Category Archives: Streetcars

Our Sainted Streetcars – Glendale Edition

Posted on September 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

A postcard showing what the vendor says is a depot for the Los Angeles and Glendale Electric Interurban Railway system has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $249.99. Times clips show that by 1904, the Los Angeles and Glendale … Continue reading →

Posted in 1904, Downtown, Found on EBay, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Man Kills Wife and Daughter, Commits Suicide Over Pink Bedroom

Posted on September 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 4, 1933: A streetcar broadsides an auto at the crossing on Olympic Boulevard between Broadway and Figueroa, killing two people and leaving two others near death, The Times said. A man fatally stabs his estranged wife and daughter, then … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Art & Artists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Homicide, LAPD, Main Street, Nightclubs, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Suicide, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Spring Street — 1907

Posted on September 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

  If this image looking south on Spring Street on this 1907 postcard looks unfamiliar, there’s a reason. Most of the buildings are gone and Spring Street was straightened out to make way for City Hall. The postcard is listed … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Architecture, Downtown, Found on EBay, Spring Street, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Parents Sue Doctor Who Said Baby Girl Was a Boy!

Posted on August 29, 2013 by lmharnisch

Aug. 29, 1943: The family of Marine Cpl. Carroll E. Trego, a radio operator captured in the fall of Wake Island, receives a letter written from a prisoner of war camp in Shanghai. Dr. John M. Andrews is being sued … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Medicine, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

N.R.A. Frees Workers to Visit the Library

Posted on August 28, 2013 by lmharnisch

August 1933: In my journey through years ending in “3,” I have neglected 1933, when the National Recovery Act took effect  Aug. 1. President Roosevelt’s plan was to put people back to work by raising the minimum wage to $12 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, Comics, Hollywood, Libraries, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

6,000 Union Army Veterans Gather to Recall the Campfires of Old

Posted on August 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

The entire Aug. 27, 1903, edition of the Herald is available here. Aug. 27, 1903: The Los Angeles Times (and by extension, the Chandler family) is frequently treated as if it was the only paper in the city’s history. Those … Continue reading →

Posted in 1903, African Americans, Civil War, Parks, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hero Stops Runaway L.A. Streetcar

Posted on August 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

Aug. 15, 1943: Los Angeles’ long-gone streetcar system has achieved sainthood, but here’s an incident suggesting that in reality, it was less than perfect. (Heresy, I know). Shura Cherkassky performs at the Greek Theatre. Hedda Hopper with her version of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Music, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Action by FDR Averts Streetcar Strike!

Posted on July 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1943: President Roosevelt intervenes in the planned Pacific Electric Railway strike, saying that he did not want to use Army trucks to transport war supplies. The strike centered on a raise of 13 cents an hour, which has … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Columnists, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Streetcar Strike Could Paralyze Los Angeles!

Posted on July 24, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 24, 1943: Labor problems threaten to paralyze mass transportation in Los Angeles. The Times says that 3,000 Los Angeles Railway workers have ended a 24-hour walkout while 2,500 Pacific Electric workers are scheduled to strike. Marion “More Curves Than … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Aviation, Comics, Labor, Main Street, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Streetcar Strike Could Paralyze Los Angeles!

Getting L.A. Traffic Wrong

Posted on July 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

Zocalo repeats the old bromide that “once upon a time” the streets of Los Angeles were empty and getting around was simple. Nothing could be further from the truth. After years of reading old newspapers, I can say with authority … Continue reading →

Posted in A Kinder, Simpler Time, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

LAPD Chief Wants More Police; Terrible Traffic – 1913

Posted on April 3, 2013 by lmharnisch

April 3, 1913: That is author L. Frank Baum and composer Louis F. Gottschalk, the team behind “The Tik-Tok Man of Oz,” which was a blockbuster in Los Angeles. The Times said it “is the reigning sensation of the local … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, Books and Authors, City Hall, LAPD, Stage, Streetcars, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

C.C. Pierce — Found on EBay

Posted on January 31, 2013 by lmharnisch

A vendor has listed a good number of C.C. Pierce photos on EBay. As I have written before, Pierce was a prolific photographer who added work by other photographers to his own collection. What I find particularly interesting about them … Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on C.C. Pierce — Found on EBay

LAPD the ‘Storm Troopers’ of L.A., Lawmaker Says of Police Brutality

Posted on January 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 1, 1943: This is the beginning of the Stanley H. Beebe case, in which LAPD officers were accused of beating a suspect who died of his injuries.  Beebe, an accountant, was arrested on a streetcar at 1st and Hill … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, 1943, Crime and Courts, Downtown, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on LAPD the ‘Storm Troopers’ of L.A., Lawmaker Says of Police Brutality

A 100-Year-Old Lesson on L.A. Traffic

Posted on December 14, 2012 by lmharnisch

A Times graphic shows the problem of passengers caught between the streetcars and lanes of traffic. Broadway and 7th Street in 1934, showing a man crossing through a lane of traffic to get to a streetcar. Notice that the driver … Continue reading →

Posted in 1912, Downtown, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Church Organist Accused of Killing Parents

Posted on June 20, 2012 by lmharnisch

June 20, 1942: Officials of San Diego’s streetcar system are dismayed that the 20 surplus cars obtained from New York are in worse shape than the ones San Diego scrapped two years earlier. San Diego acquired the cars in an … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Church Organist Accused of Killing Parents

Doolittle Raiders Bomb Tokyo

Posted on April 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 18, 1942:  The Doolittle Raiders, flying from the carrier Hornet, bomb Tokyo. According to DoolittleRaider.com, the  five surviving crew members are scheduled to attend the 70th reunion, which is being held through April 20 at the National Museum of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, African Americans, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor | Tagged , | 3 Comments

U.S. Urged to Evacuate Japanese Immediately

Posted on January 31, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 31, 1942: Members of Congress from the West Coast call on the U.S. to expedite the evacuation of “enemy aliens,” a term that includes native-born people of Japanese ancestry. Officials concede that some of them may be loyal – … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Politics, Richard Nixon, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on U.S. Urged to Evacuate Japanese Immediately

FBI Smashes Nazi Spy Ring in Beverly Hills: 3 Sent Coded Letters to Third Reich

Posted on January 29, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 29, 1942: The FBI accuses Dr. Hans Helmut Gros, his wife, Frances, and Albrecht Rudolf Curt Reuter of belonging to a Nazi spy ring. According to allegations, Gros, of 328 N. Maple Drive, sent letters to purported relatives that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, LAPD, Streetcars, Theaters, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Removal of Streetcar Tracks Leaves Ugly Mess in Redondo Beach

Posted on January 5, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 5, 1942: Nazi patrols plow through students protesting in Paris’ Latin Quarter, “firing a warning burst from machine guns over the heads of the crowd” and then proceeding to “clean up the situation,” The New York Times reports. “A … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Environment, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Removal of Streetcar Tracks Leaves Ugly Mess in Redondo Beach

Japanese Americans Held After ‘Hissing Roosevelt’ in Theater

Posted on January 3, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 3, 1942: Manila falls to the Japanese. “The Bare Facts of 1942” opens at the Aztec, 251 S. Main. Movie theater patrons Tombio Ambo and Shigeki Kayama are in custody after Winifred J. Stephens accused them of hissing a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Streetcars, Theaters, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments