Ebbetts Pass Gas Founder Yolanda Mosbaugh Turned 100 Last Week (Updated)

Arnold, CA…Last week one of the Matriarchs of the Arnold area had her 100th birthday! Happy Birthday Yolanda Mosbaugh!! Yolanda Mosbaugh is now 100 years old and was born on 3/16/1923. Yolanda was born in Italy and her parents moved to California when she was just an infant. She graduated from Bret Harte High School where her future husband, also love of her life, drove the school bus. Yolanda and her husband Harold Mosbaugh followed the logging boom from the Blagen Lumber Company Mill to Arnold. Later, the Mosbaughs purchased the Signal Station, which is now known as Arnold Chevron. They started delivering butane in 1946 to the White Pines and Arnold community, which at the time consisted of roughly 50 customers. White Pines Butane Service soon became Ebbetts Pass Gas Service, with over 9,000 customers.

After Harold’s death, Yolanda continued to run the company along with her grandsons, Dean and Rodney. EPG was sold in 2017. Rodney still works at EPG as a service tech. After the sale, Yolanda stayed working in the office where you could hear her remark, “What in the Sam Hill?!” a few times a week. She finally retired in 2020, during the pandemic.

Yolanda is still an active member of the community, and stays healthy by gardening and “getting her steps in.” She keeps her hair appointments and can often be seen shopping in town with her daughter, Patty.

1923: First issue of Time magazine gets published. The Hollywood sign is inaugurated. The first Yankee stadium is opened in the Bronx, New York City. World population hits 1.9 billion.

Back in the ’20s, “egg” was also just another word for “man,” as in “What’s up, egg?”

Some other 1920s slang terms: The Cat’s Pajamas, meaning the most excellent; coolest. Juice Joint, meaning a speakeasy; night club. Know Your Onions, meaning to know what you’re talking about; knowledgeable. Glad Rags, meaning fancy clothes you wear on a night out.

100 years ago: You could buy a house for $7,750.00. A new car cost $640.00. One gallon of gas was only 25 cents.