Category Archives: Black Dahlia

Black Dahlia: ‘Not Elizabeth Short’ For Sale on EBay

Posted on May 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. An EBay vendor has listed this hand-colored picture with bids starting at $99.99, stating that…. Well, read it in their own words: AFTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS OF RESEARCH AND COMPARING OTHER ELIZABETH SHORTS … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay, Photography | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Black Dahlia: 1947 L.A. Examiner Front Page Sells for $500+

Posted on May 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

Someone bought this front page of the Jan. 17, 1947, Los Angeles Examiner, with the story about the identification of Elizabeth Short, for $511.01. Not the entire paper. Just the front page. The seller was Timothy Hughes: Early and Rare … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Imagining the Future

Posted on April 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006. The subject came up today when I was having lunch with Ed Fuentes, so I thought I would repost it. Notice that in this plan, Union Station was to have been … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, Downtown, LAPD, Pasadena, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Imagining the Future

Black Dahlia: Fixing a Small Error Before It Becomes a Big One

Posted on April 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

KPCC recently did a story about the LAPD’s archive of crime photos. And whoever wrote the caption took a logical – but incorrect – guess about the people in this photo of the Black Dahlia crime scene. Let’s do a … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, LAPD, Photography | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Black Dahlia: A New ‘Suspect’ (Who Isn’t Dr. George Hodel) and a New Dimension in Lunacy

Posted on April 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

Nobody does “true” crime stories quite like the Brits. And the Daily Mail is all over this one. Suppose I told you that Suzanne Degnan (1946), the Black Dahlia (1947), Jimmy Hoffa (disappeared 1975), the Zodiac victims (late 1960s) AND … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Black Dahlia: Lily DuTertre and Wikipedia

Posted on April 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

Unless you prowl the outer fringes of the publishing industry, you may have never heard of Lily DuTertre, who is an avid compiler of “high quality Wikipedia articles” into books. Like this one on unsolved murders, selling for $26.68.

Posted in Black Dahlia, Books and Authors | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: Bevo Means Did Not Name the Black Dahlia Case

Posted on April 4, 2014 by lmharnisch

I recently heard from someone who had taken a bus tour of Los Angeles and wondered why the tour guide said that Bevo Means had named the Black Dahlia case. The answer, of course, is no, if the tour guide … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: Not for Young Readers

Posted on April 4, 2014 by lmharnisch

Imagine my surprise to find this little gem floating around on the Internet, and I see that I’m a couple of years late. According to Amazon, it’s a 2011 account of the Black Dahlia case for middle school students, although … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: The Black Dahlia Files and Donald Wolfe

Posted on February 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

While we are on the subject of nonsense in the Black Dahlia case, the Sky Valley Chronicle posted a story yesterday based on Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files.” As many of you may know, this book is so … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Donald Wolfe, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: George Hodel, Soil Analysis and Sweeps Month

Posted on February 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

Look it’s an “update” on the Buster the Wonder Dog saga, via L.A. Observed. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. For those of you (that would be most of the world) who haven’t followed the saga of “Buster the Wonder … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: ‘I Killed the Black Dahlia’

Posted on February 7, 2014 by lmharnisch

Just when I thought I had seen every sort of lunacy that’s possible about the Black Dahlia case, I found this in my local paper yesterday. Did someone finally confess to the “grusome” murder? Look! It’s a saga of “explotation!” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

1944 in Print — Life Magazine, Jan. 31, 1944

Posted on January 31, 2014 by lmharnisch

Jan. 31, 1944: The cover photo shows Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur William Tedder, G.C.B., chosen as Gen. Eisenhower’s deputy commander for the invasion of Europe. The featured movie is “Lifeboat” and Life pays a visit to the Florentine Gardens. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Black Dahlia, Film, History, Hollywood, Nightclubs, Photography, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 1944 in Print — Life Magazine, Jan. 31, 1944

Black Dahlia and the Cecil Hotel — Another Good Story Ruined

Posted on January 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

I don’t know how this nonsense gets started. There is nothing to show that Elizabeth Short ever set foot in the Cecil Hotel, as claimed by KABC-TV Channel 7.

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Flo Ash — The ‘Cutest Little Nudist’ — Gets a Divorce

Posted on January 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

Jan. 26, 1944: “Flo Ash” is one of my favorite names from 1940s Los Angeles.  In 1940, she sued the Florentine Gardens and producer Nils T. Granlund over use of the nickname “Cutest Little Nudist.”

Posted in 1944, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Nightclubs, World War II | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Today is Jan. 15 — Trim Your Roses

Posted on January 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, and the Daily Mirror marks the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death by pruning back the roses.

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Matzo Brawl!

Posted on November 29, 2013 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project and I’m reposting it for newer readers. Nov. 29, 1907 Oh Those Shriners: Recall, if you will, the grisly train wreck that killed a large number of Shriners … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Food and Drink, LAPD, Religion, Streetcars | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: George Hodel — Soil Samples at the Sowden House: FAIL

Posted on November 14, 2013 by lmharnisch

Saturday was, in case you had forgotten, the one-year anniversary of Buster the Wonder Dog’s frolic at the Sowden House in a search for evidence to link Dr. George “Evil Genius” Hodel to the Black Dahlia killing. You may recall … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Hollywood, LAPD, Television | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Blogging the Wolfe Book — Seven Years Later

Posted on November 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

Note: In 2006, I devoted a daily blog to  fact-checking Donald Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files” on a molecular level. The project was so time-consuming – and “Dahlia Files” is such junk – that I stopped about Page 96 and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2006, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The ‘Masked Marvel Murder’ – Part 12

Posted on November 7, 2013 by lmharnisch

The 1942 marriage of Greta Keller and David G.G. Bacon, Albany Times-Union, Sept. 14, 1943, courtesy of Steven Bibb.  I have spent far more time than I intended on the “Masked Marvel Murder” and not just because it’s an intriguing, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Black Dahlia and ‘Double Indemnity’ – KCET Gets It Way Wrong

Posted on September 7, 2013 by lmharnisch

Is it really possible to write about the film “Double Indemnity” without mentioning Raymond Chandler, who collaborated on the screenplay, or James M. Cain, who wrote the book that was the basis for the film? Sadly, Ryan Reft (identified as … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, 1947, Black Dahlia, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments