Author Archives: lmharnisch

Unknown's avatar

About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Celebrates Christmas, 1913

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 25, 1913: The Times carries a biblical passage across the nameplate (notice the artwork of the new and old Times buildings) and a Page 1 cartoon by Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, Art & Artists, Food and Drink, Medicine | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Los Angeles Celebrates Christmas, 1913

Dec. 24, 1907: Merry Christmas, Gen. Otis as Times Celebrates Record Year

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 24, 1907 Los Angeles Last-minute shopping, crowded post offices, trees decorated in hotel lobbies and toys given by Santa to the neediest children of the city; it was a Christmas season … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Dec. 24, 1907: Merry Christmas, Gen. Otis as Times Celebrates Record Year

Dec. 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The Times’ front-page Christmas and Easter poems are as forgotten today as their author, James M. Warnack. I’ll leave it to my theological betters to parse … Continue reading →

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

Dec. 14, 1907: L.A. Schools Ban Mention of Christ at Christmas (Uh-Oh)

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Dec. 14, 1907 Los Angeles The madman who calls himself the superintendent of the Los Angeles schools has touched off an absolute firestorm of anger by ordering teachers not to mention Christ … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Education, Music, Religion | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dec. 14, 1907: L.A. Schools Ban Mention of Christ at Christmas (Uh-Oh)

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

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. 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 →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dec. 23, 1947: Baby Girl Abandoned at Downtown Restaurant With Christmas Card Pinned to Blanket

Black Dahlia: Steve Hodel’s Many Lies About His Father, Dr. George Hodel

Posted on December 24, 2021 by lmharnisch

Someone asked me to write a one-paragraph rebuttal to Steve Hodel’s claims about his father, Dr. George Hodel. My reply: Steve Hodel has been lying about his father and the Black Dahlia for nearly 20 years, so it’s impossible to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, books, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 22, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2020. Many years ago, the editor of the Los Angeles Times book review section (yes, the really, really odd one) insisted that publishers send him advance review copies and unbound galleys rather than … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Raymond Chandler, Retro | Tagged , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 22, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. I picked up “The Big Picture,” Melba Levick and Stanley Young’s 1988 book about Los Angeles murals, not realizing what a terribly sad book it would be. As Young notes: “Most artists … Continue reading →

Posted in 1988, Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Latinos, Photography, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Sports, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

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

Posted on December 20, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2015. Jim Romenesko, for those who aren’t in the news business, runs an essential blog that serves as a clearing house for information, gossip, bad headlines and assorted gaffes. A Jan. 6 post … 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

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 20, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1944 Universal picture Christmas Holiday, with Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Richard Whorf, Dean Harens, Gladys George, Gale Sondergaard and David Bruce.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 26 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘White Christmas’ Soothes the Home Front in 1942

Posted on December 20, 2021 by lmharnisch

Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale in “Holiday Inn.” Note: This is an encore post from 2015. Recognized today as one of the top selling singles and pieces of sheet music of all time, Irving Berlin’s “White … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘White Christmas’ Soothes the Home Front in 1942

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 18, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2018. I only recommend books that I have read, which is why I haven’t listed Susan Orlean’s “The Library Book” or Stephen Gee’s “Los Angeles City Hall: An American Icon.” I look forward … Continue reading →

Posted in 2016, African Americans, Books and Authors, History | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 16, 2021 by lmharnisch

“Angel’s Flight” by Leo Politi. Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Another of my favorite books about Los Angeles is Leo Politi’s “Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Reminiscences of Bygone Days,” published in 1964. Copies are listed on Bookfinder … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Books and Authors | Tagged , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 15, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2013. True style never goes out of date, after all. We are being bombarded by stories about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with videos of long lines at stores and the attendant consumer frenzy. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Art & Artists, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 14, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. “The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950, Books and Authors | Tagged , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: A 1940s Christmas Story in ‘Star in the Night’

Posted on December 14, 2021 by lmharnisch

An updated version of the Nativity in Warner Bros. Star in the Night. Made as a twenty-minute film to complete a program slate for movie theaters, the 1945 Warner Bros. two-reel short Star in the Night provides an understated, moving … Continue reading →

Posted in 1945, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: A 1940s Christmas Story in ‘Star in the Night’

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 13, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. In February, I ran a series of posts by James Curtis about producer David Lewis. This isn’t a new book but I found it remarkably insightful. “The Creative Producer” can be found … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors | Tagged , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 13, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1952 film The Captive City, with John Forsythe, Joan Camden, Harold J. Kennedy, Marjorie Crossland, Victor Sutherland, Ray Teal, Martin Milner, Geraldine Hall, Hal K. Dawson, Ian Wolfe, Gladys Hurlbut, Jess Kirkpatrick and Sen. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 40 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 12, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Paul Bryan Gray was recently mentioned in the Los Angeles Times as the author of “A Clamor for Equality,” the biography of Francisco Ramirez, who published Los Angeles’ first entirely Spanish-language newspaper, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 11, 2021 by lmharnisch

Gladwin Hill’s “Dancing Bear: An Inside Look at California Politics,” published in 1968, is a new addition to my annual holiday gift suggestions. I’m generally cool toward books on California politics (the result of reading a zillion stories out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, History, Politics, Ronald Reagan | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide