Monthly Archives: December 2019

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Mack Sennett’s Rose Parade Gag

Posted on December 31, 2019 by lmharnisch

Photo: “The Sleuths at the Floral Parade.” Credit: Mary Mallory, the Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. The Tournament of Roses Parade is going on its 122th year, and grows more elaborate … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Leave a comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — Pisco Punch

Posted on December 31, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Just in time for New Year’s, we’ll take a look at a “lost drink,” making a brief inquiry into San Francisco’s Pisco Punch, made famous by Bank Exchange saloon owner Duncan Nicol … Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, 1934, 1939, Food and Drink, San Francisco | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide – The Queens Cocktail

Posted on December 30, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Joe Vogel asks if there was a Queens Cocktail. The answer is yes. According to the Jamaica Long Island Daily Press, Jan. 24, 1935, the Queens Cocktail debuted at the Hotel Commodore … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 30, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1939 Warner Bros. film “A Child Is Born” (working title “Give Me a Child,”) with Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jeffrey Lynn, Gladys George, Gale Page, Spring Byington, Johnnie Davis, Henry O’Neill and John Litel. Screenplay by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Film, Hollywood, Medicine, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Pickford Headlines 1933 Rose Parade

Posted on December 30, 2019 by lmharnisch

Photo: Mary Pickford in the 1933 Rose Parade. Courtesy of Mary Mallory Note: This is a 2012 post with a slight update. The 131st Rose Parade is on Wednesday. Tomorrow sees the 124th annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena,  … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Pasadena | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Posted on December 29, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com. In case you plan … Continue reading →

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | 2 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Brooklyn Cocktail

Posted on December 28, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Yes, the Manhattan cocktail once had competition from drinks named for the other boroughs. Here’s a recipe for the Brooklyn Cocktail, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 7, 1937. The Brooklyn Cocktail … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: The Harvey Wallbanger

Posted on December 27, 2019 by lmharnisch

A vintage 1972 iron-on transfer of Harvey Wallbanger himself, on EBay for $12. Note: This is a repost from 2013. We have been looking at some historic drinks for this holiday season. To the millennials in the audience: This is … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: A Brief History of the Tom and Jerry

Posted on December 26, 2019 by lmharnisch

A recipe for the Tom and Jerry from the San Francisco Call, June 30, 1912. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Over on Facebook, Christopher McPherson asked whether the Tom and Jerry was named for the MGM cartoon … Continue reading →

Posted in 1862, Books and Authors, Food and Drink | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Christmas 1966: No Bad News at the Tucson Citizen

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

I finally tracked down the front page from the Tucson Citizen for Dec. 24, 1966, in which it followed the tradition of no bad news on Page 1. And a sample of the Citizen’s weather poem.

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Al Martinez, a Dying Boy and Some Peaches — A (Non) Christmas Story

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2015. Jim Romenesko, for those who aren’t in the news business, runs an essential blog that serves as a clearing house for information, gossip, bad headlines and assorted gaffes. A Jan. 6 post … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, 1958, Books and Authors, Columnists | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dec. 23, 1947: Baby Girl Abandoned at Downtown Restaurant With Christmas Card Pinned to Blanket

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The young mother asked the waitress at the cafe in the Subway Terminal Building to hold her baby for just a moment—and then she was gone. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Los Angeles Celebrates Christmas, 1913

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 25, 1913: The Times carries a biblical passage across the nameplate (notice the artwork of the new and old Times buildings) and a Page 1 cartoon by Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale. … Continue reading →

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Dec. 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The Times’ front-page Christmas and Easter poems are as forgotten today as their author, James M. Warnack. I’ll leave it to my theological betters to parse … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Obituaries, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dec. 24, 1907: Merry Christmas, Gen. Otis as Times Celebrates Record Year

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 24, 1907 Los Angeles Last-minute shopping, crowded post offices, trees decorated in hotel lobbies and toys given by Santa to the neediest children of the city; it was a Christmas season … Continue reading →

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Dec. 14, 1907: L.A. Schools Ban Mention of Christ at Christmas (Uh-Oh)

Posted on December 25, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 14, 1907 Los Angeles The madman who calls himself the superintendent of the Los Angeles schools has touched off an absolute firestorm of anger by ordering teachers not to mention Christ … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Education, Music, Religion | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 23, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1945 Warner Bros. film “The Horn Blows at Midnight” with Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, Dolores Moran, Allyn Joslyn, Reginald Gardiner, Guy Kibbee, John Alexander, Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont, “Bobby” Blake, Ethel Griffies, Paul Harvey, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 48 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Christmas House Offers Simple Family Joys of Holiday Season

Posted on December 23, 2019 by lmharnisch

The Christmas House in Boyle Heights, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. Long before the inauguration of Instagram and trying to win social media by posting the most elaborate or flashy photo, George G. Skinner designed a homespun holiday … Continue reading →

Posted in 1938, Architecture, Film, Fire Department, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia: Fox News Unearths Leslie Dillon Fiasco in the Black Dahlia Case

Posted on December 20, 2019 by lmharnisch

And Fox News gets it wrong on the Black Dahlia case in this story by Stephanie Nolasco. Let’s go over this once more. The so-called Gangster Squad conducted a rogue, off-the-books and unsanctioned investigation of the Black Dahlia case that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, books, Cold Cases, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 19, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Virtually everyone who writes about Raymond Chandler cites this book by Philip Durham, but very few people seem to have read it. Writing in 1963, four years after Chandler’s death, Durham produced … Continue reading →

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