Monthly Archives: February 2018

Black L.A. 1947: Ascot Hills Rapist, Shot by Police, Faces 51 Counts

Posted on February 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Minton R. Scott, the Ascot Hills Rapist, after being shot in the head by police. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive. Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA Feb. 6, 1947: Minton Robert Scott is accused of being … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Part 6 — The Boy on the Bicycle

Posted on February 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Page 7 What’s this? Another day on Page 7? Theological scholars don’t scrutinize the Bible this carefully and this is a book you could read in a few hours waiting for a … Continue reading →

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Feb 7, 1907: Cop Killer’s Widow Arrested in Liquor Raid

Posted on February 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 7, 1907 Los Angeles   A Child’s Testimony Charles Babbitt is sentenced to 30 days in jail on charges of domestic violence after the testimony of his 6-year-old son. “Papa hit … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Black, Jewish Protesters Picket Disney’s ‘Song of the South’ at RKO Hillstreet

Posted on February 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Above, the “trackless trolley,” which was powered by overhead cables but used tires rather than running on rails, is coming to Central Avenue. The trackless trolleys solved streetcars’ problems of maneuverability (passengers could board and disembark at the curb rather … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Part 5 — Weather Report

Posted on February 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Page 7 (Continued) If the temperature dropped below 35 degrees F in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, the ranchers had to go out and light their smudge pots to ward … Continue reading →

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Incendiary Ramblings

Posted on February 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 6, 2007 Los Angeles Here’s an architectural drawing of the O.T. Johnson Building, which burned in yesterday’s fire.  

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Bonus Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

David Wade (@LODaveWade on Twitter) is asking whether anyone can identify this photo. Brain Trust?

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Black L.A. 1947: Dodgers Organization Signs 3 More Negro League Stars

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Feb. 6, 1947: Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey Sr. signs three more stars of the Negro baseball league: Monty (Monte) Irvin and Larry Doby of the Newark Eagles and Bus Clarkson, formerly of the Philadelphia Stars who most recently played … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1934 MGM film “The Show-Off,” with Spencer Tracy, Madge Evans, Henry Wadsworth, Lois Wilson, Grant Mitchell, Clara Blandick, Alan Edwards and Claude Gillingwater. The screenplay was by Herman J. Mankiewicz from a play … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Part 4 — Sniff Test

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. And how are we doing? Some glaring omissions, a few mangled facts and some major errors. In all, the book isn’t doing well and we’re only on Page 6. If this were … Continue reading →

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Centennial Ramblings

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Feb. 5, 2007 Sierra Madre Because it’s celebrating its centennial this month, I paid a visit to Sierra Madre and while savoring a cinnamon dolce latte at the local Starbucks, watched the … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Pressbooks to Sell Movies

Posted on February 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. From the beginning of the motion picture industry, film companies devised all types of advertising to entice consumers to buy movie tickets. Posters, lobby cards and window displays, glass slides, sheet music … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Part 3 — Extra! Extra!

Posted on February 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore of a post I wrote in 2006. P. 5 Extra! Extra! I was raised on the wrong side of the tracks in Beverly Hills. This is the most marvelously amusing statement. I suppose there are … Continue reading →

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Feb. 4, 1907: Architectural Ramblings — South Pasadena

Posted on February 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2007. Feb. 4, 2007 South Pasadena The Times publishes three architectural drawings of “artistic bungalows” prepared by the firm of Wilson and Barnes. One is being built by W.E. Fox on Columbia … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging ‘Black Dahlia Files,’ Part 2: "The Monster"

Posted on February 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore of a post I wrote in 2006. Page 3 There wasn’t much nightlife in Los Angeles back in the 1940s.

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Black Dahlia: Blogging Donald Wolfe’s ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Begins, Part 1

Posted on February 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. People keep asking me: “Have you read the Wolfe book?” meaning Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” My answer is … Continue reading →

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Feb. 3, 1907: LAPD Officer Kills Homeless Man Who Shot Partner

Posted on February 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2007. Feb. 3, 1907 Los Angeles About 1 a.m. on a dark corner at East Adams and South San Pedro, the hard, shabby life of William Ross ended when he said, “What … Continue reading →

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Feb. 2, 1907: Zoo Operator Charged With Abusing Animals

Posted on February 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2007. Feb. 2, 1907 Los Angeles Conditions at Chutes Park are so bad that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is making a second inspection to see whether operator … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Blogging Donald Wolfe’s ‘Black Dahlia Files,’ an Encore From 2006

Posted on February 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Starting Saturday, I’ll begin reposting all 88 entries that I wrote in 2006 when I blogged in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s awful “The Black Dahlia Files,” a book that refutes Piu Eatwell’s claim in “Black Dahlia, … Continue reading →

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Feb. 1, 1907: A Look at Lynchings

Posted on February 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2007. Feb. 1, 1907 Los Angeles I was all set to write about Leroyxez, “The Human Pincushion,” being nailed to a cross promptly at 4 p.m. at Chutes Park, and then a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, African Americans, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment