October 4, 1943: American Troops Enter Bomb-Shattered Naples

Posted on October 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

Oct. 4, 1943, Comics

October 4, 1943: Tom Treanor, who will be killed in a Jeep accident in France, writes about the liberation of Naples.

“The Germans left Naples in a truly deplorable condition. In a huge hospital for incurables I myself saw 70 rotting corpses of men, women and children. They were killed in street fighting during the past week and authorities were unable to move their bodies because of the lack of transportation. Sprawled on stretchers, in coffins, on tables and on floors in a great dim-lighted chamber, their naked wounds showing, they made a ghoulish scene unparalleled by any on any battlefield I have seen.

The Los Angeles Public Library celebrates Newspaper Week with a display of historic papers, including a 1918 edition of The Times on the armistice ending World War I.

Kattie Brady, 75, dies after being badly beaten in an alley at 210 W. 5th St. on her way home from St. Vibiana’s.

Charlie Chaplin’s sound stage is being used for some scenes of Columbia’s “Curly,” the first time a company other than Chaplin’s has used its sound stage, Edwin Schallert writes.

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Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Main Street, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dining at the Van Nuys Hotel

Posted on October 3, 2013 by lmharnisch

Van Nuys Hotel Cafe

Last month, I posted an image of the Cafe Bristol in the basement of the Hellman Building. Here’s another postcard, stamped 1911, of a downtown restaurant: the cafe at the Van Nuys Hotel at 4th and Main streets. The card is listed as Buy It Now for $6.89.

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Posted in 1911, Downtown, Food and Drink, Found on EBay, Main Street | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The ‘Masked Marvel Murder’ – Part 2

Posted on October 3, 2013 by lmharnisch

image6

In case you just tuned in, we’re looking at the strange, unsolved killing of movie actor David G.G. Bacon in September 1943.  Because he appeared in Republic’s “Masked Marvel” serial, shown above, I’m calling it the “Masked Marvel Murder.”

In Part 1, witnesses saw Bacon’s car jump the curb on Washington Boulevard near Thatcher Avenue and crash into a bean field. Neighbors went to help him and found that he had been stabbed in the left side of his back.

Wayne Powell said:

I knelt beside him and he whispered “Please help me” two times and then he died…. (Later Powell said) He was just lying there between two bean stacks, kicking and squirming. I told him to lie still and save his energy. Before he died, I asked him who had done it but he couldn’t say.

Investigators ran into curious questions almost immediately.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

LAPD Photo on EBay From 1884 – To Collect and to Serve

Posted on October 2, 2013 by lmharnisch

LAPD_1885_ebay

image An EBay vendor has listed this collection of cabinet cards dated 1884 showing LAPD officers.

The vendor is also offering other clippings and ephemera linked to William  Ernst Stoermer. Stoermer, who died in 1932, was also a firefighter and a locomotive engineer.

lapd_1876_sjoquist_photo

———-
For the record
The photo published on Page 40 of LAPD Capt. Art Sjoquist’s 1984 “History of the Los Angeles Police Department” labeled as “The first Los Angeles Police Department, 1876” has been the subject of more recent research by Glynn Martin, executive director of the Los Angeles Police Museum. In a 2006 blog post, Martin states that the photo has been displayed at the museum with a brass plaque bearing the incorrect date of 1869. The photo is undated, but research indicates that it was taken between 1887 and 1901, based on the career of Officer Henry W. Marden (d. 1909), one the officers in the photograph.
———-

The vendor, engaging in EBay hyperbole, calls it the “EARLIEST, OLDEST LAPD POLICE PHOTO OF ENTIRE FORCE – BELONGS IN A MUSEUM !” In fact, less than a minute of searching through the L.A. Daily Mirror archives turned up a group photo from 1876 showing “the first Los Angeles Police Department.”

This lot is listed as Buy It Now for $4,500 (note the damage in the upper left corner and along the right side). As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before submitting a bid. And thanks to Mary Mallory for pointing this out!

