October 19, 1938: Mystic vision

Posted on October 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 19, 1938: Street GeyserThis appears to be just another photo of water spouting from a fire hydrant that was hit by a car. And indeed it is.

But wait! What’s that weird building in the background? Continue reading →

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October 19, 1907: Toku, Abandoned by Man Who Claimed to Be Wealthy, Denied a Divorce

Posted on October 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

October 19, 1907
Los Angeles

On a visit to Japan, K. Tsuneda of California met an attractive young woman named Toku. Telling her family that he was a wealthy Stanford student, Tsuneda married Toku and they embarked for the United States so his new wife could get an American education.

Her education began the moment they arrived in San Francisco: Tsuneda revealed that he was neither wealthy, nor a Stanford student. In fact, they both had to go to work. They moved from Berkeley to Redlands, where they separated. After reuniting briefly in Los Angeles, Tsuneda vanished, Toku said in seeking a divorce.

Continue reading →

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October 18, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 18, 1957

Matt WeinstockIf pressed, most persons who preside at information and complaint desks will admit there are times when they don’t think the human race is going to make it. Sanity and/or serenity, they mean.

Not long ago, a woman phoned the complaint desk at the City Health Department and said, “I want to report a health menace–my doorbell is out of order.”

Another non sequitur came from a lady who said she lived next door to a pet shop which sold horse meat. This she considered very unsanitary. “I’m expecting a baby,” she added, “and I think something should be done about it.” Continue reading →

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October 18, 1947: S.S. General Saw Mass Executions as ‘Necessary to Win War’

Posted on October 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

 L.A. Times, 1947

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

NEURNBERG, Oct. 17 (A.P.)—S.S. Gen. Erich Naumann, whose commandos killed thousands of Jewish men, women and children on the eastern front, told a war crimes court today he saw nothing wrong with that.

He was one of the leading defendants in the case against the Einsatz command groups which Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler formed to eradicate whole races.

Continue reading →

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October 18, 1943: Errol Flynn Named in Paternity Suit

Posted on October 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

Oct. 18, 1943, Comics

October 18, 1943: Los Angeles is in the middle of a paternity suit brought by Shirley Evans Hassau, 21, against Errol Flynn. Hassau charged that Flynn was the father of her daughter Marilyn, who was 3. Hassau was seeking $1,750 a month child support, $10,000 in attorneys fees,  $5,000 for hospital expenses and $2,000 in court costs.

An aunt, Florence Muller of San Francisco, had raised Marilyn since she was 5 weeks old and refused to let Hassau see her, The Times said.

Hassau’s suits against Flynn were dismissed in 1951. In 1940, two weeks after Marilyn was born, Flynn agreed to pay Hassau $2,000  although he denied being the father. The actor said he wanted to avoid a long court trial and adverse publicity.

Continue reading →

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October 18, 1907: Newspaper Cartoonist Ted Gale Makes His Point

Posted on October 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

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Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

October 18, 1907
Los Angeles

For the last month, the pages of The Times have been peppered with pen-and-ink cartoons signed Gale—in fact some of them have already appeared in the blog, with Nathan’s post on Japanese hobos and mine on Marco Vessella. But that was only the beginning. By the end of the month, Gale’s cartoons have become a regular feature of The Times, usually paired with text by Harry Carr. Gale specializes in ethnic caricatures: Chinamen with long queues, bucktoothed Japanese, Mexicans with sombreros—and don’t even ask how he draws African Americans.

His name was Edmund Waller Gale, but he was known as Ted or “Cartoonist Gale” and he was an institution at The Times, drawing editorial cartoons for decades, on an irregular basis before they became a daily feature in 1922.

Continue reading →

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October 17, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

Oct. 17, 1957

It was recently stated here that the origin of Murphy’s Law, a derisive bit of whimsy among airplane people, was unknown. The “law” states, “If an aircraft part can be installed incorrectly, someone will figure out how to do it.”

Now the man who formulated this precept of human fallibility, George B. Murphy of Venice, an aircraft factory inspector, has come forward to acknowledge responsibility. He has also recounted a recent experience bearing on the same subject.

A young machinist brought him a part to inspect and he found it was out of tolerance by .001 of an inch and rejected it.

The youth insisted it was in tolerance because he handled .005. Continue reading →

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October 17, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

Oct. 17, 1957

Paul Coates, in coat and tieHe sat nervously in the chair opposite me. The staccato beat in his speech reflected his anxiety.

“Nothing would ever have happened to me,” he said, “except that on her dead body was found my name.

“I had a job and everything was nice. I was living in Jersey, in Newark.

“It was headline in all the papers–that she was murdered.

“She lived in Phoenixville, in Pennsylvania, but it wasn’t far from Newark. Sixty, 70 miles.”

“When?” I interrupted. “When was all this?”

The young man paused. “That was…let’s see–March of ’54.” Continue reading →

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October 17, 1907: All-White USC Football Team Starts Race Riot Over Tackle by Black Player From Whittier

Posted on October 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

October 17, 1907
Los Angeles

Mr. Woolin, left tackle of the USC team, took great exception to be tackled by one of the black players on the Whittier State team (one of Whittier’s five black players) and voiced his displeasure, emphasizing his point with his fist.

Whittier’s coach, Mr. McLouth, rushed to intervene, whereupon Mr. Woolin further expressed his disdain by striking him in the face. Coach McLouth responded in kind. Peace was eventually restored until Whittier’s water boy came onto the field and retaliated against Mr. Woolin, and had the Whittier team not retreated from the field, the unpleasantness might have continued.
 Continue reading →

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October 16, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 16, 1957

Matt WeinstockOn a recent clear evening about an hour after sunset, Chet Kennedy of Sun Valley looked up and apparently saw not only Saturn but some of its rings.

The planet was a bead “blazing with bright glory in the southwest sky,” he said. Nearby was a smaller bead, possibly one of Saturn’s 11 moons. The rings on the left side, he said, seemed to be in shadow. There also was a dark streak across the center of the planet.

Unwilling to accept the verdict of his own eyes, he pointed out the unusual sight to neighbors and they said they saw the same thing.

“Here’s this wonderful object spinning away at its business,” said Chet, “and here we are worrying ourselves sick about Sputnik.” Continue reading →

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October 16, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 16, 1957

Paul Coates, in coat and tieAt 3:24 a.m., the ambulance arrived.

The victim was rushed to Hollywood Receiving Hospital for emergency treatment. His condition was critical. He was then taken to General Hospital.

Nine hours later, he was pronounced dead.

That was still quite a few hours before his letter reached me. When it came, I read it a couple of times.

Then I called his wife.

“I’ve been expecting your call,” she told me. “He mentioned it–that you’d contact me–in the note he left me.” Continue reading →

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October 16, 1947: LAPD Issues Guns to Policewomen!

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

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

Sixteen policewomen who will be graduated at 3 p.m. tomorrow from the Police Academy after their training course visited the City Attorney’s office yesterday to receive instructions in legal procedure.

The class is the first to wear the new uniform recently adopted by the Police Commission and the first group of women to receive pistol training at the academy.

This is a puzzlement. Does this mean policewomen didn’t carry weapons before 1947? Stay tuned.

Answer: Yes! In 1947, the LAPD changed the uniform for policewomen and gave them a shoulder-slung black purse with a .38 revolver and handcuffs.

Quote of the day: “I Like Ike”

New slogan of the Draft Eisenhower for President League.

Continue reading →

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October 16, 1907: Man With Three Wives Believes in Marriage but Not Divorce

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

October 16, 1907
Santa Ana

George S. Best is a great believer in marriage and strongly opposes divorce, which is why he has three of one and none of the other.

His most recent troubles began when his wife Anita discovered that he had married young Cecile Fleming, the daughter of a prominent local businessman. Upon investigation, Anita Best of Los Angeles and Charles Fleming of Santa Ana discovered that Best had married Cecile in back of the county clerk’s office. After returning to Los Angeles long enough to get his belongings, avoiding his mother and his wife Anita, Best and Cecile left for San Francisco, where he was arrested for bigamy.

