March 27, 1913: Mrs. C.H. Hampton, 139 S. Olive St., is a woman with a stretch of bad luck. First her husband died, and then in December the former Mrs. Schwartz married a man named Hampton who talked her into selling most of her property, then deserted her in Bakersfield after spending all the money.
March 21, 1863: Now that we’re done with the Black Dahlia/George Hodel transcripts we can return to Los Angeles in the pages of the Star, which was brimming with vitriol against the North in the Civil War. Even when one is prepared for such sentiments, the vehemence is shocking. (For those who just tuned in, the Los Angeles Star was staunchly anti-North, and stridently pro-South and pro-Slavery.)
The dens of poverty and misery in New York and other Northern cities are about to be reinforced by a large number of contrabands. The military authorities are about to call upon the benevolent in the North to procure homes and employment for the surplus of unfortunate Negroes now on the hands of the government. In its kindness, the government will try to employ the men in good health, but the women and children must be sent North. That’s the way to do it, of course, and by the time the four millions have been started on their way to earthly glory, what a beautiful time we shall have in the Northern States.
There’s also a long description of an accident of the steamship Senator, which struck a rock off Point Fermin in heavy fog, and whaling – yes, whaling – off the coast.
This issue of the Star, which is in the collection of the Huntington, was scanned by USC and is available here.
The Flapper – via Wikipedia.
Life changed quickly in the United States post-World War I. Nowhere was this more evident than in the role and actions of young women emancipating themselves from the corseted way of life to more boldly act in self-expression. The war gave more opportunities for them to come and go as they pleased, work in new jobs, experience nightlife. Women gained the right to vote in 1920, and along with it, began bobbing their hair, smoking, rolling stockings, shortening hemlines, drinking, dancing the Black Bottom, partying, and romancing.
A new term was coined to refer to these mainly young women; the flapper. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary at the time defined a flapper as, “A young girl, esp. one somewhat daring in conduct, speech and dress.” In February 1922, The Los Angeles Times quoted “Bath-house John,” a Chicago First Ward Alderman, describing these young women in somewhat more disparaging terms. “A flapper is a youthful female, beauteous externally, blasé internally, superficially intelligent, imitative to a high degree. Her natural habitat is the ballroom, the boulevard and the fast motor car. She browses about the trough of learning, picking as her tidbits smart phrases which she glibly repeats without sensing their meanings. She comes from all walks of life and has for her main requirement nerve, a face and figure, either actually beautiful or susceptible to artistic effort.”
Popular culture spoke to these young women and helped shape a new consumer culture. Illustrators and movies evoked their sometimes wild and flashy style, and helped launch new idioms of speech. These flappers would help create America’s first sexual revolution, celebrity culture, and what it meant to be hip in the Roaring Twenties.
March 3, 1983: Patrick Andrew Mason was too sick to go to school, and his mother Patricia Ridge, 29, had no one to care for him while she went to her job charging car batteries at a Sears store in Buena Park, so she left him alone in their apartment at 8101 Cerritos Ave. in Stanton, putting him in a bedroom with a TV set and tying the door shut with heavy string.
Patrick had been sick since late February, so Ridge bought him a set of police accessories based on the “T.J. Hooker” TV show — a red plastic gun, a badge and a baton — at a convenience store near their home.
March 20, 1943: The AFSCME sets up a local for LAPD officers, an action opposed by Police Chief Clemence “C.B.” Horrall and Deputy Chief Joe Reed. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, established in the 1920s, began bargaining on behalf of police officers in 1973, according to the LAPPL website.
And screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz is accused of drunk driving after crashing into a car driven by Mrs. Ira Gershwin.
In the theaters: “Shadow of a Doubt,” “The Hard Way,” “Hello, Frisco, Hello,” “The Amazing Mrs. Holliday,” “The Cat People,” “Gorilla Man,” “The Ape Man,” “Kid Dynamite,” “Little Miss Molly,” “Andy Hardy’s Double Life” and “Quiet Please, Murder.” How many of them have you seen?
The 900 block of South Francisco Street via Google Street View.
March 19, 1913: F.C. Fredericks presents the LAPD with a difficult situation in the days before tear gas and swat teams (or indeed before negotiations by telephone).
