The Source: Greetings from Jingletown!

In the current era of electronic transfers and bank cards, it's easy to forget that people used to go home at the end of the week with a pay envelope filled with ... money! In fact, the name of one Bay Area neighborhood is based upon that old practice. That's the topic for today’s episode of The Source.

KALW’s Steven Short visited an Oakland neighborhood to find out the source of its name.

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STEVEN SHORT: Let’s do a little word association.  When I say “jingle,” what comes to mind?

Christmas music?

Or maybe … cowboy music! 

If your mental powers are really keen, you may have a third answer, another type of “music,” which is equally valid. And that “music” will be ... the jingle of coins in your pocket!

Which brings us to a neighborhood in Oakland.

SUSANA VILLARREAL: Hi. My name is Susana Villarreal. I work for the city of Oakland. I’m the Enterprise Zone Coordinator.

She's in charge of attracting businesses to certain neighborhoods. And she can track trends in one certain neighborhood – back to the 1920s.

VILLARREAL: In the 1920s, there was an influx of Portuguese folks that came into the area. They came via Hawaii, and...

SHORT: Now wait! You said they were Portuguese.

VILLARREAL: Yeah, they were Portuguese, and actually there was a whole colony that came.

It shouldn’t be too surprising to hear of Portuguese-Hawaiians. After all, it was Portuguese sailors who brought what we now call the ukulele to the Kingdom of Hawaii. But let's stick to the topic at hand, shall we?

These Portuguese-Hawaiian immigrants came to Oakland looking for work. And the city had plenty of factory jobs available – especially in one part of town.

VILLARREAL: In 1883, the cotton mill was established, the largest cotton mill west of the Mississippi, in Oakland.  And it was established at 23rd Avenue and Kennedy Street.

And others followed. By the 1920s, Del Monte had opened a large tomato-canning factory...

VILLARREAL: … opposite the other end of 23rd Ave, which was actually a very isolated area, and that was the area known as Brooklyn, Kennedy Tract and then it got its name of Jingletown.

Jingletown! Jingletown?

Villarreal, who grew up in the neighborhood,wanted to know how it got that name. So many years ago, she sought it out.

VILLARREAL: In 1973, I went around interviewing all of the folks to find out where the name came from.

And she was reminded that those with factory jobs back then were very fortunate, because they were living through the Great Depression. Family members were losing jobs, and neighbors were losing savings, as banks failed.

These working folk didn’t necessarily trust banks, or paper money, either. So they made sure they were paid in coin – which was still made of silver. Having cold, hard cash meant something.

VILLARREAL: It was a sign of prosperity for them to, walk around, you know,  and jingle their coin. And therefore, the name Jingletown came about.

No need to guess if a fella could take you to the picture show in this neighborhood. You knew from the moment he walked by!

The fashion faded as people became more prosperous, and as the population changed.

VILLARREAL: And as I grew up, of course, in the neighborhood – I was born there and I grew up there, I remember people still jingling their coins. There was this particular older guy that would walk by the store and he’d jingle his coins, still. So I remember growing up and hearing them jingle.And they would always look – “Hey, there’s Bill jingling his coin!”

While the jingle of coins faded away, the name remained. So when Oakland’s first charter school was founded in this neighborhood in 1993, the name was obvious.

VILLARREAL: We called it the Jingletown Charter School.

The factories are gone from Jingletown now, as are most of the Portuguese residents. Some of the factory buildings are still there, but they’re becoming homes and studios for artists. It's a new community.

VILLARREAL: And they say, "We want to adopt this name and call it The Jingletown Arts & Business Organization."  And we said, "Yes!"

So they’re our new industry, as we can say. There’s no more of the Del Montes and the cotton mills. But now we have a new industry of people.

If you visit the neighborhood today, you’re likely to hear jingling ring tones in people’s pockets, rather than coins. But in this tight pocket of Oakland, you’ll find the name Jingletown still has currency.

For Crosscurrents, I’m Steven Short in Oakland's Jingletown.

If you know of a neighborhood with an interesting name and you want to know more about it, let us know. Email or call us at 415-264-7106.