The other joy of doing the Daily Mirror was reintroducing readers to the columns of Matt Weinstock, taken from the Mirror (d. 1962). Weinstock is remembered today for the 1947 book “My L.A.” (I have enough copies, thank you), which inspired an apparently dreadful revue by Larry Gelbart with music by Sammy Fain..
In this column, Weinstock takes a whimsical look at the origins of “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena.”
One of my particular joys in doing the Daily Mirror at the Los Angeles Times was rerunning Paul Coates’ columns, which originally appeared in the Mirror (d. 1962). I was particularly fortunate to have several excellent interns who transcribed them. This entire column is available at Archive.org..
The Times killed the Daily Mirror in 2011, but holds the copyright and the posts remain online in a long-neglected subdomain that isn’t linked to the latimes.com website. To avoid link rot, I’ll link to the copies at Archive.org.
Coates’ most memorable story for 1958? Helping to win a reprieve for Remmel Wayne Brice, who was sentenced to die in the gas chamber for killing the owner of a Van Nuys liquor store..
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Just in time for New Year’s, we’ll take a look at a “lost drink,” making a brief inquiry into San Francisco’s Pisco Punch, made famous by Bank Exchange saloon owner Duncan Nicol (often spelled Nichol or Nicoll), who died in 1926 without revealing the recipe.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1956 Columbia picture “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers,” with Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum, John Zaremba, Tom Browne Henry, Brandon Rhodes and Larry Blake.
Screenplay by Bernard Gordon and George Worthing Yates, screen story by Curt Siodmak, suggested by “Flying Saucers From Outer Space” by Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe. Photography by Fred Jackman Jr., technical effects by Ray Harryhausen, art direction by Paul Palmentola, film editing by Danny D. Landres, set decoration by Sidney Clifford, special effects by Russ Kelley, music conducted by Mischa Bakaleinikoff. Produced by Charles H. Schneer, executive producer Sam Katzman, directed by Fred F. Sears.
“Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” is available on DVD from TCM.
Photo: “The Sleuths at the Floral Parade.” Credit: Mary Mallory, the Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library.
Note: This is an encore post from 2011.
The Tournament of Roses Parade is going on its 122th year, and grows more elaborate and beautiful every year. Bands, floats, cars, horses, and even celebrities take part in this festive annual event. This year, Paramount Pictures is even entering a float celebrating its 100th anniversary, honoring “Titanic” and “Wings,” the first feature film awarded the Best Picture Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927/1928.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Dec. 31, 1907
Los Angeles
His name was W.H. Reynolds and the old watchman for E.H. Howard Contracting had laid out all night after being beaten up and thrown in the weeds by two robbers who said they were garbage men looking for the closest dump.
A woman who saw the assault contacted the University Station and police searched all night in the area around Alameda Street and Washington Boulevard, where Reynolds lived in a small, ragged tent. It wasn’t until daylight that two patrolmen found him lying face down and he was taken to the Receiving Hospital.
Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2017.
Joe Vogel asks if there was a Queens Cocktail. The answer is yes.
According to the Jamaica Long Island Daily Press, Jan. 24, 1935, the Queens Cocktail debuted at the Hotel Commodore in a toast to President Roosevelt. Via Fultonhistory.com.
(No word yet on the Staten Island Cocktail — and boy that sounds like a straight line).
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
I think of it as a report card from the past. For the last few months, the 47P has explored stories that seemed important or unusual, funny or quirky or simply said something about the city and the era.
At the end of the year, George Gallup polled Americans on the top stories of the year. Some will be familiar to 47P regulars and others didn’t get a mention. Let’s see how it went.
Gallup said the following were the 15 most frequently mentioned in order of votes received:
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Dec. 30, 1907
Los Angeles
James Sullivan, 64, was a prisoner of the Confederates held at Belle Isle, Libby and Andersonville, where he and war correspondent Albert D. Richardson escaped by tunneling for three months with a spoon.
Henry Russell, formerly of the 4th Cavalry, was held at Andersonville and Benjamin L. Gorsuch of the 1st Maryland Infantry was captured and sent to Belle Isle. James Sherwood was with the 10th New Jersey. John Ryan, 77, was with 7th New York Heavy Artillery.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com.
In case you plan to mix one up, a Bronx Cocktail is one part Italian vermouth, three parts brandy and a dash of orange bitters. Shake well!
