Fleeing Cubans Force Airliner to U.S., Oct. 29, 1960

Posted on October 29, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 29, 1960, Comics  

Oct. 29, 1960: ONLY IN ARCADIA — Mrs. Mae McClain hides these days when the garbage man comes by. Her husband recently caught a big shark off Catalina and brought it home to show the children. It was eventually placed in the refuse can and she happened to be watching as it slithered out, mouth first, as the frightened gentleman upended the container.

CONFIDENTIAL TO SCHATZIE: The distance between your boyfriend's ears is just one block. That "prove your love" line is pretty stale.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Oct. 29, 1940

Posted on October 29, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 29, 1940, Greeks Stop Italian Push  

  Oct. 29, 1940, War Map  

Oct. 29, 1940: Frank Morgan is overhauling his yacht for a repeat Alaskan jaunt, come spring, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Pages of History

Posted on October 29, 2010 by lmharnisch

  carole_lombard_spareribs_crop  


Longtime reader Jenny Lerew mentioned this recipe in a recent comment about “What Actors Eat When They Eat!” so I thought I would share it. Also on the jump, Jimmie Fidler’s recipe for Boston baked beans. Wot’s this? They misspelled his name?

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Posted in books, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock, Oct. 28, 1960

Posted on October 28, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 28, 1960, Comics  

Oct. 28, 1960: ONLY IN L.A. — Another bus became lost in the big city Tuesday. It was a Beverly Boulevard express which is supposed to turn on Vermont Avenue and take the Hollywood Freeway downtown. Somehow the driver missed his turnoff and meandered aimlessly on Bunker Hill, finally reaching 3rd and Beaudry. A passenger, an attorney due in court, was nearly frantic. Oddly enough, the bus arrived at 4th and Hill ahead of schedule.

CONFIDENTIAL TO JUDY: Don't plan on marrying for "better or for worse" … plan on marrying for GOOD!

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Paul Coates, Oct. 28, 1960

Posted on October 28, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 28, 1960, Cover
 

Oct. 28, 1960: Paul Coates gets an anonymous letter about teenage violence.

“I was born in what you'd call the slums, I guess, but at the age of 10 I moved to a better neighborhood. Still, it's not the best. I go to Virgil Junior High.

“I go to school with kids who belong to street gangs and who are always popping in and out of Juvenile Hall. I hear so much every day that it doesn't shock me the way it used to."

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Oct. 28, 1941

Posted on October 28, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 28, 1941, Shooting Has Started  

  Oct. 28, 1941, Tom Treanor  

Oct. 28, 1941: Did no one note the passing of the widow of once-famous star Harold Lockwood? She'd been working as a studio wardrobe woman, Jimmie Fidler says.

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L.A. Archives Bazaar

Posted on October 28, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 23, 2010, Archives Bazaar  
  Photograph by Larry Harnisch / Los Angeles Times  

The fifth annual L.A. Archives Bazaar on Saturday at USC’s Doheny Library.

I had the pleasure of being on one of the panels at the annual L.A. Archives Bazaar on Saturday at USC and thought I’d elaborate a bit on some of the questions and comments that were made about using old newspapers for research.

To recap for those who weren’t there, the moderators were USC librarians Dace Taube and Sue Tyson, and the other panelists were Michelle Welsing of the  Southern California Library and Nick Beck, former UPI correspondent and journalism teacher.

Michelle talked about Charlotta A. Bass, publisher of the California Eagle, whom I have mentioned on the Daily Mirror.  Anyone who is truly interested in understanding Los Angeles needs to look at the California Eagle and the Los Angeles Sentinel, two African American weeklies that are so different from the daily newspapers of the era that they almost exist in a parallel world.

Nick mentioned the once common practice of indicating ethnicity in news stories, such as “John Jones, colored” or “John Jones, Negro.” These sorts of references are common in the Los Angeles Examiner and The Times as late as the 1940s, but they are increasingly infrequent in the 1950s unless the story is dealing with something like desegregation of lunch counters or civil rights marches.

Several people were curious about accessing historic copies of The Times via ProQuest. The archives are available through latimes.com or the Los Angeles Public Library website (you’ll need a library card to sign in). The Library of Congress also has a link to various historic newspapers, including the Los Angeles Herald.

 

The most important aspect of having newspaper archives online is that they will force historians to do more pick and shovel work in research instead of recycling material from other books. One of my favorite examples is the tale of Gen. Harrison Gray Otis’ armored car. At one time, it is was far easier for a writer to pick up (and sometimes embellish) a story from a book rather than hunt through reels of microfilm in hopes of finding a contemporary account.  With digitized newspapers, however, a conscientious researcher can locate the true story rather quickly. Historians who continue to cut and paste from old books without questioning or verifying the material can expect to be challenged with what is revealed in historic papers.  

 
Posted in books | 2 Comments

Matt Weinstock, Oct. 27, 1960

Posted on October 27, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 27, 1960, Comics  

Oct 27, 1960: Matt Weinstock weighs in on Ben Hecht’s discredited claims that Paul Bern’s suicide was a “whitewash.”

CONFIDENTIAL TO IGNORANT AND ASHAMED: Your question is one that troubles many people … and it is nothing to be ashamed of. I cannot print the answer in my column, but will mail you a personal reply if you will send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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Paul Coates, Oct. 27, 1960

Posted on October 27, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

  Oct. 27, 1960, Cover
 

Oct. 27, 1960: Paul Coates digs into his mailbox and finds “Johnny Grant was once a stunt car driver … and Dick Whittinghill sang with the Pied Pipers.”

Notice: Art Pepper is arrested for possession of heroin.

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Posted in Columnists, Front Pages, Paul Coates | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Oct. 27, 1941

Posted on October 27, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 27, 1941, German Raiders Bomb Kremlin  

  Oct. 27, 1941, Tom Treanor  

Oct. 27, 1941: Already-rich Robert Stack is piling up more as prexy of a water heater factory supplying Army camps, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Death Threats Sent to Grand Jury Investigating Times Bombing

Posted on October 27, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

 

 

image

Oct. 27, 1910, Grand Jury

 
  Oct. 28, 1910, Herald

Oct. 28, 1910, Herald

 

Oct. 27-28, 1910: Threatening letters are sent to five members of the Los Angeles County Grand Jury investigating The Times bombing – or were they? The foreman of the grand jury tells the Herald that the story is utterly untrue.  Although the foreman said he planned to demand a correction from the paper in question, nothing further was ever published in The Times.

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Matt Weinstock, Oct. 26, 1960

Posted on October 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 26, 1960, Comics  

Oct. 26, 1960: Matt Weinstock says, “When he receives a letter with the stamp cancellation ‘Report Obscene Mail to Your Postmaster,’ a troublemaker I know mails it back to the postmaster with the note, ‘What — and spoil my fun?’ ”

DEAR ABBY: Ever since I can remember I wanted to play piano. My father laughed at me and said music was for sissies. He tried to get me interested in sports but I was never any good at it. (He was a good athlete). I took piano lessons at school and stayed evenings to practice there.

When my mother bought me a spinet last Christmas I became the world's happiest boy. My father became the world's most disappointed man. Abby, I love music and my teacher says I have talent. I know I have failed my father and I am sorry but what can I do to make it up to him? I am 14.

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Paul Coates, Oct. 26, 1960

Posted on October 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

  Oct. 26, 1960, Cover  

Oct. 26, 1960: Paul Coates takes another look at the gang killing of Manuel Castro. This time he talks to Manny Tovar, a skid row bartender whose son was charged in the shooting. "I tried to be a good father," Tovar said. "Sometimes you try your best and it's still not enough."

ps. L.A. is getting an American League team.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Oct. 26, 1940

Posted on October 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 26, 1940, France Reported Joining Axis  

  Oct. 26, 1940, Tom Treanor  

Tom Treanor, who died covering World War II for The Times,  files a first-rate story from Bucharest, Romania.

