Category Archives: Art & Artists

1947 World Inventors Exposition at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium

Posted on October 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

An EBay vendor has listed a program from the 1947 World Inventors Exposition. According to ads in The Times, this is where the Tucker automobile had its “premiere public showing.”   Bidding on the program starts at $19.95. I wrote a … Continue reading →

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Vaudeville Caricatures

Posted on October 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

“Vaudeville,” by Caroline Caffin and Marius De Zayas has been listed on EBay. My knowledge of vaudeville is quite slim and for all I know this may be a standard work on the subject, although I have never encountered it … Continue reading →

Posted in 1914, African Americans, Art & Artists, Found on EBay, Stage | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Vaudeville Caricatures

Rediscovering Los Angeles – The Old Livery Stable

Posted on October 8, 2013 by lmharnisch

This is the fourth in the Rediscovering Los Angeles series, from Nov. 25, 1935, by Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner. Horses did not disappear from the streets of Los Angeles for quite a while after the introduction … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Animals, Architecture, Art & Artists, City Hall, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Batchelder Tiles

Posted on October 6, 2013 by lmharnisch

These quite unusual Batchelder tiles have been listed on EBay. In the years I’ve been watching for Batchelder tiles, I can’t say I have ever seen anything like these. Bidding on the upper tile, featuring a man apparently playing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art & Artists, Batchelder Tile, Found on EBay, Pasadena | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

October 4, 1943: American Troops Enter Bomb-Shattered Naples

Posted on October 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

October 4, 1943: Tom Treanor, who will be killed in a Jeep accident in France, writes about the liberation of Naples. “The Germans left Naples in a truly deplorable condition. In a huge hospital for incurables I myself saw 70 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Main Street, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rediscovering Los Angeles – Aliso and Alameda

Posted on October 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

Nov. 18, 1935: This is the third installment in the Rediscovering Los Angeles series, featuring Charles Owens’ artwork and text by Times columnist Timothy Turner. Unlike the later Nuestro Pueblo series by Owens and Joe Seewerker, these entries were never … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Rediscovering Los Angeles – Aliso and Alameda

Married Couple Held in Blackmail of Single Woman for $27,000

Posted on September 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 27, 1963: I always thought blackmail was something that only occurred in old Perry Mason episodes, but here’s an actual case and it’s quite strange. It involves a married man blackmailing a single woman. No really! According to a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Animals, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Married Couple Held in Blackmail of Single Woman for $27,000

Conservatives Sexually Frustrated, UCLA Daily Bruin Says

Posted on September 26, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 26, 1943: The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen ends its strike against the Pacific Electric, with workers returning to their jobs at 2 a.m. Their first task is to untangle a “freight jam which had threatened to undermine the entire … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Education, Film, Hollywood, Labor, Obituaries, Richard Nixon, Streetcars, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rediscovering Los Angeles – Ferguson Alley

Posted on September 24, 2013 by lmharnisch

Nov. 11, 1935: For their second installment of “Rediscovering Los Angeles,” Times artist Charles Owens and Times columnist Timothy Turner visit Ferguson Alley, which as Turner notes was going to be demolished for Union Station. Turner writes: Ferguson Alley, which … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Art & Artists, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Navy Doctors Defuse ‘Human Bomb’

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 19, 1943: In a story delayed for wartime, the Associated Press reports that Allen L. Gordon, 23, of Rock Island, Ill., fire control operator third class, was struck Dec. 2 with a 20-millimeter antiaircraft shell that lodged in his … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Hollywood, Labor, Medicine, Music, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bandit Killed, LAPD Officers Wounded in Burlesque Theater Shootout

Posted on September 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 18, 1933: Jack Keating, 30, and John Melvin Early, 35, had a plan to rob the Girlesque Theater at 510 S. Main St., but when the shooting was over, Keating was dead and Early and two men who helped … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Hollywood, LAPD, Main Street, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Bandit Killed, LAPD Officers Wounded in Burlesque Theater Shootout

Rediscovering Los Angeles — And Timothy Turner

Posted on September 17, 2013 by lmharnisch

I have had a copy of this drawing over my desk for years as a reminder that I really ought to write a series of posts on the subject. This is the first in a series of columns featuring Charles … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Architecture, Art & Artists, Columnists, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Woman’s Body Found Behind Wall in Highland Park Home

Posted on September 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

Joseph and Anna Lewis, 2630 Johnston St., Highland Park, had been married for 42 when she disappeared. Not that Joseph, 72, a carpenter, was particularly concerned about her absence. Police were not informed of the disappearance until her daughter Shirley … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Coming Attractions: Downtown Art Show

Posted on September 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

Alex Schaefer, above, and Jose De Juan have an opening of their show “L.A.ndscapes” on Thursday at the District Gallery, 740E. 3rd. There’s a reception Thursday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The show continues through Oct. 20. More information … Continue reading →

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Escaped Soldier Denies Attacking Former Screen Star

Posted on September 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 11, 1943: The Times features the Los Angeles Times-Army Ordnance in Action Show being held at Exposition Park. The Times promised that “visitors will see the massive 32-ton Gen. Sherman tanks whose tough armor and deadly firepower blasted the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Music, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Los Angeles’ Forgotten J. B. Lankershim Monument

Posted on September 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

Charles Owens’ drawing of the Lankershim monument in “Nuestro Pueblo.” Los Angeles’ Boy Scout Camp Arthur Letts is a distant memory today, a large getaway in the Hollywood Hills offering camping, drilling and country escapes by area Boy Scout troops. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, 1939, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Nuestro Pueblo, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Los Angeles’ Forgotten J. B. Lankershim Monument

Barbara Graham Sobs During Son’s Visit to Jail

Posted on September 6, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 6, 1953: Barbara Graham, on trial in the Mabel Monahan killing, sobs “almost hysterically” as she holds her 18-month-old son, Tommy, during a visit at the Hall of Justice, The Times says. He was in the custody of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hill Street, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Union Pleads With Streetcar Workers Not to Strike

Posted on September 5, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 5, 1943: Explaining that “war strategies between President Roosevelt and Britain’s Prime Minister Churchill come first,” William P. Nutter of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen pleads with dissatisfied employees of the Pacific Electric Railway to stay on the job. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Union Pleads With Streetcar Workers Not to Strike

Downtown L.A. — Street Artist (Updated)

Posted on September 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

I came across this street artist last evening while walking in downtown Los Angeles. He’s painting a street scene of the corner of Broadway and 7th Street. Update: Ed Fuentes identifies our artist: “Alex Schaefer. And he has a show … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013, Architecture, Art & Artists, Broadway, Downtown | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

Posted on September 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 4, 1933: A streetcar broadsides an auto at the crossing on Olympic Boulevard between Broadway and Figueroa, killing two people and leaving two others near death, The Times said. A man fatally stabs his estranged wife and daughter, then … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street, Nightclubs, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Suicide, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments