Monthly Archives: April 2007

The case of the new courthouse

Posted on April 15, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 15, 1957 Los Angeles The Times features the new courthouse rising at 1st Street and Hill in the Civic Center.  After cataloging  the materials (Italian  marble,  red granite from Texas  and ceramic veneer from Springfield, Calif.)  The  Times’ Ray … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown | Comments Off on The case of the new courthouse

Forest Lawn

Posted on April 14, 2007 by lmharnisch

Easter Sunday seemed like a good time to drive over to Forest Lawn and visit a few graves. I bought some flowers and went off to find Norma McCauley and Caren Lynn "Sande" Crabbe. The woman at the front gate … Continue reading →

Posted in Cemeteries, Forest Lawn | 1 Comment

Voices

Posted on April 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

          In 1957, saxophonist Dave Pell was the leader of the Dave Pell Octet, the house band at the Crescendo on the Sunset Strip. He recently reminisced about performing there with comedian Lenny Bruce. Pell performs once … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jazz, Mickey Cohen, Nightclubs, Sunset Strip | 5 Comments

The Wife-Saving House

Posted on April 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 13, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch Step back with me for a moment to that 1950s home the McCauleys built, one of those futuristic places that practically took care of itself and just needed a little soap and … Continue reading →

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Strictly: Human Interest

Posted on April 13, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 8, 1957Los Angeles   Latin Holidayby Pepe Arciga Here's how the anguished voice of a stricken lady, Norberta Venegas, pleaded for what should not be perhaps a lost cause. This she said to me in hesitant Spanish: "Senor Arciga… … Continue reading →

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Silver Spoon

Posted on April 12, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 12, 1957Los Angeles  By Larry Harnisch Those who say you can never be too rich or too thin never heard of Caren Lynn Crabbe, the daughter of "Flash Gordon" star Buster Crabbe, a young woman of wealth and privilege … Continue reading →

Posted in anorexia, Forest Lawn | Comments Off on Silver Spoon

Look to the Skies!

Posted on April 11, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 11, 1957 Temple City By Larry Harnisch Early that morning, about 4:40 a.m., a sonic boom that was perhaps from some secret aircraft shook the San Gabriel Valley awake, setting off burglar alarms and breaking a window at 275 … Continue reading →

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The Education of Mrs. Snethen

Posted on April 10, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 10, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch Mrs. Andrew Snethen, 39,  of Lakewood (remember this is the era when married women had no first names), a recent arrival from Omaha, Neb., had never been to downtown Los Angeles, had … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown | Comments Off on The Education of Mrs. Snethen

Smog Is a Four-Letter Word

Posted on April 10, 2007 by lmharnisch

Paul V. CoatesConfidential File April 10, 1957 And it is a comparatively new word in the American vocabulary. The 1953 Webster in my office defines smog as "a fog made heavier and darker by the smoke of a city." But … Continue reading →

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15 Minutes

Posted on April 9, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 9, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch He was 4. His mother dressed him in a coat and tie, and took him to the airport. Out to the airplane. There were lots of people there. Men with cameras. A … Continue reading →

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Silver Starlight of G. Louis Gabaldon

Posted on April 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 8, 1957 Paul V. Coates Confidential File I found another hero today, a local boy who made good in battle. What he did on the island of Saipan perhaps equals in achievement and guts any story of any man … Continue reading →

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Officer-Involved Shooting

Posted on April 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 8, 1957 Los Angeles  By Larry Harnisch Off-duty Police Officer Dallas W. Walters, 32, was leaving a Wilmington liquor store at 2 a.m. after visiting the clerk when two young gunmen stepped from the shadows at 1109 W. B … Continue reading →

Posted in Harbor Division, Robberies | Comments Off on Officer-Involved Shooting

Deal Me a Card, HAL

Posted on April 7, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 7, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch In a gathering for newsmen, Caltech staged a demonstration of its "electronic brains." Charles Ray showed off the Royal Precision Electronic Computer LGP-30, a 740-pound "desk computer" with 113 vacuum tubes and … Continue reading →

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Silk-Stocking Slayer

Posted on April 6, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 6, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch Ruth Newgarden Goldsmith, 52, a New York fashion designer, had been dead about 12 hours when she was found after 3:30 p.m. by two maids in a $25-a week room at the … Continue reading →

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Twice Burned

Posted on April 5, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 5, 1957Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch They were a six-pack of juiceheads, daddy-o. Human-torched by lowlifes that wildfired the imagination of young, L.A. bike-roaming James Ellroy, demon dogging the pulp novel city in type-O scarlet and memory napalm.   … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , | 18 Comments

Sorry It Had to Happen This Way

Posted on April 4, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 4, 1957 Los Angeles By Larry Harnisch Sometime in the night, Robert Tunis Palmer, a 27-year-old meatpacker from Marysville, Ohio, sat on the steps of the church at 14th and Union, finished his can of beer, put the muzzle … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Pico-Union, Suicide | 3 Comments

Ovation for Ollie

Posted on April 4, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 3, 1957     If you haven’t taken a look at the Civic Center scenery lately—and many longtime residents boast they haven’t been downtown for years—a surprise awaits you. Except for the public buildings and a few others, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Columnists, Matt Weinstock | Comments Off on Ovation for Ollie