Oct. 26, 1940: Wot's this about the too-rich Willis Hunt, Carole Landis' "ex," taking an airplane factory job at $20 a week? Jimmie Fidler’s staff asks.

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Another Good Story Ruined — Updated

Posted on October 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

Sept. 6, 1932: The scene of Paul Bern’s suicide in his home at 9820 Easton Drive.

Oct. 25-28, 1960: In response to an article alleging a “suicide whitewash,” the district attorney’s office reopens the investigation in the 1932 death of movie studio executive Paul Bern.
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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Suicide | 1 Comment

Voices – Ingrid Bergman

Posted on October 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 26, 1980, Ingrid Bergman  

  Oct. 26, 1980, Ingrid Bergman  

Oct. 26, 1980: Roderick Mann interviews Ingrid Bergman on the release of her autobiography, “My Story.”

Mann writes: Yesterday's scandal is tomorrow's yawn, and young people today, let alone future historians, may well marvel that Ingrid Bergman's romance with Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini should have so shocked Hollywood that Joseph Breen of the Motion Picture Assn. of America felt prompted to advise her that stories of her romance 'may result in the American public becoming so thoroughly enraged that your pictures will be ignored and your box office value ruined.' "

Also on the jump, Sheila Benson’s review of “My Story.”

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Posted in books, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | 2 Comments

Found on EBay – What Actors Eat When They Eat!

Posted on October 25, 2010 by lmharnisch

What Actors Eat Certain books with a Los Angeles or Hollywood connection have taken on ridiculous prices — “Thicker ‘n’ Thieves” comes to mind – and this is another item that usually carries an inflated price, although I have never seen it this high.

Lymanhouse was a small Los Angeles publisher that went out of business during World War II after releasing about two dozen books,  including “They Call Them Camisoles.” The most common Lymanhouse item on EBay is “What Actors Eat When They Eat!” which is a collection of recipes from the late 1930s (W.C. Fields provides his method of making brandied peaches).

The vendor has listed this book at $195 or Buy It Now for $300. Even inscribed to Times columnist E.V. Durling, it’s not worth that kind of money.

Posted in books, Food and Drink | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock, Oct. 25, 1960

Posted on October 25, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

  Oct. 25, 1960, Comics  

Oct. 25, 1960: Bunker Hill residents are sleeping undisturbed again after three weeks of terror during which a burglar broke into seven apartments, held a knife to occupants who awoke and robbed them. Dets. Joe Medina and Charles Glazer captured him Sunday on Grand Avenue near 3rd Street, Matt Weinstock says.

DEAR ABBY: I rent a room to a woman whose husband is doing time. She works nights in a cafe and I will say this for her — she is decent and loyal to her man. There is one thing wrong with her, Abby. She talks about her husband like he was away at Harvard.

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Paul Coates, Oct. 25, 1960

Posted on October 25, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

  Oct. 25, 1960, Mirror
 

Oct. 25, 1960: Paul Coates uses the gang killing of teenager Manuel Castro, whose crime was being in the wrong neighborhood,  as a point of departure for wondering why some youths reclaim their lives from gangs while others don’t. He summarizes the explanation as: "My friends got caught before they got wise. I got wise before I got caught."

In case you’re wondering, “Didn’t they just have a bus strike?” The answer is yes, in 1958. But not in 1959.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Oct. 25, 1940

Posted on October 25, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Oct. 25, 1940, Russo_Japanese Treaty Near

 

  Oct. 25, 1940, Bob Gregory  

Oct. 25, 1940: Josephine Baker, broke and stranded near Paris, is beseeching friends for aid, Jimmie Fidler says. 

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