Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

October 7, 1909: Jurors Convict Man, Take Up a Collection for Him

Posted on October 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 7, 1909: Pedro Vasquez was arrested by Detective Talamantes for stealing two pairs of trousers. After the jurors convicted Vasquez,  they took up a collection so he could buy a shirt since he didn’t have one.  Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Fashion, LAPD, Obituaries | Comments Off on October 7, 1909: Jurors Convict Man, Take Up a Collection for Him

October 6, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 6, 1959: Irony and sarcasm are lost on some people, Matt Weinstock says. Continue reading →

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October 6, 1949: LAPD Gangster Squad Abolished

Posted on October 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 6, 1949: The LAPD’s Gangster Squad is abolished under Police Chief William Worton. Continue reading →

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October 6, 1965: Koufax chooses faith over Dodgers

Posted on October 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 6, 1965: Sandy Koufax sits out Game 1 of the World Series because it falls on Yom Kippur. Continue reading →

Posted in Dodgers, Front Pages, Religion | Comments Off on October 6, 1965: Koufax chooses faith over Dodgers

Movieland ‘Unsuitable’ Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

This week’s “unsuitable” mystery movie was the 1934 Paramount film Search for Beauty, with Larry “Buster” Crabbe, Ida Lupino, Robert Armstrong, James Gleason, Toby Wing, Gertrude Michael, Bradley Page, Frank McGlynn Sr., Nora Cecil, Virginia Hammond, Eddie Gribbon and “Pop” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1934, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 39 Comments

October 5, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 5, 1959: Matt Weinstock on UFOs and the greatest invention of all time. Continue reading →

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October 5, 1958: Lost genius found in homeless camp

Posted on October 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 5, 1958: Lost genius Elmer “Mox” Meukel is found living in homeless camp. Continue reading →

Posted in Front Pages, Science | Comments Off on October 5, 1958: Lost genius found in homeless camp

October 5, 1947: Santa Monica Police Link Killing of Teenage Girl to Earlier Stabbing of Teenage Girl

Posted on October 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 5, 1947: Police link the stabbings of Barbara Jean Morse and Lillian Dominguez, as well as a third attack. Continue reading →

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October 5, 1909: Dies on Gold in a Filthy Cot

Posted on October 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 4, 1909: Richard Johnson Proctor, 79, was known to everyone in Santa Ana as a penniless old man. When he died in city’s dingiest tenement house, a search of his room turned up more than $3,500. Continue reading →

Posted in Obituaries | Comments Off on October 5, 1909: Dies on Gold in a Filthy Cot

October 5, 1907: White Neighbors Fight Hilliard Stricklin’s Retirement Home for Blacks

Posted on October 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 5, 1907: Hilliard Stricklin wanted to do something for his fellow Blacks: A facility for the elderly and orphaned children, naming it in honor of his mother. White neighbors thought he was bluffing until workers showed up on the site. And then they were furious. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, African Americans | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

October 4, 1957: A second take

Posted on October 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 4, 1957: University professor Page Smith says students are fed up with American history. “The hall of history through which they have been led often resembles a taxidermist’s shop full of respectfully stuffed figures which give off an odor of dust and decay.” Continue reading →

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October 4, 1957: Madness

Posted on October 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 4, 1957: Allene Durston, dying of bone cancer, kidnaps her grandson, Ronald White, 9, kills him and commits suicide. Continue reading →

Posted in Homicide, LAPD, San Fernando Valley, Suicide | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on October 4, 1957: Madness

October 4, 1943: American Troops Enter Bomb-Shattered Naples

Posted on October 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 4, 1943: Tom Treanor says of the liberation of Naples: The Germans left Naples in a truly deplorable condition. In a huge hospital for incurables I myself saw 70 rotting corpses of men, women and children. They were killed in street fighting during the past week and authorities were unable to move their bodies because of the lack of transportation. Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Main Street, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on October 4, 1943: American Troops Enter Bomb-Shattered Naples

October 3, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 3, 1959: Matt Weinstock writes of Steve Allen’s concerns about nuclear weapons and Edita Morris’ novel “The Flowers of Hiroshima.” Continue reading →

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October 3, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on October 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 3, 1959: Thelonious Monk leaves after playing two numbers at the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Fest. Paul Coates says Mike Wallace decides not to have Aldous Huxley on his TV show because Huxley wasn’t well known. Huxley asked: “Mike Wallace? Who’s Mike Wallace?” Continue reading →

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October 3, 1947: Full House – Burglar Slips In on Mystery Writer’s Poker Game

Posted on October 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 3, 1947: Reddest face in town yesterday belonged to Charles Bennett, writer of screen mysteries in which the brilliant detective always catches the crook. While he had a few friends in for a card game, a burglar crawled through a window and stole his wife’s purse and a pair of earrings. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on October 3, 1947: Full House – Burglar Slips In on Mystery Writer’s Poker Game

1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, October 3, 1944

Posted on October 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 3, 1944: Danton Walker says: Complaints of civilians who have had to wait while Nazi prisoners are fed in dining cars have resulted in a new ruling; hereafter the prisoners must remain in their guarded cars and eat out of waxed paper boxes. Continue reading →

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October 3, 1907: The Mystery of Felt Lake

Posted on October 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 3, 1907: Chester Silent, one of the most promising students at Stanford, disappears…. Continue reading →

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October 2, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 2, 1959: “Thelonious Monk, who’ll be among those present at the Hollywood Bowl jazz festival tonight, is the composer of “Round About Midnight, in my opinion one of the finest mood pieces of recent years.” Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Matt Weinstock, Mickey Cohen | 1 Comment

October 2, 1959: Paul V. Coates &ndash

Posted on October 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 2, 1959: Paul Coates looks at the myths surrounding Caryl Chessman, scheduled to die in the gas chamber. Continue reading →

Posted in Caryl Chessman, Columnists, Paul Coates | Comments Off on October 2, 1959: Paul V. Coates &ndash