Category Archives: World War II

1944 on the Radio — Jack Benny and Groucho Marx, February 26, 1944

Posted on February 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 26, 1944: On the radio dial, Jack Benny visits Groucho Marx. Continue reading →

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L.A. Times Recants 1942 Editorials on Internment of Japanese Americans

Posted on February 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 21, 1942: The Times reports President Roosevelt’s executive order on the evacuation of Americans of Japanese ancestry. In 2017, The Times recanted it editorials strongly promoting the internment. Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ February 18, 1944

Posted on February 18, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 18, 1944: Herr Goering’s first name, Herman, came from a Jewish doctor, Herman Eppstein, of Tyrol, Austria, Walter Winchell says. Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ February 17, 1944

Posted on February 17, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 17, 1944: “Alfred M. Landon stated: Fascism is here in America and its name is the New Deal,” Walter Winchell reports. Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ February 16, 1944

Posted on February 16, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 16, 1944: Errol Flynn was turned down for the seventh time by the Army and Navy. He is asking the latter for special service and a waiver on physical defects, Walter Winchell says. Continue reading →

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1944 on the Radio — Bing Crosby on ‘Mail Call,’ February 16, 1944

Posted on February 16, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 16, 1944: On the radio dial: Bing Crosby; “The Lone Ranger”;and opera singer Betty Mulliner. Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ February 11, 1944

Posted on February 11, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 11, 1944: Sherman Billingsley, the Stork Club owner, has mike fright. Last year, frixample, he agreed to appear on “Duffy’s Tavern,” but at the last moment ran out, scared stiff. Ed Gardner went dizzy seeking a substitute, and was very irked with Mr. B, who said he’d rather pay plenty than appear on the radio, Walter Winchell says. Continue reading →

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1944 on the Radio — ‘His Butler’s Sister,’ February 7, 1944

Posted on February 7, 2026 by lmharnisch

February 7, 1944: On the radio dial, Hop Harrigan and Lux Radio Theater presents Deanna Durbin and Pat O’Brien in “His Butler’s Sister. Continue reading →

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1944 on the Radio — ‘Random Harvest’ on ‘Lux Radio Theater,’ Jan. 31, 1944

Posted on January 31, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 31, 1944: On the radio, we have the Lux Radio Theater with “Random Harvest,” starring Ronald Colman and Greer Garson. Continue reading →

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1944 on the Radio — ‘Nick Carter, Master Detective,’ January 29, 1944

Posted on January 29, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 29, 1944: On the radio: Nick Carter, Master Detective! Continue reading →

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January 1, 1947: New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 1, 1947: Pansy Yokum writes her “Noo Yars Resolutions,” from Al Capp’s Li’l Abner. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1941: L.A. Women Are Slackers in Fighting the Axis!

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1941: December 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. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

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 Society, which allegedly had 4,800 members in Western states, including California and Arizona. Continue reading →

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December 18, 1947: Jacobowicz Brothers, Orphaned in Holocaust, Arrive in L.A. (Also Turkey Stuffing With Fritos)

Posted on December 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 18, 1947: Orphaned in the Holocaust, the Jacobowicz brothers—Karl, 16, Joseph, 13, and Rudolph, 10—arrive in Los Angeles on the final leg of their journey from Vienna. Continue reading →

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December 18, 1941: Academy Awards Banquet Canceled; Oscars Postponed Due to War

Posted on December 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 18, 1941: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cancels its annual banquet, due to the war. The awards will be given out later in some informal gathering, Edwin Schallert writes. Continue reading →

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December 15, 1942: Stripper Discharged From Waacs Was Out of Uniform – and Everything Else

Posted on December 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 15, 1942: Kathryn Doris Gregory, a stripteuse who performs as Amber d’Georg, is out of the Waacs for going AWOL.  The former chorus girl reported for training, then disappeared and was arrested after performing in a Thanksgiving matinee in Des Moines. Continue reading →

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December 15, 1941: Soldier Kills Civilian in Tragedy at Airport Checkpoint

Posted on December 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 15, 1941: Soldiers stop motorists on Sepulveda Boulevard to strip off blue cellophane illegally put over the headlights in the new wartime blackout.  Dr. Harry Brandel, assuming the soldiers were hitchhiking, ignored the order to stop and Private Eugene I. Tuttle, 19, fired what he said was a warning shot. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Jimmie Fidler, World War II | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

December 14, 1941: War Cancels Rose Parade

Posted on December 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 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 previous parades in all their glory, The Times said. Continue reading →

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December 13, 1941: Roundup of Aliens Overwhelms L.A. Jails

Posted on December 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 13, 1941: So many alien Japanese, Germans and Italians are being taken into custody that Chief Jailer William Bright of the County Jail is being forced to send some of his other inmates to county prison farms. Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 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 maps and binoculars or radios were given. Continue reading →

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