Matt Weinstock, April 12, 1960

Posted on April 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

1960_0412_peanuts 

An Escape to Nature

 

Matt Weinstock     There's this hideaway up near Lake Hughes and Sunday, responding to an urge to get away from mundane affairs, a group of weekend pioneers, equipped with enough picnic lunch for twice their number, headed there.
 
    We drove up the Ridge Route, Highway 99, always an enjoyable journey for those who remember it as it was in more primitive days.  Approaching Gorman we came upon one of nature's most glorious sights.  The hills were covered with soft blankets of brilliant gold  poppies. Here and there the gold was trimmed with blue  lupine.  A gas station attendant attributed their profuse growth this year to the heavy early snows.
 
    From there we headed east on Highway 138, which connects with Lancaster, but turned off on the Lake Hughes road and came eventually to the place — acres and acres of acres.

   

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 12, 1960

Posted on April 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

Barbara Stanwyck’s Son Thinks It Over

Hollywood kids have a habit of making headlines the hard way.

Some — like Barbara Burns, Eddie Robinson Jr. and Cheryl Crane — started precociously in their teens.

Others — Dennis Crosby and Diana Barrymore, for example — waited until they were of voting age.

And that’s the way it was with Anthony D. Fay.  A couple of days ago, at age 28, he reluctantly joined the list. The charge against him:  attempting to sell lewd books to teenagers.

Not much of a crime for a Page 1 story, but that’s part of the reason for the ever swelling public list of Hollywood’s “bad children”:  If your father or your mother is a movie star, the spotlight catches you, too.

Strangely, it almost passed Anthony Fay by.

When he was taken to the Venice police station last Friday, his name registered with no one.  Then, while he was being booked, a pair of reporters dropped into the station.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 12, 1940

Posted on April 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 12, 1940, Rancho Grande

June Storey in “Rancho Grande” with Gene Autry.

April 12, 1940: Seen in profile, W.C. Fields' expression is touchingly nose-talgic, Jimmie Fidler says. 

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A Second Look at Reagan’s Campaign Claims

Posted on April 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 12, 1980, Reagan

April 12, 1980, Reagan

April 12, 1980: “It is often said of Reagan that he never met a statistic or an anecdote he didn't like if it helped him illustrate the evils of big government,” according to The Times’ Bill Stall and William Endicott.   Notice how carefully the headline avoids saying that Ronald Reagan is inaccurate or distorts the facts.

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Otis Chandler Named Publisher of The Times

Posted on April 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
Norman Chandler and Otis Chandler
Photograph by Frank Q. Brown / Los Angeles Times 

Norman Chandler, left, during the luncheon to announce that his son, Otis, was the new publisher of The Times.

image
April 12, 1960: Otis Chandler is named publisher of the Los Angeles Times. In a speech to more than 700 civic leaders at the Biltmore Bowl, Norman Chandler said: “Otis, as my successor and as my son, I say to you — you are assuming a sacred trust and grave responsibilities. I have the utmost confidence that you will never falter in fulfilling these obligations. This trust is dearer than life itself.”

In his speech, Otis Chandler replied: “I pledge to you to carry out the sound principles which have guided you. I will not let you down. It is with humility and gratitude that I accept.”

And in 1999, Otis Chandler echoed these words in his famous memo dictated to then-City Editor Bill Boyarsky during the Staples scandal: “When I think back through the history of this great newspaper I realize how fragile and irreplaceable public trust in a newspaper is. This public trust and faith in a newspaper by its employees, its readers, the community, is dearer to me than life itself.”

I never realized until now that he was referring to his father’s speech 39 years earlier; a speech that everyone else had probably forgotten – except him. 

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Mule Driver Doesn’t Swear – Even When Kicked in the Head

Posted on April 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 12, 1910, Mule Driver

April 12, 1910, Divorce 

April 12, 1910: The geometry of the eternal triangle is particularly complicated in the case of David Perry Doak, who kept a home in Los Angeles with  Jessie May Doak – and a ranch at Klamath Falls, Ore., with B. Freda De Haven and her child. And you thought newspapers only put heart-shaped frames on photos in “Citizen Kane” and “Chinatown.” 

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Matt Weinstock, April 11, 1960

Posted on April 11, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 11, 1960, Library Fever

“ ‘Library Fever’ Is Similar to Other Mental Disturbances.”  