Posted in 1884, Found on EBay, History, LAPD, Obituaries, Photography, Preservation | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on LAPD Photo on EBay From 1884 – To Collect and to Serve

The ‘Masked Marvel Murder’ – Part 1

Posted on October 2, 2013 by lmharnisch

'The Masked Marvel'
David Bacon in “The Masked Marvel.”

Sept. 13, 1943, David Bacon Murder


David G.G. Bacon died on the afternoon of Sept. 12, 1943, at the age of 29 with many secrets: A secret diary kept in code, coded annotations in his address book and most of all a secret hideaway about a mile from his home. Bacon appeared in Republic’s Masked Marvel serial, so I’ll call it the “Masked Marvel Murder.”

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Posted in 1943, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | 9 Comments

A Bit of Old Hawaii From Bullock’s Wilshire

Posted on October 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

Bullocks Hawaiian Shirt

bullocks_wilshire_hawaiian_shirt_label This Hawaiian shirt made by Kahala and sold by Bullock’s Wilshire has been listed on EBay.

In the years I have been following vintage clothing from Bullock’s (later Bullocks), I have never seen a Hawaiian shirt. Even so, the price on this item (Buy It Now for $650) seems a bit steep. As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before submitting a bid.

Posted in Fashion, Found on EBay | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Bit of Old Hawaii From Bullock’s Wilshire

Rediscovering Los Angeles – Aliso and Alameda

Posted on October 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

Nov. 18, 1935, Rediscovering Los Angeles

Nov. 18, 1935: This is the third installment in the Rediscovering Los Angeles series, featuring Charles Owens’ artwork and text by Times columnist Timothy Turner. Unlike the later Nuestro Pueblo series by Owens and Joe Seewerker, these entries were never published in book form. The Times encouraged readers to clip these columns and save them in a scrapbook.

This week, Turner and Owens visit the Pyrenees Hotel at Aliso and Alameda, built in 1874, which was being demolished to make way for Union Station. The side of the hotel was used as one side of a ball court or “rebote fronton,” Turner writes of the popular pastime of rebote.

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Posted in 1935, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Rediscovering Los Angeles – Aliso and Alameda

Remembering A.C. Lyles

Posted on September 30, 2013 by lmharnisch

News sources are reporting the death of longtime Paramount producer A.C. Lyles, who died Friday at the age of 95.

I interviewed him back in 1997 about old Los Angeles and recently digitized the tape, so I’ll be posting excerpts in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Remembering A.C. Lyles

A Note to Commenters

Posted on September 30, 2013 by lmharnisch

It may be worthwhile to point out in these days of heightened focus on Internet privacy that there isn’t as much anonymity as one might think.

This is particularly true for commenters on L.A. Daily Mirror posts or indeed for commenting on any major blog platform.

You may sign your comment YouWillNeverFindMeHaHaHa@aol.com but in fact your IP address is also saved. It is easy to look up 123.45.678.910 and see who’s being a pest.

No comments get posted without my approval. I don’t have any qualms about banning people who have nothing constructive or pertinent to offer.

Posted in History | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo – Newsboy Cap Edition XII (Updated + + +)

Posted on September 30, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 30, 2013, Mystery Photo

This week’s movie was going to be a Western especially for Don Danard, but the DVD got vapor lock. Perhaps it will return another week if it learns to behave itself.

In the meantime we have a movie with, yes, newsboy caps.

How to Wear a Hat — Newsboy Cap Edition
How to Wear a Hat — ‘Grapes of Wrath’ Edition
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition I
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition II
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition III
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition IV
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition V
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition VI
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition VII
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition VIII
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition IX
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition X
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition XI
How to Wear a Newsboy Cap — Marc Chevalier Edition

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Posted in Fashion, Film, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 26 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — ‘Spirit of ’76’ as Propaganda

Posted on September 30, 2013 by lmharnisch

"Spirit of '76"
A still from the lost film “Spirit of ‘76” from Moving Picture World.

