Category Archives: Latinos

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 9

Image: Isadore Bernstein’s name appears on a list of  undesirables.  Credit: The National Archives at Riverside. To recap briefly, I have been digging into the historical basis of the movie “Zoot Suit,” which I saw this summer in the Last … Continue reading

Posted in 1942, 1943, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Latinos, Libraries, Stage, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 9

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 7

Photo: June 8, 1943 — A mob of servicemen stop a streetcar on Main Street to remove a passenger wearing a zoot suit. Here’s a second radio address by Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron, delivered June 16, 1943, on the … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Latinos, Radio, San Francisco, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on ‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 7

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 6

Image: Los Angeles Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats Program for “Zoot Suit” Credit: Jose Legaspi In Part 5, we looked at the story of Joe Dacy Coleman, “patient zero” in the Zoot Suit Riots, which led to a report at the … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, African Americans, Black Dahlia, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Latinos, Libraries, Stage, Streetcars, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Found on EBay – C.C. Pierce

A hand-colored postcard published by M. Rieder of Los Angeles, based on a photograph by the studio of C.C. Pierce, has been listed on EBay. Pierce was an early photographer in Los Angeles who mostly specialized in buildings and atmospheric … Continue reading

Posted in Found on EBay, Latinos, Photography | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – C.C. Pierce

‘Zoot Suit’ and History — Part 5

Cartoon: A troubling moment in “Mary Worth’s Family,” June 1, 1943. Credit: Los Angeles Times June 1, 1943: It is impossible to accurately determine, so long after the fact, why a May 31, 1943, brawl between zoot-suiters and sailors wasn’t … Continue reading

Posted in 1943, Books and Authors, Fashion, LAPD, Latinos, Libraries, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on ‘Zoot Suit’ and History — Part 5

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 4

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

Posted in 1943, Downtown, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Latinos, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

#museum, #history

To accompany U.S. history as told in video games, we have U.S. history as told by Facebook, by Teddy Wayne, Mike Sacks and Thomas Ng in the New York Times. The Daily Mirror Recommends:At the Daily Mirror, we’re always interested … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Education, Found on EBay, Genealogy, History, Latinos, Museums | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 3

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

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Latinos, Lee Shippey, Nightclubs, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

From the Stacks: ‘The Big Picture’

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

Posted in 1988, Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Latinos, Photography, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Sports, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 2

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

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Fashion, Film, LAPD, Latinos, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

‘Zoot Suit’ and history – Part 1

I was extremely fortunate to attend Wednesday night’s showing of “Zoot Suit” and hear remarks by the panel that preceded the show. Betto Arcos moderated a session with director Luis Valdez, Rose Portillo (Della), Edward James Olmos (El Pachuco) and … Continue reading

Posted in 1942, 1943, 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Latinos, Music, Stage, Theaters, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments