For Mother’s Day – The Victory Bra

Posted on May 3, 2012 by lmharnisch

Victory Bra

May 3, 1942: No, really. There was such a thing.

Posted in 1942, Fashion, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Snake Killer Dies on Gallows

Posted on May 2, 2012 by lmharnisch

May 2, 1942, Comics

May 2, 1942, Rattlesnake James

May 2, 1942: Major Raymond Lisenba, better known as Robert S. “Rattlesnake” James, becomes the 214th and last person to be executed by hanging in California. James was hanged because the murder of his wife occurred in 1935, before the introduction of the gas chamber in 1937.

James tried to kill his wife by binding her and putting her leg into a box containing two rattlesnakes. Although she was bitten, the venom wasn’t fatal — or at least hadn’t taken effect, so James drowned her in a bathtub and placed her body face-down in a backyard fish pond. (And yes, drowning in the backyard pond makes me think of “Chinatown.”)

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Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, World War II | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on May 1, 2012 by lmharnisch

Movieland Mystery Photo

And here’s a mysterious chap…..

[Update: This this is Chester Morris in “After Midnight With Boston Blackie.” Please congratulate Bronson Bias (1), Don Danard (2), Mike Hawks (3), Kevin King (4), Rick Scott (5) and Mary Mallory (6) for identifying him.

Here’s my real reason for running the pictures:  Most of the Boston Blackie films were done on a sound stage or a back lot, but  “After Midnight With Boston Blackie” has a few street scenes during a car chase. (Ambulances, police cars and other official conveyances are never safe when Boston Blackie is around).  I don’t recognize any of them (it is “After Midnight”) but maybe someone will.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Black Dahlia Exhibit – Leslie Dillon

Posted on May 1, 2012 by lmharnisch

Leslie Dillon

This is one of the 1949 photos of Leslie Dillon displayed in the Black Dahlia exhibit at the Los Angeles Police Historical Society.

In case you don’t recall, Dillon is the fellow who contacted LAPD psychiatrist J. Paul DeRiver after reading about the Black Dahlia case in a pulp crime magazine. DeRiver came to believe that Dillon was the killer and got Dillon to come for a rendezvous in Las Vegas under the pretext of taking a job as his personal secretary. DeRiver and the gangster squad began a separate – and secret – investigation, bypassing lead homicide detectives Harry Hansen and Finis Brown.

Oh, did it not end well.

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Posted in 1949, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD, Museums | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Found on EBay – Mullen and Bluett

Posted on April 30, 2012 by lmharnisch

Mullen and Bluett, Hawaiian Outfit

mullen_bluett_hawaiian_outfit_label When vintage fashion collides with Tiki-mania, look what happens: This vintage Hawaiian outfit from Mullen and Bluett, listed on EBay with bids starting at $99.99.

Posted in Fashion, Found on EBay | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on April 30, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 30, 2012, Mystery Photo

Here’s today’s mystery guest, courtesy of Steven Bibb!

[Update: This is Mickey Shaughnessy in “Pocketful of Miracles.” Please congratulate Dewey Webb (first), Pamela Porter (second), Bronson Bias (third), Michael Ryerson, Jenny M., Bill Krieger, Mike Hawks, Gary Martin, Barbara Klein, Herb Nichols, Roget-L.A., L.C. and Rick Scott for identifying him. ] 

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on April 30, 2012 by lmharnisch

hearse_1990_cadillac

A 1990 Cadillac hearse listed on EBay at $6,995.

Queen of the Dead – dateline April 30, 2012

•  Oh, dear. You know those Passion Plays—the religious kind, not the porno kind? Well, Brazilian actor Tiago Klimeck, 27, was playing Judas, and you know that scene where he hangs himself? You see what’s coming, don’t you . . . During a Good Friday outdoor performance in Sao Paulo, his safety harness slipped, and photos show fellow cast members draping him in a shroud and carrying on with the show, not realizing the poor guy wasn’t breathing (which, I hope, means he was not in pain!). He died on April 22, after 17 days in the hospital on life support.

