Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Crazy O’Malley

Posted on May 3, 2007 by lmharnisch

Dear Walter, What’s this I hear about you looking over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to play baseball? You must be joking! Do you know how far it would be from home plate to the left field wall? 250 feet!

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McCarthy dies

Posted on May 3, 2007 by lmharnisch

  Part 1 Click to enlarge Part 2, click to enlarge   Part 3, click to enlarge   Pictures from Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy’s funeral here.  Email me 

Posted in @news | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cop held in bribery

Posted on May 3, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 3, 1957 Santa Monica Thomas Alfred Gates, 33, a chef at a Santa Monica restaurant, approached The Times with a story. Gates, who was charged with grand theft, said that during a recess in his preliminary hearing, Detective Curtis … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1957 Los Angeles In the last couple of weeks Kay Cataldi has repeatedly observed a strange sight–young women walking barefooted along a street, carrying their shoes. She saw one on Hill street, another on 1st street. The other … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Matt Weinstock | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Old convict

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1957 Los Angeles Police officers had a kindly affection for old "Toothpick Charlie." At 93, the dapper, neatly dressed man known as James J. Fitzpatrick, James Hennesy and James Flannery had been  working his cons since before they … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Downtown | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

No, No, No

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

KCBS-TV Channel 2 reports idiotically that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department photographed the Black Dahlia crime scene, a neat trick since Elizabeth Short was killed in the city of Los Angeles. Oops! The crime scene on South Norton Avenue … Continue reading →

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Jealousy slaying

Posted on May 2, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1957 Los Angeles Meet Henry C. “Clay” Hamby, 42, who lived with his wife, Mildred, and three children in a 944-square-foot home at 14519 Paddock St., in Sylmar. Clay is a drophammer operator at Reylon Precision Products, a … Continue reading →

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Drivers’ Ed Theatre

Posted on May 1, 2007 by lmharnisch

"What Makes Sammy Speed?" Made by Sid Davis in cooperation with the Glendora Police Department. Bad things happen when Sammy gets behind the wheel of a 1956 two-door Buick Special. Immortal quote: "Even his girlfriend, Wendy, thought his speeding was … Continue reading →

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Mideast in turmoil

Posted on May 1, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 1, 1957 Los Angeles In early 1957, Robert G. Neumann, associate professor of political science at UCLA, took a six-week tour of the Middle East arranged by The Times that resulted in a series of articles and an April … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on May 1, 2007 by lmharnisch

        May 1, 1957 Los Angeles Now that the law is catching up on the scandal magazines–seven were indicted in New Jersey Monday–some things can be told. For several years beaters for Confidential have been trying to … Continue reading →

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Death in La Mirada

Posted on April 30, 2007 by lmharnisch

May 1, 1957 Los Angeles All he wanted to do was keep their dog, Roxy, out of the flowers. Two weeks ago, aeronautical engineer Neil Thompson, 30, rigged up an electric wire to shock the boxer if it got near … Continue reading →

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Follow the dots

Posted on April 30, 2007 by lmharnisch

More dots, on sale at Robinson’s. Email me

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A little elegance

Posted on April 30, 2007 by lmharnisch

I always enjoy looking at the fashion ads in old newspapers. The drawings give the pages a stylish, classic look that is impossible with photographs. (I swear, 1957 must have been the year of the dots in women’s fashions).

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Now playing at the Wiggle Room

Posted on April 30, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 30, 1957 Los Angeles Some anonymous Times writer had fun with this story about the Exotic Dancers League. There are all sorts of gags about baring grievances, making motions and getting things off their chests.

Posted in Nightclubs | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock

Posted on April 29, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 29, 1957 Los Angeles A bus driver who hauls a cargo of housemaids to the Beverly Hills area daily on his early morning run heard a conversation the other day that made him realize life isn’t always as orderly … Continue reading →

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A knight on the town

Posted on April 29, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 29, 1957Los Angeles When I saw this ad, my first reaction was: “You have GOT to be kidding me.” My next reaction was: “Maybe it’s still there!”

Posted in Food and Drink, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rigoletto Village

Posted on April 29, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 29, 1957 Los Angeles One of my favorite adventures while working on the 1947project was revisiting old neighborhoods that I found in The Times real estate sections from 1907, a feature I called “Architectural Ramblings.” Exploring the city, I … Continue reading →

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Reprieve

Posted on April 28, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 28, 1957 Los Angeles A boy (and how anyone knows it was a boy is never explained) came across a stalled car on the Southern Pacific right of way near Valley Boulevard and Boca Avenue in Alhambra.  He  ran … Continue reading →

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A shot in the dark

Posted on April 28, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 28, 1957 Los Angeles Let’s park here and sit in the car for a minute. It’s late, sometime between 11 p.m. on Jan. 3 and dawn on Jan. 4, 1957. The lights are on as if someone’s home. Hear … Continue reading →

Posted in Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Head hunters

Posted on April 27, 2007 by lmharnisch

April 27, 1957Los Angeles   I have somehow managed to miss out on coverage of the "Headdress Ball" staged every year by Las Floristas in which women wear the equivalent of Rose Parade floats on their heads in a fundraiser … Continue reading →

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