November 30, 2006: Architectural Rambling

Posted on November 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

Here’s the former Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena, now the Grace Brethren church.

Note: This is an encore post.

November 30, 2006
Los Angeles

I don’t think anyone who knows both of us will ever confuse me with Nathan Marask; certainly not when it comes to architectural photography. In fact, I don’t really do architectural photography. I take snapshots of buildings—and lousy ones at that. Nor do I have Nathan’s charm in wangling my way into historic structures (see the 1947 Project entry on the “Cafeteria of Doom!” for example)

But I do have a couple of pictures to share. Continue reading →

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November 30, 1907: Witness Against Mexican Revolutionaries Poisoned!

Posted on November 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

November 30, 1907
Los Angeles

A secret witness in the trial of the Mexican revolutionaries—kept under close guard because his life has been threatened—went into convulsions shortly after eating a meal that apparently contained strychnine.

Trinidad Vasquez, identified by The Times as a member of the Mexican Secret Service, has been accompanied everywhere by Detective Thomas Furlong. But after a stormy court session, Vasquez complained of being hungry and was allowed to go to a cafe on 5th Street near Olive, where he had a ham and cheese sandwich with a cup of coffee.

Continue reading →

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November 27, 1968: O.J. Simpson wins Heisman

Posted on November 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 27, 1968: O.J. Simpson wins the Heisman Trophy.

November 27, 1968: O.J. Simpson wins the Heisman Trophy.Note: This is an encore post from 2008.

O.J. Simpson won the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player of 1968 after a remarkable two-year USC career.

Dwight Chapin’s story in The Times portrayed the lack of suspense–even Simpson said he was “pretty confident.” Who could blame him? After all, he set NCAA records in 1968 for yards gained and carries and scored 21 touchdowns.

Looking back on any Simpson story has its weird elements. Chapin’s story recounted a friendly exchange between Simpson and LAPD Chief Tom Reddin who said at one point, “I’m so happy for you. I’m a hero worshiper and you’re the greatest.”

And there’s a quote from Simpson about his former surroundings: “I go home to my old area and some of my friends actually hide from me. I guess maybe it’s that I’m different now. They’re doing the same things I used to do but they’re still doing them. I’m not.”

Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, broadcasting, Current Affairs, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Sports, Television | Comments Off on November 27, 1968: O.J. Simpson wins Heisman

November 27, 1964: Secretary Found Stabbed to Death in the ‘Thanksgiving’ Murder

Posted on November 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 27, 1964: Portrait of Joyce Gail Walker.
Note: This is an encore post from 2009.

November 27, 1964: The death of Joyce Gayle Walker is one of the more haunting killings of the 1960s. I’m not sure it was ever solved. I can’t find any follow-up stories on it.

Update: There are a few stories about a false confession in the case, but that’s about all.

“This murder is one of the toughest we’ve ever had,” sheriff’s Homicide Detective James Hamilton said in 1967.

Continue reading →

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November 27, 1941: Streetcar Companies Ask Council to End Bus Ban in Downtown L.A.

Posted on November 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

Nov. 27, 1941, Japan Gets Blunt Terms

Nov. 27, 1941 Comics

November 27, 1941: The Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railways ask the City Council to repeal a ban against buses operating in downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Electric officials said the ban prevented them from routing the line from Los Angeles to Alhambra, San Gabriel and Temple City out of Main Street. The repeal would also allow Pacific Electric to turn its station at 6th and Main Streets into a bus terminal, The Times said. (Are you surprised that the campaign to convert streetcar lines to buses started before World War II?)

Tom Treanor, who was killed covering World War II for The Times, tells the story of seven recruits about to take an oath to join the Marines.

Jackie Cooper and Susanna Foster star in “Glamour Boy,” with Skinnay Ennis and his orchestra live on stage at the Paramount!

Jimmie Fidler says: Wot a jaunt around the Caribbean bases that must have been for Oliver (oh-so-fat) Hardy. During one hop in a too-small plane he had to stand for seven hours because he didn’t fit in the seats and there was no room on the floor.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Celebrates a Wartime Thanksgiving, 1943

Posted on November 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

Nv. 26, 1943, Thanksgiving
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

A wartime Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, with many service personnel welcomed into people’s homes for a holiday meal.

The Times published cooking tips for war workers, advising cooks who were otherwise engaged “for the duration” to use prepared mixes, packaged pie crust and canned pumpkin to cut preparation time.

Continue reading →

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November 27, 1907: Mexican Revolutionaries Accused of Gigantic Conspiracy

Posted on November 27, 2025 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

November 27, 1907
Los Angeles

A shadowy, global conspiracy of anarchists is being described in the trial of revolutionaries Ricardo Flores Magon, Antonio Villareal and Librado Rivera in federal court. The fourth defendant, L. Gutierrez De Lara, was charged separately with committing larceny in Sonora, Mexico.

“The first positive evidence of a gigantic conspiracy to overthrow a friendly government was legally introduced,” The Times said. “Although there has been intimation of the danger[ous] character of the three men under arrest, and a partial expose of their cowardly plans to [overthrow] the presidents of this country and of Mexico, the far-reaching character of the junta has hardly been realized, even by government officials.”

Continue reading →

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An 1890s Thanksgiving in the Kitchen

Posted on November 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

Everyday Cook-Book

Note: This is an encore post from 2011.

Here’s a traditional roast turkey recipe from the “Every-Day Cook-Book and Family Compendium,” written about 1890 by Miss E. Neill. Be sure your fire is bright and clear and watch out for the gall-bag.
Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2025

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival offered a tantalizing Grand Tour across the cinematic universe in their recently concluded festival, educating and edifying audiences with thoughtful programming, excellent film accompaniment, and the chance to connect with other silent film cineastes.

This year’s timely theme centered around the grind and struggles of working class people just trying to survive hardships and adversity with character and morality intact. Life was about serving community not self, bettering the lives of others. Mini themes revolved around the Klondike, independent, take charge women, seedy/cut-rate carny/circuses, and the threatening sea.

Continue reading →

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November 26, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 26, 1959: Farah Diba

Cop and Robber

Matt Weinstock Citizens can be thankful for policemen like Dalton Robert Patton, whose funeral was held yesterday.

Patton, 58, who retired from the LAPD in 1943, was not a “front page cop.”  He preferred to work quietly, without fuss.

Friends yesterday recalled his classic encounter with a safe cracker.  Patton, detective captain at Hollywood station, spent months tracking him down and had him, as the saying goes, “dead bang.”

But to everyone’s consternation a jury acquitted him.  After the trial the burglar said, “No hard feelings, captain.  And I want you to know I’ll never crack another safe in your division .”

Continue reading →

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November 26, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 26, 1959: Mirror Cover

Nothing So Dread as He With Fanatic Eye

Paul Coates, in coat and tieIt’s my guess that E.B. (Jet) Simrell — the 46-year-old ex-market owner who surrendered to the FBI yesterday after having threatened the lives of seven judges — figures he’s got one big card to play in his crusade against the “un-feminine, all-powerful American woman.”

And it’s my opinion that he’s sadly wrong.

If Simrell carries out his plan to “fast until death to win unanimous approval of the truths for which I fight,” he might win himself a little public pity.

But that’s all.

Long ago, he lost sight of the objectives of his fight.  And with them, he lost everything, including, possibly, his sanity. Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Homicide, Paul Coates | 1 Comment

November 26, 1958: LAPD honors dead officer’s heroism

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 28, 1958: Police Chief William Parker presents Cynthia Nash with a posthumous Medal of Valor in honor of her late husband, Gene, who was killed in a shootout with robbery suspects.
Note: This is an encore post from 2008.

Police Sgt. Gene T. Nash died after a shootout with robbery suspects in an apartment house on Budlong just south of Adams. In a televised ceremony, Police Chief William H. Parker presented his widow, Cynthia, with her husband’s Medal of Valor.

But that’s only the beginning of the story. Unfortunately, many pieces of the puzzle are missing from The Times, so the picture is incomplete.

This is what we know:

Nash, 32, and Sgt. W.F. Bitterolf of the Robbery Division, accompanied by Sgts. S.O. Eastenson and C.E. Leonard, went to the apartment house at 2723 S. Budlong Ave. to investigate whether members of a crime ring were hiding there. According to The
Times, a group of robbers had been holding up crap games, taking $7 to $140. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, Cemeteries, Front Pages, Homicide, LAPD, Television | Comments Off on November 26, 1958: LAPD honors dead officer’s heroism

November 26, 1941: L.A. Man Takes Fight Over Dog License to U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

Nov. 26, 1941, Comics

image
1203 Innes Ave., Los Angeles, CA
Photo: The 1200 block of Innes Avenue, home of the George F. Harrington/Kitty HQ, via Google Street View.

Note: This is an encore post from 2011.

November 26, 1941: Kitty may not be a typical name for a dog – but then George F. Harrington is an unusual fellow, for he claims that owning a dog is a constitutional right. Threatened with a 30-day jail sentence for not licensing Kitty, Harrington took his battle to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear his case. Harrington, of 1203 Innes Ave., decided to pay the $4 fee and take his fight to Sacramento. Continue reading →

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November 26, 1904: UFO over Los Angeles

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 26, 1904: Times cover

Early street lightingNo, the object at left is not a flying saucer on a stick. It is, in fact, Los Angeles’ earliest attempt at street lighting in which carbon arc lights were mounted on tall poles around the city. This one was near 7th Street and Alameda, where a 20-story wireless telegraph antenna was being built. That’s some skyhook, folks.

And a milestone in women’s history: “The first women’s campaign committee ever formed in Los Angeles for the purpose of doing a definite work in an election.”

The Times is careful to note that these women can’t actually vote!

Posted in broadcasting, Front Pages, Politics, Science, UFOs | Comments Off on November 26, 1904: UFO over Los Angeles

November 25, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

Fresh but Polluted

Matt WeinstockIn the broad scheme of things, the Fern Dell water hole isn’t very important.  But people who knew about it and went there to fill their jugs with cool, fresh spring water are disquieted since the Health Department declared it unfit to drink because of pollution.

The spring represented to people a renewed contact with nature and, symbolically perhaps, purity in a poisoned and synthetic world.  Also, as one man commented, “It was the last thing around here that was free.”

The word from the Recreation and Parks Department is that the Health Department is working on the job but the contamination is difficult to trace.  It’s not a simple matter of replacing the old, possibly rusted outlet pipe.  First, the source of the spring, somewhat high in the hills, must be traced.  Then the possibility of seepage into it from a sewer must be checked.

Continue reading →

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November 25, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 25, 1959: Mirror Cover
Vice President Richard Nixon will be grand marshal of the Rose Parade!

There Must Be Some Kind Answer to This

Paul Coates, in coat and tie(News item) Mrs. Carol Carpenter, 19, was arraigned in Los Angeles Municipal Court yesterday on felony child-desertion charges . . .

Today, I took a one-lesson course on How to Turn a Law-Abiding Citizen Into a Criminal.

I talked with Mrs. Carpenter.  What I learned, I’ll pass on to you.

Then, if you will, judge the woman.  Judge the law.  And judge the morality of the society which has branded her a criminal.

As background to the case, I’ll tell you that Carol Carpenter and her husband, Daniel, were married four years ago, while he was in the Army.  She was a month short of 16 at the time.  He was 18. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Columnists, Paul Coates, Richard Nixon | Comments Off on November 25, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Reminder – My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is December 2

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

Boxie and I will be doing a live “Ask Me Anything” on the Black Dahlia case Tuesday, December 2, 2025, at 10 a.m. Pacific time, on YouTube.

Continue reading →

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November 25, 1947: House Indicts the ‘Hollywood 10’ for Contempt

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

Nov. 25, 1947, L.A. Times

L.A. Times, Nov. 25, 1947

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

One Republican, Claude I. Bakewell of Missouri; Vito Marcantonio of the American Labor Party; and 15 Democrats voted against this measure: John Blatnik of Minnesota; Sol Bloom of New York; John A. Carroll of Colorado; Emmanuel Celler of New York; Helen Gahagan Douglas of California; Herman Eberharter of Pennsylvania; Franck Havenner of California; Chet Holifield of California; Walter Huber of Ohio; Frank Karsten of Missouri; Arthur G. Klein of New York; Thomas Ellsworth Morgan of Pennsylvania; Joseph Lawrence Pfeifer of New York; Adam Clayton Powell of New York; and George Gregory Sadowski of Michigan.

 

Quote of the day: “Pretty please.”

What Minnie Chapman refused to say to her husband, George, while they were drinking—so he shot her to death. Chapman was sentenced to Pennsylvania’s electric chair in the “Pretty Please Murder.”

Continue reading →

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Movieland Unsuitable Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

Main Title: Elegant lettering over an image of a mansion.

This week’s mystery movie, deemed “unsuitable” for children by Modern Screen Magazine, was the 1931 MGM film The Bachelor Father, with Marion Davies, Ralph Forbes, C. Aubrey Smith, Ray Milland, Guinn Williams, David Torrence, Doris Lloyd, Edgar Norton, Nena Quartaro, Halliwell Hobbes, Elizabeth Murray and James Gordon. Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

November 23, 1947: ‘Lonesome’ Woman Sought Threesomes and Husband, Ex-Wife Says

Posted on November 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

image
L.A. Times, 1947

Kitty Higgins in all its uproarious humor.

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

This was rather a racy edition of The Times, especially for a Sunday paper. Next to the Kertz’s saga, the news editor placed an advance on a martial relations course at UCLA (sample lectures: “Love and Conduct in a Changing World,” “Sex Problems of Youth”). And the front page featured the story of a ballet dancer with the Ballet Russe who lost part of her costume during “Scheherazade.” Pretty ribald for a family paper in the 1940s. Continue reading →

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