Monthly Archives: April 2010

Broadway Traffic, 1930

December 1930: Broadway and 3rd Street. The Los Angeles County Transportation Authority Library and Archive is a wonderful source of old photos. Here's one of Broadway at 3rd Street taken in December 1930. The Times Building in the center-right portion  … Continue reading

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 9, 1940

  “Young Tom Edison Was a Bad Boy!” April 9, 1940: Are those Saturday afternoon air jaunts of Jimmy Stewart and Olivia de Havilland dress rehearsals for an elopement, as intimates insist? … Now it's Akim Tamiroff who's bought a … Continue reading

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Mystery Photo

   Los Angeles Times file photo Update: This is vaudeville star Kitty Doner in a 1925 publicity photo. Doner died Aug. 26, 1988, in Los Angeles at the age of 92.  Dec. 23, 1925: Kitty Doner appears as a man … Continue reading

Posted in Mystery Photo, Obituaries, Photography | 24 Comments

Film Strike Ends

    Aug. 5, 1981, President Reagan fires striking air traffic controllers. April 9, 1960: Screen Actors Guild President Ronald Reagan and actor Charlton Heston shake hands with Charles S. Boren and Columbia Vice President B.B. Kahane on a tentative … Continue reading

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From the Vaults: ‘Way Down East’ (1920)

Five years after “Birth of a Nation,” D.W. Griffith directed this five-hankie melodrama based on a hugely popular stage play. If you're fond of rambling 19th century novels or four-week 1970s TV miniseries, with tragic heroines and broad casts of … Continue reading

Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 2 Comments

City Hall Is a Firetrap

  The 1889 City Hall on Broadway just north of what is now the Victor Clothing Building. Notice that there are no fire escapes. April 9, 1910: A fire that broke out in the janitor’s basement office could have quickly … Continue reading

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Matt Weinstock, April 8, 1960

“And When You Go Up to the Front Desk, the Librarian Looks at You With Her Great Big Eyes, and She….”  The Fourth at State     A crew of painters has been working on the sixth floor of the Hall … Continue reading

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 8, 1960

Two Women Tell of Some Frantic Hours     For Gwendolyn Tarpy and Pauline Rose, the day of danger is over. It's two weeks buried in old headlines.       But to them its immensity remains undiminished.     It began on the … Continue reading

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 8, 1940

  April 8, 1940: Don't let Charlie Laughton's flabby appearance fool you. He has a grip like a blacksmith … She's been gone for more than a year, but RKO workers invariably cite Katharine Hepburn's screwy doings when they want … Continue reading

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Dodgers Swap Don Zimmer

April 8, 1960: Don Zimmer, the Dodgers' vocal and often-angry backup infielder who thought he should be starting or at least playing, finally got his wish to leave L.A. as the big name in a four-player trade with the Cubs. … Continue reading

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Cholos

Sept. 19, 1887: A comment on the use of “cholo” in a 1910 story prompted me to look for the first occurrence in The Times. ProQuest’s search engine is imperfect – it mistakes “cholera” for “cholo” — but this seems … Continue reading

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End of Watch, Danny Galindo

Photograph by Don Cormier / Los Angeles Times Regular Daily Mirror readers will be familiar with Detective Danny Galindo, who died Tuesday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. Here he is in 1963, taking the part of Karl Hettinger, center, … Continue reading

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Hot Stove League

  March 10, 1960: The Times published the Hot Stove League as a daily feature, but I’m posting them once a week so they’ll last longer. Is Don Blasingame safe or out?

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The Times’ Changing Nameplate

  The Times’ nameplate before the 1910 bombing, with The Times Building at right.  The revised nameplate of 1913 shows the building on fire. The 1913 nameplate also shows the new building on the site of the old one at … Continue reading

Posted in @news, Downtown, Food and Drink | 2 Comments

Matt Weinstock, April 7, 1960

'Good Evening, Friends…'     The TV cliche file is overwhelming again so let's drain off another batch.     Irene McCroskey of Burbank shrinks every time she hears the line, which she contends is in every British film, "Darling! It must … Continue reading

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 7, 1960

S. Smith Griswold's Finest Hour at Hand     The man's name:  S. (for Sam) Smith Griswold.     He's 51 years old, married, father of two, and — by his own admission — a descendant of Aaron Burr.     This last … Continue reading

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Hedda Hopper, April 7, 1941

  April 7, 1941: James Cagney … female impersonator? That’s a new one on me.

Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Those Dodger Bugles

April 7, 1960: Danny Goodman knew how to sell baseball fans anything. He worked with the Hollywood Stars of the old Pacific Coast League and kept selling when the Dodgers moved to L.A.

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U.S. Clergymen Hold Easter Services for Embassy Hostages in Iran

  April 7, 1980: Three Christian ministers from the American Iranian Crisis Resolution Committee hold Easter services for 50 hostages who had been held since Nov. 4, 1979, at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. On April 24, 1980, President Carter … Continue reading

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Nuestro Pueblo

Oct. 10, 1938: Joe Seewerker and Charles Owens visit Sunset Beach, where an old wooden fish advertises bait. Note: The original run of Nuestro Pueblo ended in 1939. I’m going back and picking up the entries I missed in 2008-09. … Continue reading

Posted in art and artists, books | 1 Comment