Fight of the Century Touches Off Race Riots

Posted on July 7, 2010 by lmharnisch
 
JUuly 7, 1910, Editorial Cartoon

July 5, 1910, Race Riots

July 7, 1910: Times cartoonist Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale comments on the race riots that followed Jack Johnson’s defeat of James Jeffries in the Fight of the Century. Many cities barred theaters from showing film of the fight for fear of more violence.

On the jump, The Times draws parallels between Independence Day and “Industrial Freedom,” its term for the open shop.

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Matt Weinstock, July 6, 1960

Posted on July 6, 2010 by lmharnisch
July 6, 1960, Comics

July 6, 1960: Robert Sorrma, 9, is wise beyond his years, Matt Weinstock says.

CONFIDENTIAL TO BILL F.: If the nickel has no 'mint mark,' it is a counterfeit, Abby says.

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, July 6, 1960

Posted on July 6, 2010 by lmharnisch

July 9, 1960, Mirror Cover

July 6, 1960: Paul Coates writes about using animals in medical experiments and the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

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Jimmie Fidler, July 6, 1940

Posted on July 6, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
July 6, 1940, U.S. Warns Nazis
July 6, 1940, Hitler Mussolini

July 6, 1940: “Wallace Beery will return to Jackson Hole, Wyo., on completion of his current role to supervise construction of a landing field adjoining his new hunting lodge,” Jimmie Fidler’s staff says.

Also on the jump, Times reporter Tom Treanor, who was killed covering World War II, files a story from Bermuda en route to Europe.  

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Pages of History – The Medical Profession of Southern California

Posted on July 6, 2010 by lmharnisch
The other day while researching the 1910 Times bombing, I discovered a digitized book that I have been trying to buy for years: Dr. George H. Kress’ “A History of the Medical Profession of Southern California.”

Notice that this is the second edition. The first edition was being prepared for publication at the time of the bombing and was destroyed in the explosion and fire.  The book had to be entirely redone for the second edition.  Copies of this book are exceedingly rare and can only be found in a few libraries (this scanned copy is from the Medical Sciences Library at UC Irvine).

As a writer, Kress is rather dry and uses the starched, stiff style of the era. But the book provides marvelous glimpses of the earliest days of the medical profession in Los Angeles, and these stories do much to dispel the notion that the past was a “kinder, simpler time.”

Here’s Kress on one of the amusing crackpots of the day, William Money, who wrote what is probably the first or second book published in Los Angeles.

Kress’ book and Abraham Flexner’s “Medical Education in the United States and Canada,” also published in 1910, do much to dispel the image of doctors – at least in this era — as saints in white gowns.

Posted in 1910 L.A. Times bombing, books, Science | Comments Off on Pages of History – The Medical Profession of Southern California

Found on EBay – Brenda Allen

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

brenda_allen_ebay brenda_allen_ebay_02 Most people have only seen photos of 1940s Los Angeles  vice queen Brenda Allen that show her in sunglasses and a hat with a veil, like the photo at right. This unusual photo at left, that shows what she actually looked like, has been listed on EBay. It’s a wire service photo from a newspaper archive. Bidding starts at $9.99.  The photo above has also been listed on EBay, with bidding starting at $9.99.
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Matt Weinstock, July 5, 1960

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
July 5, 1960, Comics

July 5, 1960: Brentwood homeowners are fighting property tax increases, Matt Weinstock says.

CONFIDENTIAL TO 'LOSING THE BATTLE': You signed yourself appropriately. A man has been known to divorce his wife — but he has never been known to divorce his mother, Abby says.

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Paul V. Coates, Confidential File, July 5, 1960

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
July 5, 1910, Cover

July 5, 1960: I have to hand it to Paul Coates. For this column, he tries to beat an 80-year-old con woman at her own game. Here’s his Jan. 28, 1960, piece about her.

Notice the Page 1 story about the killing of New York attorney Karl Dieffenbach, who was found nude, beaten and smothered in his room at the Disneyland Hotel. On the jump, the trial of two teenagers who said he invited them up to his room for drinks and then made “inappropriate advances.”  Dieffenbach was visiting Orange County to renegotiate a labor contract at an Anaheim manufacturing plant, The Times said.

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Posted in #courts, #gays and lesbians, Columnists, Front Pages, Homicide | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, July 5, 1940

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch
July 5, 1940, British Capture 250 Ships

July 5, 1940, War Map Charles H. Owens does another dazzling war map for The Times.

July 5, 1940: “Helene Whitney is trying to organize her actress-pals for a half-in-fun, half-serious treasure hunt in New Mexico, where she's been informed there's gold,” Jimmie Fidler says.

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Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

     June 28, 2010, Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo 

Update: This is Constance Dowling in a promotional picture for “Up in Arms,” stamped Feb. 29, 1944.
Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday … or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day.

I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again).

If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights. 

The answer to last week's mystery star is Lawrence Gray! The weekend mystery stars are Betty Compson and James Cruze at the premiere of "The Great Gabbo" at the Criterion, Oct. 2, 1929

There’s a new photo on the jump.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 20 Comments

From the Vaults: ‘The Brides of Dracula’ (1960)

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

Brides We continue last week's gore theme with, at last, a Hammer Films selection!

Hammer is, of course, the British production company known for its high-gothic horror films, made between the 1950s and 1970s, and often involving elaborate costumes, lots of movie fog, candelabras, swooning damsels and copious amounts of rather orangey blood.

I was all excited to write about Christopher Lee, but when "Brides of Dracula" arrived I discovered that he's not in this one; which makes sense, since his character (that's Dracula, kids) is killed at the end of the preceding Hammer film, 1958's "Horror of Dracula."

Fortunately, he was to be revived in "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (1966) and many other ensuing Hammer films (my favorite being "Dracula Has Risen From The Grave" — I love that title! I mean, what else does Dracula do?).

But with "Brides" we're on our own, star-power-wise, with Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing, and that turns out to be quite a fine thing indeed.

"Brides of Dracula" opens as a carriage rushes through a forest, and a voiceover informs us that we are in Transylvania. Although Dracula is dead, the voiceover tells us, his "cult" persists. Then we meet Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur), our resident damsel, and through her viewpoint we're plunged into an entirely new, Dracula-style story of frightened innkeepers, terrified coachmen and spooky old castles. Marianne ends up in the castle of Baroness Meinster (Martita Hunt), who's keeping her own son (David Peel) captive; the son gets ahold of Marianne, explains to her that he's the rightful Baron, and convinces her to free him. Next thing we know, the baroness is dead and so is a local peasant wench. Oh dear!

I got so caught up in this storyline that I forgot about poor Cushing entirely, but eventually he does show up. Van Helsing has been summoned by locals who were already concerned about the Meinster situation even before the Baron got out. The good doctor rescues Marianne from the woods, where she has been fleeing the Meinster castle, and drops her off at the girls' school where she teaches. Then he repairs back to the local inn for a drink with the village priest. Together they diagnose the problem as vampirism, brought on by the Baron! Will Van Helsing defeat the undead?

What kind of question is that? Does a damsel faint in the woods?

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Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 5 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

     July 3, 2010, Mystery Photo

Photograph by John Malmin / Los Angeles Times

 
Update: Please congratulate James Curtis for identifying bandleader Rube Wolf in the Paramount Theater as it was being demolished, Jan. 11, 1961.

Here’s a double-feature mystery, a mystery guest in a mystery theater that is being torn down. Our mystery guest for this week was Constance Dowling!

There’s a detail photo of our mystery fellow on the jump.

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

An American Fourth of July

Posted on July 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

 
July 5, 1910, Highland Fling

July 5, 1910, Tossing the Caber

July 5, 1910: The Scottish American community of Los Angeles celebrates the Fourth of July with the Highland Fling and the caber toss. And there’s nobody on talk radio to tell them to go back “home” if they don’t like it in the U.S. 

On the jump, two items of special interest.

The first is the account of a fire at a brewery, which may – or may not – have been due to union agitators, depending on whether one reads The Times or the Herald. 

The second is accounts from The Times and the Herald about usage of the streetcar system from downtown to the beaches on the Fourth of July, 1910.

The Times said: "The exodus began early in the morning and officials of the Pacific Electric say that with the possible exception of fleet week, there has never in the history of Los Angeles been such heavy travel in one day."

The Times also said: "Every bit of passenger rolling stock of the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Pacific was called into service and during the morning hours the trains were run as close together as they could be with safety."

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Matt Weinstock, July 4, 1960

Posted on July 4, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
July 4, 1960, Comics

July 4, 1960: Matt Weinstock takes a drive up the 101 and remembers when it was called Roosevelt Highway.

"There is precious little advice (but much sympathy) for a 21-year-old girl who has three babies and a 22-year-old husband who 'isn't ready to settle down.' But printing your letter might sober up some of these 17- and 18-year-old love-struck readers who believe all they need is a wedding ring and life will be rosy," Abby says.

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Paul V. Coates, Confidential File – July 4, 1960

Posted on July 4, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
July 4, 1960, Mirror Cover

July 4, 1960: Paul Coates has an amusing story about the British forces. I won’t spoil it. You’ll just have to read it for yourself.

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The Fight of the Century

Posted on July 4, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
July 4, 1910, Herald

Jack Johnson, James Jeffries
Los Angeles Times file photo

 

July 4, 1910: The Herald publishes a cartoon showing James Jeffries and Jack Johnson. I found this photo of the fight in The Times archives.

On the jump, more photos of Johnson.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, July 4, 1940

Posted on July 4, 2010 by lmharnisch
July 4, 1940 British Seize French Fleet 

July 4, 1940, Tommy Treanor

Meet Tom Treanor, who died covering World War II for The Times.

July 4, 1940: "Is that a disillusioned expression adorning Lana Turner's kissable lips?" Jimmie Fidler says.

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Riot Closes Newport Jazz Festival

Posted on July 4, 2010 by lmharnisch
July 4, 1960, Jazz Fest Riot

July 4, 1960: Newport, R.I. — “Mobs of students, many of whom had driven long distances to hear their favorite musicians, were broken up with tear gas bombs, streams of water from high-pressure fire hoses and flying wedges of police cars.”

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Posted in #Jazz, Music | 2 Comments

Missouri Mob Lynches Two Blacks

Posted on July 4, 2010 by lmharnisch
July 4, 1910, Lynching

July 4, 1910: Charleston, Mo. — "Those in the yard — the women and children — could hear the sounds of a sledge hammer as the lock was knocked off the cell door. In a few moments a shout announced that the lock had been broken and immediately a file of men ran from the jail pulling at a long rope.

"At the end of the rope was a Negro, Bob Coleman, kicked, cuffed and knocked down by the men who struggled to get near him. The Negro was dragged to the southwest corner of the courthouse yard and hanged.

"While Coleman dangled, another body of men rushed from the jail, dragging and pulling the other Negro, Sam Fields. A rope was placed around his neck and the mob, yelling, hanged him.

"A mob was bent upon burning the Negro section of Charleston but cooler counsel prevailed and quiet was restored late tonight."

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Posted in #courts, Countdown to Watts | 4 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, July 3, 1940

Posted on July 3, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
July 3, 1940, Wendell Willkie

image 

July 3, 1940: "Radio war coverage has been tops, but still can't compete with newspapers in 'telling all,' " Jimmie Fidler says.

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