12.20.2023

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Today’s Forecast

61º | Mostly cloudy | 89% chance of rain | Sunrise: 7:17 a.m. | Sunset: 4:52 p.m.

A San Jose original

Made in San Jose: 13 things created in the great 408

Adobe is one of Silicon Valley’s many claims to fame. | Photo via @geo.dragon.s

Made in San Jose. Yep, that sure has a nice ring to it. From clothing and accessories, to snacks and other fun finds, we’ve rounded up 13 things home-grown in the great 408.

While some of these brands have branched out beyond our city, one thing’s for sure — there’s some major inspo happening around these parts.

A Google Maps screenshot of the original Lee's Sandwiches on Santa Clara Street. — This is the original site of the first Lee’s Sandwiches on Santa Clara Street.
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Screenshot via Google Maps

Food + restaurants

Lee’s Sandwiches
When the sandwich shop founder Chieu Le came to America + settled in San Jose in 1980, he began studying English and venturing into the catering truck business. When his parents Ba Le and Hanh Nguyen came to town in 1983, the couple began serving banh mis to the San Jose community — and it was a hit. With much support, the first permanent Lee’s Sandwiches location opened on Santa Clara Street.

Fruit cocktail
It would only make sense in the Valley of Heart’s Delight, no? In 1930, Herbert Gray created fruit cocktail at the Barron-Gray Packing Co., which was located on South Fifth + Martha streets. However, the first marketed fruit cocktail was under the Del Monte brand of the California Packing Corp., or Calpak, in 1938.

A black-and-white picture of the first IBM Plant in San Jose. — The first IBM Plant was on 16th + St. John streets.
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Photo via History San José

Tech

Hard disk drive
Engineer Reynold B. Johnson of IBM can be credited with inventing the world’s first hard drive. The IBM Model 350 Disk File appeared in 1956, held 50 disks, and could hold up to 3.75MB of data. The device was so huge that it weighed over a ton + had to be transported via forklift truck.

Adobe
Headquartered in San Jose, this company was founded by former Xerox employees John Warnock + Charles Geschke in 1982. The duo had programmed a system designed to read a computer-generated page, see the precise position + size of objects on the page, and generate a representation of it at any resolution. Xerox declined the tech, so the pair named their new company after the Adobe Creek in Los Altos.

9 more inventions

Events

Tuesday, Dec. 19

Authors Night | Tuesday, Dec. 19 | 6-8 p.m. | Milpitas Library, 160 N. Main St., Milpitas | Free | Meet local authors from Milpitas and San Jose, and pick up a last-minute gift for the bibliophiles in your life.
Swing into the Holidays | Tuesday, Dec. 19 | 7 p.m. | San Jose Stage Company, 490 S. First St., San Jose | Experience the magic of Christmas through the golden tones of brass with enchanting melodies, traditional carols and plenty of jazzy flair.

Wednesday, Dec. 20

“Let’s Get Lit” Bingo Night | Wednesday, Dec. 20 | 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Britannia Arms Almaden, 5027 Almaden Expy., San Jose | Free | Stuff your stocking with fabulous prize packs, delicious food + drink specials, and get elfed up for the Christmas edition of this weekly event.

Thursday, Dec. 21

San Jose Sharks vs. Arizona Coyotes | Thursday, Dec. 21 | 7:30 p.m. | SAP Center, 525 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose | $40.50-$467 | Cheer on our home team as they take on competitors from The Copper State.
Alfred Robles | Thursday, Dec. 21 | 8 p.m. | San Jose Improv, 62 S. Second St., San Jose | $25-$80 | This comic was kicked out of police academy, but became one of the hottest young comedians in the country, now touring with Gabriel Iglesias.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

News Notes

Biz

The 178,200-sqft Monterey Plaza shopping center was recently bought for $33 million by real estate investment firm Brixton Capital. The firm plans to renovate the center’s landscaping and exterior features, and fill the site of a former Walmart that sits empty in the plaza. No word yet on what that business will be. (The Mercury News)

State

Yesterday, California approved new laws that will allow for wastewater to be treated and recycled back into the drinking water system. We’re the second state to do this, following Colorado. San Jose’s Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center is open for public tours to show its purification process. (The Mercury News)

San Josean

A recent San Jose State graduate, Edgar McGregor, was spotlighted by KTVU for his trash clean-up work around the community. Through social media, McGregor shared his 1,607-day clean up streak and amassed ~44,000 followers, many of whom are taking inspiration from him + making a difference in their cities. (KTVU Fox 2)

Eat

Do you have dinner plans for New Year’s Eve yet? We hope you’re in the mood for French cuisine, because eight South Bay restaurants are offering pairing menus, course meals, and specialty items for the night. Get more details on prices + reservations. (The Mercury News)

Real Estate

In a new report from Visual Capitalist, it was found that ~80% of houses in San Jose cost more than $1 million. San Francisco topped the list at 81%, but we came close second. Seven of the 15 top cities are all in California. (The Sacramento Bee)

Seasonal

❄️ Upcoming winter holidays

Upcoming winter holidays

A large train made of wire + Christmas lights.

‘Tis the season to be celebrating. | Photo via Enchant

You’ve probably heard a lot of “happy holidays” this season — with good reason. Plenty of cultures celebrate the start of astronomical winter, the end of the year, or just the coming of cold weather by gathering with loved ones and giving thanks.

Look forward to:

Hanukkah (Thursday, Dec. 7-Friday, Dec. 15), the Jewish Festival of Lights began the evening of Thursday, Dec. 7 and ended on Friday, Dec. 15.
Yule (begins Thursday, Dec. 21), an ancient Germanic solstice festival. Celebrants mark the shortest day of the year and balance between light and dark.
Christmas (Dec. 25), a cultural and religious festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ – which, if you’ve put off gift shopping until now, there’s still time.
Kwanzaa (Dec. 26), a week of African American and pan-African celebration culminating in Karamu on Saturday, Dec. 31.
Lunar Bodhi Day (Dec. 30), celebrating the Buddha’s enlightenment through acts of kindness. “Secular” Bodhi Day was celebrated on Dec. 8.

You don’t need to celebrate them all — but let’s all celebrate together.

The Buy

The Buy 12.20.23 (Affiliate + Six & Main)

An Apple Watch Series 9 — because the smartwatch is about to get much harder to find. Starting tomorrow, Apple will pull this smartwatch version from its website due to a patent dispute, with in-store purchases ending Sunday, Dec. 24. Other retailers may continue to sell the model until a final decision is made on an import ban. (Forbes)

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The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Alyson

From the editor

This dang cold weather got me wrapped up with the flu. I know, I know, “Alyson, why didn’t you take your flu shot?” Well, I figured I’d wait my two months after having COVID and take the booster + the flu shot together.... guess that didn’t work out as I’d hoped.

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