Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

April 30, 1939: Los Angeles Prepares for Opening of Union Station

Posted on April 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 30, 1939: Los Angeles prepares for the opening of Union Station. Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Comics, Countdown to Watts, Downtown, Music, Transportation | Leave a comment

April 29, 1891: ‘The Chinese Murder,’

Posted on April 29, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 29, 1891: The Times reports the death of a Chinese woman named Ah Gue/Goot Gue, who was shot in the abdomen by her husband, Wong Ark/Gam Duck, outside a brothel on Apablasa Street. Ark allegedly killed Gue because she didn’t give him all the money he wanted for gambling. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1891, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Comments Off on April 29, 1891: ‘The Chinese Murder,’

April 29, 1907: Blanche Hall Draws Crowds to Burbank Theater in ‘When Knighthood Was in Flower’

Posted on April 29, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 29, 1907: Blanche Hall’s performance of ‘When Knighthood Was in Flower’ draws a mile-long line of people hoping to buy tickets at the Burbank Theater at Main and 6th Street. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1910, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD, Streetcars, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on April 29, 1907: Blanche Hall Draws Crowds to Burbank Theater in ‘When Knighthood Was in Flower’

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Noir City on the Downbeat

Posted on April 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory writes about the recent Noir City Hollywood, which paired film noir and jazz. Continue reading →

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Reminder — My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is May 5

Posted on April 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Reminder: My Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case will be next Tuesday, May 5, at 10 a.m. at https://www.youtube.com/@lmharnisch/streams Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Ask Me Anything, Black Dahlia, Black Dahlia Book Club, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Reminder — My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is May 5

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: TCM Classic Film Festival’s ‘The World Comes to Hollywood’

Posted on April 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory previews the TCM Classic Film Festival, with the theme ‘The World Comes to Hollywood,’ featuring a hand/footprint ceremony for Glenn Close, appearances by Carol Burnett and Faye Dunaway, and a restored print of the long-unseen ‘Letty Lynton’ Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Preservation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

April 27, 1907: Man Badly Injured in Attack by Mule

Posted on April 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 27, 1907: W.S. Stanton was attacked by a vicious mule at the California Truck Company’s stables last night and seriously injured. When he attempted to take the harness off the animal it leaped to one side and kicked him on the thigh, knocking him down, then walked over him, cutting and lacerating the calves of his legs. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Animals, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Immigration, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on April 27, 1907: Man Badly Injured in Attack by Mule

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have two Back of the Head Guys in a mysterious foreign film. Continue reading →

Posted in 1979, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Voices — Christine Collins, April 23, 1931

Posted on April 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 23, 1931: Walter Collins is “in good condition,” a prison report says. Collins was the husband of Christine Collins, whose story inspired the Clint Eastwood movie “Changeling.” Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1931, Changeling, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Comments Off on Voices — Christine Collins, April 23, 1931

April 23, 1908: Whiskey Is a Health Tonic

Posted on April 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 23, 1908: Whiskey is a health tonic! Continue reading →

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April 16, 1938: Child Molested, Killed

Posted on April 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

Trigger warning: This post from 1938 deals with an abuser who died in the gas chamber for killing his young victim. Continue reading →

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April 22, 1908: Beer Is a Health Drink

Posted on April 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 22, 1908: Beer is a health drink, especially good for “the weak and the convalescent.” “When beer is pure, there is nothing more healthful.” Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia Book Club for April 2026

Posted on April 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

In the fourth installment of the Black Dahlia Book Club, I looked at the portrayal of Elizabeth Short’s murder in early crime anthologies leading up to Jack Webb’s “The Badge” in 1958. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Black Dahlia Book Club, books, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

April 21, 1908: Dispute Over Black and White Children Playing Together Turns Deadly

Posted on April 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 21, 1908: In Memphis, a quarrel between women over Black and white children playing together leads to a fight and then a shooting. And a crackdown on sending birth control information through the mail. Continue reading →

Posted in 1908, Abortion, African Americans, Countdown to Watts, Front Pages, health, Homicide, Politics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on April 21, 1908: Dispute Over Black and White Children Playing Together Turns Deadly

April 20, 2008: Club Mecca Firebombing Victims Remembered

Posted on April 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 20, 2008: Remembering the victims of the Club Mecca Firebombing. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1957, Homicide, LAPD | Comments Off on April 20, 2008: Club Mecca Firebombing Victims Remembered

April 20, 1959: It’s a Woman’s World — Auto Mechanic

Posted on April 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 20, 1959: Meet Mrs. Roy Harper, a trained auto mechanic who helps run her husband’s auto garage, where she is apparently a service writer and specializes in carburetors. But the Los Angeles Times assures readers that she’s still ladylike and prefers “high heels and chic clothes” to dirty coveralls and tools in the hip pockets. Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Freeways, Transportation | Comments Off on April 20, 1959: It’s a Woman’s World — Auto Mechanic

April 20, 1908: Great White Fleet Draws Huge Crowds, Overwhelming Capacity

Posted on April 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 20, 1908: The Great White Fleet draws huge crowds, overwhelming rail service to Long Beach, San Pedro, Redondo Beach and Venice. If there were a Militant Angeleno in 1908, he would have been there! Continue reading →

Posted in 1908, Long Beach, Transportation | Comments Off on April 20, 1908: Great White Fleet Draws Huge Crowds, Overwhelming Capacity

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have a mysterious surgical team. Continue reading →

Posted in 1973, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

1944 in Print — Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, April 15, 1944

Posted on April 15, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 15, 1944: Theater owners gripe about films they are showing. Sample: “My patrons like corn, green, ripe, in muffins, cans or jugs, and I simply have got to give it to them and that’s what they are going to get from now on. This picture business is getting me, or has it got me?” Continue reading →

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April 15, 1908: Accused Wife Killer Says ‘Everything Went Black’

Posted on April 15, 2026 by lmharnisch

April 15,1908: Quong Wai, who is fighting a deportation order, says he is an American born in San Francisco. He says immigration officers arrested him at a streetcar station without reason. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1908, Front Pages, Homicide, Music | Tagged | Comments Off on April 15, 1908: Accused Wife Killer Says ‘Everything Went Black’