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Posted in Eve Golden, Obituaries, Queen of the Dead, Religion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

April 29, 1992

Posted on April 28, 2012 by lmharnisch

crowd is trying to break windows on 3rd floor… we can hear rocks hit…
(HARNISCH, 4/29/92 21:00)

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

On Assignment

Posted on April 27, 2012 by lmharnisch

I’m on assignment. It’s fun, but there are only so many hours in the day.

–Larry

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Men 45-64 Register With Draft Boards

Posted on April 26, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 26, 1942, Comics

April 25, 1942, Draft Registration

April 26, 1942: Men between the ages of 45 and 64 form a line a block long outside the draft board at 329 W. 2nd St. to comply with a new registration order.

The men would be called upon to serve in civilian jobs rather than in uniform, The Times says.

Among the first to register was one local draft board’s examining physician, Dr. Frederick L. McLeod, who was 63. “This is an all-out war we’re having,” he says. “We’ve got to get behind it. I think everyone should be registered — including women.”

The Ice-Capades of 1942 is at the Pan-Pacific.

Gag writer Wilkie Mahoney gives a brief explanation of humor in Philip K. Scheuer’s Town Called Hollywood.

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Posted in 1942, Comics, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on April 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 25. 2012, Mystery Photo

Here’s another mystery photo from the amazing collection of Steven Bibb!

Update: This is John Lodge in “Mayerling to Sarajevo.” Please congratulate Mike Hawks and Mary Mallory for identifying him.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Black Dahlia – Los Angeles Police Historical Society

Posted on April 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

Black Dahlia Interview

The Daily Mirror visited the Los Angeles Police Historical Society on Saturday and stopped in at the Black Dahlia exhibit.

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Posted in 1946, Black Dahlia, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Museums | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on April 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

hearse_1959_oldsmobile
A postcard of a 1959 Oldsmobile hearse, listed on EBay with bids starting at $8.99.

Queen of the Dead – dateline April 23, 2012

•  The last of the old-time tummlers is gone. Lou Goldstein, famed at the borscht-belt hotel Grossinger’s from 1948 till it closed in 1986, died on April 2, aged 90. “Tummler” is, essentially, Yiddish for “obnoxious loud-mouth.” Not literally, of course: but they were hired by hotels to run around like six Lucille Balls on crack, making jokes, singing, clowning, anything to get lazy vacationers up and enjoying themselves, whether they goddam wanted to or not. Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks, Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar and Red Buttons all started their careers as tummlers, so—well, there you are. Blogger Adam Dickter in The New York Jewish Week recalls Goldstein’s “winning personality as a natural people person, exactly the type the managers at Grossinger’s and other hotels needed: a front man to work the crowd, remember their names, kibitz with them and compliment their kids on how fine they’ve grown up.”

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Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Queen of the Dead, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

State OKs Women Wearing Pants to Work

Posted on April 21, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 21, 1942, Women Wear Pants

April 21, 1942, Women Wear Pants

April 21, 1942: It took the approval of State Public Works Director Frank W. Clark, but women are wearing pants to work!

The fashion iconoclasts are Olive Faisy and Lorena Hermance, telephone operators at the State Building. They were joined by Ruth Jordan, a stenographer for the city of Los Angeles, who received permission from J.D. Lathrop, chief clerk in the traffic violations bureau.

The ladies say that wearing slacks and a blouse is more economical than a dress, and they avoid the costs of a slip, hose and can wear less expensive shoes.

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Posted in 1942, Fashion, World War II | Tagged , | 3 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 26

Posted on April 20, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Full Service" cover

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge.

We have moved on, ever so slightly, to the further exploits of Scotty Bowers in 1946. In this portion of the book, he’s discussing life in Los Angeles.

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: 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

 

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Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 25 [Updated]

Posted on April 19, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Full Service" cover

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge.

