May 20, 1939: Flocks of Sheep Near City Hall

Posted on May 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

Hillsides covered with sheep as a shepherd and dogs watch.

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Black Dahlia Book Club for May 2026

Posted on May 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

In this episode of the Black Dahlia Book Club, I look at actor/director/producer Jack Webb and his 1958 book “The Badge.” Continue reading →

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May 19, 1939: Soldier Killed, Hundreds Hurt in Holy Land Riots

Posted on May 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 19, 1939: Comic panel of a detective arrested criminals, accompanied by a talking pelican with a machine gun.
I can accept a talking cartoon pelican. I can even accept a talking cartoon pelican that has human hands. But I’m having a hard time with a talking cartoon pelican carrying a machine gun. Maybe it’s just me. Continue reading →

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May 18, 1947: Friends Raise Money to Buy Prosthetic Legs for Boy Injured by Unexploded Bazooka Shell

Posted on May 18, 2026 by lmharnisch

Oct. 18, 1948

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 that originally appeared on the 1947project.

Members of Cub Scout Pack 522-C gathered more than 32 tons in a paper drive to help buy artificial legs for injured pack member Jackie Cooper, 12.

Jackie and his friend, Lee Seely, 11, are being treated at General Hospital after an April 26 blast that occurred when one of the boys dropped an unexploded bazooka shell that someone found at Seal Beach, home of the Naval Weapons Station. Lee was hit in the abdomen with shrapnel and Jackie’s legs were amputated, his right leg below the knee and his left leg at mid-thigh.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 18, 2026 by lmharnisch
Main Title: Lettering over a calendar page showing Friday the 13th.

This week’s mystery movie was the 1940 Universal film Black Friday, with Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Stanley Ridges, Anne Nagel, Anne Gwynne, Virginia Brissac, Edmund MacDonald, Paul Fix, Murray Alper, Jack Mulhall, Joe King and John Kelly.

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May 16, 1908: Wanted — Home for 1,000 Ostriches!

Posted on May 16, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 16, 1980: Cawston Ostrich Farm of South Pasadena is looking for 250-500 acres suitable as a home for 1,000 ostriches.

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May 14, 1909: Man Swallows Carbolic Acid on Streetcar, Battles Conductor Before Dying

Posted on May 14, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 14, 1909: Man commits suicide on streetcar by swallowing carbolic acid

May 14, 1909: Above, the drama of daily life in early 20th century Los Angeles. Please point out this story to anyone who thinks the past was a “kinder, simpler time.” Below, the attempted rape of 13-year-old Neruda Nielson after she got off a streetcar at Central Avenue and 52nd Street. Neruda’s only identification of the attackers is that she thought they might be African American.

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Black Dahlia: Teaser for Video Disproving Alleged Dahlia-Zodiac Link and ‘Cracking’ Zodiac’s Z13

Posted on May 13, 2026 by lmharnisch

David Oranchak, who helped crack Zodiac’s so called Z340 cipher, has released the teaser for his upcoming video response to claims that supposedly self-taught codebreaker and “perceptionalist” Alex Baber has solved Zodiac’s Z13, and linked the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases.

The teaser is slick and professionally done, and I hope the full video refutes the ridiculous claims of Michael Connelly and Company, Christopher Goffard of the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Mail and everyone else who fell for this nonsense. To paraphrase Connelly: Alex Baber belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of Black Dahlia scam artists.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, May 13, 1944

Posted on May 13, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 13, 1944, Comics

image

May 13, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, May 12 — The warm admiration David Wark Griffith has for Preston Sturges and his delight in “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” will shortly result in a business association. D.W. wrote a motion picture version of Louis Bromfield’s “Up Ferguson Way,” which appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine, and through Lillian Gish’s insistence gave it to Preston to read. While it’s beautiful and poetic, Lillian and Sturges felt Griffith’s first picture should be strongly commercial. So Bromfield has been asked for added story suggestions.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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

Posted on May 13, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 13, 1908: Men held in attempted holdup at streetcar stop.

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 Street. This is important because the hill–like the one on Broadway–no longer exists and because the account is further proof that traffic problems are nothing new: Los Angeles has been struggling with its congested streets for more than a century …

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Black Dahlia Book Club – Coming May 19, 2026

Posted on May 12, 2026 by lmharnisch

Reminder, Boxie and I will be doing the next session of the Black Dahlia Book Club on Tuesday, May 19, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube. In this installment, I’ll be discussing Jack Webb’s influential 1958 book, The Badge.

Helpful links:

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May 12, 1908: Stanford Officials Open Unmarked Graves

Posted on May 12, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 12, 1908: Graves are opened in an unmarked cemetery near the Stanford campus.

