This Week In Toledo History

November 19
1903 - Tiedtke's store has a beef sale and is offering Porter House steak for 11 cents a pound and rib roasts for 7 cents a pound.
1906 -Toledo Police round up 30 "suspicious" persons after a recent burglary. They not only arrest those they believe committed the crime but also collar others who look like they might commit a crime. Most are sent to the “works” on Duck Island for being "suspicious".
1924 - The barge “Toledo” sinks off Rattlesnake Island in Lake Erie in storm.
1920 -The Rivoli Theater opens in downtown Toledo on St. Clair Street. Its marquee would stay alive with light until the 1970's.

November 20
1871 - It's reported from the small town of Genoa that a hen has given up trying to hatch an egg that she's been sitting on since July.
1897 - Workers building the new railway line near the Perrysburg bridge unearth many Indian relics and skeletons. They find tomahawks, kettles, bones and five skeletons near the Ft. Meigs site.
1926 - Cigar store dealer in Toledo says women no longer want to smoke just cigarettes but are also buying cigars and pipes.
1932 - University of Toledo President Henry Doermann dies at the age 42 from an infected sore throat.
1954- White Hut drive-in restaurants advertising for curb waitresses. They offer free meals, top pay, hospitalization, uniforms and paid vacations.

November 21
1907 - Long-distance marathon walker Edward Weston passes through Toledo to cheering crowds on trip from Portland, Maine to Chicago.
1925 - Reports of a "phantom attacker" in Toledo surface again after two women report they are clubbed by a large man with daubs of red paint on his cheeks and his eyes painted black. Police and vigilantes comb the City Park area neighborhoods.
1936 - Fire sweeps Lucas County jail, all 115 inmates escape injury.
1949 - Crime wave continues with robberies of taverns and stores. Revival of the “hoodlum” squad is announced by the Toledo Police Department,

November 22
1928 -Maurice Francil, the so-called wizard of wireless amazes students at Libbey High School by using “wireless” technology to control cars and other machines via radio waves.
1930 -Wealthy African-American Toledo businessman, saloon owner and reputed underworld figure, Pearl Barber is killed in head-on collision with a drunk driver in East Toledo.
1932 -Toledo food stores are selling beef tenderloin at 19 cents a pound and smoked hams at 12 cents a pound.
1956 - Elvis Presley performs for first time in Toledo at Sports Arena. Blade reporter writes that young fans "bordered on hysteria"
1963 - President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Toledo reacts with shock and stunned disbelief. Shoppers in downtown stores listen to radio reports and many are seen crying. Traffic on the streets slows to a crawl under the dark veil of a light cold rain.
1963 -The Michael DiSalle Bridge over Maumee River is to be opened and dedication ceremonies held, but the celebration is called off because of JFK assassination,

November 23
1904 - A Frank Marshall of Toledo is wounded by a turkey farmer in West Toledo when he tries to steal a bird for the Thanksgiving dinner table. He is taken to city jail where he is served turkey for Thanksgiving.
1923 - Excitement is building for the annual Scott-Waite high school football match up on Thanksgiving. The sales of school pennants are brisk at the moment and merchants are reaping a “harvest” of sales.
1925 - Toledo turns into an "armed camp" as more than 500 heavily armed police patrol the streets in an all-out effort is made to capture the deadly "Toledo Clubber" that the paper reports has "thrown terror into the hearts of Toledo womanhood" with his numerous attacks.
1955 - Toledo police say a two-year old boy riding in his father's car on Stickney Avenue tries to throw a wad of gum out the car window and hits his father, the driver, in the eye. It causes him to lose control and the car smashes into a light pole. Three people are injured.

November 24
1855 - First patient is admitted to the newly opened St. Vincent’s Hospital in Toledo.
1932 - Toledo Mayor Addison Thacher hosts his annual Thanksgiving dinner at his expense for over 10,000 needy people in Toledo.
1934 - In midst of the Great Depression, 17 federally funded sewing centers will be set up in Toledo to help struggling families meet clothing needs.
1941 - Clem Gersman of Dearborn Street in East Toledo wins national acclaim in "Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not" as a blind cameraman! The former rug-maker says he is able to sense direction from the sound of the subject’s voice.
1962 - It's estimated that the average Toledo family makes about $7,000 a year, is paid on Fridays, owns a home, and over 75 percent have lived in Toledo more than 20 years.

November 25
1911- Saloon keepers and gambling hall owners in Toledo file legal action to stop Toledo Police and Mayor Whitlock from raiding their downtown businesses and destroying the equipment.
1942 -Toledo's Paramount Theater plays host to Bob Hope and Roy Rogers to celebrate a 17-day War Chest fund raising drive that netted over a million dollars.
1948 - Toledo’s first and only elected “Socialist” mayor, Solon Klotz, dies.