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AL JOLSONS FIRST BET ON A RACE "It was just fifteen years ago Christmas day when I made my first bet on a horse race," remarked Al Jolson. the well-known black face comedian. "It didnt cure me of betting, but. strange to sav. it did cure me of a severe attack of stomach trouble. I was playing a matinee at Vallejo, California. I was making all of 1919.sh a week in those days, which was good pay. The house where I played was a combination of a theater, poolroom, bar and other things. While I was on the stage I could see the blackboard in the poolroom, and at times I had to halt in my song while the descriptions of the races being run at the old Emervville track were being called off. Of course, I talked about the races in my monologue, and had been informed by the proprietor that I could bet the finger in case I wanted to make a wager. "On this particular Christinas afternoon Major Daingerfield was running at Oakland, and having heard somebody talking about the horse, I worked his name into my business. Major Daingerfield! I veiled, and threw up one finger. Out in the poolroom the keeper heard and saw my extended digit held up in the air, and booked me for a hundred on the horse. I was invited home, to dinner by the proprietor after the show, and it was a regular old-fashioned home Christmas dinner. Rut I was so sick I didnt feel like eating a bite. My. host remarked that I was looking blue for a iftfin who had won a big bet, I wanted to know where and how, and he explained that I had bet a century on Major Daingerfield and that the Major had won. When it filtered through my dome, I forgot all about the sickness and ate half of the Christinas turkev and most everything else on the table."
