Category Archives: Streetcars

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

L.A. Women Are Slackers in Fighting the Axis!

Posted on December 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 30, 1941: It seems that local women didn’t get the memo about the being the “Greatest Generation.” They’re a bunch of slackers in the war against the Axis and don’t want to work as air-raid wardens. “Los Angeles women … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Streetcars, Theaters, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

4 Die as Streetcar Crushes Auto

Posted on December 29, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: 115th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard via Google’s Street View. Dec. 29, 1941: A streetcar heading north on Hawthorne Boulevard hits an automobile at 115th Street after the driver, apparently blinded by rain, entered the intersection. “The streetcar struck the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Radio, Streetcars, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 4 Die as Streetcar Crushes Auto

November 27, 1941: Streetcar Companies Ask Council to End Bus Ban in Downtown L.A.

Posted on November 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

November 27, 1941: The Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railways ask the City Council to repeal a ban against buses operating in downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Electric officials said the ban prevented them from routing the line from Los Angeles … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Crowds Line Broadway for Armistice Day Parade, Nov. 12, 1941

Posted on November 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

We just don’t get deep thoughts in comics anymore. Nov. 12, 1941: Crowds line Broadway in downtown Los Angeles for the annual Armistice Day parade, which marked the end of what used to be called the Great War or the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Streetcars, Theaters, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

L.A.’s Traffic Nightmare Threatens Downtown’s Future! Oct. 28, 1941

Posted on October 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

Oct. 28, 1941: Lee Shippey writes about Los Angeles’ congested streets (no, traffic is not a new problem – it’s a very old one that we are still trying to solve). Notice that Shippey says streetcars and automobiles do not … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Obituaries, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Buddy Rogers Denies Rift With Mary Pickford

Posted on October 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

Oct. 12, 1941: Tom Treanor writes about the era when mourners could board a special funeral car that also carried the casket to the cemetery. C.V. Means, general traffic agent of the Los Angeles Railway, says that anyone can still … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs, Stage, Streetcars, Tom Treanor | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Main Street Revisited

Posted on September 29, 2011 by lmharnisch

I picked up “A Southern California Album: Selected Photographs, 1880-1900” at the Last Bookstore the other day and was pleased to discover a number of pictures by C.C. Pierce, including this shot of Main Street looking south from 3rd Street … Continue reading →

Posted in 1880, 1900, Books and Authors, Downtown, Photography, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Mystery Film of Los Angeles [Updated]

Posted on September 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Nathan Marsak tests the latest Ford. Curbed LA’s link to this 1917 Ford travelogue on Los Angeles has been passed around until I finally saw it. How many of these locations do you recognize? Here’s footage of streetcars and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1917, Downtown, Film, Mystery Photo, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged | 6 Comments

‘Zoot Suit’ and History – Part 6

Posted on August 2, 2011 by lmharnisch

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 – Mt. Lowe Railway

Posted on July 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

Postcards and photos of the railway trip to Mt. Lowe, with its hairpin turns around the mountains, are quite common – but a brass model of the car in HO gauge? That’s a new one on me. This intriguing item, … Continue reading →

Posted in Found on EBay, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , | 10 Comments

LAPD End of Watch, June 15, 1920

Posted on June 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 23, 1915: LAPD motorcycle officers take delivery of 37 new Indian motorcycles, capable of 75 mph. The daily NewsWatch of the Los Angeles Police Protective League always honors the anniversaries of LAPD officers killed in the line of duty. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1911, 1915, 1920, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Obituaries, San Fernando Valley, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , | Comments Off on LAPD End of Watch, June 15, 1920

May 13, 1908: Work to Begin on Streetcar Tunnel to Ease Traffic

Posted on May 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

May 13, 1908: Above, two suspects are arrested on charges of trying to rob a man at a streetcar stop in Santa Monica … Below, pay careful attention to the story about renewed efforts to excavate a tunnel on Hill … Continue reading →

Posted in 1908, Streetcars, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Postcards From the Past

Posted on March 16, 2007 by lmharnisch

The Hotel Green, Pasadena

Posted in Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD, Pasadena, Streetcars | Comments Off on Postcards From the Past

The Bridge

Posted on March 15, 2007 by lmharnisch

March 15, 2007South Pasadena Here’s the Gold Line, its passengers mercifully unaware that they are zipping along to Pasadena in the “Gorge of Eternal Peril” beneath “The Bridge of Death.” Here’s a close-up of a patch made to fix one … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD, Pasadena, Streetcars | Tagged | Comments Off on The Bridge

In Which a Ghostly Visitor Returns

Posted on March 15, 2007 by lmharnisch

March 15, 2007Los Angeles “Well, dear boy, I suppose you thought you were through.” “Yes, I did.” “And?” “Good grief! Do you see this bridge over the Gold Line? It looks like it’s held up with hairpins and spit!” “Saliva, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Comics, Education, Immigration, LAPD, Streetcars, Theaters, Transportation | Tagged | Comments Off on In Which a Ghostly Visitor Returns