Category Archives: 1947

January 5, 1947: Two Black 15-Year-Olds Set for Electric Chair After Losing Plea

Posted on January 5, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 5, 1947: In Mississippi, two Black 15-year-olds lose their appeal for clemency despite the efforts of Blanche Meiers of Oakland, who pleaded for their lives. The teens are set to be electrocuted January 17 in the killing of a white man. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, African Americans, capital punishment, crime and courts, electric chair, executions, Mississippi, quote of the day | Leave a comment

January 4, 1947: Angry Sailor Sets Fire to Skid Row Hotel After Being Rolled

Posted on January 4, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 4, 1947: 19-year-old mess cook second class Edward Pavlischak is so angry at being rolled for $30 while drunk in a hotel room that he sets fire to the place, killing 1 and injuring 5. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, Fires, LAPD | Tagged #Skid Row, 1947, Edward A. Pavlischak, Fires, Harry Fremont, lapd, quote of the day | 1 Comment

January 1, 1947: New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 1, 1947: Pansy Yokum writes her “Noo Yars Resolutions,” from Al Capp’s Li’l Abner. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Comics, World War II | Tagged 1947, comics, World War II | Leave a comment

December 27, 1947: Youth Questioned in Georgette Bauerdorf Killing

Posted on December 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 27, 1947: Sheriff’s detectives question Robert White in the 1944 killing of Georgette Bauerdorf. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged 1947, Cold Cases, film, Georgette Bauerdorf, hollywood, homicide | Leave a comment

December 26, 1947: No Sympathy for Alcoholics!

Posted on December 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 26, 1947: A Los Angeles Times editorial shows no sympathy for alcoholism or alcoholics. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, LAPD | Tagged 1947, alcoholism, food and drink, lapd | Leave a comment

December 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 25, 1947: The Los Angeles Times publishes a front-page poem for Christmas by James Warnack, who called himself “a theoretical Christian but a practical pagan.” Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Obituaries, Religion | Tagged #Christmas, 1947, Easter, film, hollywood, John Warnack, poetry, religion | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia and Zodiac … ‘Solved’?

Posted on December 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

A quick reaction to claims that the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases have been solved using AI/machine learning/LLMs. I’ll have more to say in next month’s Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia. Jan. 6, at 10 a.m. at YouTube.com/LMHarnisch Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Coming Attractions | Tagged 1947, Ask Me Anything, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Steve Hodel | Leave a comment

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

Posted on December 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 23, 1947: 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 #Christmas, 1947, child welfare, crime and courts | Leave a comment

December 21, 1947: ‘Tubby the Tuba’ and Music for Children

Posted on December 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 21, 1947: An ad for children’s records, including Victor Jory reading “Tubby the Tuba.” Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Music | Tagged 1947, Grumpy Shark, Music, Tubby the Tuba | Comments Off

December 20, 1947: Pulp Author Rob Eden Dies | Author of ‘Short Skirts: A Story of Modern Youth’

Posted on December 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 20, 1947: Pulp writer Robert F. Burkhardt dies at the age of 55. Writing as Rob Eden, Burkhardt and his wife, Eve, produced dozens of novels and countless short stories. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Obituaries | Tagged 1947, Books and Authors, obituaries, pulp novels, Rob Eden | Comments Off

December 19, 1947: Going Down – City Hall Bans Clever Nicknames for Its Floors

Posted on December 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 19, 1947: The elevator operators at City Hall are having too much fun. The call the floor with the entrance to LAPD headquarters “Flatfoot Alley” and the city attorney’s criminal division “Ball and Chain.” The floor for the divorce courts is “The War Department” and “Alimony Alley.” Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, City Hall, Comics, LAPD | Tagged 1947, City Hall, comics, lapd | Comments Off

December 18, 1947: Jacobowicz Brothers, Orphaned in Holocaust, Arrive in L.A. (Also Turkey Stuffing With Fritos)

Posted on December 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 18, 1947: Orphaned in the Holocaust, the Jacobowicz brothers—Karl, 16, Joseph, 13, and Rudolph, 10—arrive in Los Angeles on the final leg of their journey from Vienna. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Frightening Food From the 1940s, Immigration, Religion, World War II | Tagged #Holocaust, 1947, Frightening Food From the 1940s, immigration, religion, World War II | Comments Off

Deccember 17, 1947: Frightening Food From the 1940s — ‘Unusual’ Fruitcake

Posted on December 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 17, 1947: A recipe for an “unusual” fruitcake. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a $2,500 fine against Hollywood book dealer Marcell Rodd for selling the obscene book “Call House Madam.” The book, by Serge G. Wolsey, is now available at the Los Angeles Public Library. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Comics, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, Frightening Food From the 1940s | Tagged 10 eggs, 1947, 4 cups flour, crime and courts, food and drink, Frightening Food From the 1940s, fruitcake, obscenity | Comments Off

December 16, 1947: Back Broken and Skull Fractured, Girl, 2 Dies of Abuse; Mother Gets 10 Years in Prison

Posted on December 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 16, 1947: A terrible story of child abuse. A woman sentenced to 10 years for killing her 2-year-old girl gives birth to a son in the jail ward of county hospital. The judge takes the baby boy from the mother, saying: ‘You shall never see this baby again!’ Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Comics, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged 1947, child abuse, crime and courts, lapd | Comments Off

Coming in January: The Black Dahlia Book Club!

Posted on December 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

Starting January 20, I will be changing the George Hodel Ask Me Anything to the Black Dahlia Book Club, considering all the things that have been written about the Black Dahlia case, whether it’s forthcoming books or pulp magazine articles from the 1940s. At YouTube.com/LMHarnisch Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Black Dahlia Book Club, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged Black Dahlia, Black Dahlia Book Club, Cold Cases, lapd, unsolved murders | Comments Off

Movieland ‘Unsuitable’ Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Concluding our exploration of ‘unsuitable’ movies, we have a mysterious woman in a movie that is not suitable. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged epidemics, film, hollywood, mystery photo, vaccines, Warner Baxter | 22 Comments

Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything, December 2025

Posted on December 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

This month’s Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case includes a progress report on Heaven Is HERE! and a brief introduction to the Black Dahlia case. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged Ask Me Anything, Black Dahlia, Eli Frankel, Elizabeth Short, lapd | Comments Off

November 30, 2006: Architectural Rambling

Posted on November 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

Some “architectural rambling” photos I took in 2006 for a blog post on historic structures. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Architecture, Freeways, Hollywood, Pasadena, Photography, Streetcars | Tagged 1906, 2006, Architecture, Jay Leno | Comments Off

Reminder – My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is December 2

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

Reminder: I will be doing a live Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@lmharnisch) next Tuesday, December 2, at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Have questions? Leave them in the comments. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Coming Attractions | Tagged 1947, Ask Me Anything, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Steve Hodel | Comments Off

November 25, 1947: House Indicts the ‘Hollywood 10’ for Contempt