George Hodel: Ask Me Anything, September 2025

Posted on September 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

Here’s Boxie and I with this month’s “Ask Me Anything” on George Hodel.

In this session, I discussed:

Steve Hodel’s forthcoming update in his Black Dahlia Avenger franchise.

I also discussed:

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September 16, 1947: Stanley Beltz, Colorful Lockheed Test Pilot

Posted on September 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947

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

Stanley BeltzLow flying charges have been filed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration against Stanley Beltz, Lockheed test pilot, who reportedly took a four-engined Constellation down to 200 feet or less over a Playa Del Rey residential district last Friday.

The complaint, turned over to the CAA, declares Beltz violated minimum altitudes (1,000 feet), endangering lives and property.

Beltz denied being as low as householders reported. He explained he descended toward the coast to test a radio altimeter offshore.

This little brief appears to be nothing more than yet another of the many Times stories about pilots buzzing Los Angeles after the war, which seems to have occurred nearly every day. But in fact it leads to heartache and death.

Stanley A. Beltz was a prominent test pilot and after joining Lockheed in 1943 flew almost every type of plane the company made, except the F-90 and F-104 Starfighter. He piloted the first test flight of the C-130 transport from Burbank to Edwards Air Force Base in 1954.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, September 16, 1944

Posted on September 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 16, 1944, Comics

September 16, 1944

Danton Walker says: Frank Sinatra’s father has just been made chief of the Fire Department of Hoboken, N.J., in case you care.

Louella Parsons says: A scout in New York telegraphed that Sidney Kingsley, the playwright, has just signed a $100,000 deal with MGM to write an original. Kingsley is just out of the Army on a medical discharge and the Hollywood deal will be the first thing he has done since he donned uniform. With such plays as “Dead End,” “Men in White” and “The Patriots,” which were hits on Broadway, naturally he was in immediate demand.

Lucille Ball has gone to Las Vegas, but not for a hurried divorce as reported. She’ll get her freedom right here … The love scene Charlie Chaplin and Oona O’Neill put on at the Vine Street Derby had many fascinated onlookers … Greta Garbo, lunching at a Sunset Boulevard restaurant with Haylord Hauser, was absolutely unrecognized. She wore last year’s straw hat and a raincoat … Cheryl Crane paid her mother, Lana Turner, a visit on the set and for the first time Lana had to take a back seat. Her daughter stole the thunder.

VIRGO: Keen intuition and ingeniousness — both inborn in Virgo — can lead you successfully. In familiar matters, work, other activities for which you are trained you can especially advance.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.
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September 16, 1907: Occidental Upperclassmen Enforce Fashion Law — No Cords for Freshmen!

Posted on September 16, 2025 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 16, 1907
Los Angeles

Occidental’s fall semester has gotten underway with a boisterous gathering in the Hall of Letters. The first order of business was to punish underclassmen who dared to wear corduroy trousers, a right restricted to the upper classes. “Offending students were unceremoniously shorn of the ‘extreme pegs,’ ” The Times said. “ In the roughhouse, Dean Ward was among those who went to the floor.”

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September 15, 1947: On Rosh Hashanah, a Call to Mobilize for Peace

Posted on September 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 7, 1896, New Temple
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Sept. 15, 1946, Rosh Hashana

The ram’s horn, once a trumpet of war but now a symbol of faith, sounded at sundown yesterday in Los Angeles synagogues to mark the dawn of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana.

In Temple Emanuel, Beverly Hills, Rabbi Ernest Trattner told the congregation that “New beginnings come, not in new seasons, but in new attitudes. Solutions of life’s problems come, not in the passing of time, but in self-discipline and self-dedication. Let us start the year with God and keep step with Him all the year and peace and power and gladness shall be ours.”

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

Main title: Lettering over artwork of a ship.

This week’s mystery movie was the 1939 Warner Bros. film Waterfront, with Gloria Dickson, Dennis Morgan, Marie Wilson, Larry Williams, Sheila Bromley, Larry Williams, Aldrich Bowker, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Arthur Gardner and George Lloyd. Continue reading →

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September 14, 1947: How Many HR Violations Can You Spot in One Ad?

Posted on September 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947, comics
Sept. 14, 1947: Let’s see. White couples or single women wanted. Age limit 55 years.

No, we don’t do this anymore.

Sept. 14, 1947, White Couples Wanted

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September 13, 1963: Woman’s Body Found Behind Wall in Highland Park Home

Posted on September 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 13, 1963, Comics

Sept. 13, 1963, Body Hidden in Wall
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Joseph and Anna Lewis, 2630 Johnston St., Highland Park, had been married for 42 when she disappeared.

Not that Joseph, 72, a carpenter, was particularly concerned about her absence. Police were not informed of the disappearance until her daughter Shirley returned from a vacation in Montana and learned that her mother was missing.

According to Anna’s brother Charles Biba, she had visited in Chicago and boarded a direct flight to Los Angeles on Aug. 13.

Joseph told police “she has probably run off with some man,” but allowed investigators to search the home and agreed to a polygraph test — which he “passed with flying colors,” The Times said. Further investigation revealed that he had filed for divorce while his wife was gone.

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Posted in 1963, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Suicide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

September 13, 1958: Dodgers disciplined for playing golf

Posted on September 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

Dodgers discipline two players

Duke Snider and Clem Labine face sanctions for playing golf on game day.

Note: This is an encore post from 2008.

By Keith Thursby
Times staff writer

September 13, 1958: Sports PageThe Dodgers’ first season in Los Angeles was tough on Duke Snider.

The veteran outfielder’s power numbers were way down in 1958, thanks to knee trouble and the huge dimensions of the Coliseum that were impossible for a left-handed hitter. He would hit only 15 home runs in 1958, after hitting at least 40 home runs each season from 1953-57.

Snider received a little unwelcome publicity when The Times headlined the news that he and pitcher Clem Labine “faced the prospect” of fines or other discipline for violating a team rule on a game day in Pittsburgh.

Their offense–they played golf.
The story had a small presence on the sports cover, but it was on the cover! It wasn’t packaged with the Dodgers’ game story that night, which makes me wonder if something dropped out or came up short late. Continue reading →

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September 13, 1947: The Light Rail That Failed — Transit Plan Calls for Trains on Freeway Medians

Posted on September 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 13, 1947, comics, L.A. Times

L.A. Times, 194

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

Sept. 13, 1947, Light Rail Someday an inquisitive person studying the history of transportation and urban planning will tell the world exactly what became of Los Angeles’ 1947 blueprint for dealing with transit problems. In the meantime, we’ll have to settle for the knowledge that at least they made a valiant effort. They certainly knew what was coming—without much argument, you could call them futurists.

A committee sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce spent 19 months studying transportation issues and warned that someday Los Angeles would have a population of 5 million (the 2000 population of Los Angeles County was 9,519,338, with 3,694,820 for the city of L.A.).

“High-speed rail transit arteries plus a system of downtown subways alone can save Los Angeles from disintegration into a hodge-podge of unconnected municipalities,” The Times said in quoting the project’s advocates.

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September 13, 1942: Retired Police Lt. George H. Williams, Badge 1, Dies at 84

Posted on September 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 12, 1942, Comics

Sept. 13, 1942, Badge 1 Dies

September 13, 1942: Retired Lt. George H. Williams,who held LAPD retirement Badge 1, dies at the age of 84. He retired in 1912 after serving with the department for 23 years and was in charge of the detail that brought bodies out of the Times Building after the 1910 bombing.

Washington is testing “standsit” seats for its streetcars and buses to accommodate more passengers and use less steel, which is needed for the war.

Homicide Detectives Ray Varela and R.J. Hollis kill murder suspect Richard Emilio Diaz after tracking him to a downtown garage.

Bert Grossman dies at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital after telling police that two men “accosted him and forced him to drink from a bottle of ‘some bitter liquid.’ ”

“Panama Hattie” starring Ann Sothern is opening at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Loew’s State.

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Sept. 13, 1907: Girl’s Foot Amputated After Being Crushed by Streetcar

Posted on September 13, 2025 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 13, 1907
Los Angeles

The family was too poor to take a streetcar, so Concepcion Parra, 60, and her sister Mrs. J.L. Ghiotto began walking the 12 miles to El Monte with Parra’s 5-year-old granddaughter, Delphina Verde, to see the girl’s mother. To save time, they took a shortcut along the streetcar tracks.

Around State Street, they jumped back to avoid a southbound car from Pasadena and were hit by a northbound car. Parra (or Parras) and Ghiotto were thrown clear by the collision, but Delphina was crushed under the wheels.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, September 12, 1944

Posted on September 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 12, 1944, Comics

September 12, 1944

Danton Walker says: Huge orders for railroad cars, motors, trucks, etc., have already arrived here from France, first indication of U.S. industry’s bite of postwar business.

