Sept. 7, 1947: May Co. Offers Credit Plan With 1% Interest

Posted on September 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sept. 7, 1947, May Co.
Sept. 7, 1947: Oh, the innocence here.

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Black L.A. 1947: Some Static for Al Jarvis, Radio’s ‘Great White Father’ of Black Musicians,

Posted on September 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sept. 4, 1947, Hollywood Spotlight, L.A. Sentinel

Sept. 4, 1947: Earl Griffin gives some hard shots to disc jockey Al Jarvis of KLAC-AM (570, in case you’re Atwater Kent is working). Jarvis was credited with using black artists on his radio show as early as 1933, but the L.A. Sentinel columnist says Jarvis “has hoodwinked the public into believing he was the ‘great white father’ of our group.”

Griffin goes on to critique an ad on Jarvis’ “Make Believe Ballroom” for a housing development that didn’t say the homes were restricted to whites. He also criticizes a listeners’ contest for records made by members of Local 47 of the musicians union without saying that black musicians were barred from Local 47.

Jarvis, dubbed “the dean of disc jockeys” by the Los Angeles Times, died of a heart attack in 1970 at the age of 60 after a long career in radio and early television.

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Sept. 7, 1947: The Comics Pages

Posted on September 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Comics, L.A. Times, 1947

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

Say kids, it’s Sunday morning, let’s look at the comics. Why it’s a 10-page section, imagine that. Los Angeles Times, World’s Greatest Comics—15 cents. That would be $1.42 today.

Who have we got here? Looks like Dick Tracy has finally captured Coffyhead with the help of the Junior Crimestoppers. Red Ryder and his pals are expanding the Rimrock School. Who’s that kid? His name is Little Beaver and he’s supposed to be a Native American. He’s saying: “Him make-um eyes like wolf at teacher. Me gusdusted.”

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Art & Artists, Comics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Sept. 7, 1907: Typhoid, Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever and Tuberculosis

Posted on September 7, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 7, 1907
Los Angeles

Henry Sief of the health office has released the latest figures on infectious diseases in Los Angeles and the news is wonderful.

There were only 20 cases of diphtheria in August, a 31% decrease from the 29 cases in July. Scarlet fever was down to 9 cases in August, a 55% drop from July, when there were 20. Tuberculosis is down to 10 cases from 24.

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September 6, 1947: Mexican Workers Essential as Americans Refuse Stoop Labor, Ranchers Testify

Posted on September 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

“Up from his 160-acre vegetable farm at San Juan Capistrano, veteran rancher H.L. Remmers informed the committee that he must “get Mexican workers” or “think about going out of business.” Americans, Remmers said, “don’t like ‘stoop labor.’ ” ./

Farmers, he said, will be “glad to go down to the border and bring the Mexicans north at our own expense and responsibility.” Pay ranges from 70 cents an hour for harvesters ($6.62 USD 2005) to $1.10 ($10.41 USD 2005) for tractor men, Remmers said….

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Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Immigration, Labor | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: Steve Hodel, James Ellroy and EBay: Outbid!

Posted on September 6, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Gosh, I upped my bid on James Ellroy’s copies of “Black Dahlia Avenger” (the hardback and paperback) but was outbid. Darn. I’m going to do my best to get them over $25, though. Don’t you think primo Dahlia material is worth more than a couple of pizzas?

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: Steve Hodel, James Ellroy and EBay: Outbid!

Black Dahlia: More Steve Hodel, James Ellroy and EBay

Posted on September 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

I couldn’t stand the thought of James Ellroy’s copies of “Black Dahlia Avenger” going for so little on EBay. After all, don’t people know the book has been optioned by New Line Cinema? Surely books that are inscribed to the Demon Dog of American Fiction are worth more than $20. So I bumped up my bids by 50 cents on the hardback and paperback.

Outbid!

As mentioned on L.A. Observed. Continue reading →

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Sept. 5, 1947: L.A. Turns 166, Becomes Third-Largest City in America

Posted on September 5, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947

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

Los Angeles mounted a festive reenactment of its founding, with people taking the roles of padres, soldiers and settlers. On the gaily decorated steps of City Hall, officials told tales of the city’s past: Mrs. Leiland Atherton Irish on the Mexican-Spanish period; Marshall Stimson on life from 1850 to 1900; former Mayor George E. Cryer on 1900 to 1947; and Mayor Fletcher Bowron on the city’s future.

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Sept. 5, 1907: Young Cecil Moore Explores L.A., One Step Ahead of the Law

Posted on September 5, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 5, 1907
Los Angeles

Poor old Mrs. Moore was ill, so instead of paying the grocer his monthly bill, she put a $10 gold piece in an envelope and told her 9-year-old son, Cecil, to take it to him. But Cecil, of 155 W. 51st St., tore open the envelope, found the $10 ($205.24 USD 2005) and got other ideas, none of them good.
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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Sessue Hayakawa, Author

Posted on September 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sessue Hayakawa Cine Mundial
Sessue Hayakawa in Cine Mundial.

Long renowned as one of the most mesmerizing, exotic actors of the silent screen, Sessue Hayakawa and his piercing eyes and sensual mouth stole women’s attentions and minds. Born in Japan, the son of aristocratic parents came to America plying his trade as an actor. When Hayakawa struggled in the late 1920s after returning from several years abroad, the actor turned to writing to make a living and maintain his fame.

While studying at the Eagan Dramatic School in downtown Los Angeles, the intense Hayakawa met and befriended sweet actress Tsuru Aoki, who had signed with producer Thomas Ince to appear in films and brought the acting troupe along. Aoki starred opposite Hayakawa in the 1913 film “O Mimi San,” with the two exhibiting great timing and chemistry. They fell in love during the making of the film “The Typhoon” before marrying on May 1, 1914.

Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.

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Sept. 4, 1947: Red Influences in Hollywood!

Posted on September 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947, Hollywood Reds

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

Among the celebrities declining an invitation to discuss Communists in Hollywood was Hedda Hopper, and her column expands on the number of Red-influenced films in Hollywood and reflects the reasoning of the day.

In addition to the previously mentioned films “Mission to Moscow,” “North Star” and “Song of Russia” attacked as being Red-influenced, Hopper adds:

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Black Dahlia Avenger: From Steve Hodel to James Ellroy to EBay

Posted on September 4, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

My goodness, one never knows what will turn up on Ebay. This morning I found a copy of “Black Dahlia Avenger” inscribed by Steve Hodel to James Ellroy, who wrote the introduction to the paperback, praising Hodel’s work and endorsing his solution.

And bidding started at $19.99.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sept. 8, 2018, The Unfaithful
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1947 Warner Bros. picture “The Unfaithful,” with Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Jerome Cowan, Steven Geray and John Hoyt. Original screenplay by David Goodis and James Gunn, photography by Ernest Haller, art direction by Leo K. Kuter, dialogue direction by Felix Jacoves, wardrobe by Travilla, special effects by William McGann and Robert Burks, set decorations by William Wallace, makeup by Perc Westmore, orchestral arrangements by Murray Cutter, musical direction by Leo F. Forbstein, music by Max Steiner, produced by Jerry Wald, directed by Vincent Sherman.

“The Unfaithful” is available on DVD from Warner Archive.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 39 Comments

September 3, 1907: A Oration for Labor Day

Posted on September 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

September 3, 1907
Editorial, Los Angeles Times

“I have no patience with the prejudices which exist between alleged classes when the classes themselves do not exist. There is no reason for hostility between employer and employee, between capitalist and wage earner. A condition of class hatred, such as has developed in Colorado, is a curse to this country.”

The utterer of these excellent sentiments was W.R. Hearst, orator of the day at the Jamestown Exposition yesterday—whose string of yellow socialistic newspapers and magazines has done more than any other agency existing to foment prejudice and class hatred and arouse reasonless hostility between capitalists and wage earners.

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September 2, 1947: Miss Muscle Beach of 1947

Posted on September 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947, Miss Muscle Beach

image

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

Muscle Beach began in the early 1930s as a program of the Federal Works Progress Administration, part of the government’s effort to recover from the Great Depression. It was later taken over by the Santa Monica Recreation Department.

Although already well-established, Muscle Beach was first mentioned in The Times in 1946, when a human pyramid collapsed and the young woman at the top suffered a dislocated shoulder.

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September 1, 1947: 1,000 World War II Veterans Now in LAPD Uniforms

Posted on September 1, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sept. 1, 1947, L.A. Times, LAPD

L.A. Times, Sept. 1, 1947, LAPD

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

They are building a new, young, military Police Department for Los Angeles these days with the men who helped to win the war on foreign battlefields and in the sky making up its backbone.

Already there are more than 1,000 new police officers who once were G.I.’s An additional 1,175 are authorized by the City Council.

“We’re going to have a young and strong Police Department,” Joseph F. Reed, assistant chief of police, said yesterday, “but it will take us at least five years to make professional career officers of the same caliber as the older and more experienced men who gradually are attaining retirement age.”

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Aug. 28, 1947: Margaret Harris Debuts in Piano Recital at Age 3

Posted on August 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Aug. 28, 1947, Margaret Harris


Aug. 28, 1947: At the age of 3, Margaret Rosezarian Harris was splashed across the front page of the Sentinel, which covered her concert of classical pieces at Chicago’s Carey AME Temple.

“She was poised and showed no trace of self-consciousness,” the Sentinel said.

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Aug. 31, 1947: Herbert Kline Shoots ‘Palestine’s First Feature Film Drama’

Posted on August 31, 2018 by lmharnisch

Aug. 31, 1947, L.A. Times
Note: My original post from 2005 on the 1947project was essentially a transcription of the 1947 L.A. Times story. Kline died in 1999. The film was released as “Beit Avi.” More on the film here.

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Aug. 31, 1907: The Year in Liquor — 20 Gallons of Beer for Every Man, Woman and Child in U.S.

Posted on August 31, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Aug. 31, 1907
Los Angeles

The ugly statistics should dishearten even the most ardent temperance worker. According to federal tax data for the last fiscal year, distillers produced 20 gallons of beer and 1.4 gallons of whiskey for every man, woman and child in America, a 5% increase and 8% increase respectively over 1906.

Cigar, cigarette and snuff production also showed similar increases. “The country being prosperous, cigar smoking grew at an amazing pace,” The Times said. Referring to cigars weighing more than 3 pounds per thousand, The Times said: “The public smoked about a billion and a third more of these cigars in the fiscal year just ended than it did the year before.”

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Aug. 30, 1907: Rabbi Leads Campaign to Open Hebrew University in L.A.

Posted on August 30, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Aug. 30, 1907
Los Angeles

Led by Rabbi Alfred Arndt of Congregation Beth Israel, the local Jewish community hopes to open what The Times describes as “the only Hebrew university within the entire United States.”

Noting the increased immigration to Southern California (the estimated number of Jews in the state went from 28,000 in 1905 to 42,000 in 1907), The Times said: “For a decade there has been a rapidly increasing Hebrew population in Los Angeles and other sections of Southern California. There is scarcely a place of any prominence within the seven southern counties which has not received a large quota of Hebraic citizens, especially within two or three years.”

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