Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything, June 2026

Posted on June 2, 2026 by lmharnisch

In this video, I discussed my work in progress, Heaven Is Here! and Part 3, Decoding the “Detective,” in David Oranchak’s series on Alex Baber. It is a masterpiece of debunking a “true” crime fraudster.

The next Black Dahlia Book Club session is June 16. The next Ask Me Anything is July 7.

David Oranchak’s three-part video on Alex Baber’s claims that he “solved” the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases.
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XARYxQVGziU
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqB-fUuMUxs
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQoKddXI75E

I also discussed:

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated +)

Posted on June 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

Girl with dark hair in pigtails.
For Monday, we have a mysterious girl. Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia – Elizabeth Short Letter Listed on EBay — Authentic or Not?

Posted on May 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

2026_0526_EBay_Elizabeth_Short_undated
An EBay vendor has listed what is presented as an autographed letter by Elizabeth Short. The undated document is typed with a brief message and what is claimed to be her signature. But is it authentic?

One has to wonder because ElizAbeth is misspelled as ElizEbeth.

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Black Dahlia Book Club for May 2026

Posted on May 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

In this episode of the Black Dahlia Book Club, I look at actor/director/producer Jack Webb and his 1958 book “The Badge.” Continue reading →

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June 3, 1907: Runaway Couple, Aided by Minister, Leave Parents at the Altar

Posted on June 3, 2026 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

June 3, 1907
Los Angeles

It was to be one of the grandest society weddings of the season: An orchestra was hired, a caterer had been selected after lengthy interviews, gowns for the bride and bridesmaids had been sewn and the Hotel Lankershim had been hired for the occasion.

In preparation for the grand event, Dr. Harris C. Garcelon and his fiancee, Genevieve Smith, attended the wedding rehearsal at Christ Episcopal Church performed by the Rev. Baker P. Lee.

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May 30,1958: ‘Crisis in Morals’

Posted on May 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 30, 1958: Movie ads for Vertigo and King Solomon's Mines

The Times runs a 12-part series titled “Crisis in Morals.” The author, Howard Whitman, is identified as a “noted writer and commentator.” After filing stories from wartime London in 1944 and the D-day invasion, Whitman returned to such fare as “Smoldering Youth” (1946), “Sex Education Grows Up” (1948) and “What Makes Good Girls Bad?” (1949).

Email me

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May 30, 1908: Snake Stops Traffic

Posted on May 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 30, 1908: A large gopher snake causes a frenzy in downtown Los Angeles.

Posted in 1908, Animals, Downtown | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

May 30, 1907: Hop Chung, Chinese Laundryman, Presses Zoning Case in Court

Posted on May 30, 2026 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

May 30, 1907
Los Angeles

Hop Chung is in trouble again.

Chung, it seems, is no stranger to the legal system, with a police record going back to 1883. Ten years later, he and customer D.E. Dorsey were arrested at Chung’s laundry at 1st and San Pedro for fighting over a bill.

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May 29, 1908: Concert Pianist Put on Chain Gang in Crackdown on Gays

Posted on May 29, 2026 by lmharnisch

Portrait of Peje Storck, pianist

Peje Storck via EBay.

November 19, 1903: Peje Storck performs with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra

Peje Storck performs with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.

We will have to trust the Los Angeles Times when it says Peje Storck was a famous pianist of his day. According to The Times, the pianist arrived in town in 1903 with English violinist Herbert Ritchie, who studied with violin virtuoso Eugene Ysaye. (The Times refers to Storck as Norweigian in some articles in and Swedish in others).

The duo performed many concerts in Los Angeles and received glowing reviews in The Times. “Mr. Storck’s art is finished, his tone limpid, lucent, pure, his intellectual force unusual, his execution flawless and his mental attitude that of a poet and idealist,” The Times said Nov. 21, 1903.

But we will have to trust the Los Angeles Police Department that Storck was gay–of course even as late as the 1940s, newspapers didn’t dare use words like “homosexual.”

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Posted in #courts, #gays and lesbians, 1908, classical music, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

When a ‘Marilyn Monroe Letter’ Sells on EBay for $879.99

Posted on May 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

2026_0527_Marilyn_Monroe_Letter_screen_shot

What appears to be a questionable letter relating to Marilyn Monroe has been sold on EBay by the same vendor who listed the “ElizEbeth” Short letter (it’s been removed). I was going to ignore the Marilyn Monroe letter, but with the sale price of $879.99, I thought I should comment, especially because the vendor, VintagePhotosForFans, does not offer a certificate of authenticity.

Let us count the red flags: An item supposedly found at an estate sale, listed on EBay, and sold with no certificate of authenticity. But there’s more!

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Posted in Found on EBay, Hollywood | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Reminder — My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is June 2

Posted on May 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

Reminder: Boxie and I will be doing a live Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case next Tuesday, June 2, 2026, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube.

