Author Archives: lmharnisch

Unknown's avatar

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

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

Posted on December 28, 2017 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 →

Posted in 1937, Food and Drink | Tagged , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Brooklyn Cocktail

New York City’s Homicide Rate – And a Lesson in Using FBI Uniform Crime Reports

Posted on December 28, 2017 by lmharnisch

Actually, no. Ashley Southall of the New York Times has it wrong in saying that the current homicide rate of 286 is “the lowest since reliable records have been kept.” We can say this because the FBI Uniform Crime Reports … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940, Another Good Story Ruined, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on New York City’s Homicide Rate – And a Lesson in Using FBI Uniform Crime Reports

Another Good Story Ruined: Vintage Los Angeles and a Woolworth’s Lunch Counter

Posted on December 28, 2017 by lmharnisch

No. This is not a picture of the longest lunch counter in the world at the Woolworth’s in downtown Los Angeles. This is a file photo published by the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot in 2010 on the 50th anniversary of lunch counter … Continue reading →

Posted in 1960, Another Good Story Ruined, Philadelphia, Photography | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on December 27, 2017 by lmharnisch

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

Posted in 1971, Food and Drink, Music | Tagged , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on December 26, 2017 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 , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: A Brief History of the Tom and Jerry

Black Dahlia: A Two-Year Update and a Look Ahead

Posted on December 26, 2017 by lmharnisch

The second anniversary of my retirement from the Los Angeles Times coincided with lots of questions prompted by a Fox News piece on Piu Eatwell’s “Black Dahlia, Red Rose.” Even though I had blogged about the book repeatedly, people still … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1947, African Americans, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, History | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on December 25, 2017 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 , , , | Comments Off on Al Martinez, a Dying Boy and Some Peaches — A (Non) Christmas Story

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 25, 2017 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been Warner Bros. 1946 heartwarming holiday classic “The Beast With Five Fingers,” with Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, J. Carrol Naish, Charles Dingle, John Alvin, David Hoffman, Barbara Brown, Patricia White and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 36 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘White Christmas’ Soothes the Home Front in 1942

Posted on December 25, 2017 by lmharnisch

Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale in “Holiday Inn.” Note: This is an encore post from 2015. Recognized today as one of the top selling singles and pieces of sheet music of all time, Irving Berlin’s “White … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘White Christmas’ Soothes the Home Front in 1942

Christmas Past: A Cincinnati Family Celebrates the Holidays 100 Years Ago

Posted on December 24, 2017 by lmharnisch

I picked up these photos in a Pasadena thrift store years ago. There is no information on them except the stamp on the back: Moser & Son, Cin’ti, O. Aside from the tree (seen below) and what seem to be … Continue reading →

Posted in 1916, Photography | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Christmas 1966: No Bad News at the Tucson Citizen

Posted on December 24, 2017 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2016. 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1966 | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Christmas 1966: No Bad News at the Tucson Citizen

In Memoriam — Johnny Fox | Sword Swallower (1953 — 2017)

Posted on December 23, 2017 by lmharnisch

We were saddened to read an obituary in the New York Times this week about sword swallower Johnny Fox, who died of cancer in Maryland at the age of 64. We snapped this picture of Fox, about to swallow a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, 2017, Obituaries, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on In Memoriam — Johnny Fox | Sword Swallower (1953 — 2017)

Black Dahlia: 5 Reasons Leslie Dillon Didn’t Kill Elizabeth Short

Posted on December 22, 2017 by lmharnisch

Leslie Dillon in an undated photo, probably taken in the late 1940s.   My inbox is exploding with alerts about Piu Eatwell “solving” the Black Dahlia case by attributing it to Leslie Duane Dillon. Here are five simple reasons that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2017, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 21, 2017 by lmharnisch

Paul Bryan Gray was recently mentioned in the Los Angeles Times as the author of “A Clamor for Equality,” the biography of Francisco Ramirez, who published Los Angeles’ first entirely Spanish-language newspaper, “El Clamor Publico.” Gray also wrote “Forster vs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Black Dahlia: The Formosa Cafe and Another Good Story Ruined

Posted on December 20, 2017 by lmharnisch

My inbox exploded this morning with alerts about the Black Dahlia and links leading to an essay in the Los Angeles Times by David Ulin, writing about the Formosa Cafe (which he calls “the Formosa” – a gaffe nobody bothered … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Food and Drink, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: The Formosa Cafe and Another Good Story Ruined

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 20, 2017 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. I picked up “The Big Picture,” Melba Levick and Stanley Young’s 1988 book about Los Angeles murals, not realizing what a terribly sad book it would be. As Young notes: “Most artists … Continue reading →

Posted in 1988, Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Latinos, Photography, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Sports, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 18, 2017 by lmharnisch

“Angel’s Flight” by Leo Politi. Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Another of my favorite books about Los Angeles is Leo Politi’s “Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Reminiscences of Bygone Days,” published in 1964. Copies are listed on Bookfinder … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Books and Authors | Tagged , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 18, 2017 by lmharnisch

This week’s movie has been MGM’s saucy Pre-Code film “Flying High” (1931), with Bert Lahr, Charlotte Greenwood, Pat O’Brien, Kathryn Crawford, Charles Winninger, Hedda Hopper, Guy Kibbee and Herbert Braggiotti, with Gus Arnheim and his orchestra. Book, lyrics and music … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 34 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Eaton’s Rancho

Posted on December 18, 2017 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. The area of Los Angeles now known as Studio City was mainly farm and ranch land up into the late 1920s, when investors founded the Studio City Business District and decided to … Continue reading →

Posted in Food and Drink, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Eaton’s Rancho

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 14, 2017 by lmharnisch

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 a biography of Chandler as a writer rather … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide