Police were sent to the home of Mrs. John M. Cameron, at 3735 Arlington Ave. in Riverside, on the morning of Sunday, June 26, 1949. When they arrived, they were surprised to see the lady of the house standing on the couch.
Apparently Mrs. Cameron had spotted a lizard in her home and, considering one lizard an invasion, called the police. She pointed to where she last saw the small reptile and the police officers who responded to the call were soon able to capture the animal and put it back outside. According to the police report, after removing the lizard the officers assisted her down from the couch. Mission accomplished.
Small creatures of another sort created a good-natured feud between two businessmen in Corona in January 1949.
Les Harper, owner of a movie theater in Corona, banned bagged popcorn in his theater because spills attracted mice. Harper installed a new machine that dispensed popcorn in boxes, which were apparently better than bags at containing the mess.
Ben Tucker, a nearby malt shop owner, put up a sign which said “popcorn 5 cents during theater hours.” However, the malt shop popcorn came in paper bags. Over at the theater, Harper put up a sign that said popcorn in bags was not allowed. Tucker countered with a new sign which said, “Free Popcorn, 2 p.m. Saturday.” About 300 kids, which must have been a sizable percentage of the children living in Corona at that time, came by the malt shop to get their free bag of popcorn, and almost all then headed to the movie theater, bag in hand. The Riverside Enterprise didn’t say what Harper did when confronted with so many customers carrying the banned bags of popcorn. Maybe he and his staff just swept up really well at the end of the day.
Mrs. Agnes Parker, of 3978 Seventh St. in Riverside, had a cat with the unique name of Pezer. Unfortunately, while Mrs. Parker was on vacation in Pennsylvania in December 1949, Pezer went missing.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dunnon of the same address were taking care of Mrs. Parker’s cat while she was away. When they couldn’t find the cat, they reached out to the Riverside Daily Press. According to the Dunnons, Pezer’s name wasn’t the only unique thing about the feline. They said the kitty looked like a cross between a cat and a raccoon or a squirrel.
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The Daily Press dutifully, but perhaps with a bit of tongue in cheek, reported on Pezer’s unique look and his absence from home. Unfortunately, it is not known if Mrs. Parker ever got her unusual looking cat back.
If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.
