Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

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 →

Posted in #courts, @news, City Hall, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Comments Off on December 29, 1938: Bookie shot to death in Hollywood

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 →

Posted in Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Music | Comments Off on December 28, 1958: Movie stars to watch in the new year, tribute to Archie Moore

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 →

Posted in 1971, Food and Drink, Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: The Harvey Wallbanger

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

Posted on December 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

Retro Drinking Guide: A brief history of the Tom and Jerry, and no, the drink came before the cartoon characters. Continue reading →

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December 26, 1947: No Sympathy for Alcoholics!

Posted on December 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 26, 1947: A Los Angeles Times editorial shows no sympathy for alcoholism or alcoholics. Continue reading →

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December 26, 1907: Minister Rejects New ‘Godless’ U.S. Coins

Posted on December 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 26, 1907: The Rev. W.A. Jones of Knoxville Presbyterian Church refuses the congregation’s gift of $100 because it consists of newly redesigned $20 gold pieces that do not bear the motto “In God We Trust.” Continue reading →

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December 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 25, 1947: The Los Angeles Times publishes a front-page poem for Christmas by James Warnack, who called himself “a theoretical Christian but a practical pagan.” Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Obituaries, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on December 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Los Angeles Celebrates Christmas, 1913

Posted on December 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 13, 1913: Celebrating Christmas in Los Angeles by having dinnor at the Cafe Bristol or taking an invigorating bath at Melrose and Gower, location of the Radium Sulphur Springs, which advertises: Drink the most radioactive natural curative mineral water. Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia and Zodiac … ‘Solved’?

Posted on December 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

A quick reaction to claims that the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases have been solved using AI/machine learning/LLMs. I’ll have more to say in next month’s Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia. Jan. 6, at 10 a.m. at YouTube.com/LMHarnisch Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

The history of a Al Martinez’s (non) Christmas story about a dying boy who wanted some peaches. 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

December 23, 1968: N. Korea frees crew of U.S. spy ship Pueblo

Posted on December 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 23, 1968: North Korea releases the crew of the Navy spy ship Pueblo after 11 months of captivity. Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Current Affairs, Front Pages, Politics | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: December 23, 1949 — Jury Finds Dr. George Hodel Not Guilty of Molesting Tamar Hodel

Posted on December 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 23, 1949: A jury of eight women and four men finds Dr. George Hodel not guilty of molesting his daughter Tamar. Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: December 23, 1949 — Jury Finds Dr. George Hodel Not Guilty of Molesting Tamar Hodel

December 23, 1947: Baby Girl Abandoned at Downtown Restaurant With Christmas Card Pinned to Blanket

Posted on December 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 23, 1947: The young mother asked the waitress at the cafe in the Subway Terminal Building to hold her baby for just a moment—and then she was gone. Continue reading →

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