Category Archives: World War II

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 →

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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

War Cancels Rose Parade, Dec. 14, 1941

Posted on December 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

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

Roundup of Aliens Overwhelms L.A. Jails, Dec. 13, 1941

Posted on December 13, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 13, 1941: The Daily Mirror HQ was thrilled to see a brief appearance by Jimmie Fidler in “Garden of the Moon,” so here he is, in case you ever wondered what he looked like. On the jump: Times artist … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Nightclubs, Nuestro Pueblo, World War II | Tagged , | Comments Off on Roundup of Aliens Overwhelms L.A. Jails, Dec. 13, 1941

FDR Warns of Long Struggle; Nisei Vow Loyalty to U.S.

Posted on December 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 10, 1941: At Los Angeles City College, Japanese American students are stunned by the Pearl Harbor attack and promise loyalty to the United States. “We American students of Japanese blood have confidence in the fairness of white Americans. Everyone … Continue reading →

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Pearl Harbor and the Rose-Colored Rearview Mirror

Posted on December 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Aug. 10, 1942: Politics is politics, war or not. My distinguished colleague George Skelton, who understands Sacramento like a watchmaker knows the inner workings of a precision timepiece,   has gazed rather fondly into the rose-colored rearview mirror with a … Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

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 →

Posted in Art & Artists, Aviation, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Nuestro Pueblo, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on FBI Rounds Up Japanese in Hunt for Subversives, Dec. 8, 1941

L.A.’s Views on Pearl Harbor Attack

Posted on December 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 8, 1941: The Times interviewed average Angelenos (if there is such a thing) for their opinions about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Many, like Horace Goodrich, thought the U.S. would wrap up the war in a few weeks. … Continue reading →

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

A Firsthand History Lesson on Pearl Harbor

Posted on December 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular curriculum to give his young pupils a firsthand account of Pearl Harbor. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Education, History, World War II | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

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

Posted on December 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

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

Posted on December 5, 2011 by lmharnisch

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

Posted on December 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

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