Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 6

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Feb. 26, 1942, Searchlights  

  July 8, 1947, Flying Disk  

July 8, 1947: The first links between the searchlight photo, the Battle of Los Angeles and flying saucers seem to have emerged in the late 1940s.  A Times editorial dismissing UFOs compared them to the mystery object targeted during the 1942 air raid. “…antiaircraft bursts caught in searchlight beams were magnified into 27 twin-engined Japanese bombers, majestically flying in formation," The Times said. 

In 1952, Times columnist Bill Henry  referred to "the Battle of Los Angeles of 1942 in which something resembling a flying saucer — it was really an errant weather balloon — touched off the gosh-durndest artillery barrage that our community has witnessed before or since."
 
Today, an Internet search reveals a vast number of websites devoted to the searchlight photo and UFOs.

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 1

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 2

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 3

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 4

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 5

Another Good Story Ruined: The Battle of Los Angeles

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Found on EBay — Rube Wolf

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch
Rube Wolf Poster This poster from the 1935 showing of “The President Vanishes” at the Paramount Theatre has been listed on EBay. Fans of vintage typography (you know who you are) this is for you!

Bidding starts at $400, which is too rich for my blood. As with everything listed on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before submitting a bid.

ALSO

Rube Wolf on the Daily Mirror

Rube Wolf inside the half-demolished Paramount Theatre
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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 12, 1941

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  March 12, 1941, Nazis Wait Go Signal in Balkans  

  image  

March 12, 1941: The first 100 pages of James Hilton’s “Random Harvest” are disappointing but the rest of the novel more than makes up for it, Lee Shippey says.

Tom Treanor talks to some watchmakers about the ways war is affecting their field.  Time fuses and the difficulty in getting diamonds are some of the new challenges. And then there’s the difficulty in selling a new watch to a railroad worker.

Clark Gable still manages to look sheepish when asked to state his profession, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Posted in 1941, art and artists, books, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

  March 7, 2011, Mystery Photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

  March 7, 2011, Mystery Photo  

  Mystery Stalker  

[Update 2: Here’s our mystery stalker!]

[Update: This is Francis X. Bushman Jr. and Alma Rayford in “Away in the Lead.” Evidently this is a lost film because there was almost no information on imdb about it. I updated the record as much as I was able, based on very slim clips in The Times. The mystery stalker could be Charles Clary, Gino Corrado or Billy Franey. ]

Today, we have a very tall mystery guest, a petite mystery companion, a mystery stalker and a mystery fountain!

Our friend Eve asks for a close-up. Here you go!

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 27 Comments

Jim Murray, March 12, 1961

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

  March 12, 1961, Racing  

  March 12, 1961, Jim Murray  

March 12, 1961: After a month of writing six columns a week, Jim Murray wonders what hit him! He dips into the mailbag for readers’ comments. But even when answering readers’ quibbles, Murray is entertaining.

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Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 5 [Updated]

Posted on March 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Feb. 25, 1962. Battle of L.A.  

[Update: The Times published this photo with a story about the Battle of Los Angeles, but the photo was actually taken another time and used in error, according to Scott Harrison, who researched it for The Times'  Framework blog.] 

  Feb. 25, 1962  

Feb. 25, 1962: As the years passed, the Battle of Los Angeles became a local curiosity. For the 20th anniversary, The Times attempted to unravel the incident, but only uncovered confusion and chaos.

Quoting a military report, The Times said: “At 3:06 a.m., an object resembling a balloon was sighted over Santa Monica and four units were ordered to fire.

"Thereafter, the official records are so confused and contradictory — and the subsequent testimony of eyewitnesses, both civilian and military, complicates, rather than clarifies them — that it seems impossible to reconstruct accurately the story of the next few hours."

Jack Smith wrote about the incident for the 1967 anniversary and Donna Scheibe  revisited the incident in 1979.
 
ALSO

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 1

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 2

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 3

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 4

Another Good Story Ruined: The Battle of Los Angeles

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Photography, UFOs | 1 Comment

Death Toll Exceeds 100,000 in Japan’s Holocaust, Sept. 3, 1923

Posted on March 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Sept. 3, 1923, Death Toll Exceeds 100,000  

  Sept. 3, 1923, Quake Map  

  Sept. 3, 1923, Japan Quake  

Sept. 3, 1923: This is the earliest map I’ve ever seen by our old friend Charles Owens, who later worked on Nuestro Pueblo with Joe Seewerker. I have been selective in posting stories because the images are quite difficult to read.

