Category Archives: Photography

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Here’s another mystery photo, courtesy of Steven Bibb. There’s a closer look on the jump. [Update: This is Dorothea Wieck (d. 1986), known for “Maedchen in Uniform,” arriving in Los Angeles, April 13, 1933. She returned to Germany because she … Continue reading

Posted in 1933, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Found on EBay – Wildfire

This dramatic postcard showing a huge wildfire, as seen from Mt. Lowe, has been listed on EBay. We have a cycle of natural disasters in Southern California: Heavy rains around December produce mudslides >> The rains bring spring greenery >> … Continue reading

Posted in 1911, Fires, Found on EBay, Photography | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – Wildfire

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated+++]

Here’s a mystery couple in a mystery movie. There’s a new photo on the jump! [Update: These photos are from the 1916 Selig-Polyscope film “The Garden of Allah” starring Helen Ware and Tom Santschi. These photos appear in the photoplay … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Location Sleuth: ‘Safety Last’

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

Posted in 1923, Architecture, Books and Authors, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Location Sleuth, Photography | Comments Off on Location Sleuth: ‘Safety Last’

Found on EBay – Rube Wolf

This poster for “Secrets of a Secretary” – with an appearance by Edna Fisher and Rube Wolf, above right, has been listed on EBay. Rube Wolf isn’t terribly well-known today, except around the Daily Mirror HQ. He was a prominent … Continue reading

Posted in 1931, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Music, Photography, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated +++]

Steven Bibb, a member of the Daily Mirror’s Brain Trust, has graciously shared some of his pictures as mystery photos. Thanks Steven! [Update: This is Dorothy Dell in a 1934 photo from “Wharf Angel.” Please congratulate Eve Golden for identifying … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Obituaries, Photography | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Pioneering African American Attorney Walter L. Gordon Jr. Honored

Walter L. Gordon Jr., left, and Judge William C. Beverly Jr. This week, the UCLA library honored the 103rd birthday Walter L. Gordon Jr., one of the pioneering African American attorneys in Los Angeles. Judge William C. Beverly Jr. was … Continue reading

Posted in African Americans, Architecture, Crime and Courts, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Libraries, Museums, Nightclubs, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pioneering African American Attorney Walter L. Gordon Jr. Honored

Seals in MacArthur Park!

Imagine my surprise to discover that there were seals in MacArthur Park. And the proof, in the form of this postcard, has been listed on EBay. Research in The Times clips shows that seals were kept in the park, along … Continue reading

Posted in 1904, Animals, Found on EBay, Parks, Photography | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Guide to Buying Native American Arts and Crafts

My friend Mark Bahti has posted an excellent guide to buying Native American arts and crafts. Mark operates Bahti Indian Arts, which was founded by his father, Tom. Mark says: Visitors to any of Arizona’s 22 tribes have a wonderful … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, Native Americans, Photography | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on A Guide to Buying Native American Arts and Crafts

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated ++]

Steven Bibb, a member of the Daily Mirror’s Brain Trust, has graciously shared some of his pictures as mystery photos. Thanks Steven! [Update: This mystery fellow was a toughy. Steven identifies him as Berry Kroeger from the film “The Iron … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

From the Archives: King Tut Bus

Primary Resources, a blog of Metro’s Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive, has posted some images of vehicles, including this “King Tut bus,” decorated for the U.S. tour of “The Treasures of King Tutankhamun”  exhibit, which was on display … Continue reading

Posted in 1978, Museums, Photography, Transportation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Photograph by Howard Decker / LADailyMirror.com [Howard says: The lady in the fur coat is Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner, known as Lana, with her newly minted (seventh, I think) husband Ronald Pellar, known as Ronald Dante and Dr. Dante. … Continue reading

Posted in Brain Trust, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

Nazi Mystery Photos [Updated]

[Update: The photographer has been identified as Franz Krieger.] Lens, the photography blog of the New York Times, has published a mystery album of Nazi photos, including this shot of Adolf Hitler. The Times is trying to identify the mystery … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Mystery Photo, Photography | 1 Comment

Charlie Chaplin’s Big Moment in Venice

I was intrigued by Sunday’s Then and Now piece by Anthony Mostrom on Charlie Chaplin’s “Kid Auto Races at Venice” and I thought I’d do a little digging. Here’s what I found. The film includes footage of two races. One … Continue reading

Posted in 1914, Film, Hollywood, Libraries, Photography, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Photograph by Howard Decker [Update: Howard says: The beautiful bride is Kris Harmon, on her way into the church in Brentwood to marry Ricky Nelson on April 20, 1963.] Our good friend Howard Decker (a.k.a. Fibber of the Brain Trust) … Continue reading

Posted in Brain Trust, LAPD, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Reinvention [Updated]

[Updated June 21, 2011: Photographer Eddie Caraeff says: [Larry certainly was crazy! [I think Frank was just making a PG rated gesture w/ his hand,  however that was many, many years ago. [Not sure you know that my Grandmother is … Continue reading

Posted in Music, Obituaries, Photography | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

For Sale: Billy the Kid [Updated +]

[Update: The tintype sold for $2.3 million. The Denver Post identifies the buyer as retired industrialist William Koch. Quoting the Post: “I love the Old West,” said William Koch , 71, who now lives in Palm Beach, Fla. “I plan … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Photography | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo

Here’s a mystery photo from EBay! A vendor has listed a photograph from the Witzel studio. The back is marked the Vanity Fair Girls but it is otherwise unidentified. Sounds like an excellent mystery photo! Bidding on the photograph starts … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography, Witzel | 12 Comments

Found on EBay – C.C. Pierce

I’m always on the lookout for photographs by Charles Chester Pierce, whose C.C. Pierce and Co. was one of the most active studios in Los Angeles. The images are always sharp and finely detailed. Most of them show Los Angeles, … Continue reading

Posted in 1906, Found on EBay, Photography | 2 Comments

Los Angeles Tattoo Shops, 1943

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

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Libraries, Photography, World War II | 5 Comments