A vignette of life in 1906 Santa Rosa, when storekeepers just threw waste paper into the street and expected the city to clean it up. No wonder their kids tossed orange peels on the sidewalks as they walked to school.
MUST NOT LITTER STREETSJohn White, deputy street commissioner, will make an example of some of the Fifth street merchants if the practice of throwing papers on the streets is not discontinued at once. The street is the principal business thoroughfare of the city and each morning is littered by waste paper carelessly thrown from business houses. It is cleaned frequently by the street department, but never looks clean only while the men are at work. Mr. White will cause the arrest of merchants who persist in littering the street after this warning.
– Santa Rosa Republican, October 19, 1906