Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

March 16, 1908: Homeless Camps in Mojave

Posted on March 16, 2008 by lmharnisch

  Above, The Times examines life among the homeless in the railroad yards and encampments of Mojave. Note the particularly unfortunate use of an ethnic slur in the artwork by The Times’ cartoonist Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale …

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Dear Abby

Posted on March 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 15, 1968 Dear On the Spot, Enjoy your sister, she won’t be around forever but also find time to be with your daughter–you’re not going to be around forever, either … and what’s with "elderly" in the headline! … … Continue reading →

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March 15, 1958

Posted on March 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, integration in the Los Angeles City Fire Department is not going well  …  Below, the Coast Guard inspects ships in California’s ports on the theory that 50 men with suitcases could smuggle a terrorist weapon into the country (Gosh, … Continue reading →

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March 15, 1938

Posted on March 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

Below, in the midst of a story about Hitler’s takeover of Austria, we find the sentence: "Strange men embraced." I suppose we would recast that now. On the jump, church bells ring throughout Vienna from the moment Hitler crosses the … Continue reading →

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March 15, 1908

Posted on March 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, an early model of electric car is  being sold in Pasadena … Below, “The She-Dogs of Anarchy”–there’s a headline that says: “Read me.”

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Home of the week

Posted on March 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 15, 1908Los Angeles Above, a home at the northwest corner of Kingsley Drive and Wilshire Boulevard designed by Frank M. Tyler. There are four rooms and a servants’ suite on the first floor, and four bedrooms and two bathrooms … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on March 14, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 14, 1958 Timothy Patrick O’Regan will wear a green tie Monday and perhaps take a token drink of Irish whisky. But he plans to be very wary. On account of what happened that time in San Francisco. Wearing his … Continue reading →

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Paul Coates

Posted on March 14, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 14, 1958 There are days when it doesn’t pay to be a peaceful, sleepy, slightly overgrown little community. And one of those days came this week. It came at the weekly session of the elected county Board of Supervisors. … Continue reading →

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March 14, 1938

Posted on March 14, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, ethnic humor that appeared, incredibly enough, on The Times’ editorial page … Below, Hitler celebrates the takeover of Austria with a vegetarian meal … Holocaust deniers, please note the stories on mobs beating Jews … Quote of the day: … Continue reading →

Posted in Front Pages | 1 Comment

Missing woman

Posted on March 14, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 13-16, 1958Los Angeles She was 24, lived with her mother out in Sun Valley and had two children from a marriage that ended in divorce three years earlier. Her name was Shirley. According to her mother, Alice Jolliffe, she … Continue reading →

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March 14, 1908

Posted on March 14, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, swell ties at Silverwood’s … Below, grieving parents say that shadows cast a portrait of their dead daughter on her tombstone at Beth Israel Cemetery in Boyle Heights … James A. Whitaker, founder of Buena Park, dies at his … Continue reading →

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Dear Abby

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 13, 1968 Dear Harold, I think I’ll call you Alley Oop because you’re a caveman. Whack the woolly mammoth with a club, drag it home and voila! the little woman makes dinner while you chill in front of the … Continue reading →

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March 13, 1958

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, what has to be the quote of the day: "Two things are at stake for America in the Middle East … Arab oil and Arab friendship. Both depend upon understanding. You can afford to lose the oil. You cannot … Continue reading →

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Hitler defies world!

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 13, 1938 Above, actress Margaret "Devil Dogs of the Air" Lindsay, star of "Gold Is Where You Find It." Below, the streets of Vienna are filled with Austrians giving the Nazi salute and shouting lustily: "We were just following … Continue reading →

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Dick Tracy

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 13, 1938 Just to compare to the current crop of graphic novels, here’s a panel from Chester Gould’s "Dick Tracy" and yes, he’s beating up a suspect. In fact, he had the man unhandcuffed just to slap him around, … Continue reading →

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March 13, 1938

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch
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St. Francis Dam breaks

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, entertainment of the day … Below, because the St. Francis Dam broke after the March 13 paper had been published, The Times couldn’t report the disaster until March 14 … Robert Towne drew on this event as a plot … Continue reading →

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March 13, 1908

Posted on March 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, furnishings for the smartly decorated office in 1908 (shoutout to my pals at Allsteel!) Below, the postmaster receives a letter from a 60-year-old widow asking his help in finding a man … A modest appearance conceals the heart of … Continue reading →

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Voices: Howard Metzenbaum

Posted on March 12, 2008 by lmharnisch

April 15, 1983

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on March 12, 2008 by lmharnisch

March 12, 1958 More people than usual are collecting their unemployment insurance and inevitably new pressures are added to a transaction that is always difficult–handing out public money. And so complaints are reverberating. A woman who worked steadily for four … Continue reading →

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