Several regular readers have asked whether I have given up on “Full Service.” The answer is no. I’ve been busy with my job at The Times, writing an occasional column (shout out to Ed Fuentes) and working on “Titanic. 100 Years Later,” an e-book that The Times has released.

In addition, the Daily Mirror HQ is undergoing renovations. The painters are here and everything is shrouded in plastic. Anyone who has done home repairs knows what I’m talking about.

But let’s plunge ahead to Page 7 — and according to my calculations, at the present rate, it will take more than 1,000 posts to finish the book. Hm. Should I rethink this?

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: 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

Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated ++]

Posted on April 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 18, 2012, Mystery Photo

Here’s another photo from the amazing collection of Steven Bibb!

[Update: This is Henry Armetta with John Garfield in “Dust Be My Destiny.”]

Just about everybody recognized one or both of our mystery guests (although Herb Nicholas threw me a curve by using the birth name of the chap on the left – went right past me). Bob Duncan was first, followed by Dewey Webb, Michael Ryerson, RJ, Richard Heft, Benito (half credit). Jenny M, Mike Hawks, William Stansel (half credit), Sarah (half credit), Mary Mallory, Gregory Moore (half credit), Gary Martin (half credit), Don Danard, Bob Hansen, (half credit) and Rick Scott.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 32 Comments

Doolittle Raiders Bomb Tokyo

Posted on April 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 18 1942, Tokyo Bombed

April 18, 1942, Comics
April 18, 1942:  The Doolittle Raiders, flying from the carrier Hornet, bomb Tokyo. According to DoolittleRaider.com, the  five surviving crew members are scheduled to attend the 70th reunion, which is being held through April 20 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Tom Treanor  complains that all branches of the Los Angeles Public Library are closing at 6 p.m. because of fears of a blackout. “Miss Althea Warren, public librarian, says that the library board has already been asked to reconsider the 6 o’clock closing order,” Treanor says.

Gov. Olson raises concerns about companies that hire women when there are so many unemployed men. Bonus fact: It is illegal in California for women to work between midnight and 6 a.m.

Streetcar motorman T.D. Wilson gets into a dispute with a group of African Americans boarding a car at Jefferson Street and Grand Avenue. Some of them tried to board for free and a fight broke out when Wilson asked them to pay. The money changer was torn from Wilson’s belt, spilling coins on the floor of the car, and “a small riot ensued,” The Times said.

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Posted in 1942, African Americans, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on April 16, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 16, 2012, Mystery Photo

Here’s another mystery photo from the amazing collection of Steven Bibb!

Update: This is Gila Golan from “Three on a Couch” and she also appeared in one of the favorite movies at the Daily Mirror HQ, “The Valley of Gwangi.”  Please congratulate Dewey Webb, Benito, Mike Hawks, Rotter, David Franklin and William Stansel for identifying her. Gwangi! Gwangi!

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

Internment of Japanese Farmers Causes Food Shortage

Posted on April 16, 2012 by lmharnisch

April 16, 1942

April 16, 1942, Japanese Farmers

April 16, 1942: If you send all the Japanese farmers to internment camps, there’s no one to grow strawberries, tomatoes, carrots, green peas and onions. Oops.

Charlotte LeNordtestifies that she killed her foster mother Celeste Frank — who read palms as Madame Lorraine — by mistake, assuming that the gun wasn’t entirely loaded.

Which is to say that she took most, but not all, of the cartridges out of the cylinder before pointing the gun at Frank and pulling the trigger as she said “bang.”

LeNord testified that she thought the cylinder was on an empty chamber, but the old revolver was defective and the cylinder rotated freely. The killing was ruled accidental.

“Joan of Paris” opens at the Carthay Circle.

Victor Mature as Rudolph Valentino? Maybe, says Edwin Schallert. At least Pola Negri visited Mature on the set of “Footlight Serenade,” which may have special significance.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments