Category Archives: Tom Treanor

Japanese Sub Sinks Tanker Near Morro Bay

Dec. 24, 1941: Japanese submarines attack two U.S. tankers, with explosions that are heard  as far inland as in San Luis Obispo, sinking a 7,272-ton Union Oil ship. Capt. Olaf Eckstrom of Inglewood says a torpedo struck the ship directly … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Religion, Theaters, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Navy Releases Accounts of Pearl Harbor

Dec. 22, 1941: The Navy releases three personal accounts of the Pearl Harbor attack. Many acts of heroism are described, and these few lines shed more light on the presence of African Americans (recall that the armed services were segregated … Continue reading

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December 19, 1941: Japanese Spy Ring Smashed, FBI Says

December 19, 1941: The suicide of Dr. Rikita Honda, who slashed his wrists while in custody at Terminal Island, revealed that he was the director of a vast spy ring, the FBI says.  Honda was head of the Imperial Comradeship … Continue reading

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War Cancels Rose Parade, Dec. 14, 1941

Dec. 14, 1941: The Rose Parade is canceled and the Rose Bowl – between Duke and Oregon State – is moved to Durham, N.C. The streets of Pasadena were oddly quiet on New Year’s Day as millions reviewed memories of … Continue reading

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

FBI Rounds Up Japanese in Hunt for Subversives, Dec. 8, 1941

Dec. 8, 1941: The FBI begins rounding up 200 “alien Japanese suspected of subversive activities” Several truckloads of Japanese were seen passing through Brea toward Pomona, Brea police reported, and orders to stop all cars bearing Japanese and to confiscate … Continue reading

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60% Chance of Immediate War With Japan, Dec. 6, 1941

Dec. 6, 1941: Burt Lancaster gets an important phone call from Deborah Kerr. Edgar Ansel Mowrer of the Chicago Daily News Foreign Service says “… well-informed American officials are still convinced that Japan will start a fight in the near … Continue reading

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Japan Ready to Reject U.S. Terms

Dec. 5, 1941: There’s almost too much interesting news on Pearl Harbor Day minus 2. Josephine Trout Barnes is reunited with her baby girl Camelia/Camellia/Carmelia (newspapers in the Linotype era sometimes had a fluid sense of spelling when it came … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Books and Authors, City Hall, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Tom Treanor, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Peace Talks Between U.S., Japan on Verge of Collapse

Dec. 4, 1941:Dr. Richard A. Carter, head of the Carter Neurological Clinic in Garden Grove, is accused of negligence in administering a fatal dose during insulin shock treatments for Virginia Lamb, 22, of Anaheim for dementia praecox. It’s unclear from … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Medicine, Tom Treanor, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Peace Talks Between U.S., Japan on Verge of Collapse

L.A. County Pays Immigrants on Welfare to Go Back to Mexico

Dec. 3, 1941: Here’s how Los Angeles County once handled immigration. Officials paid families on welfare $100 ($1,464.25 USD 2010) over 10 months to go back to Mexico. Since 1930-31, more than 4,000 families had gone back to Mexico under … Continue reading

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

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

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. Detectives Meet New York Mobster’s Plane at Burbank Airport

Nov. 8, 1941: Waxey Gordon, whose real name was Irving Wexler (d. 1952, Alcatraz), lands at Lockheed Air Terminal (now Burbank Airport), where he is greeted by detectives from the district attorney’s office, the LAPD and airport police. Gordon, accompanied … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Aviation, Chicago, City Hall, LAPD, San Francisco, Suicide, Theaters, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Test Pilot Dies as P-38 Crashes Into Glendale House, Nov. 5, 1941

Witnesses said the twin-engined, double fuselaged ship was booming westerward at near-maximum speed (unofficially reported to be between 400 and 500 mph) when the duralumin tail assembly “simply floated away.” Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Aviation, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Theaters, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Wingy Manone Puts the Swing in Swing Shift — Nov. 3, 1941

Nov. 3, 1941: Tom Treanor goes to a dance at the Glendale Civic Auditorium for swing shift workers, about 5,000 of them, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Most of the couples are married, he says, … Continue reading

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

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

Franchot Tone Marries Jean Wallace, 1941

Oct. 19, 1941: Franchot Tone marries Jean Wallace in Yuma, Ariz. Wallace and Tone divorced in 1948 and in 1951 Tone was badly injured in a fight with Tom Neal at the home of Tone’s ex-fiancee, actress Barbara Payton. Tom … Continue reading

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Buddy Rogers Denies Rift With Mary Pickford

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

Woman Jailed for Driving Too Slowly

Oct. 7, 1941: You’re probably wondering how fast Blanche Roberts was driving. The story doesn’t say anything more specific than “an exceedingly low rate of speed” on the Calabasas Grade. Apparently no one thought to query the reporter — the … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Dodgers, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Woman Jailed for Driving Too Slowly

Judge Urges U.S. to Deport Union Leader Harry Bridges

  Sept. 30, 1941: A judge recommends the deportation of Harry Bridges, head of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, a decision that was cheered by The Times. Of course, Bridges was never deported, despite a prolonged campaign to send … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Obituaries, Tom Treanor | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Widow Accused of Killing Ft. MacArthur Officer, Sept. 3, 1941

Sept. 3, 1941: OK, Maj. Tucker,  let me get this straight. You and your wife, Marie, got home from  a party, where both of you had been drinking. She was in the bedroom and you were in the kitchen making … Continue reading

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