Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com.
In case you plan to mix one up, a Bronx Cocktail is one part Italian vermouth, three parts brandy and a dash of orange bitters. Shake well!
Notice that there are also three variations of the Manhattan.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Yes, the Manhattan cocktail once had competition from drinks named for the other boroughs. Here’s a recipe for the Brooklyn Cocktail, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 7, 1937. The Brooklyn Cocktail as made by Brad Dewey consisted of
Two parts Jamaica rum
One part lime juice
Dash of grenadine
We won’t be toasting the new year with the Brooklyn Cocktail (we’re working) but if someone is brave enough to try one, let us know how it is.
And in case you are wondering, research shows that there was also a Bronx Cocktail. Evidently it, too, has fallen out of favor.
A vintage 1972 iron-on transfer of Harvey Wallbanger himself, on EBay for $12.
Note: This is a repost from 2013.
We have been looking at some historic drinks for this holiday season. To the millennials in the audience: This is what mom and dad used to drink (along with the Tequila Sunrise) when they went out in the 1970s.
Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear:
1 ounce of vodka
4 ounces of orange juice
half an ounce of Galliano.
Poured over ice in a highball glass.
Cue Grand Funk Railroad’s “Gimme Shelter” or Carole King’s “It’s Too Late.”
A recipe for the Tom and Jerry from the San Francisco Call, June 30, 1912.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Over on Facebook, Christopher McPherson asked whether the Tom and Jerry was named for the MGM cartoon characters. I said I suspected the opposite was true, rather like Disney’s Chip ‘n’ Dale being named for Chippendale furniture.
All the old newspaper stories give credit for the drink to bartender Jerry Thomas, who according to one account was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1825 (or Watertown, N.Y., in 1830).
Note: This is an encore post from 2015.
Jim Romenesko, for those who aren’t in the news business, runs an essential blog that serves as a clearing house for information, gossip, bad headlines and assorted gaffes.
A Jan. 6 post dealt with former Times columnist Al Martinez, who died Monday, and the occasional columns Al wrote over the years about a dying boy who craved peaches.
John Russell of the Indianapolis Star wrote to Romenesko in hopes that some reader would verify Al’s story, saying: “After months of digging, I still can’t find any evidence of the original story, and too many questions to ignore.”
Russell elaborated on his skepticism in “Why I Have Trouble Believing the ‘Get the Kid His Peaches’ Christmas story,” noting that he had written to Al for help in finding the original.
We have some answers — and the story — with a not-so-gentle reminder for reporters: DON’T write from memory or bad things can happen. Use the clips. It’s what they are for. Memory can compress time and erase crucial details, as we will see with Al’s story.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Dec. 14, 1907
Los Angeles
The madman who calls himself the superintendent of the Los Angeles schools has touched off an absolute firestorm of anger by ordering teachers not to mention Christ during Christmas pageants or other festivities.
“The town was agog with it yesterday,” The Times said. “It was the talk among both ministers and laymen of the 200 and more churches in Los Angeles.”
The title of the Max Fleischer cartoon of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948)
Many beloved Christmas-themed movies and songs bring out the holiday spirit in audiences and listeners, highlighting fun-filled, family and friendly times sharing generosity, kindness, and joy, the true gifts of a holiday supposed to honor the birth of baby Jesus. Several, instead, grew out of money-making, advertising opportunities for companies or even parades, like “Here Comes Santa Claus” from the Hollywood Christmas Parade, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and even “Frosty the Snowman.” Another well-loved holiday song, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the story of “an ugly duckling who made good,” developed as advertising for Montgomery Ward reaching out to families and children in 1938.
While doing fine in the late 1930s, department store Montgomery Ward looked to amp up their Christmas shopping in 1939, hoping to increase sales by doing more than just their regular holiday booklet with something of higher value. They hired author Robert L. May to draft a child-sized fairy tale, one that became the story of an awkward, out-of-place reindeer and how he saves the day for Santa and Christmas. Thus, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was born. Continue reading
This week’s mystery movie was the 1939 RKO picture That’s Right — You’re Wrong, with Kay Kyser, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Lucille Ball, Dennis O’Keefe, Edward Everett Horton, Roscoe Karns, Moroni Olsen, Hobart Cavanaugh, and Kay Kyser’s Band, featuring Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason, Ish Kabibble and the College of Musical Knowledge. Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2018.
I only recommend books that I have read, which is why I haven’t listed Susan Orlean’s “The Library Book” or Stephen Gee’s “Los Angeles City Hall: An American Icon.” I look forward to reading both of them, but I’m not there yet.
Marne L. Campbell also appears in a video on Archive.org.
“Making Black Los Angeles,” by Marne L. Campbell, 2016. University of North Carolina Press.
Christmas Tree Lane in a vintage postcard, courtesy of Mary Mallory.
Note: This is an encore post from 2012.
Nothing says Christmas like the sight of beautiful outdoor twinkling lights lending a bit of romanticism and happiness to the holiday season. Homes and businesses spiffily decorate themselves. Cities light up parks and outdoor trees. The granddaddy celebration of them all is Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane, the oldest and largest celebration of its kind in the world.
Merchants thought up ways of drumming up business during the Christmas season even in the 1920s. Pasadena merchant Fred Nash conceived of the idea of lighting outdoor fir trees in December to lure business to his store, drawing the support of his community organization, the Kiwanis. As the Los Angeles Times reported on Dec. 4, 1920, “Santa Rosa Ave., Altadena, will be a lane of illuminated Christmas trees during the holidays. Following out a plan proposed some weeks ago, the beautiful deodar trees on that street will be festooned with colored lights and trimmings, the Kiwanis Club having voted to share the expense with the city.” Only about a quarter of the trees were lit that year for its inaugural season.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1939 RKO picture The Great Man Votes, with John Barrymore, Peter Holden, Virginia Weidler, Donald MacBride and Katherine Alexander. Continue reading
Reminder: Boxie and I will be doing a live “Ask Me Anything” on George Hodel and Steve Hodel on Tuesday, December 17, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube and Instagram.
Can’t make the live session? Email me your questions and I’ll answer them! The video will be posted once the session ends so you can watch it later.
Note: This is an encore post from 2014.
In February, I ran a series of posts by James Curtis about producer David Lewis. This isn’t a new book but I found it remarkably insightful. “The Creative Producer” can be found via Bookfinder.com, with copies starting as low as $19.99 (Update 2024: Starting at $85? This has really gone up since 2014) in somewhat bedraggled condition.
James Curtis: L.A. Voices – David Lewis, Part 1
James Curtis: L.A. Voices – David Lewis, Part 2
James Curtis: L.A. Voices – David Lewis, Part 3
Note: This is an encore post from 2014.
“The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is forgettable and, in fact, Yavno said he paid no attention to it when he took his pictures. There are many famous images here, including Muscle Beach, the opening of “The Heiress” at the Carthay Circle Theatre (RIP), etc. Copies can be located on Bookfinder.com starting at $17 (2024 Update: $24.99).
A postcard c. 1908 of poinsettias, “California’s Christmas flower,” listed on EBay.
Note: This is an encore post from 2020.
Euphorba Pulcherrima, better known as the poinsettia plant, has been popular in Los Angeles since the late 1800s. Some call it flor de fuego (fire flower) or flor de la noche buena (flower of the holy night) because of its bright red leaves or bracts. First used as centerpieces or accents during the holiday season, since the leaves turn color quickly during the shorter winter days, the blazing plant gained popularity at the hands of Hollywood residents, now one of the most popular flowers highlighting homes across the United States at Christmas.
Indigenous in Mexico and Central America, these bright red and green plants grow as shrubs and small trees as tall as 13 feet. The Aztecs employed the striking flower for medicinal purposes, such as healing pulmonary infections.
Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1938 film The Goldwyn Follies, with Adolphe Menjou, the Ritz Brothers, Vera Zorina, Kenny Baker, Andrea Leeds, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Helen Jepson, Phil Baker, Bobby Clark, Ella Logan, Jerome Cowan, Charles Kullmann and the American Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera. Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2011.
I picked up “The Big Picture,” Melba Levick and Stanley Young’s 1988 book about Los Angeles murals, not realizing what a terribly sad book it would be. As Young notes: “Most artists are aware that, exposed as it is to the elements, both human and natural, there is a limited life-expectancy for any mural.”
I wanted it for one picture, specifically.
“The Big Picture” is listed on Amazon and Bookfinder.
Note: This is a repost from 2011.
In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular curriculum to give his young pupils a firsthand account of Pearl Harbor.
Many years later, I contacted Mr. Humbert. He didn’t remember me (I was not a stellar student) but he was thrilled to get a phone call from one of his former charges who wanted to hear once more about Pearl Harbor.
Rene P. Humbert died in 2002 at the age of 81. I was his student in a much more formal era of American life. Male teachers wore coats and ties, and didn’t share much about their personal lives. I don’t even remember him mentioning that his brother’s fighter plane had been shot down in June 1944 over France.
What I learned many years later was that Mr. Humbert joined the Navy at 19, went through all of World War II and was called back for the Korean War. Perhaps one reason he was a little hard on us Baby Boomers in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago was because he didn’t graduate from high school, but got a GED and started college at the age of 31 under the G.I. Bill
Mr. Humbert was on the San Francisco, a heavy cruiser, during the Pearl Harbor attack and the ship was untouched except for shrapnel because the Japanese were concentrating on the larger ships. He was also in the Battles of the Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal. In one battle, Rear Adm. Dan Callaghan and Capt. Cassin Young were killed by a 14-inch shell that hit the San Francisco’s bridge.
What follows is his account. I have edited his brief biography very lightly after scanning a typewritten copy with my optical character recognition software. And I have incorporated portions of his Pearl Harbor account from the Pearl Harbor Survivors website.
Photo 1: Rene Humbert, Washington Junior High, 1964.
Photo 2: Rene Humbert, no date.
One of three John Engstead portraits of Raymond Chandler, a lot that sold for $512.
The results are in for Doyle’s auction of Raymond Chandler items from the the Jean Vounder-Davis Collection. Continue reading
Note: This is a repost from 2013.
Whenever I’m asked about my favorite books on Los Angeles, my first recommendation is “Nuestro Pueblo,” a selection of features by Times artist Charles Owens and writer Joseph Seewerker that appeared in The Times. I went through all of them when the blog was at latimes.com,* so I won’t repeat them now, but if you’re a fan of Rediscovering Los Angeles, which was illustrated by Owens with commentary by Timothy Turner, you may enjoy “Nuestro Pueblo.” Unfortunately, Rediscovering Los Angeles was never published in book form and has languished in obscurity.
“Nuestro Pueblo” is long out of print and the prices have gone up since I started writing about it, with some dealers asking more than $100 for a copy. A patient shopper can still find a copy for less than $20, however. One of my favorite tools for finding out of print books is bookfinder.com, which shows wide price range on copies of “Nuestro Pueblo.”
And what are your gift recommendations for this holiday season?
*Note: many of the images didn’t make the leap to WordPress so I’ll be restoring them as time allows
ladailymirror.com 