Monthly Archives: December 2025

December 31, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 31, 1959: Publicist Doris Hellman has taken over the job of returning abandoned shopping carts to the five stores in her neighborhood, Matt Weinstock says. Continue reading →

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December 31, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 31, 1959: Do names affect a person’s destiny? Paul Coates reveals that he was nearly named Percival. Continue reading →

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Mary Astor’s Lost Film ‘New Year’s Eve’

Posted on December 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

Our annual look at Mary Astor’s lost 1929 film “New Year’s Eve.” It was a silent with music and sound effects and apparently disappeared after 1930. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

For New Year’s Eve, the last of our retro drinking guides: Pisco Punch. Continue reading →

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December 31, 1907: Old Watchman, Beaten by Robbers, Revealed as Cocaine Addict

Posted on December 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 31, 1907: W.H. Reynolds laid out all night after being beaten up and thrown in the weeds by two robbers. Hospital staff found his arms and legs covered with needle marks from where he had injected himself with cocaine. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1959: Matt Weinstock observes a trend toward calling everything off between Christmas and New Year’s Day. All they’re interested in, besides having a little fun, is getting through the week alive or at least not spending a night in the drunk tank.  Everyone is frightened by the traffic statistics. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

In today’s edition of the Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide, we have the Queens cocktail, not as in royalty but as in the borough of Queens, New York. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1959: Paul Coates takes his children to see “Solomon and Sheba,” and finds it a Hollywood treatment of the biblical story. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1941: L.A. Women Are Slackers in Fighting the Axis!

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1941: December 30, 1941: It seems that local women didn’t get the memo about the being the “Greatest Generation.” They’re a bunch of slackers in the war against the Axis and don’t want to work as air-raid wardens. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1907: Old Soldiers of the Civil War, Held as Drunks, Get Free Run of Jail

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1907: Six Civil War veterans are jailed on charges of being drunk and rowdy in Sawtelle, the settlement outside the gates of the veterans home. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

In our year-end look at retro drinking, The Bronx Cocktail! Continue reading →

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December 3, 1957: Girl kidnapped

Posted on December 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

Revisiting the 1957 abduction and killing of Maria Ridulph from Sycamore, Ill. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

In honor of the Rose Parade, Mary Mallory writes about Mack Sennett’s entry in the 1913 edition for the film “Sleuths at the Floral Parade.” Continue reading →

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December 29, 1938: Bookie shot to death in Hollywood

Posted on December 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

By the end of 1938, Weldon sensed that he was a marked man and that death was not far off. He could have stayed out of Los Angeles and maybe he would have lived–at least for a while. But he … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1957 Warner Bros. film Top Secret Affair, with  Susan Hayward, Kirk Douglas, Paul Stewart, Jim Backus, John Cromwell, Roland Winters, A.E. Gould-Porter, Michael Fox, Frank Gerstle and Charles Lane.

Posted in 1957, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

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

Posted on December 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

In looking at retro drinks, today’s subject is the Brooklyn Cocktail. No, really. Continue reading →

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December 28, 1958: Movie stars to watch in the new year, tribute to Archie Moore

Posted on December 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 28, 1958: Hedda Hopper’s predictions for the next crop of movie stars bypasses the cast of the 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

Young persons: This is what grandma and grandpa used to drink (along with the Tequila Sunrise) when they went out in the 1970s. Continue reading →

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December 27, 1947: Youth Questioned in Georgette Bauerdorf Killing

Posted on December 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 27, 1947: Sheriff’s detectives question Robert White in the 1944 killing of Georgette Bauerdorf. Continue reading →

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December 27, 1907: Oklahoma Lynching — A Grim Record for New State

Posted on December 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 27,1907: Oklahoma records its first lynching since statehood: James Garden. Continue reading →

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