Above, a gruesome story from Stanford is Page 1 news … Below, a cross-section of what The Times often called “Life’s Seamy Side” … Continue reading →

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May 12, 1907: History Deals a Deadly Hand

Posted on May 12, 2026 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

May 12, 1907

We’ve been having fun all week with the Shriners, parading around in their costumes, engaging in peculiar rites and pondering silly questions like “What Makes the Wildcat Wild?” Then in a moment, a train wreck at Honda north of Point Conception transforms everything.

The engineer, Fred Champlain, ran three-quarters of a mile to the nearest ranch house for help even though he had a broken arm from being thrown 40 feet from the wreck.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 11, 2026 by lmharnisch

Main title: tinted blue. city skyline as seen from the ocean, with a clock tower.

This week’s mystery movie was the 1920 film The Penalty, with Lon Chaney, Ethel Grey Terry, Charles Clary, Claire Adams, Kenneth Harlan, James Mason, Edouard Trebaol, Milton Ross, Clarence Wilson and J. Montgomery Carlyle.   Continue reading →

Posted in 1920, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

May 9, 1959: Family Evicted From Chavez Ravine

Posted on May 9, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 9, 1959: Members of the Arechiga family watch as their home is razed.

The Times’ coverage of the Chavez Ravine evictions isn’t easy reading and clearly not the paper at its best.

The construction of Dodger Stadium was something the paper campaigned for and those who opposed the plan were either ignored or minimized in print. But the events of May 8 couldn’t be ignored, in part because the evictions of the Arcechiga family and some of
their neighbors were televised.

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May 9, 1907: Shriners Present a Colorful Array

Posted on May 9, 2026 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

What, you might ask yourself, did Shriners do before the advent of those little cars and Harley-Davidson Electra Glides? The elaborately costumed men staged precision, close-order drills accompanied by marching bands.

The effect, according to The Times, was stunning, inspiring the unidentified author to summon forth his (or possibly her) own gaudiest prose.

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May 8, 1947: Mixed Marriage Was Illegal, Louisiana Court Rules, Ordering Woman to Vacate Home for New Owner

Posted on May 8, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 8, 1947, Girl Wins Bike

Daisy Lee Wade, 14, shows off a bike she won in a contest to name a bicycle. Her winning entry: A Master Chaser.

Court voids mixed marriage

May 8, 1947: Tony Rice and Azelia Barthelmy (sometimes Berthlemy) were married by the Catholic Church of St. Charles Parish, La., on Jan. 8, 1914. They had seven children before he deserted her in 1931.

The couple bought a home in 1919 and Azelia remained there for 28 years.  On Feb. 28, 1937, she declared that the property on Lot 5 of the Gilbert Darensbourg’s Place at Killona, St. Charles Parish was “a family home.” But on Oct. 7, 1946, Tony sold the property to Helen Ryan.

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May 7, 1938: Remembering Jack Parsons

Posted on May 7, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 7, 1938: Jack Parsons poses with replica of pipe bomb used in the Harry Raymond bombing.
May 7, 1938

Above, John W. “Jack” Parsons poses with his replica of the pipe bomb used in an attempt to kill Harry Raymond. Parsons, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is an enigmatic figure who became the subject of much speculation surrounding a “mystery cult” after he died in a 1952 explosion. The blast destroyed his home laboratory on the former Busch estate in Pasadena and his grief-stricken mother committed suicide when she learned he had died. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Where True Art Transcends Time

Posted on May 6, 2026 by lmharnisch

San_Francisco_Silent_Film_Festival
The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns to the newly renovated Castro Theatre May 6 through 10 for a trip back in time and history, with screenings of newly restored and classic movies from around the worlld. These films transport viewers into a dream world of beauty and feelings, capturing humanity at its best and worst.

All films feature live accompaniment by talented musicians from around the globe, including Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Stephen Horne, Frank Bockius, Guenther Buchwald, and Wayne Barker, along with detailed introductions by authors and archivists involved with saving and promoting them.

Guide to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Both full passes and individual tickets may be purchased online at www.sfsff.org.

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May 6, 1944: Woman’s Body Found in Trunk at Union Station

Posted on May 6, 2026 by lmharnisch

 

May 6, 1944, Trunk Murder

May 6, 1944

An old trunk wrapped with wire and tied with rope arrives at Union Station, where people noticed that it was leaking — and smelled. Sent to the repair department for inspection, the trunk was opened by Eugene Biledeau, who discovered a woman’s body wrapped in a sheet.

The victim had been dead about six days and was described as a young, 5-3 brunette, weighing 130 pounds. She was wearing a girdle, bra, slip and white bobby socks, with fingernails painted a “brilliant red,” The Times said. She had curlers in her hair.

 

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