I will discuss my work in progress, and talk about Part 3 of David Oranchak’s video on the claims of Alex Baber. Baber says that he has solved the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases, as promoted by Michael Connelly and his team, Christopher Goffard of the Los Angeles Times, and the Daily Mail. The first two parts the video are out and they are excellent. I’ll also talk about recent news of a project by Talestorm, previously known as Aspen Entertainment and my experiences with them.

Can’t make the live session? Email me your questions and I’ll answer them! I’ll also get to the backlog of questions from previous sessions.

Part 1 of David Oranchak’s video | Part 2 of David Oranchak’s video

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May 31, 1947: Los Angeles Marks First Memorial Day Without a Civil War Veteran at Ceremony

Posted on May 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

1947_0531_memorial_dayNote: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Memorial Day, 1947, was a spectacle marked with a parade from Westwood to the veterans cemetery, services for Spanish-American veterans in Pershing Square and even a tribute at Hollywood Memorial Park to 21 Times employees killed in the 1910 bombing, as well as those who died in World War II (Tommy Treanor, RIP).

The largest gathering was at the Coliseum, where the multitudes sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” recited the Pledge of Allegiance and listened to Ronald Reagan read the Gettysburg Address.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

Main title: Cursive writing on a piece of notebook paper.

This week’s mystery movie was the 1957 MGM film Lizzie, with Eleanor Parker, Richard Boone, Joan Blondell, Hugo Haas, Ric Roman, Dorothy Arnold, John Reach, Marion Ross and Johnny Mathis. Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

May 23, 1947: Lloyd Osbourne Dies; Inspired Stepfather Robert Louis Stevenson to Write ‘Treasure Island’

Posted on May 23, 2026 by lmharnisch
May 23, 1947, L.A. Times, Lloyd Osbourne, who as a boy inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write "Treasure Island," dies in Glendale.


Note: This is an encore post from 2005 that originally appeared on the 1947project.

The May 23-24 papers are full of great, crazy stories. It’s hard to choose just one:

Is it Britain about to partition India, which got buried on an inside page?

The Nebraska picnic, or the goat that had quintuplets? You could be serious and talk about the cost of living being at an all-time high. But then again, you’ve got two Irish setters being served with summonses because their late master, Carleton R. Bainbridge, left most of his $30,000 estate for their support.

Maybe it’s film composer Franz Waxman being reviewed (positively) as a symphony conductor. Or J. Robert Oppenheimer giving a talk at Caltech.

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May 22, 1947: Art Club Calls LACMA Exhibit ‘Subversive Propaganda’

Posted on May 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 22, 1947, Art Club, L.A. Times

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

The California Art Club yesterday lambasted the current Los Angeles County Museum art exhibit—the museum’s eighth annual show—as favoring “radical art” and containing “subversive propaganda.”

…Edward Withers, painter and retiring president of the 500-member club, wrote [museum Director James H.] Breasted Jr. that his group cannot “condone the expenditure of tax funds for the display of subversive propaganda inimical to our form of government.”

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May 21, 1947: South Carolina Jury Acquits 28 in Lynching

Posted on May 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 22, 1947, L.A. Times

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

For the record
An earlier headline on this post incorrectly reported the length of the jury’s deliberations. It was five hours and 15 minutes, not 15 minutes.

A few weeks after the acquittals in the lynching of Willie Earle, who was suspected of killing a cabdriver, Los Angeles Assemblymen [Gus] Hawkins and [??] Allen introduced a resolution in Sacramento urging Congress to pass a Federal anti-lynching law. [In 1962, Augustus Freeman “Gus” Hawkins became the first African American elected to Congress from a Western state].

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May 21, 1907: J.G. Fleenor ‘Barefoot Burglar’ Talks!

Posted on May 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

In a jailhouse interview before he was taken to San Quentin, James G. Fleenor, the barefoot burglar, set the record straight on his escapes, his relationship with a white woman and how he began a life of crime.

It had been rumored that Fleenor returned to Los Angeles after escaping from a San Francisco jail because of his relationship with Mrs. B.J. Byres of 1669 Tennessee St. He insisted that he hopped the first freight train leaving the yard and discovered later that it was going to Los Angeles.

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Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Real Estate, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

May 20, 1939: Midnite Show at the Follies

Posted on May 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 20, 1939: Marion Morgan at the Follies, showing a woman in a dress and a cowboy hat“Political crises, European crises or stock market troubles mean nothing to our busy businessmen. They still heed the call of relaxation….”

 

 

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May 20, 1939: Flocks of Sheep Near City Hall

Posted on May 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

Hillsides covered with sheep as a shepherd and dogs watch.

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May 19, 1939: Soldier Killed, Hundreds Hurt in Holy Land Riots

Posted on May 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 19, 1939: Comic panel of a detective arrested criminals, accompanied by a talking pelican with a machine gun.
I can accept a talking cartoon pelican. I can even accept a talking cartoon pelican that has human hands. But I’m having a hard time with a talking cartoon pelican carrying a machine gun. Maybe it’s just me. Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Comics, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Sports, Stage | Comments Off on May 19, 1939: Soldier Killed, Hundreds Hurt in Holy Land Riots