Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

September 24, 1907: A Poem on the First Day in L.A.

Posted on September 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 24, 1907: Walter Adolf Roberts writes a poem about his first day in Los Angeles. Continue reading →

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September 23, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on September 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 23, 1959: To folks who think traffic in Los Angeles is a new problem, please read the stories on 1) freeways 2) new buses 3) moving sidewalks. Bonus story 4) drunk drivers. Matt Weinstock on the complaint that teachers spend too much time maintaining order in the classroom and too little time teaching. Continue reading →

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September 23, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on September 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 23, 1959: Paul Coates on how not to start a conversation … and Abby’s advice to a widow who wants to meet a good man and get married. Continue reading →

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September 23, 1947: Janet Flanner, The New Yorker’s ‘Genet,’ Visits L.A .

Posted on September 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 23, 1947: Janet Flanner, European correspondent for the New Yorker, says: “The carpetbagging of our American soldiers went on for two years until the Army stopped it. It made cigarettes legal tender. American money still rates high, but our morality rates low….Just now we Americans are trying to run a checkbook empire. It can’t be done.” Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, September 23, 1944

Posted on September 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 23, 1944: I don’t wonder William Goetz is eager to get Loretta Young started before the cameras. She looks so wonderful since the birth of her baby, and so radiant. He has decided to co-star her with Gary Cooper in Gary’s first independent production, a western, tentatively titled “The American Cowboy,” Louella Parsons says. Continue reading →

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September 23, 1907: Rev. J.L. Griffin Baptizes 5 in Echo Park Lake

Posted on September 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 23, 1907: The Rev. J.L. Griffin baptizes five believers in Echo Park Lake as 2,000 watch. Continue reading →

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September 22, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 22, 1959: Matt Weinstock has the story of a police officer who gave a marooned freeway driver a lift and loaned the motorist money for gas. The city library system is recovering from controversial cuts with the city librarian hoping to restore Saturday service and add 11 new branches. Continue reading →

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September 22, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 22, 1959: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev is gone but not forgotten, says Paul Coates, who polled 100 people about Khrushchev. Continue reading →

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September 22, 1947: Avak the Healer Comes to Los Angeles

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 22, 1947: Hundreds of people throw themselves at his feet to kiss the hem of his robes or simply to occupy the chair where he had been sitting. And then Avak the Healer was gone; nothing but a memory. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Los Angeles Silent Film Festival Debuts

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory takes a look at the recent Los Angeles Silent Film Festival, which included favorites like Harold Lloyd’s ‘The Freshman’ to the newly restored ‘Silk and Saddles.’ Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have a mysterious Back of the Head couple! Continue reading →

Posted in 1960, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 34 Comments

September 22, 1907: No Divorce, Judge Says, You Knew He Was a Bellboy When You Married Him!

Posted on September 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 22, 1907: Judge tells businesswoman she can’t have a divorce from her younger, wastrel husband: “This defendant knew the plaintiff could not support her when she married him….She went into the investment and she must abide by it.” Continue reading →

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September 21, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on September 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 21, 1959: Matt Weinstock says Harry Essex and Irving Shulman have finished a pre-sold novel based on [Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s] life and the sensational scandal that marred it. The title, ‘Fatty.’ Continue reading →

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September 21, 1959: Paul V. Coates — Confidential File

Posted on September 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 21, 1959: Paul Coates writes about the effects of Little Rock, Ark., closing its schools over integration. Continue reading →

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Sept. 21, 1947: Los Angeles Leads U.S. in Burglaries, Ranks 3rd in Killings After New York, Chicago

Posted on September 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 21, 1947: Los Angeles leads American cities in burglaries in the first half of 1947. For the first half of 1947, Los Angeles ranked third in the U.S. in homicide at 63, following Chicago (95) and New York (168). Continue reading →

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September 21, 1907: 26 Men Deported to China

Posted on September 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 21, 1907: 26 men are deported to China, 11of them from Los Angeles. Most Chinese men in Los Angeles have the proper paperwork to be in the United States, an immigration official says. Continue reading →

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September 20, 1947: Marie ‘The Body’ McDonald Marries Karl the Shoe Man

Posted on September 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 20, 1947: The clip file of Marie “The Body” McDonald is like a Russian novel of nightclub brawls, Reno divorces, Las Vegas elopements, car crashes, run-ins with the police for drinking and drugs, lawsuits over broken contracts, suicide attempts, unexplained hospitalizations and every once in a while, a movie. And then there’s the kidnapping. Continue reading →

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September 20, 1907: Suicide Note — ‘Everything Is Boiling’

Posted on September 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 20, 1907: For weeks, Colorado mining investor John Geisel, 57, had confided in his diary as he felt his mind and his life coming unraveled “Good God,” he wrote, “for the first time today I began to fear that I could not control my thoughts.” Continue reading →

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September 19, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on September 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 19, 1957: Paul Coates has the story of an eccentric old woman pulling a grift, then discovers she cases homes for a burglary gang. And meet Robert Wyatt, who pulled a gun on someone who said he shouldn’t keep his five children on leashes. Continue reading →

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September 19, 1947: L.A. OKs Right Turn on Red Light!

Posted on September 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 19, 1947: A deep dive to Californians’ ability to make a right turn on a red light, taken for granted now, but controversial once upon a time. Continue reading →

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