September 3, 1943: Los Angeles Tattoo Shops

Posted on September 3, 2026 by lmharnisch

tattoo_last_supper_ebay

This is one of my favorite discoveries from the city archives, a description of tattoo shops in Los Angeles by an anonymous citizen.

Los Angeles City Council File 15670

September 2, 1943

Dear Sir,

1943_september_03_tattoosI recently made an investigation of the tattoo shops here and the persons who operate them, for a friend of mine, whose young son, age 13, had been marked up like a circus freak by a so called (professor) Freaser.

Of course I knew nothing and cared less about this business until I saw the filthy conditions under which they operate, which are just about as filthy and unsanitary as the restaurants in which I am compelled to eat. Of course I know that no one in the city or state govt. is interested in their sanitation or the filth of the foods they serve. As long as they pay their license they can poison any one they want to and get away with it.

Sept. 3, 1943: Councilman Ira McDonald’s attempt to regulate tattoo shops brought this anonymous response, which I unearthed in the city archives.

Photo: Undated postcard showing Artoria, tattooed by C.W. Gibbons, Los Angeles

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Charity Auction: Michael Connelly’s ‘The Narrows’

Posted on September 2, 2026 by lmharnisch

Cover of The Narrows. Gold and red lettering over a dark background.

Signed inscription of Michael Connelly's 'The Narrows' I am auctioning for charity a signed, inscribed first edition of Michael Connelly’s The Narrows. Bidding will continue to September 15 and conclude with the Black Dahlia Book Club.

In full disclosure: I bought this novel years ago at Goodwill for $1.99 (the partial sticker is still on the back). The original dust jacket has some rubbing and other unpleasantness. You might call it a good reading copy.

The winner will donate the bid amount to a charity of their choice (make it appropriate, please) in memory of Elizabeth Short. Send me proof of the donation, and the book will be in the mail.

Send bids to LMHarnisch@Gmail.com with “The Narrows” in the subject field. I will post the bids (if any) once a day.

Starting the action 9/2/2026 is David Oranchak with a bid of $25. Thank you, David!
High bid as of 9/5/2026 at 6:47 p.m. Pacific time is Kostadin Hadzibanov with a bid of $100. Thank you Kostadin!

 

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September 2, 1947: Miss Muscle Beach of 1947

Posted on September 2, 2026 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 2, 1910: Police Quell Labor Riot Over Body of Ironworker Killed at Alexandria Hotel

Posted on September 2, 2026 by lmharnisch
 
September 2, 1910, the Herald publishes its version of the incident.
September 2, 1910: Louis Jeffries, a Baker Iron Works employee, is crushed by a steel girder during construction of the Alexandra Hotel Annex. Workers carrying his body to an ambulance on Spring Street are assaulted by union supporters who are picketing the building.”Around the still warm body of the accident victim the frenzied ruffians swarmed. Vile invectives were hurled at the peaceable workmen who were trying to protect the corpse, and even the dead was not spared,” The Times said.

The Herald didn’t devote as much space to the story but it certainly depicted the violence that erupted. This incident is often cited in later stories about The Times bombing, showing the acute tensions between the labor and open shop factions.

The next day, the Herald published an editorial about the incident. Notice how much more moderate it is than The Times and actually supports workers’ right to organize. Nonetheless, it also condemns labor violence.

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Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything, September 2026

Posted on September 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

This is the Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case for September 2026.

The Black Dahlia Book Club will meet September 15, 2026. The next Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case will be October 6, 2026.

the_narrows_coverI am auctioning for charity a signed, inscribed first edition of Michael Connelly’s The Narrows starting today and ending with the Black Dahlia Book Club on September 15. The winner will donate the bid amount to a charity of their choice in memory of Elizabeth Short. Send me proof of the donation, and the book will be in the mail.

Send bids to LMHarnisch@Gmail.com with “The Narrows” in the subject field. I will post the bids (if any) once a day.

Reminder: Do NOT dress up like the Black Dahlia for Halloween.

In this episode, I discussed the complicated backstory of Killer in the Code and the roles of Mr. Alex Baber, Rick Jackson, Mitzi Roberts, Michael Connelly and the possible role of someone in the Marvin Merrill family.

I also discussed: Continue reading →

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

Posted on September 1, 2026 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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August 31, 1947: Herbert Kline Shoots ‘Palestine’s First Feature Film Drama’

Posted on August 31, 2026 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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August 31, 1907: The Year in Liquor — 20 Gallons of Beer for Every Man, Woman and Child in U.S.

Posted on August 31, 2026 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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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 31, 2026 by lmharnisch

Main title: Lettering over shot of Hollywood Boulevard showing traffic and the Pantages Theater.

This week’s mystery movie was the 1946 Republic film The Last Crooked Mile, with Donald Barry, Ann Savage, Adele Mara, Tom Powers, Sheldon Leonard, Nestor Paiva, Harry Shannon, Ben Welden, John Miljan, Charles D. Brown, John Dehner and Anthony Caruso. Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

August 30, 1953: Barbara Graham Defense Wins Delay After Prosecution Bombshell

Posted on August 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 30, 1953, Comics

image

August 30, 1953: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Fricke grants attorneys for Barbara Graham a slight delay in opening their defense after the prosecution closes with a “bombshell”: A transcript of a recorded conversation between Graham and undercover Police Officer Samuel Sirianni.

Sirianni testified that he met with Graham at the County Jail and they planned a detailed alibi for the night of March 9, when Mabel Monahan was killed.

In the recorded conversation, Graham allegedly said that Baxter Shorter, who disappeared after turning informant “had been done away with.”

Court-appointed defense attorney Jack Hardy asked to withdraw from the case, but Fricke refused to grant permission. Defense attorney Benjamin Wolfe asked to listen to the original wire recording from which the transcript was prepared and said that much of the conversation in the transcript couldn’t be heard and that the transcript also misquoted the conversation.

Graham’s co-defendants were John A. Santo and Emmett Perkins. Graham died in the gas chamber at San Quentin at 11:42 a.m. on June 3, 1955. She wore a mask over the upper part of her face because “I don’t want to have to look at people,” she said. Perkins and Santo were executed together a few hours later, with Perkins dying at 2:40 p.m. and Santo at 2:41 p.m.

In the Theaters: “The Caddy.”

On TV: “Paul Coates Confidential” starts tonight.

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

Posted on August 30, 2026 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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Posted in 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Education, Religion, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on August 30, 1907: Rabbi Leads Campaign to Open Hebrew University in L.A.

August 29, 1907: Engine Co. 20 Pranks Newlywed Firefighter

Posted on August 29, 2026 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

August 29, 1907
Los Angeles

Around Engine Co. 20 at Sunset Boulevard and Mohawk Street, Lt. Samuel Dodd is something of a practical joker, so when he left on his honeymoon with his bride, Juanita, his fellow firefighters decided to get even.

They did such a good job plastering the house across the street at 2149 Sunset Blvd. with signs and old shoes that passing streetcars stopped so passengers could get a look.

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August 28, 1958: Intruder kills former actress

Posted on August 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

August 28, 1958: Edwin Jerome talks to police after the discovery of his wife's body.

August 28, 1958: Photo of Helene Jerome, found dead in her Hollywood home. Her hair is pulled back and she is wearing glasses. She is one of those cold cases that leave all kinds of unanswered questions even when the killer is finally caught, convicted and sent to prison. Nothing about it passes the sniff test.

We know her name was Helene Funk Jerome, born in New York on March 12, 1908, which makes her 50 at the time of the killing. She was living in a rear apartment at the Las Palmas Hotel, 1738 N. Las Palmas. That’s the one used in “Pretty Woman.”

