In November 1929, Henry Neunaber of the accounting department had some extra time on his hands. On June 30, 1929, the California Division of Motor Vehicles released its annual car registration figures for each county. In 1914, there were 123,516 registered vehicles in California. In 1929, that figure increased by a whopping 1,859,523.
In Lassen County in 1914 there were 181 vehicles. In 1929 there 3,942 an increase of 22 times. Only three other California counties exceeded that growth rate—Contra Costa, Mariposa and Monterey. Of course, local boosters were proud as just another indicator of the region’s prosperity.