 


The United States’ Espionage Act was ratified in 1917 to punish those abetting the enemy, promoting military insubordination, or interfering with recruitment. Over the years, it has been amended to include punishing for the disclosure of secret information. For good or ill, such individuals as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Daniel Ellsberg, and Bradley Manning have been convicted under its statutes. One of the first people to be ensnared after its creation was filmmaker Robert Goldstein, producer of the 1917 patriotic film, “Spirit of ’76.” A film he intended to unite Americans in pride instead became a tool for destroying his life.

Born in San Francisco, Robert Goldstein was the son of Simon Goldstein, the owner of one of the United States largest costume and wig making businesses. This connection enabled young Goldstein to meet many early moving picture performers, like D. W. Griffith, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Henry Walthall, Mae Marsh, and others. Motion pictures thrilled him so much that he moved to Los Angeles in 1912 and established a branch of the family’s costume businesses, providing wardrobe for the film industry.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland,” a collection of her posts from the L.A. Daily Mirror, is available from Amazon.

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Posted in 1917, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, World War I | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

L.A. Becomes New York – Again

Posted on September 28, 2013 by lmharnisch

New York Taxi Movie Prop

How much from downtown L.A. to JFK? Yes, they were filming around “New York Street” on Thursday and providing color with fake New York taxis.

Posted in Downtown, Film, New York, Spring Street | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Becomes New York – Again

Scr*w You, Steve Needleman

Posted on September 28, 2013 by lmharnisch

If Steve Needleman, owner of the Orpheum Theatre, wanted  “a  two-story, 10,400-square-foot Cape Cod Revival house” he could have purchased an entire block of 1950s Valley tract homes and leveled them. No one would have cared. But tearing down Ira Gershwin’s house?

I’m officially boycotting the Orpheum. Nuts to you. Jerk.

Posted in Broadway, Downtown, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Theaters | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Why Can’t Anybody Get L.A. History Right?

Posted on September 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

image

image

The Times magazine magically transports San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel  to Los Angeles!

Ignorance about Los Angeles history is, alas, all around us. But imagine my dismay to discover this gaffe by The Times magazine –a separate publication by the ad folks that had no input from the The Times editorial staff.

This little gem from 2009 (humorously referred to as “edited” by Cary Georges with Avram Kosasky with what is amusingly described as “additional research” by A. Moret and Michelle Miranda”) notes that the Fatty Arbuckle case occurred in 1921.

Which it did. But in San Francisco. Nice going, guys. I’m not even going to look for more mistakes. Life is too short.

Of course, former LAPD Detective Steve Hodel makes the same mistake in “Black Dahlia Avenger”  (Page 3), which tells you something about the caliber of his research.

Posted in 1921, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, LAPD, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Married Couple Held in Blackmail of Single Woman for $27,000

Posted on September 27, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 27, 1963, Comics

Sept. 27, 1963, Mad Elephant

Sept. 27, 1963: I always thought blackmail was something that only occurred in old Perry Mason episodes, but here’s an actual case and it’s quite strange. It involves a married man blackmailing a single woman.

No really!

According to a news account in The Times, attorney Joseph Heneghan of Mineola, N.Y., had an affair with Margaret Mirabella, 31, and recorded some of their “intimate conversations.” When Mirabella’s husband died in a car accident, Heneghan asked her to marry him, but she refused.

Sept. 27, 1963, PT 109

About a year later, Heneghan’s wife “heard the tapes” and demanded that Mirabella turn over $27,000 or she would “destroy” her. Mirabella paid the money, according to the news report, but had second thoughts and contacted the district attorney’s office.