Continue reading →

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October 15, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 15,1959: Comic panel of a man shooting a ray gun.

The Chessman Case

Matt WeinstockHow, under the law, can a man be left dangling between life an death for 11 years?  That’s what people are asking in the strange case of Caryl Chessman, due to be gassed in San Quentin Oct. 23.  And why is Chessman himself protesting a move toward clemency that might mean life imprisonment?

The answer lies in a mountain of legal evidence and opinions which have piled up since he was convicted in 1948 of rape, kidnapping and robbery.  And yet, not all the answer is there, either.

It is unwise to oversimplify such a tangle but attorneys, discussing the case objectively, put a finger on the law itself. Continue reading →

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Reminder: Don’t Dress Up Like the Black Dahlia for Halloween!

Posted on October 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Women dressed up like the Black Dahlia -- Don't do this!

Annual reminder: Don’t dress up like the Black Dahlia for Halloween. It’s not the lewk you want. Don’t do it.

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1944 on the Radio – NBC Symphony With Marian Anderson, October 15, 1944

Posted on October 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Radio Dial 1944


Oct. 15, 1944: The NBC Symphony Orchestra, with guest Marian Anderson, conducted by Frank Black. Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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October 15, 1907: Fire Threatens Orpheum

Posted on October 15, 2025 by lmharnisch




Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

October 15, 1907
Los Angeles

On a rainy night in Los Angeles, a fire broke out in the four-story brick office building at 235 S. Spring St. housing the Orpheum Theater and the Elks Hall, which was engulfed in panic as visitors at a Japanese festival rushed for the exits. The second-floor hallways were so jammed that members of the Elks Club rushed to the rear of the building to use the fire escapes.

At Orpheum, on the floor above the Elks Club, veteran actress Minnie Seligman calmly made the smoke and the sound of fire engines part of her skit. Rushing offstage for a moment, she returned covered with soot and announced: “Oh the gasoline stove exploded. It will break up housekeeping for good!”

Continue reading →

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October 14, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1957

Matt WeinstockA few weeks ago, Jules Goldstone, producer of the TV show “The Court of Last Resort,” was driving along Sunset Boulevard near Hilgard when a car doing about 60 mph came around a curve from the opposite direction, went out of control and smashed into his car, rolling it over twice.

“We both should have been killed, but miraculously we weren’t,” said Goldstone.

His car was demolished, but he received only a bad cut on the arm and bruises.

Since the accident, grateful to be alive, he has become more sharply aware of the possibility of unexpected death on the streets. Continue reading →

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October 14, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1957

Paul Coates, in coat and tieSUBJECT’S NAME–Rosalee Cartwright

SUBJECT’S DESCRIPTION—Age, 14. Height, 5 feet, 4 inches. Weight, 118 pounds. Blond hair.

Subject was last seen five weeks ago.

Any person with information concerning whereabouts of subject is requested to contact subject’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Cartwright, 846 S. Greenberry Drive, West Covina. Phone EDgewood 8-5798.

Rosalee Cartwright ran away.

She did so after being struck by a malady not uncommon among 13 and 14-year-old girls. Continue reading →

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October 14, 1947: Capt. Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947, Comics

June 11, 1948, Chuck YeagerNote: This is an encore from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Hm…. U.S. prison population up for the first time since World War II…. Lawsuits over deed restrictions in South Pasadena…. A 35-year-old merchant seaman in San Francisco is badly injured while walking down a street when he’s struck by a 67-year-old woman who committed suicide by jumping from a 10-story building….

But the story I’ve been anticipating—one of the biggest of 1947—can’t be found: Capt. Charles E. Yeager breaking the sound barrier Oct. 14, 1947. In fact Yeager’s name didn’t even appear in The Times in 1947, at least according to a Proquest search, which admittedly is less than perfect.

Continue reading →

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