War Workers Start Day With Prayer

Jan. 4, 1942, Corregidor

Jan. 4, 1942, Bomb Shelber

4200 S. Olive Street
Photo: The 4200 block of South Olive Street via Google’s Street View.


Jan. 4, 1942: William E. Kosdy uses a shovel to dig a two-person bomb shelter in the backyard of his home, 4236 S. Olive St. “I didn’t follow any specifications. This is no time to be waiting for specifications or permits,” he says.

Rychei Tanaka is arrested after he was allegedly seen leaving a rooming house at 310 1/2 S. Los Angeles St. with a bag full of swords. Sakiko Takemoto told police that the swords belonged to her brother, and upon investigation, authorities arrested her and her mother, Chika, for failing to obey a presidential order to surrender a .22-caliber rifle, a revolver, a signal flare and a shortwave radio.

The Ambassador Hotel announces that the Cocoanut Grove will only be open for dancing on Friday and Saturday nights “until the habits of the socially inclined have returned to normal.”

Los Angeles police officers return to eight-hour shifts after working 12 hours a day since the Pearl Harbor attack. However, police will be asked to work one 12-hour shift per week.

War workers at the Severance Tool Co., 3844 S. Santa Fe Ave., begin every morning with a 15-minute religious service. And yes, they are paid for the time they spend in worship.

“After a Scripture reading, a short talk and perhaps a devotional song, the meeting is closed with a prayer as each workman kneels before his tool-cutting machine,” The Times says.

Clark Gable tells Jimmie Fidler why he and Carole Lombard didn’t dispute stories that their marriage was in trouble. “Denial, Mr. Fidler, is often as incriminating as admission. So we simply ignored the rumors.”

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Posted in 1942, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, LAPD, Nightclubs, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Jan. 3, 2012, Mystery Photo

And this movie would be?

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged | 14 Comments

Japanese Americans Held After ‘Hissing Roosevelt’ in Theater

Jan. 3, 1942, Manila Falls!

Jan. 3, 1942, Comics
Jan. 3, 1942: Manila falls to the Japanese.

“The Bare Facts of 1942” opens at the Aztec, 251 S. Main.

Movie theater patrons Tombio Ambo and Shigeki Kayama are in custody after Winifred J. Stephens accused them of hissing a newsreel of President Roosevelt and applauding scenes of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Stephens told police that when she turned to talk to the young men, one of them spit at her.

Tom Treanor looks at how the loss of automobiles will affect daily life — the government had just announced that no new cars would be made “for the duration” so auto plants could be converted to defense production. The Times also reported that private automobiles might be nationalized to meet war demands.

Treanor also writes that he angered readers when he said Los Angeles’ streetcar service had improved. (Streetcar fans, please note).

Jimmie Fidler says: Pic of the week: Universal’s “Hellzapoppin’ ” (Olsen and Johnson -Martha Raye.) Madhouse jitters that’ll have your side apoppin’

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Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Streetcars, Theaters, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Jan. 2, 2012, Mystery Photo

And this movie would be?

[Updated: This is the 1954 film “Dragnet.” Please congratulate Julie Merholz, Robert Howe, Richard Heft and “KMA 367” (that’s the LAPD’s call sign in case you don’t recognize it) for identifying this screen grab. This one was a little tougher than “D.O.A.” ]

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged | 8 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

hearse_model_ebay

Photo: A set of mourners (hearse not included) listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $124.99.


Queen of the Dead – dateline January 2, 2012

•  Comedy writer Joe Bodolai, 63, killed himself on December 26. No one interviewed seemed surprised: “I’m not shocked at all,” “He was a pretty unhappy guy,” “L.A. can chew you up and spit you out. It’s a tough place and it can be a very lonely place,” were some of the comments. Bodolai was a successful Canadian standup, and moved to New York where he wrote for SNL in 1981-82; he then coproduced the shows Kids in the Hall (1990-91) and Comics! (late 1990s). He also worked on the film Wayne’s World. His blog reveals him to have been a huge conspiracy nut (9/11, JFK, Israel), which is why, really, people, don’t keep blogs. But less annoyingly, he reminisced about the Canadian comedy scene: “I love Canadian comedy, the POV, the sweet pomegranate seal meat mixture of it, the lack of mean with the Robin Hood arrows.” And people? Rethink the blogs. We really don’t need to know some of this stuff.

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Posted in Animals, Another Good Story Ruined, Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Queen of the Dead, Television | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Found on EBay – Bullock’s

bullocks_wilshire_hat_02

Bullocks Wilshire Hat

This hat from Bullock’s has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $19.99.

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Movieland Mystery Photo

Mystery Photo

And this movie would be?

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , | 24 Comments

Happy New Year From the Daily Mirror

Jan. 1, 1942, New Year's Eve
Jan. 1, 1942, New Year's Eve

Broadway and 3rd Street
Photo: Looking south on Broadway at 3rd Street, via Google’s Street View.


Jan. 1, 1942:

Downtown Los Angeles is oddly quiet on New Year’s Eve after police and military authorities banned the regular street celebrations. Hotels and nightclubs were sold out and many thousands attended church services “to pray for divine guidance and solace in the Year of Our Lord 1942,” The Times said.

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Dec. 31, 2011, Mystery Photo

Here’s a mystery couple – are they celebrating New Year’s? – from the collection of Steven Bibb.

[Updated: This is Johnny Sands. Please congratulate Don Danard for identifying him and Dewey Webb for identifying the film! Steven Bibb thought the mystery woman might be Noreen Nash, but Patricia Medina is also a possibility.]

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged | 10 Comments

Hubble: No Evidence of ‘Big Bang’ Theory

Dec. 31, 1941, Armies Smash Manila

image
Dec. 31, 1941: Celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Hollywood Palladium with Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich AND Frank Sinatra … plus Connie Haines and the Pied Pipers.

John P. Varnum has a cute little racket. He pretends to be a Navy commander and visits the homes of Pearl Harbor victims, claims to have known the men and asks for money to get to San Pedro, where he can get his paycheck.

Astronomer Edwin P. Hubble says that after a six-year study, evidence does not support what we now call the Big Bang theory, according to the Associated Press. “The universe probably is not exploding but is a quiet, peaceful place and possibly just about infinite in size.”

I’m really puzzled by this story.  Sources today credit Hubble with the Big Bang theory, so I’m not sure whether it was still evolving at this point or whether the AP writer didn’t understand Hubble’s presentation. Can the Brain Trust shed any light on this matter?

Jimmie Fidler says: George Montgomery’s deferment may be canceled by his Montana draft board. He claimed support of his family….  I never knew a man who could ask more pertinent questions that Eddie Albert or who paid closer attention to the answers.

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Posted in 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Music, Nightclubs, World War II | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo

Movieland Mystery Photo

OK, it’s an MGM production. But what film uses this green background at the opening?

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L.A. Women Are Slackers in Fighting the Axis!

Dec. 30, 1941, Manila Bay Fortress Bombed

Dec. 30, 1941, Comics
Dec. 30, 1941: It seems that local women didn’t get the memo about the being the “Greatest Generation.” They’re a bunch of slackers in the war against the Axis and don’t want to work as air-raid wardens.

“Los Angeles women have been challenged and they are not meeting the challenge,” says Mrs. John Stearns Thayer, head of the California Federation of Women’s Clubs.

“Even in the small towns of the San Joaquin Valley I found registration for all services 100%. Los Angeles women are lagging with an indifference and a selfishness that is most disturbing. They are asking other women to work overtime to protect them — and that is terribly unfair.”

It seems that women lose interest once they discover that there’s no uniform (gasp!) and there’s no pay (ahem).

“They Died With Their Boots On” starts tomorrow at the Warners Hollywood and Downtown. (Added feature, “Rhapsody in Rivets.”)

Tom Treanor writes that wartime sacrifices will be good for Americans, who have gotten soft and lazy. “More walking won’t do many people harm. For the long haul, there are streetcars and buses? Remember them?”

Jimmie Fidler says: Mary Astor, who turned over her husband (Manuel del Campo) to the Canadian R.A.F. months ago, has now turned over her private plan to Uncle Sam.

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Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Streetcars, Theaters, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Found on EBay — Silverwoods

Stetson, Silverwoods stetson_silverwoods_ebay_label

This Stetson Royal De Luxe from Silverwood’s has been listed on EBay. Silverwood’s was one of the leading menswear stores in Los Angeles, so I’m not sure why the vendor has described this as a woman’s hat. Bidding starts at $59.99.

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Dec. 29, 2011, Mystery Photo

Here’s today’s mystery photo from the collection of Stephen Bibb.

