Photo: Times President Gen. Harrison Gray Otis. Credit: Press Reference Library, 1912 Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the favorite pinata of Los Angeles historians, is the subject of a new biography by Mike “City of Quartz” Davis, now being serialized in … Continue reading
Photograph by Larry Harnisch/LADailyMirror Someone has hung this little figure from an overhead wire at Hill and College streets on the way into downtown. Until I got a good look, I thought it was Boris Badenov – and maybe it … Continue reading
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Here’s a better look at the courthouse at Temple and Broadway, where Wednesday’s photo of Broadway was probably taken. In what I call “seismic Darwinism,” the courthouse was demolished after being damaged in the Long Beach quake. The Hall of … Continue reading
I got this postcard on EBay because the details are sharp and it shows The Times Building before it was blown up in 1910. The picture was most likely taken from the beautiful old courthouse farther north on Broadway that … Continue reading
June 8, 1943: A mob of servicemen block a streetcar on Main Street to remove a passenger wearing a zoot suit. This was supposed to be an easy – if long – post to wrap up the Zoot Suit Riots. … Continue reading
June 5, 1943: A nude (well almost) woman climbs onto a neon sign at 6th and Broadway. Beatrice Tucker was clearly ahead of her time.
In March 1943, Disney studios released “The Spirit of ’43,” a cartoon in which Donald Duck is forced to choose between saving his money for “taxes to bury the Axis” (aided by a thrifty proto-Scrooge McDuck) and spending his paycheck … Continue reading
I picked up “The Big Picture,” Melba Levick and Stanley Young’s 1988 book about Los Angeles murals, not realizing what a terribly sad book it would be. As Young notes: “Most artists are aware that, exposed as it is to … Continue reading
May 9, 1943: Al Capp satirizes zoot suits in a series about “Zoot-Suit Yokum.” In Part 1, we saw that in 1942, The Times originally portrayed zoot suits as a youthful fad, but that attitudes hardened toward them once the … Continue reading
A set of door hardware from the Biltmore Hotel has been listed on EBay. Biltmore items turn up somewhat often on EBay, but they are usually postcards, menus, tableware, shoehorns, bottle openers, etc. I have never seen this type of … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Conservancy has posted a guide to filming locations for Harold Lloyd’s 1923 film “Safety Last” in conjunction with a showing of the film on June 29 at the Orpheum as part of the Last Remaining Seats series. … Continue reading
The Palace Theater, 630 S. Broadway, via Google maps’ street view. Eric Richardson of Blogdowntown reports that the 1911 Palace Theatre, 630 S. Broadway, will be open for self-guided tours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m on Saturday, June 25, … Continue reading
This is one of my favorite discoveries from the city archives, a description of tattoo shops in Los Angeles by an anonymous citizen. Los Angeles City Council File 15670 September 2, 1943 Dear Sir, I recently made an investigation of … Continue reading
My hair (or what’s left of it) stood on end when I read this portion of Tim Rutten’s column on Wednesday about Rick Caruso’s mayoral campaign: Mythology has it that the old Red Cars were killed by a conspiracy, but … Continue reading
This postcard showing the interior of the H.J. Whitley & Co. jewelry store, 345 S. Broadway, has been listed on EBay. The store opened on Dec. 9, 1903, (yes, just in time for Christmas) and was a branch of the … Continue reading
Photograph by Larry Harnisch / Los Angeles Times Don’t go looking for this. It’s gone. I found it the other day while walking from The Times to the library, but when I went back Tuesday to show it to someone, … Continue reading
A photograph of what appears to be the opening of Harold Lloyd’s 1921 “Never Weaken” has been listed on EBay. The vendor erroneously says that the theater is the Mason Opera House, but The Times … Continue reading
Postcards of Angels Flight are fairly common, but I can’t say I have ever seen one taken from this perspective on 3rd Street. Bidding starts at $6.89.
[Update: What’s wrong with this postcard? Notice City Hall way down the block? Please congratulate Cat Murray for recognizing this as Broadway, not Spring Street. ] This postcard of downtown Los Angeles has been listed on … Continue reading
Two years after writing about LAPD Det. Ector Garcia, I finally located a copy of his book, “Portraits of Crime,” which arrived in the mail from the U.K. while I was on vacation. No one will ever mistake … Continue reading
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