Louella Parsons says: Hunt Stromberg’s plan to make “Blood and Guts” is a natural. Of course, it’s the life story of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr., and the way he took the American Army right through the German lines. Hunt has contacted Mrs. Patton and he hopes to be able to get some data from the general, if the war is over as soon as we all hope. Bob Considine has been contacted to write the script. Charles Bickford, rough and ready, will have the role of the great soldier. Gen. Patton, to whom war comes first, won the respect of his men, and their unanimous support, even after the much publicized “slap” episode.

Through the grapevine, ’tis whispered Capt. Ronald Reagan, who has been in the service since the beginning of the war, may be out the first of the year. He has a wife and child. If this is true, Ronnie will probably resume his movie career in “The Voice of the Turtle,” which is a natural for him.

VIRGO: No vestpocket effort or half-hearted try will accomplish a thing. Big business needs big action, anticipation and above average comprehension. All these and more you can deliver.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.

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September 12, 1944: Wife Stabs Venice Man to Death

Posted on September 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 12, 1944, comics

Sept. 12, 1944, Killing

September 12, 1944

Charles Holdren, 45, lived at 1515 Trolleyway, Venice, with his wife, Ellen, and daughters from a previous marriage: Virginia, 20, Peggy, 18, and Lois, 13. He worked as a fish cutter and after Charles and Ellen had spent Sunday drinking heavily, he decided to go to bed.

Where he found his wife, Ellen, 44.

The Times said he “objected to her presence in bed when he started to retire.”

At the Wilshire-Ebell Theatre: Rainbow Rhapsody with ‘Spectratone.’

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September 11, 1947: Al Jarvis Replies to L.A. Sentinel’s Charges of Racism

Posted on September 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

“Boogie-Woogie Blue Plate” is No. 2on this week’s juke box hits.

Sept. 11, 1947, L.A. Sentinel, Al Jarvis
Sept. 11, 1947: KLAC disc jockey Al Jarvis replies to Earl Griffin’s criticisms in last week’s Sentinel. “To knowingly plug a sponsor who discriminates against the Negro race is contrary to every belief I have ever had or ever will have.”

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September 11, 1947: Driver of Beer Wagon Gets Revenge on Streetcars

Posted on September 11, 2025 by lmharnisch


image

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

“Big Bill,” driver for Maier & Zobelein, blockaded a procession of cars on Spring Street yesterday afternoon because he was insulted and angry. He had driven his big brewery wagon too close to the tracks and a passing car rolled one of the kegs of beer into the gutter and spilled the contents. For revenge, “Bill” drove his wagon into such a position that not a car could pass north on Spring Street and the trolley coaches began to pile up behind the foam cart.

The team was allowed to stand and “Bill” went into the saloon to refresh himself and cool off as much as possible.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood News and Gossip by Louella Parsons, Sept. 11, 1944

Posted on September 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

Sept. 11, 1944, Comics

September 11, 1944

You needn’t be surprised if you find Mervyn LeRoy producing pictures in Bulgaria, setting up shop in Italy or moving into France. Mervyn has formed an independent producing company to be known as the Arrowhead Productions.

When Fred Allen faces the cameras come Monday, he’ll have Binnie Barnes, gifted actress, as his screen vis a vis.

VIRGO: The more you extend yourself and the less worry and doubt you engage, the fuller the response you receive. Industry, professions favored.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com

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September 11, 1943: Escaped Soldier Denies Attacking Former Screen Star

Posted on September 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

image

September 11, 1943: The Times features the Los Angeles Times-Army Ordnance in Action Show being held at Exposition Park.

The Times promised that

“visitors will see the massive 32-ton Gen. Sherman tanks whose tough armor and deadly firepower blasted the vaunted divisions of Marshal Rommel from the sands of Africa.

They will see tanks in action, their cannon and machine guns firing, in a grimly realistic simulation of an actual battle.They will see the dreaded Long Tom, 155-millimeter mobile rifle, whose long, probing muzzles sought out enemy targets with devastating accuracy.”

What visitors will not do is take pictures — cameras will be will be confiscated, The Times warns.

Expatriate novelist Lion Feuchtwanger is fighting eviction by his landlords from a home at 13827 Sunset Blvd.

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Los Angeles City Hall, September 11, 2011

Posted on September 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles City Hall, Sept. 11, 2011

Photo: City Hall, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011. Credit: Larry Harnisch/LADailyMirror.com

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September 11, 1907: In Praise of the Corset for the ‘Woman Who Weighs a Ton’

Posted on September 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 11, 1907
Direct Wire From New York

Wow! Now this is the kind of quote one simply doesn’t see every day, at least in the 21st century. The Victorians certainly had a different attitude toward women’s physiques:

“The woman who gets the proper sort of corset will have the fashionable figure, even if she weighs a ton.”

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