Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Tract of the week

Posted on March 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 23, 1958 Orange County Rossmoor is a walled community in Orange County, although developer Ross Cortese advertised its proximity to Long Beach. Note the all-electric kitchen. Also notice that the ad doesn’t even address commuting time to downtown Los … Continue reading →

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March 23, 1938

Posted on March 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, Police Chief James Davis and Mayor Frank Shaw help lay the cornerstone at the Police Academy in Elysian Park. Here we have two men who will be driven from office by the end of the year during one of … Continue reading →

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March 23, 1908

Posted on March 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, an exhausted mother kills herself … Below,  Bishop Conaty dedicates St. Patrick’s Church at Central Avenue and 34th Street. According to the church’s website, the Long Beach earthquake heavily damaged the building, which was eventually destroyed in the Sylmar … Continue reading →

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Michael Todd, RIP

Posted on March 22, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, on his way to a Friars’ Club roast in New York, producer Michael Todd, writer Art Cohn, and pilots William S. Verner and Tom Barkley are killed when Todd’s Lockheed Lodestar crashes in bad weather in New Mexico. Below, … Continue reading →

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March 22, 1938

Posted on March 22, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, "Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife," from Ernst Lubitsch. Below, Earle Kynette’s last attempt to get out of jail is rejected as his defense prepares for a trial to begin April 12 … Carl Warr is arrested 25 years after strapping a … Continue reading →

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March 22, 1908: Plans for a New Hall of Records

Posted on March 22, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, an artist’s concept of the proposed Hall of Records, a white gingerbread building between Broadway and New High Street that was one of the landmarks of old Los Angeles.

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Woman architect

Posted on March 22, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 21, 1908 Los Angeles I stumbled across the story of Penelope Murdoch yesterday but didn’t have time to pursue it until now. This photograph and few inches of type from The Times may be all that remains of the … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on March 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 21, 1958 Rather suddenly, after several years of unaccustomed luxury to which people became accustomed, and forgetful, the world seems to have gone sharply economic again. Once more the big talk is of nickels and dimes. Oops, better make … Continue reading →

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Paul Coates

Posted on March 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 21, 1958 A month ago I wrote a column concerning a mysterious medal. About the size of a half-dollar, it had the embossed figure of a stork on its face side, plus the lettering "Wanstead High School." On the … Continue reading →

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March 21, 1958

Posted on March 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

Don’t worry about that headline. We’ll fix it for the next edition. Email me

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March 21, 1938

Posted on March 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

Below, despite concessions from Lithuania, war remains a possibility between the nation and neighboring Poland … Mexico nationalizes foreign oil companies … An estimated 30,000 troops have died in fighting between Japan and China … And United Press helpfully identifies … Continue reading →

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March 21, 1908

Posted on March 21, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, baseball and ostriches. Below, the Rev. G.W. Woodbey, an African American minister described in The Times as a rabid radical, is convicted of speaking on a street corner without a license.

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on March 20, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1958 Perhaps you, too, have caught the lilting language of the missile experts. To them a satellite or a missile is "the hardware." It is said to be propelled by an "exotic" fuel. Already such terminology is having … Continue reading →

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Paul Coates

Posted on March 20, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1958 Barbara Ridley is 25. She’s the mother of four sons, ages 6, 4, 3 and 1. She’s also part of the unpleasant headlines you’ve been reading this week. She’s the wife of 36-year-old James Vernon Ridley, who … Continue reading →

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March 20, 1958

Posted on March 20, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, more layoffs, this time in Los Angeles’ auto assembly plants in South Gate, Van Nuys and Maywood, recall the recurring theme of unemployment in recent columns by Matt Weinstock and Paul Coates. Below, the Navy discovers that a mystery … Continue reading →

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March 20, 1938

Posted on March 20, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, an interesting wrinkle in the campaign to recall Mayor Frank Shaw. Below, Lithuania concedes to Poland and the nation’s celebration turns to rioting in Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto … On the jump, more than 500 people protest outside the German-Austrian … Continue reading →

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The comics

Posted on March 19, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1938 Wow! Here’s a "Joe Palooka" strip from 1938. All of Ham Fisher’s white characters are drawn realistically and the African American is this ghastly caricature who speaks in dialect. Seeing something like this in the daily press … Continue reading →

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Home of the week

Posted on March 19, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1938

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March 20, 1908

Posted on March 19, 2008 by lmharnisch

A German politician speaking in the Reichstag provokes snide remarks from the press gallery for saying "a Negro also has an immortal soul." Below, an Examiner reporter is jailed in the theft of photos that were published in the Hearst … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on March 19, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 19, 1958 Books never grow old for me. Somehow, I rarely find time to read them when they come out but months or years later I find them on the shelves and they are as fresh as if newly … Continue reading →

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