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All Tokio in Flames; Death Toll Staggering, Sept. 2, 1923

Posted on March 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Sept. 2, 1923, Japan Quake  

  Sept. 2, 1923, Japan Quake  

Sept. 2, 1923: Tokio is afire, many of the buildings of the city have collapsed, the water system is destroyed, the loss of life is heavy, all traffic has been suspended and the flames are spreading to surrounding towns, according to a message received here tonight by the Radio Corporation of America from the superintendent of the company's station at Tomioka regarding the great earthquakes of today.

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Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, March 11, 1961

Posted on March 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  March 11, 1961, Comics  

March 11, 1961: The unemployed man who turned in $240,000 that fell from a Brink’s armored car gets a job offer!

An overturned propane trailer causes a five-hour jam on the Hollywood Freeway, Matt Weinstock says, back when such things were still a novelty. 

Paul Coates interviews a woman whose husband was charged with abusing the couple’s young daughters after he inflicted second-degree burns by holding their hands over the flame on a gas stove. The girls’ crime? They “messed up” clothing in dresser drawers.

DEAR ABBY: Your advice to "OFF MY SCHEDULE" should have been framed. Thanks, Abby, for having a kind paper shoulder for so many to cry on. Like "OFF MY SCHEDULE" I, too, had a young neighbor who would come to my home too often and stay too long. She had two little children and there were times when she kept me from my work. I became weary of her company.

When she moved, she thanked me for my kindness in letting her come. She confessed she had been on the verge of becoming an alcoholic and when she felt she needed a drink she would come to my house instead. My only regret now is that I became weary at all.

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Posted in #courts, 1961, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Matt Weinstock, Paul Coates, Transportation | Comments Off on Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, March 11, 1961

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 11, 1941

Posted on March 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

  March 11, 1941, Meet John Doe  

 
 

  March 11, 1941, Meet John Doe  

March 11, 1941: Lee Shippey publishes an interesting, detailed letter about conditions in Germany by a woman who fled to Switzerland.

Los Angeles needs more factories, but getting money is difficult because everyone is worried about what will happen to the defense industry after the war, Tom Treanor says.
 
Jimmie Fidler says — DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE WEEK: Columbia's "The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance." And loses!

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Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 4

Posted on March 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 29, 1945, Battle of Los Angeles  

  Oct. 29, 1945, Battle of Los Angeles  

Oct. 29, 1945: The Times publishes the searchlight photo to accompany a story about the Air Force account of the incident.

Almost as soon as the shooting stopped, people began arguing over whether the 1942 air raid was a genuine sighting.  Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson insisted that 15 planes had been seen over the city while Secretary of the Navy William Franklin Knox dismissed the incident as a false alarm.

After the war, the military was more forthcoming with information and in preparing its official history, the 4th Air Force stated that there were unidentified airplanes, possibly Japanese, over Los Angeles that night. However, a Japanese Navy official dismissed the account, saying that no Japanese aircraft were involved.

ALSO

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 1

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 2

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 3

Another Good Story Ruined: The Battle of Los Angeles

 

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, UFOs | 1 Comment

Found on EBay — Myer Siegel

Posted on March 10, 2011 by lmharnisch
Myer Siegel EBay Myer Siegel Label

Items from Myer Siegel don’t show up terribly often on EBay, so this nightgown is fairly unusual. It's unclear from The Times' clips exactly what became of Myer Siegel, but it disappears from the pages in the early 1950s. Bidding starts at $10.50.

ALSO

Myer Siegel on the Daily Mirror
Posted in Fashion | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Myer Siegel

Matt Weinstock, March 10, 1961

Posted on March 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  March 10, 1961, Comics  

March 10, 1961: Matt Weinstock has an item on the novel “Red Alert” by Peter Bryant.  If the plot sounds familiar,   that’s because … well, I won’t spoil it.

DEAR ABBY: From the day we married I gave my wife a very generous allowance, but she never saved a dime. She said she wasn't going to save her money for my next wife to spend. It took me 15 years to figure out an answer. Now I tell her that I am not going to save any money either — let her next husband support her.

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Paul Coates, March 10, 1961

Posted on March 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

 

 
 

  March 10, 1961, Mirror Cover  

March 10, 1961: Douglas Johnson, 60, an unemployed maintenance man, finds a sack containing $240,000 that fell from a Brink's truck on Wilshire Boulevard.

Paul Coates writes about Leonard S. Abrams' pamphlet, titled "Are You SURE You're Guilty?"

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 10, 1941

Posted on March 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

  March 10, 1941, Reds Mass Troops Near Turkey  

  March 10, 1941, Comics  

March 10, 1941: Lee Shippey notes the passing of the Lyceum Theater, formerly the Los Angeles, built in 1888.
 
Tom Treanor has the story of four visiting opera singers who are so engaged in their discussion of that night’s performance of “Rigoletto” that they don’t notice … but why spoil Treanor’s story?

Jimmie Fidler says SHE'S SLIPPING WHEN: Her producer hints that small parts can be more important than leads … Nightclub photographers give her a cordial "hello" but save their film … She begins scoffing at the "artificial pretense" of Hollywood and moves to a smaller house …

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Jim Murray, Feb. 24, March 10, 1961

Posted on March 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

   March 10, 1961, Alex Perez  

  Feb. 24, 1961, Jim Murray  

Feb. 24, 1961: Jim Murray visits the Lakers’ locker room before their game with the Celtics. Don’t miss it.

March 10, 1961: PALM SPRINGS — It is now being generally considered the Los Angeles Angels are going to be the canvas backs of baseball in the upcoming season, the only team in history to finish ninth or lower in the American League. You may wonder what I'm doing down here that can be of any interest at all to you.

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Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, art and artists, Columnists, Sports | 1 Comment

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 3

Posted on March 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

   Feb. 26, 1942, Print  
  Photographs by Larry Harnisch/Los Angeles Times  

The original 1942 print of searchlights over Los Angeles.

  Feb. 26, 1942, Photo, reverse  

The back of the print, showing editors’ notations and the publication date Feb. 26, 1942.

  Feb. 26, 1942, Chilly Throng Watches Shells Bursting in Sky  

1942_0226_cover Feb. 26, 1942: Marvin Miles, The Times aviation correspondent for many years, files a color story on the night of the air raid:

“Explosions stabbing the darkness like tiny busting stars. … Searchlight beams poking long crisscross fingers across the night sky…. But the objects in the sky slowly moved on, caught in the center of the lights like the hub of a bicycle wheel surrounded by gleaming spokes.”

“Like lethal firecrackers, the antiaircraft blasted above, below and seemingly right on the target in the tenacious beams. Other shots fell short, exploding halfway up the long climb. Tracers sparked upward like Roman candles.”

“…The target inched along high overhead, flanked by the cherry-red bursts. And the householders shivered in their robes, their faces set, watching the awesome scene.”

 

ALSO

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 1

Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! — Part 2

Another Good Story Ruined: The Battle of Los Angeles

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Film, Hollywood, Photography, UFOs | 2 Comments

Matt Weinstock, March 9, 1961

Posted on March 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

  March 9, 1961, Comics  

March 9, 1961: Matt Weinstock has the story of a downtown bookie who got away with it – and got away.

CONFIDENTIAL TO "EL CHUMPO": Don't Marry her. An engineer should be able to count to nine.

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Paul Coates, March 9, 1961

Posted on March 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

  March 9, 1961, Mirror Cover  

March 9, 1961: Paul Coates dips into the slush pile of press releases for an item on plastic cigarettes that provide a menthol flavor – but don’t light them!  

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Philip K. Scheuer, Town Called Hollywood, March 9, 1941

Posted on March 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  March 9, 1941, Senate Passes War Aid Measure  

  March 9, 1941, Comics  

March 9, 1941: It’s a Sunday, which means Jimmie Fidler has the day off. Instead, Philip K. Scheuer writes about “Gone With the Wind” (I know, I know, you’re thinking it’s a 1939 film). He says "which was withheld from the Film Daily's poll pending general release. That has only now taken place.”

Scheuer likes GWTW (surprise!) but says: “Is it a sign of something that our longest movie is about a girl being disillusioned in love? For everything that Scarlett does she does because she is frustrated in her passion for Ashley Wilkes. Sometimes I think he might better have given in.”

Also: Tom Treanor has an update on “Out of the Night.”

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Posted in 1941, art and artists, books, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on Philip K. Scheuer, Town Called Hollywood, March 9, 1941