Founded in 1892, the St. Cecilia Society’s mission was to underwrite the cost of medical care for needy patients. Although the organization was named for the patron saint of music, in reference to its annual fundraising concerts, for decades it was the February fundraiser, typically held on or about Valentine’s Day, that was known as the social event of the season. The Society, which was also known as the St. Cecilia Club, funded rooms at Cottage and St. Francis hospitals, and at times, medical tents located at Oak Park, primarily for patients with tuberculosis. (The tents were fumigated between uses.)
In 1902, a local reporter described the experience of attending the annual event: “On entering the door one would be held up by a winsome maiden who insists that he must have a bouquet. ‘No’ is a word that is unknown at these affairs, and the unfortunate must submit. He then hands the maiden a dollar and gets back little change with the thank you and the sweet smile that goes a long way. He has a vague feeling that he is considerably overcharged but feels that he could deed away his house and home for another such smile; but he hasn’t much time for reflection, for another sweet-faced peasant is at his elbow, and he must buy something else — and so it goes on.”
The annual soiree was a most-anticipated social occasion, well-attended and supported by the community. The day-long event — that stretched long into night — offered an array of activities, tempting displays of food and household items, and numerous specialty items for purchase.
Children enjoyed the booths featuring candy, cake and ice cream, and they were invited to participate in arts and crafts activities during the day. Adults dined on tempting “Spanish delicacies” such as tamales, and selected from lavish delicatessen booths’ fruit and vegetable displays. Entertainment included dance exhibitions and vaudeville shows. Beginning at nine o’clock, guests were invited to “trip the light fantastic” to the music performed by local orchestras.
Attendees could sit for silhouettes, have their fortunes told and their palms read, and surreptitiously purchase sentimental valentines to be delivered on the spot. All sorts of items were for sale at high-priced booths. Shoppers could choose among the flower booths, secondhand books, artwork, silk and linen embroidered items, hats, neckties, and items for babies. In 1913, a featured attraction was the candle booth stocked with special bayberry candles from Narragansett bayberries grown on Tower Hill, Rhode Island.
Members made no apologies for the high prices since the proceeds went to such a good cause. In what was described by the Morning Press as “the annual demonstration of the free giving propensities of the people of Santa Barbara,” the fundraising efforts were successful. In 1898, the total receipts were $576.65; in 1900, $797.87; in 1904, $1,600; and in 1913, the event netted $2,795.
The servers — all women — represented prominent families, including Spaulding, Dibblee, De la Guerra, De Forest, and Fithian. For years, they dressed in exotic and colorful costumes from various countries, including Egypt, Japan, and Germany.
However, in 1904, organizers decided to make a change and instead dressed the attendants in what they referred to as “severe simplicity,” the blue cotton gowns and white caps and aprons typically worn by nurses. As explained in the Morning Press, “This practice has been found absolutely necessary to ensure the financial success of a St. Cecilia tea, on account of the distracting effect bedecked beauty is apt to have upon prospective purchasers: the objects of the society and the function are likely to have lost sight of by men rapt in mute admiration.”
That was the year that Nina Dempsey Chase, a dedicated fundraiser for Cottage Hospital, prevailed upon her daughter, Pearl, to volunteer at the ice cream table. Pearl and her friends, seniors at Santa Barbara High School at the time, donned the Red Cross nurses’ uniforms as they served the sweet treats. “It would be hard to imagine a more appropriate and becoming costume, and all looked well in it,” reported the Morning Press.
The event was typically held at the elegant Arlington Hotel, but after the hotel burned down in 1909, was relocated to the lower Hawley building. After the hotel was rebuilt in 1911, the event returned to its old home.
In 1919, the 29th annual event was canceled due to the influenza pandemic. As announced in the Morning Press, “In Santa Barbara, as there will be no bazaar conducted by the St. Cecilia, the office of which club is to care for the needy who are ill, supplying them with physicians, and hospital accommodation, if necessary. The recent epidemic of influenza is responsible for the omission of the bazaar, the receipts of which in former years have always amounted to several thousand dollars, which funds have gone a long way toward meeting the needs supplied by the St. Cecilia.” Instead, members of the society staffed a booth set up on State Street in front of Diehl’s Store, where they sold flower bouquets, vegetable plants, and pencils and placed a tin cup prominently to solicit donations.
By 1921, the event was held every two years, and after the earthquake in 1925, the St. Cecilia Society briefly disbanded and ended the legendary annual Valentine’s Day fundraiser and continued its good work through a couple of name changes. Today it is known as the Cecilia Fund, continuing its all-volunteer mission to assist the community with vitally important healthcare needs dating back to the 19th century.
Cheri Rae is a longtime neighborhood advocate and the author of A String of Pearls: Pearl Chase of Santa Barbara. She is a board member of the Pearl Chase Society, and the longtime editor of the society’s newsletter The Capital, where this article first appeared. Email Cheri at pcs@pearchasesociety.org or visit pearlchasesociety.org.
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