The Owosso Argus-Press has a somewhat different version of the story about the rampaging elephant. There’s nothing about picking up a car and throwing it to the ground.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Animals, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Married Couple Held in Blackmail of Single Woman for $27,000

D.W. Griffith Before Hollywood

Posted on September 26, 2013 by lmharnisch

"Willful Peggy"
Note: Gary Martin, one of the Daily Mirror regulars, attended a special showing at the Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation of early D.W. Griffith films in 1909-10 shot at Cuddeback, N.Y., and files a guest post for all our silent film enthusiasts. Thanks, Gary! And here’s a link to his blog, Art ongoing.

As the crow flies Port Jervis, N.Y., is 75 miles northwest of New York City, at the very end of the commuter rail line and on the far edge of exurbia. Ten miles north of Port one passes through Cuddebackville, N.Y., It is decidedly …in the country. For the most part it is a collection of derelict buildings although here and there one can find a convenience store, an auto repair shop, an old church, a new modern school, and a country auction gallery. Less a very few exceptions there are no houses and it is rather odd to see signs posted for a village where there are so few indications of human habitation.

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Posted in 1909, 1910, Film | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Conservatives Sexually Frustrated, UCLA Daily Bruin Says

Posted on September 26, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 26, 1943, Comics
Sept. 26, 1943, Streetcar Strike Ends

Sept. 26, 1943: The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen ends its strike against the Pacific Electric, with workers returning to their jobs at 2 a.m. Their first task is to untangle a “freight jam which had threatened to undermine the entire local freight shipping industry,” The Times says.

The Daily Bruin publishes an article titled: “Sex Like Drink of Water,” which states: “Conservatives are sexually frustrated. This is why they turn all their efforts toward business and thus oppress the mass of the people. If they would recognize the importance of sex they would become kind and decent since they would realize how much they have in common with the masses.”

Madame Etienne’s School of the Dance is offering jitterbug classes.

In the Theaters: “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

UCLA Dean Gordon S. Watkins defends a writers congress scheduled for October against charges by state Sen. Jack B. Tenney (R-Los Angeles), that it is riddled with communists!

Watkins says: “It is appropriate to point out that freedom of inquiry and discussion is a cherished tradition at American universities.”

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Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Education, Film, Hollywood, Labor, Obituaries, Richard Nixon, Streetcars, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hollis Mulwray House – Update

Posted on September 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

Hollis Mulwray House, Update

Here’s an update on renovations at the Hollis Mulwray house from “Chinatown.” The last time I posted a photo it looked like this.

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Posted in 1974, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Preservation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Woman in Stolen Car Shoots Gun at LAPD Officers

Posted on September 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 25, 1933, Comics

Sept. 25, 1933, Libraries

Sept. 25, 1933: How did the Los Angeles Public Library fare in the Great Depression? Here are some answers.

The library was forced to make painful cutbacks due to a 24% drop in tax revenue, including shorter hours, layoffs, reductions in spending and “closing 14 of the smallest book stations.”

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Posted in 1933, LAPD, Pasadena, Suicide, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rediscovering Los Angeles – Ferguson Alley

Posted on September 24, 2013 by lmharnisch

Nov. 11, 1935, Rediscovering Los Angeles

Nov. 11, 1935: For their second installment of “Rediscovering Los Angeles,” Times artist Charles Owens and Times columnist Timothy Turner visit Ferguson Alley, which as Turner notes was going to be demolished for Union Station. Turner writes:

Ferguson Alley, which ducks into Chinatown from the Plaza, is still a piece of authentic old western color. It is narrow and dark and the wooden awnings make it darker for they cannot be raised. It was a busy place in the 1860s and ’70s, a hangout for cowboys, miners, gamblers and sailors from San Pedro, who came up by stage.

Unlike the later “Nuestro Pueblo” series, which was published in book form, “Rediscovering Los Angeles” was never republished and languished unknown – at least by me – until I stumbled across it while research the wonderful work of Charles Owens. It’s worth noting that even in 1935, Los Angeles was being “rediscovered.”

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Posted in 1935, Art & Artists, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments