Category Archives: Books and Authors

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 →

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Holiday Gift Suggestion – ‘California Against the Sea’

Posted on December 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

California Against the Sea: Visions for our Vanishing Coastline, by my former Los Angeles Times colleague Rosanna Xia, has won a number of awards since it was published in 2023, and would make an excellent gift for anyone seeking to … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Retro Shopping Guide: “The Los Angeles Book” (1950) featuring wonderful photographs by Max Yavno, who was responsible for so many iconic shots of L.A. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Shopping Guide

Posted on December 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

Another of my favorite books on Los Angeles is Leo Politi’s “Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Reminiscences of Bygone Days.” Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

Another standard gift suggestion is Glen Creason’s “Los Angeles in Maps,” a great resource for seeing the way depictions of Los Angeles have changed over the years. Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Books and Authors, Libraries | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

Today’s retro holiday shopping suggestion in Don Normark’s excellent book “Chavez Ravine, 1949.” Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

One of my favorite books on Los Angeles is the 1940 Nuestro Pueblo, collected from pieces in the Los Angeles Times, with artwork by Charles Owens and text by Joseph Seewerker. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Film Books for the Holidays

Posted on December 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory has suggestions for holiday books for film fans. Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

December 4, 1911: Man Arrested for ‘Masquerading in Female Attire’

Posted on December 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 4, 1911: Clarence Westfall, 22, is arrested for masquerading in female attire when the boat from San Diego docks in San Pedro. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Shopping Guide

Posted on December 2, 2025 by lmharnisch

A Daily Mirror gift suggestion: Mary Mallory’s latest: First Women of Hollywood. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Shopping Guide

Posted on December 1, 2025 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 →

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December 1, 1907: L.A. Author Writes of Life in the Hollow Earth (No Sign of Lizard People)

Posted on December 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 1, 1907: The Times notes a new serial “The Smoky God,” by Willis Emerson, based on the papers of Olaf Jansen, who claimed to have explored the North Pole and met the inhabitants of the Earth’s interior. “A classic in Hollow Earth Literature!” Continue reading →

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November 21, 1947: Judge Tells Joel Thorne to Quit ‘Fooling Around’ With Racecars, Nightclubs

Posted on November 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 21, 1947: A judge admonishes Joel Thorne, who sneaked out of Cedars of Lebanon Hospital after being injured in a motorcycle crash to avoid paying alimony to his ex-wife. In 1955, Thorne was killed when his Beachcraft Bonanza plunged into an apartment building, killing eight others. Continue reading →

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November 15, 1907: Charles Mulford Robinson Drafts a Los Angeles of the Future

Posted on November 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 15, 1907: Charles Mulford Robinson proposes a grand boulevard for downtown Los Angeles, from a proposed Union Station ending at a new public library and art gallery. And a new City Hall. Continue reading →

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Nov. 9, 1907: ‘We Are Revolutionists!’ Supporters Call for Release of Ricardo Flores Magon

Posted on November 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 9, 1907: Local sympathizers, anarchists and socialists are organizing a mass meeting to protest the imprisonment of Ricardo Flores Magon, Librado Rivera, Antonio Villareal and L. Gutierrez De Lara, who are being held on charges of trying to overthrow the Mexican government. Continue reading →

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October 27, 1907: On the Comics Page

Posted on October 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 27, 1907: Buster Brown was a popular feature of the Sunday comics. Like other cartoon characters of the era, Buster was fond of pulling pranks, but he usually learned his lesson the hard way and ended each strip with a long block of text titled: RESOLVED. Continue reading →

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October 26, 1942: Lon Chaney’s Ghost Haunts Hollywood and Vine!

Posted on October 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 26, 1942: Councilman Norris Nelson tells a story about the ghost of Lon Chaney sitting on a bench at Hollywood and Vine. Continue reading →

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October 20, 1907: Winsor McCay, ‘Little Nemo’ and The Imp

Posted on October 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 20, 1907: Winsor McCay and his cartoons never completely go out of fashion and are periodically rediscovered. Living in the era of legacy comics, bland writing. weak drawing, and panels the size of postage stamps, it’s easy to forget comics once ran a full page. And then there’s Imp. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Books and Authors, Comics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

October 18, 1907: Newspaper Cartoonist Ted Gale Makes His Point

Posted on October 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 18, 1907: The Los Angeles Times features pen and ink drawings by “Gale.” That’s Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale, who contributed to The Times for years, creating “Miss L.A.,” then quit in 1934 to go to the Examiner. Continue reading →

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October 13, 1907: 2 Die in Tong War

Posted on October 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 13, 1907: Gunmen imported from out of town by the Hop Sing Tong entered the tailor shop of Lem Sing at 806 Juan St. in Chinatown and under the pretense of having some clothing made, wounded him and killed Wong Goon Kor. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Education, Food and Drink, Homicide, LAPD, Streetcars | Comments Off on October 13, 1907: 2 Die in Tong War