July 4, 1863: Los Angeles Celebrates the Fourth of July With Pic-Nics and Fire-Works

Posted on July 4, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 4, 1863, Los Angeles Star

The complete July 4, 1863, issue of the Los Angeles Star is available from USC, which scanned  a copy at the Huntington.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

July 4, 1863: Los Angeles plans to celebrate the Fourth of July with a 34-gun salute and a fireworks display in the evening. A ball was planned at the Willow Grove House in the afternoon and another ball in town in the evening.

The Star, a staunch supporter of the Confederacy, said: “This Declaration is being now reenacted. The same soil which sent forth its heroes to do battle for these fundamental truths is again called upon to endure a baptism of blood in their vindication.”

The Star also reports on a measure in Sacramento “requiring foreigners to show their papers before voting.”

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Black L.A. 1947: Sugar Chile Robinson and a Review of ‘Crossfire’

Posted on July 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Sugar Chile Robinson
Sugar Chile Robinson performs at the Lincoln. I should do an entire post on him, but so many stories and only one Larry Harnisch.



July 3, 1947, Los Angeles Sentinel, Crossfire
July 3, 1947: One of the regular complaints in my Twitter feed is about the lack of people of color among movie critics. So here we are. A review of “Crossfire” in the Los Angeles Sentinel by Wendell Green. He says: “They should have stood in bed.”

Also: Duke Ellington says jazz musicians need thorough technical training.

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

July 3, 1947: Flying Saucers Over Beverly Hills!

Posted on July 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

image

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

This is where the 1947 Project intersects with other 1947 Project. Mysterious flying discs were reported June 28 over New Mexico, prompting sarcastic letters to The Times: (“They went by a cow out in the field right behind our house and the suction sucked the cow inside out so now all we have to do to milk bossy is lean her over sidewise and let the milk run out.”)

The next day, other observers reported that the saucers over Beverly Hills were searchlights reflected off clouds (presumably from another movie premiere or the opening of coin laundry).

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Posted in 1947, Aviation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

July 3, 1907: Head of Anti-Fakers League Says Gunfire Was Real

Posted on July 3, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

July 3, 1907
Los Angeles

Robert T. Hall, head of the Los Angeles Anti-Fakers League (or Anti-Fakers Society), says shots were fired at him as he returned from an outing to a friend’s summer camp, and he blames local spiritualists and mediums.

He has been leading a crusade against fortune tellers, seers and other practitioners of the mystic arts and in heading for the end of the streetcar line in Edendale, he passed Semi-Tropic Park, a gathering place for spiritualists just outside the city limits, where such practices are regulated by law.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 7, 2018, Mystery Photo
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1955 Warner Bros. film “Illegal,” and yes, it is the studio’s second remake of “The Mouthpiece.”

With Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe, Jayne Mansfield, Albert Dekker, Howard St. John, Ellen Corby, Edward Platt, Jan Merlin, Robert Ellenstein, Jay Adler, Henry Kulky, James McCallion, Addison Richards, Lawrence Dobkin, DeForest Kelly, Clark Howat and Stuart Nedd. This version of the screenplay was by W.R. Burnett and James R. Webb from a story by Frank J. Collins. Photography was by J. Peverell Marley, art direction by Stanley Fleischer, set decoration by William Wallace, wardrobe by Moss Mabry, orchestrations by Murray Cutter, makeup by Gordon Bau, music by Max Steiner. Produced by Frank P. Rosenberg, directed by Lewis Allen.

“Illegal” is available on DVD from Warner Archive, paired with “The Big Steal.”

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , | 43 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Emma Lazarus’ ‘The New Colossus’ Calls to All Immigrants

Posted on July 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 19, 1884, Harper's Weekly
Construction of the Statue of Liberty, artwork by John Durkin, Harper’s Weekly, Jan. 19, 1884.

Written in 1883 to help raise money for building the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty would stand, Emma Lazarus’ 14-line poem “The New Colossus” would take on a life of its own: becoming enshrined on the statue as a memorial to the poet and as a statement of welcome to those seeking refuge in our country. As we approach Independence Day, the meaning behind its words rings even clearer today.

