyond where the Library now stands. The ball field was a sight to behold with its bandstand, large grandstand and concession stand. In 1909, the Bruckers and other SanAnselmo residents enjoyed two games on July 4th and another two on the 5th.