She was supposedly a retired actress, but her credentials are rather vague. The Times said she was a graduate of either the Royal Dramatic Academy or the Royal Dramatic Society in London, so I’m guessing it was the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, which has no record of her — at least online.

Most of her career was spent on the stage in China, The Times said. She never made any movies and shouldn’t be confused with Helene Jerome Eddy, who died in 1990.

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Posted in #courts, @news, Cemeteries, Dodgers, Film, Forest Lawn, Front Pages, Hollywood, Hollywood Division, Homicide, LAPD, Sports | Comments Off on August 28, 1958: Intruder kills former actress

August 28, 1947: Diamond Street Gang Member Takes Murder Rap ‘for the Gang’

Posted on August 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 28, 1947, Los Angeles Times  

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

The origins of Latino gangs are not well-documented in The Times, but the case of Earl D. Bush, 911 Diamond St., appears to be the first mention of the Diamond Street Gang, which is still active and was among those targeted by Officer Rafael Perez during what became the Rampart scandal.

Bush was arrested May 31, 1947, along with John Vergara, 14, of 1034 Colton St.; Gabriel Gutierrez, 19, of 228 N. Fremont St.; and Julian Delgado (published as Del Gado), 15, 1016½ W. 1st St., all in the Temple-Beaudry area near the junction of the Harbor and Hollywood freeways.

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Voices — Christine Collins, August 28, 1932

Posted on August 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Walter Collins in prison mug shot. No date. Facing forward and in profile, man in coat and tie. Walter Collins in an undated prison photo.

August 28, 1932: Christine Collins replies to the warden, saying that she is not yet ready to visit the grave of her husband, Walter, in the prison cemetery. She also says she is changing her name to Kathleen, “so as people will not be continually bringing up the terrible tragedy which I have experienced,” referring to the incident that inspired Clint Eastwood’s film Changeling.

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August 27,1958: Woman kills husband over singing, Reds win against Dodgers

Posted on August 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

August 27, 1958: Anne Benyon is questioned about the stabbing of her husband, Ben.

Was Benjamin John Beynon an abusive husband … or just a bad singer?

Ben, 46, and his wife of six years, Anne, lived at 1946 1/2 New England Ave., between Hoover and Vermont just south of Washington. For the last three years, Anne had been using a wheelchair, although The Times never explained why. Continue reading →

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August 27, 1947: I. Magnin Seeks Young Woman to Supervise Glove Department

Posted on August 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947, Glove Department, I. Magnin

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August 27, 1907: Undertaker Sent Home as Minister Survives Suicide Attempt

Posted on August 27, 2026 by lmharnisch



Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Manhattan Beach
Aug. 27, 1907

Retired Episcopal minister the Rev. John Jewett, 83, wanted to die, so while staying with his son-in-law, J.D. Porter, he slit his throat with a razor.

The undertaker was called, but when he arrived with his hearse, Jewett was still alive, although death was imminent. The undertaker went back to his funeral home to wait.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, August 26, 1944

Posted on August 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

Aug. 26, 1944, Comics

August 26, 1944

When William Bendix was broke and didn’t have a nickel to his name, his father-in-law, Henry Stafanotty, loaned him money to support his wife and child. Bill isn’t the kind who forgets and now he has opened a hardware shop for his wife’s father in Newark and is calling it “The Wake.” That’s in honor of “Wake Island,” which put Bill in the movie limelight.

VIRGO: Put today in your happy medium column. Approach agreeably and without fuss the good and the bad tasks. No volcanic promotion ideas, just down-to-earth dependability.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.

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August 26, 1907: Save Those Redwoods

Posted on August 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Aug. 26, 1907
Santa Rosa, Calif.

Elected officials addressed a large rally devoted to saving the 800-acre Armstrong Grove, named after lumber baron J.B. Armstrong, who decided to save the stand of soaring redwoods rather than clearing it.

“Armstrong Grove contains the finest and largest redwood timber in California,” The Times said. “For years it has been a great attraction to tourists and is one of the features of the Russian River section.

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