Born July 22, 1849, in New York City as the fourth of seven children to wealthy merchant Moses Lazarus, Emma received a strong private education, learning to speak at least four languages and becoming an excellent writer, especially in poetry. Ralph Waldo Emerson mentored her. She translated works of literature as well as setting down her own odes, many based on romantic literature and others on troubling historic events regarding her fellow Jews, receiving much praise upon their publication. She also worked to alleviate the suffering of women and the poor.

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

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Posted in 1884, Hollywood Heights, Immigration, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

July 2, 1947: Man Held in Strangling of Mary Tate

Posted on July 2, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 2, 1947, Oscar L. Hallgren

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

This is, of course, a murder frequently tossed into the Black Dahlia file by crime books such as “The Cases That Haunt Us” and “Black Dahlia Avenger.” But no one (except a reference I recall from “True Confessions” and can’t locate at the moment) mentions that Tate was African American. Nor does anyone ever add that a suspect was arrested in the case.

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Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

July 1, 1947: ‘Mom and Dad’ — Elliot Forbes and Sexploitation in the 1940s

Posted on July 1, 2018 by lmharnisch


'Mom and Dad'  
Well, we know where this story is going.

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

I had never heard of this particular cinematic triumph, but it was apparently a fixture of sexploitation in middle America of the 1940s and 50s. I’m deeply indebted to an essay by that luminary of le bad filme, Joe Bob Briggs. (http://www.reason.com/0311/fe.jb.kroger.shtml)

“Mom and Dad” was produced by Kroger Babb, written by Mildred Horn and directed by the incredibly long-lived and prolific William “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” Beaudine, one of seven films he directed in 1945.

Starring nobody you’ve ever heard of unless you’re a total film geek (look for Perry White from the “Superman” TV show in a teeny role, for example) “Mom and Dad” was a movie that served as bookends for a live presentation by an actor who delivered a lecture as “Dr. Elliot Forbes.”

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Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

July 1, 1907: What Was the Gas Mileage of the Horseless Carriage?

Posted on July 1, 2018 by lmharnisch



Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

July 1, 1907
Los Angeles

If you ever wondered if the Locomobile or Pope-Hartford got great gas mileage, the answer is no, as shown in the results of the 185-mile Lakeside Endurance Race. In cost and fuel efficiency, the 1907 automobiles were about the equivalent of a 2006 Ford Explorer (MSRP $31,650) or a Range Rover Sport (MSRP $56,085-$69,025).

The car with best gas mileage in the economy competition was the Pope-Hartford, 8½ gallons (21.76 mpg), in the class of touring cars costing $1,501-$3,000 ($30,805.88-$61,570.71 USD 2005).
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Posted in 1907, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

June 30, 1947: Albert Goldberg Becomes L.A. Times Music Critic

Posted on June 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 30, 1947, Albert Goldberg

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

Thus began a career that endured past his retirement in 1965—making way for Martin Bernheimer—until shortly before his death in 1990 at the age of 91. Goldberg was The Times’ first full-time classical music critic.

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Slander, My Sweet: Raymond Chandler, John Houseman and ‘The Blue Dahlia’

Posted on June 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

'The Blue Dahlia'
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in “The Blue Dahlia.”

Slander, My Sweet

Here are the opening paragraphs of the piece I’ve been working on for the last few months as I waited for the clamor to die down about Piu Eatwell’s “Black Dahlia, Red Rose.” It’s a deep dive into the making of “The Blue Dahlia” and John Houseman’s tall tale about Raymond Chandler going on an eight-day drunk to finish the picture.

At this point, I’m not sure what I’ll do with the piece. It’s quite long and although I could post it on the blog, I’m casting around for a venue with more exposure.

Posted in 1945, 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

June 29, 1947: ‘Palestine Extremists Kill Two More Britons’

Posted on June 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 29, 1947, L.A. Times

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

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June 29, 1907: Horribly Beaten, Wife Begs Police Not to Charge Husband, Refuses to Testify

Posted on June 29, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

June 29, 1907
Los Angeles

Through the jail cell’s bars, the officer asked, “Where did you get that blood on your shirt?”

E.H. Phelan, a barber at the Hotel Alexandria, said: “No, I did not beat my wife.” He whispered: “She was drunk and fell down.”

And the blood?

 

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Black L.A. 1947: Jury Selection Begins in San Diego Slavery Case

Posted on June 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 26, 1947, L.A. Sentinel
Above, Cab Calloway is at the Million Dollar Theater with “Ding Dong Williams.” 

