This postcard of female impersonator Julian Eltinge advertising his appearance at Los Angeles’ Mason Opera House in October 1913 has been listed on EBay. The photo shows him in “The Fascinating Widow,” one of his most famous roles. Bidding on the item, which is in the UK, starts at 4.99 GBP. |
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Seat of Judgment
A man I know was notified a few days ago that his auto insurance had been canceled. Indignant, he demanded to know why. He was told that the insurance company had checked his driving record and found that he had had 17 moving violations between 1951 and 1960 — 13 of them between 1951 and 1956 — and had decided he was not a good risk. He pointed out that he drives around 20,000 miles a year. He has not received a citation in the last 11 months. He has never been arrested for drunk driving. Of the 17 violations only one was for speeding. He has never had an accident and never put in an accident claim. His driver's license has never been suspended. If the motor vehicle department considered him a competent driver, why not the insurance company? The insurance company had no explanation. |
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Major Family Tragedy of Our Atomic Times
There's sadness in the face of Jackson McVey. Lined into his forehead and around his mouth, it never completely disappears, even when he smiles.
It's a sadness not without reason.
There's the fact that although he's still a young man, very soon he may die.
There's the fact that he can't work. He's physically incapable of supporting his family.
But most depressing to him is the knowledge that after the man-made plague which may claim his life attached to his body, he took it home and spread it to his wife and two of his three children.
The date it happened was March 13, 1957. That's when he became a casualty of the atomic age.
He was working as a laboratory technician in Houston, Tex. He left home that morning without a trouble in the world.
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| The case of Edwin Estrada never made the news. No one heard about him on the radio or TV and he wasn't even worth a few lines on City News Service, which feeds tips to all the L.A. news outlets like the drip IV of a hospital patient.
Estrada, a small, physically fit young man with a beard, is the maintenance man at one of those two-story apartment houses they used to build in Hollywood in the 1920s, a down-at-the-heels place on Garfield just off Hollywood Boulevard with burglar bars on the windows and a little Spanish tile on the roof as a reminder that things used to be better. We would never have crossed paths except that late one night last September he got into a fight with one his ex-girlfriends in the parking lot of the Burger King at Sunset and St. Andrews. Six months later, he was sitting at the defense table of Department 124 on the 13th floor of the Criminal Courts Building. I figured I would be excused from the jury almost immediately because of my previous experience with domestic violence — several years ago, I saved a woman who was being beaten by her ex-husband outside the Pasadena police station. But the attorneys had more pressing objections to other people in the jury pool. Nearly everyone's life had been touched by domestic violence and there were a surprising number of folks who couldn't accept a defendant's right not to testify. Then there were the people with limited English skills … and the schizophrenic. What played out was a true story, but an incomplete one, limited by rules of evidence and courtroom strategies. For example, we never found out what the victim did for a living, but one day she showed up in court with a T-shirt advertising "fight night" at a bar, so someone suggested she was a waitress–not that it mattered except for sending an odd message to the jury. The short story we got was that Estrada rotated among girlfriends at the apartment house where he was the maintenance man. He and the victim had a volatile relationship, which was portrayed in a video of them made with a hidden camera in a friend's apartment (and yes, Estrada even wore a "wife-beater" shirt when he was roughing her up). We heard the recording of the 911 call and testimony from the police and a couple of people who saw the incident — including one surly, arrogant young man who left everybody wondering what his problem was. Then we retreated to the jury room to review the judge’s instructions and hash over the precise definition of "great bodily injury." I don't imagine Estrada was happy our two guilty verdicts, but he can be assured that we took his case seriously and discussed it thoroughly. He got a fair deal from us and has no one to blame but himself for the outcome. We were one speck on the court's calendar and one tiny group in the vast number of jurors passing through the courthouse. In the small case of the state of California vs. Edwin Estrada, the system was slow and sometimes tedious, but it worked. And now that jury duty is over I can get back to the Daily Mirror. |
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July 21, 1983: Jaime Escalante once worked as a busboy at a Pasadena coffee shop because he didn’t speak English. |
The Ditched Duck
Last Easter a man named Norm, who lives in Palos Verdes, bought his son, 4, a duck. The older it grew the meaner it became. Recently Norm bought the boy a puppy. The duck disapproved and constantly nipped both the boy and the dog. Norm decided it had to go and one day he took it to MacWestlake Park and turned it loose. The duck quacked its objection and when Norm, who works nearby, started to walk away it followed him. It seemed to be saying, "Don't leave me here with all these strange ducks." He led it back toward the lake and swept it into the water with his foot. As he sneaked away he couldn't help noticing it had a hurt, reproachful look.
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A Condemned Man Wants to Give an Eye
How much control — it asks — does the state have over a condemned man's body, mind and soul? The written appeal on which the court must act is a stilted, dull, highly technical legal document. But, with the conscience of a condemned killer and the sight of a young missionary at stake, the story behind it can hardly be discarded as uninteresting. Yesterday, the Rev. Floyd K. Gressett — the man to whom Luis Moya confessed his part in the slaying of Olga Duncan — told me the beginning of that story. After Moya's conviction in Ventura, Rev. Gressett requested and was granted permission to accompany the 21-year-old killer on the trip to San Quentin.
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Photograph by Art Rogers / Los Angeles Times Nov. 1, 1961: Mickey Cohen reports to court on a murder indictment, accompanied by bail bondsman Abe Phillips, left, and attorney A.L. Wirin, center.
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| Note: Jury duty is over but it's taking me a while to get caught up. Thanks for your patience. |
Here's Unsqueezed Juice
Well, let us give our leaders another chance to face reality and not try to tax parked cars, the beds of innocently sleeping apartment dwellers, or the clear blue sky. It happens there's a red hot revenue-producing idea kicking around. Why not, some people are asking, use some or all of the closed or rarely used movie theaters as an extension of the racetrack setup? The actual running of the races can be shown over TV with Joe Hernandez calling them. There could be pari-mutuel machines in the lobby and track odds could be paid. Admission $1.
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Dollar-Down Crowd Gangs Up on Kiddies Yesterday, I got the latest pitch on "friendly credit buying." By mail, I received a circular from a jewelry store chain which is spread across Southern California.
It had a switch to it. It didn't lull us oldsters, over 21, with a feeling of false financial security with its claims of no money down, easy payments. No one questions our susceptibility to this kind of soft talk anymore.
Instead — alongside its specials on watches, diamond rings, transistor radios and stereo phonographs — it carried the notice in bold, black type:
"YOUNG ADULTS . . .
"TEEN-AGERS . . .
"WE GIVE YOU CREDIT!
"We believe you are trustworthy and will honor your obligations," the ad continued. "Therefore, if you have a part-time job or an allowance, come in and open a confidential account on your own honor pledge card and signature alone. Pay on the same terms as your parents."
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Jan. 5, 1981: “This is what I wanted since I was 3,” June Havoc says of her home in Connecticut.
Photograph by Dan McCormack / Los Angeles Times Nov. 23, 1957: Caryl Chessman appears in court in a hearing to determine whether the state of California owned the manuscript of his unpublished book "The Kid Was a Killer," which was seized under the theory that it was “prison labor.” From left, Deputy Atty. Gen. William Bennett; San Quentin Warden Fred Dickson, who confiscated the manuscript in 1955; attorney A.L. Wirin of the American Civil Liberties Union; and attorney Paul N. Posner. Leaning on the counter at right is Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. William B. McKesson.
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| Note: Jury duty is over but because I work several days in advance, it will take me a while to get caught up. One of my most unusual jury experiences was having a deputy slip one of his ammunition magazines into my belongings as they were going through the courthouse scanner. Evidently he was testing one of the screeners to see if she would find it. I understand the need for vigilance but it was a bit unsettling to be a guinea pig. |
Actually, this is the second sequel to Paul Wegener's “The Golem” (1915), now lost. In that movie, the golem – a mythical clay creature built and brought to life by Jewish rabbis – is brought back to life in modern times, only to fall in love and go on a murderous rampage when his love is unrequited.
In its first sequel, “The Golem and the Dancing Girl” (1917), a regular modern guy puts on a golem costume to scare the girl he loves. Wacky! But this film, originally titled “The Golem: How He Came Into the World,” is set in medieval times and is essentially the golem's origin story. Wegener, who wrote (with Henrik Galeen), directed (with Carl Boese) and stars as the title character, intelligently keeps the golem out of the love story this time.
Rabbi Loew (Albert Steinruck) of 16th century Prague, learns from consulting the stars that his people are in danger; to protect them, he decides to build a golem. His assistant (Max Kronert) helps, which requires some time out from romancing the rabbi's daughter Miriam (Lyda Salmonova, Wegener's frequent collaborator, and eventually his widow). This proves disastrous for him, since a foppish fellow named Knight Florian (Lothar Muthel) quickly takes his place in Miriam's affections.
Unaware of all this, the rabbi and his assistant take the golem to the emperor, who is threatening to expel all the Jews from Prague. With the help of the golem and his own “magic arts” (as the emperor dubs them), the rabbi turns the tables, threatens everyone in the castle, and gets the emperor to rescind the expulsion. While the Jews celebrate, the rabbi's assistant catches Miriam snogging with Florian and, enraged, sets the golem on them. Mayhem ensues!
What appears to be a vase by E.A. Batchelder of Pasadena has been listed on EBay. Batchelder tile turns up somewhat often, but I don’t recall seeing anything this finely made. Bidding starts at $145, or Buy It Now at $250. As with anything on EBay, items and vendors should be evaluated thoroughly before making a bid. |
Photograph by the Los Angeles Times Aug. 11, 1937: Jury selection in the trial of Albert Dyer, who was hanged for molesting and killing three young Inglewood girls.
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| Note: I’m still on jury duty, so posting will be light until it’s through. |
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| This bow tie from Oviatt’s has been listed on EBay. Oviatt’s was one of the leading menswear stores in Los Angeles and the items are extremely collectible. Bidding on this tie starts at $25. As with anything on EBay, the item and the vendor should be thoroughly evaluated before submitting a bid. |
Photograph by the Los Angeles Times June 20, 1957: Police chemist Ray Pinker, left, attorney Grant Cooper and Linda Mintz, charged with beating her employer to death with a vacuum cleaner.
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| Note: I’ve spent the week on jury duty so posting will be light until I get caught up. |
| I’ve been searching for items of Bert Williams and George Walker on EBay since I wrote about the vaudeville team in 2008. Sheet music turns up somewhat often but this is the first time I’ve seen souvenir postcards for sale. According to the vendor, the six Williams and Walker postcards being sold individually are part of an album collected by an African American serviceman – evidently a Buffalo soldier – about the time of the Mexican Revolution. Bidding on this postcard starts at $8. |
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March 26, 1970: Finding a third baseman was the story of the spring for the Dodgers, who believed they discovered a long-term answer in Steve Garvey. "We can hardly keep Garvey's bat out of the lineup," a Dodger executive told The Times on March 25. It's hard to dispute that, although one wonders why the reporter couldn't get the source to say something so obvious on the record. |
| Los Angeles Times file photo Update: This is Barbara Kent, above, in an Aug. 18, 1926, photo.
Dec. 26, 1926: Barbara Kent in “The Flesh and the Devil.”
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