Category Archives: Religion

Workers Save Children From Fire at Jewish Orphans Home

Posted on August 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

Mission Road via Google maps’ street view. Aug. 1, 1910: A short circuit in the attic starts a fire that destroys the Jewish Orphans Home at 535 Mission Road. Disregarding their own safety, Rabbi Sigmund Frey and Emma Rives … Continue reading →

Posted in Obituaries, Religion | Comments Off

Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, July 19, 1960

Posted on July 19, 2010 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1960: Paul Coates talks to Father Dismas Clark, founder of Dismas House in St. Louis, a halfway house for ex-convicts. "Christ himself is an ex-convict," Dismas says. "Square people don't like to hear that."

Posted in Columnists, Front Pages, Religion | 1 Comment

Wages of Sin in Iran — Lashes, Death

Posted on July 9, 2010 by lmharnisch

Remember “Used Cars?” Back then, some movies weren't much more than a string of car chases and crashes. July 9, 1980: "Seventeen months after they seized power from the crumbling regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Iran's mullahs (Muslim … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Religion | Comments Off

The Brave Projectionist

Posted on June 25, 2010 by lmharnisch

June 25, 1910: F.A. Horton had been working for about a week as a projectionist at the Art Theater, 508 S. Broadway, when a length of nitrate film caught fire. "The film ignited with a flash and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion, Film, Fire Department, Hollywood, Religion | 2 Comments

Charles Champlin on Cannes, May 30, 1980

Posted on May 30, 2010 by lmharnisch

May 30, 1980: Charles Champlin takes an overview of the downbeat films at the Cannes Festival, which included “All That Jazz” and “Kagemusha.” “This year, there was hardly a title among the 22 in competition that could accurately have been … Continue reading →

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Robert Kennedy Sets Up JFK Campaign Headquarters

Posted on May 21, 2010 by lmharnisch

May 21, 1960: Robert F. Kennedy talks to reporters at the Biltmore Bowl after arriving in Los Angeles to set up campaign headquarters for his brother Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass). And a headline writer takes the easy … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, JFK, Politics, Religion, RFK | Comments Off

‘Let Us Commune With the Yogi’

Posted on May 14, 2010 by lmharnisch

Nellie Nichols and the Four Dancing Bugs at the Orpheum! May 14, 1910: On the jump, the curious case of Sakharam G. Pandit, a Hindu in Chicago with a “hypnotic eye” who allegedly went too far with women when … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Film, Religion, Stage | Comments Off

Post Office Breaks Prayer Chain Letter

Posted on May 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

May 5, 1910: The post office halts an “endless prayer chain” letter started by “a religious crank,” The Times says. The postmaster says that the letter is illegal because it threatens a “dire calamity” for whoever breaks the chain. … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Religion | 1 Comment

Cannibals Eat Presbyterian Missionaries

Posted on April 30, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 30, 1910: I’ve seen lots of peculiar stories in the old papers, but this is the first account I have ever read of cannibals eating missionaries, in this case the Rev. Horatio Hopkins and the Rev. Hector Laurie … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Religion | 1 Comment

Russia Expels Thousands of Jews From Kiev

Posted on April 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 26, 1910: “Heartless cruelty marked the ejection of the Jews. Young and old, well and ill, the strong and the weak, mothers with babes only a few days old, were driven out at the word of command. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in @news, Immigration, Religion | Comments Off

Street Evangelist Starts Riot

Posted on April 25, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 25, 1910: Timothy Callahan, who runs a small mission near San Pedro and 3rd streets, is mobbed when he sets up a pulpit on Los Angeles Street and offers money to the needy. “The man who a few … Continue reading →

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Blessing of the Animals at the Old Plaza

Posted on April 17, 2010 by lmharnisch

“Someone’s Trying to Blow Up the Eliza Ann!” April 17, 1960: In a 19th century Holy Week custom revived in New Mexico in 1930, a group of animals led by a Holstein cow is blessed at the Old Plaza. The … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 16, 1960

Posted on April 16, 2010 by lmharnisch

These Easter page toppers were a regular feature in the Mirror. Mash Notes and Comments (Press Release) "Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates, a man of few words, has no sympathy for the Pentagon's famous red tape. … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Front Pages, Paul Coates, Religion | Comments Off

U.S. Clergymen Hold Easter Services for Embassy Hostages in Iran

Posted on April 7, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 7, 1980: Three Christian ministers from the American Iranian Crisis Resolution Committee hold Easter services for 50 hostages who had been held since Nov. 4, 1979, at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. On April 24, 1980, President Carter … Continue reading →

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From The Vaults: ‘The Virgin Spring’ (1960)

Posted on April 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

This continues to be the only Ingmar Bergman movie I have seen… I have a slew of them in my Netflix queue, but this one got prioritized mainly because it was the basis for Wes Craven's 1972 classic, “Last House … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood, Religion | 2 Comments

Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 4, 1960

Posted on April 4, 2010 by lmharnisch

Sawdust Trail Leads Through Midway To you, Cucamonga may mean nothing but a Jack Benny joke, but to history it may be remembered as the scene of one of Christianity's major jurisdictional disputes. Recently, a syndicate … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Front Pages, Paul Coates, Religion | Comments Off

‘A Mohammedan Easter’

Posted on April 3, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 3, 1910: This headline stopped me cold: “Mohammedan Easter.” It’s a feature from the Sunday magazine on the Muslim pilgrimage to what the writer calls Neby Mousa and is known today as Nabi Musa. The author, Harold J. … Continue reading →

Posted in Food and Drink, Religion | Comments Off

Kennedy Leads Nixon in Gallup Poll

Posted on April 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 1, 1960: Vice President Richard Nixon pours Billy Graham a cup of coffee during a White House visit. Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) leads Vice President Richard Nixon in a presidential election poll, 53% to 47%, George Gallup … Continue reading →

Posted in JFK, Politics, Religion, Richard Nixon | Comments Off

Holy Week, 1920

Posted on April 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 1, 1920: The Times reports on the increasing popularity of Easter sunrise services, an observance held on Mt. Rubidoux for the first time in 1909. “The unique feature of Easter in Southern California is the sunrise service. Since … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock, March 17, 1960

Posted on March 17, 2010 by lmharnisch

Conversing Computers Well, we're there, folks. I suppose it was inevitable. And presumably the news has been deliberately hushed and permitted to leak here so no one would get the impulse to jump out of his shoes. So … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, JFK, Matt Weinstock, Politics, Religion | Comments Off