June 26, 1947: Jury selection begins in San Diego in the case of Alfred and Elizabeth Ingalls, who are accused of holding Dora L. Jones as a slave.

The Sentinel runs a banner headline, an interview with Elizabeth Ingalls, a summary of the case, and interviews with people hoping to watch the trial.

 

June 26, 1947, L.A. Sentinel June 26, 1947, L.A. Sentinel

 

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June 28, 1947: College Makes Women Unfit for Marriage, L.A. ‘Expert’ Says

Posted on June 28, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 28, 1947, L.A. Times

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

Meet Paul Popenoe, who appears in hundreds of stories in The Times (including 11 in 1947), often as the elder statesman of family counseling in Los Angeles in later years. Among other things he said in 1947 was that childless couples were far more like to divorce than married couples and therefore recommended having children to preserve families, the more, the better. He also noted that people who were married by a justice of the peace were only half as likely to stay married as those married by a minister. At a presentation featuring Mills College President Lynn T. White Jr. on how “Colleges Can Help Reduce the Divorce Rate,” Popenoe said: “Too much feminine domination during a boy’s formative years leaves him unprepared and inadequate to face the man’s world, including marriage.”

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June 28, 1907: 62 Cars Enter Endurance Race From Los Angeles to Lakeside

Posted on June 28, 2018 by lmharnisch



Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

June 28, 1907
Los Angeles

Give cars to a bunch of wealthy Los Angeles residents and what do they do? Race them, of course. Not on a track this time, but in an endurance test from Los Angeles to Lakeside. And yes, it’s a bit warmish for an endurance race, especially once the drivers get further inland—100 degrees.

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June 27, 1947: Ray the Newspaper Boy Publishes First Book, ‘Dark Carnival’

Posted on June 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 27, 1947, L.A. Times

L.A. Times, 1947, Ray Bradbury

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

I’ll be putting that little landmark on my tour of the Black Dahlia crime scene, which is about three miles away. Bradbury’s first book got a press run of about 3,000 copies and sells for $1,000 to $4,000 and up.

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June 27, 1907: New to America, Wife Mistakes Gasoline for Coffee in Making Husband’s Breakfast

Posted on June 27, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

June 27, 1907
Los Angeles

Louise arrived in Los Angeles three months ago from Norway with her four young children. She met a man who worked in San Pedro (we only know his initials, F.G.) and before long, they were married and living in his small home at 825 Tennessee St.

One morning, she got up to make coffee, turned on the stove, took a glass of dark liquid from a shelf and poured it into the coffee pot.

April 23, 1907, Marriage notice
Above, the marriage of Fred G. Rohn and Louise Johnson, in the Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1907.

Update June 27, 2018: The Times story is incorrect in a few ways. (The Herald added its own error in identifying the family as Rohan.)

The family was actually named Rohn. The husband was Fred G. Rohn. He and Louise married April 22 1907. According to their marriage license, he was born in Germany about 1876. She was the former Louise Johnson, born in Norway about 1873.

 

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Posted in 1907, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Fires, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

June 26, 1947: ‘White’ or ‘Negro?’ LAPD Holds Sentinel Columnist for Having Two Driver’s Licenses

Posted on June 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 26, 1947, L.A. Sentinel
June 26, 1947: Los Angeles Sentinel columnist Edward Robinson takes a trip to the University Station after LAPD officers discover that he is carrying two driver’s licenses. One identifies him as “white” and the other identifies him as “Negro.”

With all the digging I have done in old Los Angeles newspapers, I have never come across anything like this.

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Columnists | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

June 26, 1947: Helicopter Hovers Over Clipper Ship

Posted on June 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 26, 1947, Copter, Clipper


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

An unknown press photographer in Long Beach captured them in a small fraction of a second, the old three-masted square-rigger and the brand-new helicopter: old and new, past and future.

Helicopters were exotic aircraft in 1947 and newspapers coined names like “the Flying Eggbeater” and “the Whirlybird” for them. Their strengths were quickly recognized, however, and in 1947 Los Angeles became the first U.S. city to use them for mail and express service. (Apparently the mail pilots had a habit of hovering over sunbathers, prompting a lawsuit by women members of the Santa Monica Ambassador Club). The DWP also began using copters to check power lines and they proved themselves in fighting a 3,600-acre wildfire in Big Tujunga Canyon, which killed two men and injured at least 75 more.

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