Pay-as-You-Breathe Plan

 

Matt Weinstock     Everyone, it seems, wants to help the beleaguered councilmen find a way to raise desperately needed revenue.  And it is a heartening thing indeed to witness the spectacle of citizens, inspired by a sense of civic duty, take time out from their vital TV watching to come to the aid of their lawmakers.

    Let us now consider Mark Keats' idea, never tried before.  He calls it the Pneumometer Plan- pronounced new-mom-eater.  In plainer language, it is a breathing meter.
 
    From a baby's first breath, this pneumometer would be permanently attached to the nose.   Anyone caught without it or caught tampering with it would be subject to  a fine.
 
    A basic tax rate per cubic foot of pure air inhaled by citizens would be established by the council.  Naturally there would be a reduction in the rate when there's smog.  And those who insisted on an occasional whiff of pure oxygen would have to pay extra.  Athletes, movie heavies, glass blowers and other deep breathers would, of course, be given a special rate because their work requires a greater volume of intake.
 
   

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 11, 1960

Posted on April 11, 2010 by lmharnisch

 April 11, 1960, Mirror Cover

Patty Gardenseed Walks the World

 
Paul Coates    John Chapman . . . born 1773 . . . in Pennsylvania . . . a pioneer . . . also known as Johnny Appleseed . . . he devoted his life to planting apple trees . . . in ragged clothing, he roamed Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, with a sack of appleseeds on his back . . . a friend of whites and Indians, animals and birds . . . –From the story of Johnny Appleseed.
 
    His real name is Aloysius Eugene Francis Patrick Mozier.
 
    But the one he likes is Patty Gardenseed.
 
    It sounds kind of ridiculous — like something invented by a Hollywood hack for a comedy take-off of Johnny Appleseed.  At first, it does.
 
    But when you meet the man, you're aware immediately that neither the name, nor he, is a joke.
 
    In another 100 years, the legend of Patty Gardenseed could conceivably push the front page deeds and decisions of many of today's politicians and diplomats into the footnotes of our history books.

   

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Jimmie Fidler, April 11, 1940

Posted on April 11, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
April 11, 1940, It's a Date

“Weird experiments of a mad scientist.” Are there any other kind? 

April 11, 1940: Ode to mayhem: "And now, Miss Velez, DO try to act like a lady!"

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Pacific Ocean Park

Posted on April 11, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
image

April 11, 1960: Happy Easter from Pacific Ocean Park (1958-1975). Adult admission is $10.75, USD 2009. On the jump, African Americans across the South begin an Easter week boycott of stores with segregation policies.

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Emergency Medical Training for Police, Firefighters

Posted on April 11, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
April 11, 1910, Paramedics

April 9, 1910, David Brooks

April 11, 1910: Dr. Charles Zerfing, the police surgeon, wants police officers and firefighters to be trained in “first aid to the injured.” Zerfing also wants an automobile ambulance equipped with emergency supplies, The Times says. Zerfing’s actions come after delays hindered the response to treating plainclothes Officer David Brooks, who was shot to death by robbers at 30th Street and Grand Avenue. The killing was evidently never solved.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 10, 1940

Posted on April 10, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
April 10, 1940, Deanna Durbin

April 10, 1940: How come Metro finds such difficulty in fitting Hedy Lamarr with a story? The biography of Lola Montez has never been screened.

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Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood | 2 Comments

John Paul Stevens, a Cautious Jurist, Named to Supreme Court

Posted on April 10, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
Dec. 19, 1975, John Paul Stevens

Dec. 19, 1975: President Gerald Ford chats with Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger, center, after John Paul Stevens, right, was sworn in as the court’s newest member. 

Dec. 20, 1975, Justice John Paul Stevens

Dec. 20, 1975: The Times’ Linda Mathews covers Senate confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee John Paul Stevens.

“Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), another member of the Judiciary Committee, grew visibly frustrated at his inability to elicit from the taciturn Stevens his opinions about a range of constitutional issues. Finally, when Stevens answered a particularly convoluted question with a simple 'No,' Kennedy exploded. 

“ 'No?' Kennedy said. 'That's all you have to say? Well that's the most precise answer I've gotten from you.'

“Ignoring Kennedy's sarcasm, Stevens remained genial. 'Well, that's the most precise question I've been asked,' he told Kennedy."

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Two U.S. Hostages Go On Iranian TV as ‘Confessed Spies’

Posted on April 10, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
April 10, 1980, Skater

April 10,1980, Hostages 

April 10, 1980: One of two unidentified hostages shown on Iranian TV gives a tour of a warehouse apparently used for intelligence by the NSA and CIA.

On the jump, do doctors spend more time with male or female patients?

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L.A. Mayor Drives Electric Car

Posted on April 10, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
April 10, 1910, Mayor's Car  

Mayor Alexander’s electric car!

April 10, 1910: Mayor George Alexander says he’ll still be chauffeured on his official duties but is learning how to drive an electric Waverly phaeton for personal use. The 70-year-old mayor of Los Angeles says, "This chauffeuring is serious business. You know, there's a whole lot to learn in managing this machine so you won't try to run over the curbstones. But I'll get there, all right."

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Matt Weinstock, April 9, 1960

Posted on April 9, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 9, 1960, Peanuts
April 9, 1960, Peanuts

Bed Burners Beware

Matt Weinstock

    Too often there are stories in the papers about persons who are badly, even fatally burned by falling asleep with a lighted cigarette.  Well, something has been done about them.

    An amendment to the fire code, Sec. 57.20.17B, which went into effect Dec. 31, 1959, provides that any person who through carelessness, negligence or any other means whatsoever set a fire to any bedding, furniture, rugs, curtains or drapes, and thereby endangers the safety of others and property, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor — maximum penalty $500 fine or 180 days in jail.
 
    Get the picture?  A man who maybe was overtaken by the sandman after seven martinis falls asleep while smoking in a hotel room.  Not only is he likely to wake up on fire but there's a possibility he'll make the jug.
 

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, April 9, 1960

Posted on April 9, 2010 by lmharnisch

April 9, 1960, Mirror

Mash Notes and Comment

 

Paul Coates

    (Newsletter) "VAGABONDING WITH VANDERBILT, by Cornelius Vanderbilt . . .

    "I WRITE AS I PLEASE . . .
 
    "People are always writing me and asking why I don't write 'exactly' what people tell me instead of making my own deductions.
 
    "Here is a sample of how some of their suggestions would come out:
 
    "At a cocktail dinner dance at the very exclusive Miami Beach Bath Club, I sat between two elderly ladies of great wealth.  The retired admiral's wife doubted the possibility of WW III and she told me of the trouble she was having with her new dentures.
 
    "I advised her to take out the lower and eat soggy foods.
     "Her reply: 'But I'm not even wearing the uppers!' . . .
 

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Broadway Traffic, 1930

Posted on April 9, 2010 by lmharnisch
Broadway and 3rd Street, December 1930

December 1930: Broadway and 3rd Street.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Authority Library and Archive is a wonderful source of old photos. Here's one of Broadway at 3rd Street taken in December 1930. The Times Building in the center-right portion  of the image, with the tower, is the one built after the October 1910 bombing. This image and others of downtown Los Angeles may be seen here.

I read this picture as a traffic jam: Two lanes of cars, bumper to bumper, another set of cars parked at the curb and a line of three streetcars. Whoever took this picture evidently stood somewhere on the first car, either the running board or the front bumper.

And we want the streetcars back on Broadway?

Dec. 14, 1930 Subway

Dec. 14, 1930: Sure enough, the topic of the day is how to relieve traffic congestion. The proposed solution was a subway. And no, we didn’t build one. I can’t say it often enough: Traffic in Los Angeles is a century-old problem that defies simple solutions.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 9, 1940

Posted on April 9, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
image
“Young Tom Edison Was a Bad Boy!”

April 9, 1940: Are those Saturday afternoon air jaunts of Jimmy Stewart and Olivia de Havilland dress rehearsals for an elopement, as intimates insist? … Now it's Akim Tamiroff who's bought a ranch and gone in for racehorse breeding.

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Mystery Photo

Posted on April 9, 2010 by lmharnisch

  
April 5, 2010, Mystery Photo
Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: This is vaudeville star Kitty Doner in a 1925 publicity photo. Doner died Aug. 26, 1988, in Los Angeles at the age of 92. 

Dec. 23, 1925, Kitty Doner

Dec. 23, 1925: Kitty Doner appears as a man in “Twenty Minutes in Paris” at the Orpheum.  
 
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: Sandra Giles!

There’s another photo on the jump.

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Posted in Mystery Photo, Obituaries, Photography | 24 Comments