News in '49: Police Warning on Teens Playing Pinball

Among the local news potpourri on the front page of the weekly El Cerrito Journal on Jan. 13, 1949 was the rising anticipation of a visit by Hollywood star Jimmy Durante and a police warning to businesses about teens playing pinball. The lead story in the New York Times that day was the United States expressing concern to England over the latter landing troops in the Palestine area.

Here are some of the actual headlines from the Journal's front page, followed by our brief summaries of the articles:

Pinball Machines Become Teenage Police Problem

The police department issued a "strong warning" to businesses with pinball machines after scores of lads under age 18 were found to be playing the game between 1 and 4 a.m. "This is a direct violation of the State's Welfare and and Institution's Code, which makes it unlawful for anyone under 18 to be found loitering about poolrooms, or engaging in the operation of playing of mechanical machines," declared Lieut. Howard Thulin.

El Cerrito, Richmond Ready to Welcome Jimmy Durante

Preparations have become elaborate for hosting the "GREAT SNOZOLO" and his fellow stars from Hollywood. Their visit, sponsored by the Catacombs Club, the youth organization of St. John's Parish, will be highlighted by a private dinner with club members at Figone's Six Bells in El Cerrito before the vaudeville extraganza at Roosevelt Junior High School in Richmond.

Paving and Landscape Plans Outlined for Ashbury Ave.

Asbury from Stockton Avenue to the Albany city line is "destined to become one of the more attractive streets in El Cerrito." That section of the street will be paved at no cost to property owners, and work will begin as soon as the City Council accepts the contractor. The lowest bid, from J.R. Armstrong of El Cerrito, was $31,100.

You Can't Freeze Police Friendship

Officer Harold Wood was sent to respond to a call from Mrs. Ruth Coffey of 1330 Liberty Street after a car struck the gas meter in front of her home and broke the line. It being 3 a.m. Sunday, with the temperatures near freezing, Officer Wood "rushed to his home and returned with an electric heater." The elderly couple was kept warm until the gas company could repair the line.

• Click for other vignettes of El Cerrito history. You can find some back issues of the El Cerrito Journal at the Shadi Historical Room at City Hall, open to the public on the third Thursday of each month, 4:30-6 p.m.