Fredericks was a carpenter who had come to Los Angeles from Topeka, Kans., three weeks before with his brother W.R. Fredericks of Hollywood. F.C. was unable to work, The Times says, because of stomach trouble, and was living in a second-floor room of a house at 922. S. Francisco. St.
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Photo: Earl Carroll at the groundbreaking for his nightclub, with Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and W.C. Fields. Courtesy of James Curtis.
In the late 1930s, Earl Carroll reigned as Broadway’s exotic showman, producing splashy musical revues featuring statuesque, sultry showgirls. There was only one place left to conquer: Hollywood, the mecca of entertainment. If he was going to shift operations to the West Coast, Carroll wanted to knock Hollywood’s socks off with an elegantly flamboyant nightclub restaurant.
Carroll hired renowned architect Gordon Kaufmann, designer of such beautiful and diverse structures as the Los Angeles Times Building, the Santa Anita Race Track, Hoover Dam and the Doheny Mansion, to create a stylish Art Deco building at 6230 Sunset Blvd. Per an Oct. 16, 1938, Los Angeles Times story, the $500,000 project would be the first to include dining, dancing and stage shows under one roof.
Movie stars’ signatures in concrete on the exterior of Earl Carroll’s nightclub.
I am occasionally asked what became of the concrete tablets with movie stars’ names that were installed on the old Earl Carroll nightclub. Some of The Times stories say they were saved in hopes of reinstalling them. This one appears to have gotten away.
A vendor on EBay is listing a concrete tablet inscribed – presumably by Cary Grant – that was hung on the wall of Carroll’s nightclub. Bidding on this item starts at $5,000.
Speaking of Earl Carroll, Mary Mallory will be writing about him in Monday’s Hollywood Heights, so be sure to come back then!
And in case you have forgotten….
Let me remind you that Christine Pelisek wrote in the Daily Beast on Feb. 3, 2013, that test results on soil taken from the Sowden House (George “Evil Genius” Hodel’s purported murder HQ) would be “expected next week.”
It is now March 15 and there has been no announcement of the results. I have to figure either nothing was found, or the crime lab works very, very slowly.
March 27, 1950: All quiet. Good nite.
And with that, the LAPD and the district attorney’s office ended their surveillance of the purported Murder HQ of Dr. George “Evil Genius” Hodel. At least a few of you have read every tedious, boring word of these transcripts. What do you think?
Now that the documents are public, maybe someone can do a “dramatic” reading. How about Kevin Spacey as Dr. Hodel?
The George Hodel files Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
Sounded like Hodel said something about Black Dahlia!!!!
March 25, 1950: Hodel says he wants money and power — talking about China — talking about selling some of Hodel’s paintings or something. Hodel talking about picture police have of him and some girl — thought he had destroyed them all!!!!!!!
And for those keeping track, I miscounted the final number of pages. We will finish Saturday.
The George Hodel files Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
Author and former Times reporter Denise Hamilton will be speaking about her book “The Last Embrace,” on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, 2100 N. Highland Ave. Hamilton will also talk about Los Angeles’ influence on her writing. The event is free.
March 24, 1950: Another day of typing, peeing and ringing phones at the purported Murder HQ of Dr. George “Evil Genius” Hodel.
Only four days left!
The George Hodel files Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
A photo showing the guns and individuals involved in an unsuccessful escape attempt at Folsom prison in June 1893 has been listed on EBay. The photo is listed as Buy It Now for $699. As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before submitting a bid.
March 23, 1950: No, the police did not suddenly and inexplicably abandon the investigation. They ran away before they died of boredom.
The George Hodel files Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
Conversation has now turned to corporations, stocks and bonds with Hodel doing very little talking!!!!!!!
March 22, 1950: Even the police are bored. The good news is that we’re almost done. Only six more days!
The George Hodel files Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 |Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
Most motion picture still photographers picked up cameras at young ages, intrigued at how they could paint with light. Many yearned to do more than just snap shots in a portrait studio or for a newspaper. They hankered for excitement, exploration, eclecticism, all of which they found working for movie studios.
In the early days, cinematographers also shot production stills for films. By the 1920s, the division of labor between stills photography and cinematography was established, keeping practitioners of one from performing the other on the same production.
ladailymirror.com 