Monthly Archives: January 2019

Jan. 17, 1959: Lakers Back Elgin Baylor in Refusing to Stay at Segregated Hotel

Jan. 17, 1959: Keith Thursby has the story of the Minneapolis Lakers moving out of a hotel in Charleston, W.Va., after operators refused to give a room to rookie Elgin Baylor and two other black players. Baylor boycotted the game, … Continue reading

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Jan. 16, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Saved by the Knell’

Jan. 16, 1959: Puns, poems, jokes, little stories. Ending the day with a smile courtesy of Matt Weinstock. This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. Via Archive.org.

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Jan. 16, 1959: Paul Coates – Cub Scouts Bar Butch H. Because He Is Black

Jan. 16, 1959: The Cub Scouts don’t want to admit 9-year-old Butch because he’s black. This is one of my favorite Paul Coates columns and well worth the read. The column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and … Continue reading

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Black Dahlia: New ‘Evidence’ in George ‘Evil Genius’ Hodel Franchise

Black Dahlia breakthrough! Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Let us suppose that there was a mathematician. A retired mathematician who once taught at a major university, who published and received tenure, and retired as a well-regarded member … Continue reading

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January 1972: Andrew Wyeth Will Do Nixon Portrait. Wait, No He Won’t.

January 1972: A fun little contretemps about whether Andrew Wyeth would paint a portrait of then-President Nixon. The original post appeared on latimes.com in 2009 and is available via Archive.org.

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January 1939: Vivien Leigh Cast in ‘Gone With the Wind’ (Hedda Hopper Does Not Approve)

January 1939: Vivien Leigh is cast as Scarlett O’Hara. Hedda Hopper does not approve. Boy does she not approve. Frankly, was there anybody who was ever worse at casting than Hedda Hopper? She would shamelessly use her column to campaign … Continue reading

Posted in 1939, Columnists, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: Trim Your Roses on Jan. 15 to Remember Elizabeth Short

Today is Jan. 15, the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death. As is the custom, the Daily Mirror will be dark. Trim your roses in her memory.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: Dr. George Hodel, Janice Knowlton and the Black Dahlia Case

Aug. 8, 1998: A post on the old usenet alt.news-media by Janice Knowton was the first to publicly link Dr. George Hodel and the Black Dahlia case. At this point, George Hodel was alive but would die in a bit … Continue reading

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Jan. 14, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Capricious Electron’

Jan 14, 1959: Matt Weinstock has an eccentric visitor with a theory about the electron. Funny things that kids say, a poem and some bullet items. Weinstock ends the day with a light touch. The column originally appeared in the … Continue reading

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Black Dahlia: Did George Hodel Kill Jeanne French? No

Jeanne French was found beaten and stomped to death Feb. 10 1947, almost a month after Elizabeth Short was killed. French died from a broken rib that punctured her heart. Heel prints were found on her chest and near her … Continue reading

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Jan. 14, 1959: Paul Coates on Three Boys Who Killed Their Father as He Slept

Jan. 14, 1959: Paul Coates has the amazing story of three boys, ages 7, 9 and 10, who shot their father to death as he slept. Coates says that the mother (and the boys planned to kill her as well … Continue reading

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Black Dahlia: How Low Can You Go in Merchandising the Black Dahlia?

I occasionally scan the Web to see what’s out on the distant fringes of the Black Dahlia case. And wow. This is fringe. Here we have a portrait of Elizabeth Short – post-mutilation – painted in the artist’s blood. Listed … Continue reading

Posted in 1947, 2019, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1933 film “A Study in Scarlet,” with Reginald Owen, Anna May Wong, June Clyde, Allan Dinehart, John Warburton, Alan Mowbray, Warburton Gamble, J.M. Kerrigan, Doris Lloyd, Billy Bevan, Leila Bennett, Wyndham Standing and Halliwell … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Campo de Cahuenga, California’s Birthplace

A photo of the original museum at Campo de Cahuenga, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore from 2012. Driving south down Lankershim Boulevard from Toluca Lake into Universal City, it’s hard to miss the skyscrapers, soundstages, and … Continue reading

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Jan. 14, 1959: State Supreme Court Upholds L.A.’s Deal for Dodger Stadium

Keith Thursby writes: The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Dodgers and City Hall, moving plans for a baseball stadium in Chavez Ravine one huge step closer to reality. The Times’ coverage was breathless, no surprise since … Continue reading

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Jan. 14, 1939: Thousands at St. Vibiana’s Hold Vigil for World Peace

Jan. 13, 1939: About 4,000 worshipers attend a Perpetual Novena for Our Sorrowful Mother at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral. People knelt in the aisles, in the doorways and outside praying for peace and for relief of the poor, The Times says.. … Continue reading

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Black Dahlia: ‘Definitely Not Betty’ Elizabeth Short’s Family Refutes Hodel Photos of ‘Black Dahlia’

  The Short family rarely speaks on the record, but in 2003, they were so incensed by Steve Hodel’s “Black Dahlia Avenger” and his bogus claims of photos purportedly showing Elizabeth Short that they issued a public statement through me. … Continue reading

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Jan. 13, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Jan. 13, 1959: Horseracing, Al Capone, a poem, a couple of funny stories, and we have another Matt Weinstock column. Weinstock perfected the art of the light touch. Rarely anything controversial and he never swung for the fence, like Coates … Continue reading

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Jan. 13, 1959: Paul Coates Interviews Soviet Leader Mikoyan

Jan. 13, 1959: Paul Coates worked himself into an early grave. In addition to writing six columns a week for the L.A. Mirror, he also had a show on KTTV-TV Channel 11. It was definitely another era. In this piece, … Continue reading

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Voices: Recalling Times Sports Columnist Ned Cronin

Keith Thursby writes: Ned Cronin was a columnist at The Times until his death in 1958 and his work has been featured often in the Daily Mirror. His son, Jerry, recently discovered the blog and we started an e-mail conversation. … Continue reading

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