Category Archives: A Kinder, Simpler Time

June 27, 1907: New to America, Wife Mistakes Gasoline for Coffee in Making Husband’s Breakfast

Posted on June 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 27, 1907 Los Angeles Louise arrived in Los Angeles three months ago from Norway with her four young children. She met a man who worked in San Pedro (we only know … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Fires, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Police Smash Marihuana Ring

Posted on July 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

The Times publishes artist Charles H. Owen’s map of the Sicilian invasion. Owens’ artwork is featured in “Nuestro Pueblo,” one of my favorite books on Los Angeles. July 11, 1943: LAPD officers and state narcotics agents raid an apartment at … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, A Kinder, Simpler Time, LAPD, Music | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Getting L.A. Traffic Wrong

Posted on July 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

Zocalo repeats the old bromide that “once upon a time” the streets of Los Angeles were empty and getting around was simple. Nothing could be further from the truth. After years of reading old newspapers, I can say with authority … Continue reading →

Posted in A Kinder, Simpler Time, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The Day’s News – Pestilence and Starvation, Jan. 9, 1913

Posted on January 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1913: We like to think that the past was a kinder, simpler time — when life moved at a slower pace. But no. The Times publishes a Page 1 news map “as an aid to the busy reader … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Broadway, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Latinos | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Body of Kidnapped Girl Found in Riverbed

Posted on February 4, 2012 by lmharnisch

Feb. 4, 1942: “As Coroner R.E. Williams and his aides bore the pitiful little body, still clad in her gay blue and white striped red school dress, toward town for an autopsy to determine the cause of death, the hundreds … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Art & Artists, Cold Cases, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Jimmie Fidler, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Crowds Line Broadway for Armistice Day Parade, Nov. 12, 1941

Posted on November 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

We just don’t get deep thoughts in comics anymore. Nov. 12, 1941: Crowds line Broadway in downtown Los Angeles for the annual Armistice Day parade, which marked the end of what used to be called the Great War or the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Streetcars, Theaters, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Kinder Simpler Time Dept.: Bank Holiday and Long Beach Quake, 1933

Posted on August 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

In researching the premiere of “Nagana” and brief career of Tala Birell, I stumbled across a series of stories from 1933 that was worth a closer look. Are things tough today? To be sure. But here’s what our grandparents (or … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Comics, History | Tagged , , | 1 Comment