Notice that there are also three variations of the Manhattan.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Dec. 29, 1907
Los Angeles
The Times real estate pages feature homes under construction around Washington Boulevard west of Hobart Boulevard. “This section is just being built up with a splendid class of dwelling houses,” The Times says. “There are several car lines within a short distance, furnishing a rapid transportation service to the center of the city, and as the whole section is on a mesa, it is high above the fogs and occasional floodwater caused by rain, which obtains a few blocks farther south.”
One home features a bit of whimsy: A Mission-style house on the northwest corner of Washington and Westmoreland Boulevard with an automobile garage designed like a Dutch windmill, including a conical top and sails. Of course, the garage and the house are long gone.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Yes, the Manhattan cocktail once had competition from drinks named for the other boroughs. Here’s a recipe for the Brooklyn Cocktail, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 7, 1937. The Brooklyn Cocktail as made by Brad Dewey consisted of
Two parts Jamaica rum
One part lime juice
Dash of grenadine
We won’t be toasting the new year with the Brooklyn Cocktail (we’re working) but if someone is brave enough to try one, let us know how it is.
And in case you are wondering, research shows that there was also a Bronx Cocktail. Evidently it, too, has fallen out of favor.
Dec. 28, 2006
Los Angeles
As promised, here are some photos of a few neighborhoods I visited recently.
A vintage 1972 iron-on transfer of Harvey Wallbanger himself, on EBay for $12.
Note: This is a repost from 2013.
We have been looking at some historic drinks for this holiday season. To the millennials in the audience: This is what mom and dad used to drink (along with the Tequila Sunrise) when they went out in the 1970s.
Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear:
1 ounce of vodka
4 ounces of orange juice
half an ounce of Galliano.
Poured over ice in a highball glass.
Cue Grand Funk Railroad’s “Gimme Shelter” or Carole King’s “It’s Too Late.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
The last words her neighbors heard were “Stop, stop, you’re killing me!” as she fought hard for her life. The housekeeper found the body in the bathtub the next day, when she heard water dripping in the upstairs bathroom.
Because the apartment at 8493 Fountain Ave. is in West Hollywood, rather than the city of Los Angeles, the murder was handled by the Sheriff’s Department rather than the LAPD.
The victim was Georgette Bauerdorf, a Hollywood Canteen hostess who normally shared the apartment with her older sister, Connie, who was in New York, along with their father, George, and stepmother. Two days before she was killed, she wrote in her diary: “Call to Jerry [Pvt. Jerry Brown, a boyfriend] at 6:30 a.m. came thru—Jerry’s a lamb. Letter from Dud and Jerry—wrote Jerry.”
Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Dec. 27, 1907
Henryetta, Okla., by the Associated Press
A little more than a month after Oklahoma achieved statehood, James Garden became a wretched statistic: the first black to be lynched there.
On Dec. 24, Garden went to see liveryman Albert Bates about renting a rig. When Bates refused, Garden accused him of racism, went across the street to get a gun, returned and shot Bates to death.
Dec. 25, 1947: “Call It Stormy Monday” by T-Bone Walker is on the hit parade. On the jump, “Railroad Porter Blues” by Eddie Vinson and “Money’s Getting Cheaper” by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers.
A recipe for the Tom and Jerry from the San Francisco Call, June 30, 1912.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Over on Facebook, Christopher McPherson asked whether the Tom and Jerry was named for the MGM cartoon characters. I said I suspected the opposite was true, rather like Disney’s Chip ‘n’ Dale being named for Chippendale furniture.
All the old newspaper stories give credit for the drink to bartender Jerry Thomas, who according to one account was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1825 (or Watertown, N.Y., in 1830).
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
On Christmas Eve 1947, the LAPD arrested 35 adults for drunk driving, 2 juveniles for drunk driving, and 19 for being drunk in an automobile. Of the 188 other arrests involving drunkenness, one was for speeding, one was for manslaughter and one was for hit-and-run.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Dec. 26, 1907
Pittsburgh, by direct wire to The Times
As Christmas celebrations concluded at Knoxville Presbyterian Church, the congregation presented the Rev. W.A. Jones with $100 ($2,052.36 USD 2005). A banker who was among the worshipers made a point of getting freshly minted gold pieces to present to the pastor.
But the $20 Double Eagles, newly redesigned by sculptor Augustus St.-Gaudens at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt, had a terrible flaw, in Jones’ view.
“This is Godless money, I cannot take it,” Jones said of the coins, example at right. “My mother taught me to look for the motto ‘In God We Trust’ on the coins of our country and when the president announced his new order effacing the inscription from the coins, I swore I would take no money that did not bear the old motto.” Continue reading
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