[Update: This is Hal Le Roy. Plese congratulate Suzanne Annette Stone, Mary Mallory, Dewey Webb, Eve Golden, Don Danard, Mike Hawks, Bob Hansen and Rick Scott for identifying him. ]

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

4 Die as Streetcar Crushes Auto

Dec. 29, 1941, Streetcar Crash
115th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard
Photo: 115th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard via Google’s Street View.

Dec. 29, 1941, Comics

Dec. 29, 1941: A streetcar heading north on Hawthorne Boulevard hits an automobile at 115th Street after the driver, apparently blinded by rain, entered the intersection.

“The streetcar struck the machine dead center. At the first impact the streetcar was lifted clear off the tracks and then it settled back down, shoving, grinding the automobile, bucking along like a horse but grinding the car underneath the front wheels. The streetcar rolled for 150 feet and finally stopped,” John Holmes, of 5033 W. 118th Place, told police.

The victims are identified as Jacob and Mattie Kessler, 326 W. 132nd, Hawthorne; their son Henry, 10836 Inglewood Ave., Lennox; and their granddaughter Carol Jean Kessler.

Folks who are eager to bring back the streetcars, please take note.

“Axis aliens” are complying with orders to turn in their shortwave radios and cameras.

Jimmie Fidler says: Oliver “Babe” Hardy, man dismayed: Mr. Hardy’s confusion was pitiful when he discovered that, because he has added weight, he couldn’t wear his Santa Claus outfit this year until it had been let out at certain tight places.

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Found on EBay – Witzel Photo

Witzel dancers

This photo of two dancers from Witzel studios has been listed on EBay. Unfortunately, there’s no information on the women’s identities. Bidding on this photo starts at $4.99.

Posted in Dance, Found on EBay, Photography, Witzel | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

How to Wear a Hat – ‘The Grapes of Wrath’

'The Grapes of Wrath"

As Tom Joad, just paroled from prison, Henry Fonda wears a newsboy cap all through “The Grapes of Wrath,” with costume design by Gwen Wakeling. Let’s take a look.

ALSO

How to Wear a Hat — Newsboy Cap Edition
How to Wear a Newsboy Cap —  Marc Chevalier Edition

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Posted in 1940, Fashion, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Tires Put Under War Rationing; Youths Beat Japanese Student

Dec. 27, 1941, Luzon Battle

Dec. 27, 1941, Dorothy Darling

Dec. 27, 1941: Tom Treanor says that some Japanese Americans are upset that Chinese Americans are wearing badges to indicate they aren’t Japanese.

Mrs. E.J. Horton writes about a “Japanese schoolboy who got mobbed” and Mrs. Dill Nance “says she knows of two markets in her area (Manhattan Beach) which have discharged Nisei boys in their vegetable departments.”

Dorothy Darling, a  “naughty personality in platinum,” is at the Follies.

Jimmie Fidler says:“Sophie Tucker’s spouse, Al Lackey, has just published a song titled “I Wouldn’t Be a Jap for All the Tea in China.” Very hummable.

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Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Film, Hollywood, Stage, Theaters, World War II | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

2011_1226_mystery_photo

1206 N. Kingsley Drive

Photo: 1206 N. Kingsley Drive via Google’s Street View.


I was watching a certain film the other day and what should flash by but a California driver’s license. Google would reveal the answer, so the character’s name has been snipped. Who lived at 1206 N. Kingsley Drive?

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Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Location Sleuth | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

hearse_1996_cadillac_ebay
Photo: 1996 Cadillac hearse listed on EBay, with bids starting at $4,900.


Queen of the Dead – dateline December 26, 2011

•  Kitchener is dead! No, not the World War I field marshal with the fabulously lush moustache, who died in 1916. But his heir, Major Henry Herbert Kitchener, 3rd Earl Kitchener, who died on December 16 at 92. On the military side, Kitchener served in the Royal Corps of Signals, was Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire, and was vice president of The Western Front Association. He was also president of the Institute for Food Brain and Behaviour, “a charity conducting scientific research into the effects of nutrition on brain function and behaviour.” He left no heirs, so there will be no 4th Earl Kitchener—but among his survivors is niece Emma Kitchener-Fellowes, wife of writer/actor Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame.

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Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Queen of the Dead, World War II | 2 Comments