Flashback Friday: A 1920’s Christmas

By Helena McGinley, Head Copy Editor

   Welcome back to the revamp of Flashback Fridays, a monthly dive into Lafayette’s rich and complex history. This edition, we’re focusing on pre-climate change Lafayette which, believe it or not, used to fall victim to snow days. 1922 was a meteorologist’s dream, with record-breaking snowfall on both coasts of the US. On the East Coast, this blizzard was named the Knickerbocker Storm, after the Knickerbocker Theatre in Washington D.C. that collapsed and  killed 98 people. The West Coast version was much less dramatic, with about 5 feet of snow maximum, but was nevertheless known locally as “The Great Snowstorm of 1922.” Records indicate that Lafayette received just a few inches of snow, but that didn’t stop local kids from taking to the streets and engaging in snowball warfare.

*Blueprint would like to acknowledge that all pictures and information about Lafayette were sourced through the Lafayette Historical Society