Category Archives: World War II

Molestation Suspect Questioned in Killing of Girl, 9

Posted on January 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 25, 1942: Detectives Harry Fremont and Jack Dwight are questioning Leo M. King, accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl, in the death of Dorothy Lee Gordon. The case of Dorothy Gordon, an African American child who was kidnapped and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Architecture, Art & Artists, Cold Cases, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Nuestro Pueblo, World War II | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

L.A. Studebaker Plant Converts to War Production

Posted on January 22, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 22, 1942: Chika Takamoto and Ryohei Tanaka are in jail for violating the federal ban on Japanese Americans possessing cameras or radios. Studebaker Pacific manufactures its last passenger car and converts to defense work “for the duration.” The Times … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

L.A.’s Garbage Fed to Hogs … Nom Nom Nom!

Posted on January 21, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 21, 1942: Tom Treanor looks at tin recycling for the war effort and notes that garbage in Los Angeles is fed to hogs in Fontana – with a steam shovel. Hogs in the Los Angeles area had been fed … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Animals, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Theaters, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

War Workers Start Day With Prayer

Posted on January 4, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: The 4200 block of South Olive Street via Google’s Street View. Jan. 4, 1942: William E. Kosdy uses a shovel to dig a two-person bomb shelter in the backyard of his home, 4236 S. Olive St. “I didn’t follow … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, LAPD, Nightclubs, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

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

Happy New Year From the Daily Mirror

Posted on January 1, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: Looking south on Broadway at 3rd Street, via Google’s Street View. Jan. 1, 1942: Downtown Los Angeles is oddly quiet on New Year’s Eve after police and military authorities banned the regular street celebrations. Hotels and nightclubs were sold … Continue reading →

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Hubble: No Evidence of ‘Big Bang’ Theory

Posted on December 31, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 31, 1941: Celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Hollywood Palladium with Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich AND Frank Sinatra … plus Connie Haines and the Pied Pipers. John P. Varnum has a cute little racket. He pretends to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Music, Nightclubs, World War II | Tagged , , , | 2 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

Tires Put Under War Rationing; Youths Beat Japanese Student

Posted on December 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 27, 1941: Tom Treanor says that some Japanese Americans are upset that Chinese Americans are wearing badges to indicate they aren’t Japanese. Mrs. E.J. Horton writes about a “Japanese schoolboy who got mobbed” and Mrs. Dill Nance “says she … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Film, Hollywood, Stage, Theaters, World War II | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on December 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: 1996 Cadillac hearse listed on EBay, with bids starting at $4,900. Queen of the Dead – dateline December 26, 2011 •  Kitchener is dead! No, not the World War I field marshal with the fabulously lush moustache, who died … Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Queen of the Dead, World War II | 2 Comments

Japanese Sub Torpedoes 2 Ships off California Coast

Posted on December 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 25, 1941: Crew members of the Absaroka, which was hauling lumber, recount being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine at an undisclosed location off the California coast. One man was crushed by piles of lumber after rescuing a shipmate who … Continue reading →

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Japanese Sub Sinks Tanker Near Morro Bay

Posted on December 24, 2011 by lmharnisch

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

Posted on December 22, 2011 by lmharnisch

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 →

Posted in 1941, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Navy Releases Accounts of Pearl Harbor

‘Citizen Kane’ Movie of the Year

Posted on December 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 21, 1941: Philip K. Scheuer writes: “Citizen Kane”  is, for this column, picture of 1941. It would be that if only because it jolted Hollywood once again into realizing the possibilities of the screen as a storytelling medium in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted on December 19, 2011 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Suicide, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on December 19, 1941: Japanese Spy Ring Smashed, FBI Says

Academy Awards Banquet Canceled; Oscars Postponed Due to War

Posted on December 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 18, 1941: Louis A. Tyler reports to the Navy recruiting office after receiving a telegram informing him of the death of his son, Fireman 3rd Class George L. Tyler,  at Pearl Harbor. “My purpose is to take my son’s … Continue reading →

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Former LAPD Chief Demoted to Lieutenant

Posted on December 17, 2011 by lmharnisch

Wake Island will fall to the Japanese on Dec. 23, 1941. Dec 17, 1941: Police Chief C. B. Horrall demotes former Chief Arthur C. Hohmann from deputy chief to lieutenant and assigns him to the Highland Park station. Hohmann, who … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, LAPD, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Former LAPD Chief Demoted to Lieutenant

Soldier Kills Civilian in Tragedy at Airport Checkpoint

Posted on December 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

Terrific artwork from the incredible Milton Caniff. Dec. 15, 1941: A group of soldiers was stopping motorists on Sepulveda Boulevard near the airport to strip off blue cellophane that had been illegally put over the headlights in the new wartime … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Jimmie Fidler, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments