Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Richfield Building Jazzes Up Los Angeles’ Skyline

Posted on December 12, 2016 by lmharnisch

  The Richfield Building in an undated postcard. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. After years of deprivation, darkness and worry during World War I and its aftermath, America was ready to look toward a shining future of … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: ‘Ghostland’ and Another Good Story Ruined (Updated)

Posted on December 9, 2016 by lmharnisch

“Ghostland” by Colin Dickey, Page 136. OK, who can spot the mistake in the highlighted passage? (And yes, Dickey is about to invoke the name of Kenneth Anger, who has caused more grief for historians than any other writer). This … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

A Firsthand History Lesson on Pearl Harbor

Posted on December 7, 2016 by lmharnisch

In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular curriculum to give his young pupils a firsthand account of Pearl Harbor. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Education, History, World War II | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: Any Movie Would Have Been Better if it Starred Jimmy Durante and Lupe Velez

Posted on December 6, 2016 by lmharnisch

Lupe Velez and Jimmy Durante in Hollywood Party. I’ve already written here about the great Lupe Velez, but my friend Stephen reminded me that we have a theory that any movie would have been better if it had starred Lupe … Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Film | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood National Bank Watches History Go By

Posted on December 5, 2016 by lmharnisch

  Carol Hughes as photographed by Schuyler Crail, with Hollywood and Cahuenga in the background, courtesy of Mary Mallory. One of the most important and busiest intersections in Hollywood has always been that of Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevards. The location … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 5, 2016 by lmharnisch

  This week’s mystery movie has been the 1957 RKO film “All Mine to Give,” with Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell, Rex Thompson, Patty McCormack, Ernest Truex, Hope Emerson, Alan Hale, Sylvia Field, Royal Dano, Reta Shaw, Stephen Wootton, Butch Bernard, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 63 Comments

1957 Club Mecca Firebombing in South L.A. Kills 6

Posted on December 4, 2016 by lmharnisch

5841 S. Normandie, the site of the Club Mecca bombing, as photographed in 2007. April 7, 1957, the Los Angeles Times publishes an extra on the Club Mecca firebombing.   The tragic warehouse fire in Oakland, which has killed at … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Fires, Food and Drink | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Daily Mirror Christmas Shopping Guide: Scaccomatto Chess Set

Posted on December 2, 2016 by lmharnisch

A Scaccomatto chess set has been listed on EBay. The set, designed by Franco Rocco, is one of the more unusual ones you may encounter. All the pieces fit together to make two cubes, one brass and the other chrome. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1970, Found on EBay | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Daily Mirror Christmas Buying Guide: Scary Clown Clock to Terrify Baby Boomers

Posted on November 29, 2016 by lmharnisch

Photo of the Abbotwares Bozo clock via EBay. If you are tired of misty-eyed Baby Boomer nostalgia, this may be for you. I have written before about Abbotwares radios (often rendered as Abbotware). You may recall “Atwater Kent’s Love Child … Continue reading →

Posted in Found on EBay, Television | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: That Girl In The Satin Dress! She Kills Me!

Posted on November 29, 2016 by lmharnisch

  A poster for “Rufus Jones for President.”   Note: Eve has discontinued her YouTube Theater, but has consented to have me post the entries she has already written. Ever see Rufus Jones for President? Calling it “quite a pip” … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 28, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1933 Warner Bros. film “The Silk Express,” with Neil Hamilton, Sheila Terry, Arthur Byron, Guy Kibbee, Dudley Digges, Arthur Hohl, Allen Jenkins, Harold Huber, George Pat Collins, Robert Barrat, Vernon Steele and Ivan … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 64 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Celebrities’ Sons Become Photographers

Posted on November 28, 2016 by lmharnisch

Carlyle Blackwell Jr.,Bryant Washburn Jr., Elsie Ferguson II and Erich von Stroheim Jr. shown in Motion Picture Herald, 1933. When it comes to careers, many children follow in the footsteps of their parents, either through family tradition or because it … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

L.A. Celebrates a Wartime Thanksgiving, 1943

Posted on November 24, 2016 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post from 2013. Happy Thanksgiving! A wartime Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, with many service personnel welcomed into people’s homes for a holiday meal. The Times published cooking tips for war workers, advising cooks who were otherwise … Continue reading →

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An 1890s Thanksgiving in the Kitchen

Posted on November 24, 2016 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2011. Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a traditional roast turkey recipe from the “Every-Day Cook-Book and Family Compendium,” written about 1890 by Miss E. Neill. Be sure your fire is bright and clear and watch out … Continue reading →

Posted in 1890, Food and Drink, From the Stacks | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on An 1890s Thanksgiving in the Kitchen

Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: ‘I Will Be Really Impressed If You’ve Heard of Billie Carleton’

Posted on November 22, 2016 by lmharnisch

  Billie Carlton in a Pathe newsreel. Note: Eve has discontinued her YouTube Theater, but has consented to have me post the entries she has already written. Well, have you? She was a rising British stage starlet in the 1910s … Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Stage | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Eve Golden’s YouTube Theater: ‘I Will Be Really Impressed If You’ve Heard of Billie Carleton’

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: North Hollywood Department Stores Appeal to Common Man

Posted on November 21, 2016 by lmharnisch

  Rathbuns enlarges its Baby Shop for new generation of Baby Boomers, Van Nuys News, March 8 1951. As a city or community grows more prosperous, so does its retail establishments. Simple businesses with few choices of product give way … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Fashion, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 21, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1940 MGM film “And One Was Beautiful,” with Robert Cummings, Laraine Day, Jean Muir, Billie Burke, Ann Morriss, Esther Dale, Charles Waldron, Frank Milan, Rand Brooks, Paul Stanton and Ruth Tobey. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 39 Comments

Black Dahlia and the Hotel Cecil: L.A.’s Noir Folklore

Posted on November 17, 2016 by lmharnisch

The Guardian has jumped into it again with the Black Dahlia case, finding that it can’t resist the yarn about Elizabeth Short “rumored to have had her last drink at the hotel bar.” The Guardian, in case you don’t recall, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | 10 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 14, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1943 film “The Kansan,” with Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, Albert Dekker, Eugene Pallette, Victor Jory, Robert Armstrong, Beryl Wallace, Clem Bevans, Hobart Cavanaugh, Francis McDonald, Willie Best, Douglas Fowley, Rod Cameron, Eddy Waller … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 78 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ravenswood Apartments Attract the Stylish

Posted on November 14, 2016 by lmharnisch

Mae West in her boudoir at the Ravenswood, Life magazine, Feb. 19, 1940. Note: This is an encore presentation of a post from 2014. Built during the early years of the Great Depression, the luxurious Ravenswood Apartment building at 570 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment