Predictions for Presidential Race

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
Jan. 1, 1960, Li'L Abner
“Who Will Be Elected President in November?”

Jan. 1, 1960, Rose Parade

Our future president hosts the warm-up to the Rose Parade!

Jan. 1, 1960, Nixon

Vice President Richard Nixon, the Rose Parade grand marshal, with Rose Queen Margarethe Bertelson and her court at Wrigley mansion.

Jan. 1, 1960, Pat Nixon
Pat Nixon is also featured in The Times.

Jan. 1, 1960, Pat Nixon

Jan. 1, 1960, Speed Limit

California raises its speed limit from 55 mph to 65 mph.

Jan. 1, 1960, Hedda Hopper 

Hedda Hopper profiles astrologer Blanca Holmes, who notes that in 1960, Saturn will conjunct Jupiter in Capricorn. "It has been axiomatic in astrological circles to note that no president going into office under the shadow of this conjunction when in earth signs ever lives through his elected term of office," Holmes says. 

Jan. 1, 1960, Women's Athletics

Jan. 1, 1960, Women's Athletics 

Athletes Dixie Griffin and Gloria Griffin (they’re not related) advocate a greater emphasis on women’s track and field events. Dixie Griffin "believes the stumbling block to placing track and field on a par with other sports, such as swimming and tennis, is the feeling among public school educators and the public itself that such activities are 'unfeminine' and too competitive.

Jan. 1, 1960, Women's Athletics

Jan. 1, 1960, Vietnam
Jan. 1, 1960: Oh, I almost forgot. There’s this place on the other side of the world called Viet-Nam. You may be hearing more about it. In fact, I’m fairly sure it will be mentioned again in the days head.

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Laguna Beach Greeter at Rose Parade

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
1970_0102_long_beach_greeter 

June 1, 1967, Laguna Beach Greeter

June 1, 1967: Eiler Larsen, the Laguna Beach Greeter, says of hippies — “They will fade and I will last because I have goals and this ability to make friends no matter where I am.”

March 21, 1975, Laguna Beach Greeter
March 21, 1975, Laguna Beach Greeter
 

Jan. 2, 1970: Eiler U. Larsen, the Laguna Beach Greeter, visits Pasadena for the Rose Parade. The Times reported his death March 21, 1975.

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Death Row Brawl Over Watching Rose Parade on TV

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
Jan. 2, 1960, Rose Parade 

Fifty years after Ezra Meeker and his team of oxen were in the Rose Parade, a float features a team of oxen pulling a covered wagon.

Jan. 2, 1960, Rose Parade

Jan. 2, 1960, Rose Parade, Nixon

Jan. 2, 1960, Nixon
Jan. 2, 1960, Rose Parade, Nixon

Jan. 2, 1960, Rose Parade

Jan. 2, 1960, Rose Parade

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A Death Row brawl over watching the Rose Parade.

Jan. 2, 1960: After the Tournament of Roses Assn. president's dinner,  Vice President Nixon and his wife, Pat, went to Bob Hope’s annual New Year’s party at 10346 Moorpark St.

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Portrait of the City

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
Jan. 1, 1920, Crowds

Jan. 1, 1920: “Long ribbons of automobiles of all sorts and conditions enter the business sections and disappear in the neighborhood parking stations and garages. The banks open their doors, the stores become filled with employees and customers. Activity everywhere. The first crowds have reached their destinations.”

Posted in Downtown, Transportation | Comments Off on Portrait of the City

Glorious Southern California!

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
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Jan. 1, 1920, Hiking 

“He who thinks that the Southland's many miles of smooth automobile roads penetrating every beauteous section have relegated the alpenstock to the reverent care of the antiquarian is mistaken. In case you doubt me ask any member of the Sierra Club. He knows. He takes a mountain walk in length anywhere from five to 20 or more miles, almost every weekend. With no more impediment usually than his handy canteen, and often with not even this much, he boards an early morning electric car and journeys to the end of the line, from which he foots it to the mouth of some grass-carpeted canyon whence his ascent begins, makes his journey in a day and is back at the office fresh for the day's work next morning.”

image 

Jan. 1, 1920, Beaches 

“Santa Monica — Ocean Park has an ideal location for the homeseeker, businessman and the convalescent. Each individual can be suited to their particular walk in life. Situated on the very shores of the great rolling old Pacific Ocean, 'Where the mountains meet the sea,' with unsurpassed scenery and in close proximity to the big metropolis of Los Angeles, makes it a most desirable place to live.”

Jan. 1, 1920, Ripley

Ripley, Calif., land of opportunity and prosperity, at least according to the California Southern  Railroad, which named the settlement in honor of E.P. Ripley, head of the Santa Fe Railway.


 
Ripley, Calif., via Google maps’ street view.

Jan. 1, 1920: The Times publishes its annual Midwinter Edition, a special section intended to present life in Southern California in a perfect light.  The stories are overloaded with superlatives, but they still have value as a snapshot of the era, especially as an example of the paper’s boosterism at full throttle.

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Rose Parade Photos

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
 
Jan. 1, 1960, Rose Parade
Jan. 1, 1960: The Mirror features the winning entries in the Rose Parade. Long Beach takes the sweepstakes prize with a float titled “International Beauty — Venus de Milo.” The grand prize went to Occidental Life Insurance Co. for a float on the theme of “Swan Lake.”

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Los Angeles County Plans Nation’s Finest Highway System

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
 Jan. 1, 1910, Autoist's Paradise

Jan. 1, 1910: The Autoist’s Paradise.

Jan. 1, 1910, Roads

On Jan. 1, The Times published its annual Midwinter Edition. One of the articles featured plans for an extensive new system of highways that would benefit ranchers shipping goods to market,    motor vehicles and teams of horses hauling freight from the harbor,  and pleasure-seeking motorists. There isn’t a word in the Midwinter Edition about the streetcars or building a better mass-transit system.

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Coming in 1910: The Hall of Records.
 
Jan. 1, 1910, Aviation

Jan. 1, 1910: Charles K. Hamilton makes a spectacular flight of 22 minutes in Kansas City, Mo., reaching a height of 500 feet, said to be the highest flight in America.In France, Morris Farman flies 70 kilometers in an hour, following a road at a height of 180 feet. A new cross-country record.

Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Transportation | Comments Off on Los Angeles County Plans Nation’s Finest Highway System

Rose Parade Photos

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lmharnisch
Jan. 2, 1910, Rose Parade

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a float entered by Pasadena High School.

Jan. 2, 1910, Rose Parade

Jan. 2, 1910, Rose Parade

Jan. 10, 1910, Rose Parade

Ezra Meeker and his wagon, pulled by a team of oxen, appear in the Rose Parade.

Jan. 2, 1910, Rose Parade
An electric car in the Rose Parade.

Jan. 2, 1910, Rose Parade

The Times' Harry Carr writes a humorous sidebar about Bunch Dorgan's adventures after being hired as a chauffeur for a visitor from Pittsburgh who has just bought a new car and wants to see the Rose Parade. Dorgan  gets the car going just fine, but can't remember how to stop.

Jan. 2, 1910: The Rose Parade didn’t start until noon because of delays in decorating some of the floats, The Times says.

Posted in Transportation | Comments Off on Rose Parade Photos

Matt Weinstock, Dec. 31, 1959

Posted on December 31, 2009 by lmharnisch

December 31, 1959: Sports cover

Modern Shepherd

Matt WeinstockIt is an era of compulsions.  Apparently everyone has had them all along but now it’s considered not only proper but fashionable to express them, no matter in what murky paths they lead.

Publicist Doris Hellman, for instance, cannot abide the sight of a market cart separated from its flock.  When she sees one standing lonely and downcast on a lawn or sidewalk, sometimes several blocks from its home, she stops her car, identifies it, and phones its location to the market.  She cannot understand how shoppers can be so inconsiderate as to leave them stranded.

At first she was caring for only one market’s homeless carts.  The compulsion grew and now she keeps on the lookout for the grocery chariots belonging to five stores in her neighborhood. Continue reading →

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December 31, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 31, 2009 by lmharnisch

December 31, 1959: Mirror Cover

So We Call Them as We See Them, Sort Of

Paul Coates, in coat and tie(News item)   CHICAGO, Dec. 30 — Wilbur Geoffrey Gaffney, associate professor of English from the University of Nebraska, today revealed the results of a 10-year study on the significance of names.

His conclusions:  You are what your name has made you.  Your career is determined by your character and your character is determined, perhaps unalterably, by the name under which you grew to adulthood . . .

Now some of you think the professor is a bit of a kook to make that claim.  I don’t.  For a long time I’ve had the feeling that a person’s given name is a clear indication of his personality and his occupational possibilities.

Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Posted on December 31, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Dec. 31, 1942, Hedda hopper 

 
Dec. 31, 1942: "Woman substituted for man power on the "Coney Island" set the other day when one of the boys in a dance sequence was ordered to his draft board instead of his studio. Starlet Vanita Wade put on a tuxedo and took his place," Hedda Hopper says.

Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood | Comments Off on A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Monkey Business on ‘Inherit the Wind’ Set

Posted on December 31, 2009 by lmharnisch
Dec. 31, 1959, Rose Parade 

Sheriff John covers preparations for the Rose Parade!

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Sept. 4, 1971, Charles F. Sebastian

Dr. Charles F. Sebastian dies, Sept. 4, 1971. You may recall him from the Harry Raymond bombing.

The Central Receiving Hospital was replaced by the Rampart Division station, shown by Google maps’ street view.

 Dec. 31, 1959, Inherit the Wind

Dec. 31, 1959, Sports

Stanford's Dick Norman says: "Take 6 1/2 points or whatever you can get on Washington in tomorrow's Rose Bowl game."

 
Dec. 31, 1959: Joe Hyams visits the set of “Inherit the Wind” and captures some of the horseplay between Frederic March, Spencer Tracy and Gene Kelly. Tracy says: "I thought last year's [Oscar] broadcast reached a new low in entertainment when they did that community singing bit. This year might be better because they've got the good sense to let someone else pay the tab. The years the industry paid for the telecast itself it was pretty terrible."

Posted in Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Obituaries, Sports | Comments Off on Monkey Business on ‘Inherit the Wind’ Set

Cult Leader Accused of Molesting Children

Posted on December 31, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Dec. 31, 1919, Briggs
“Somebody Is Always Taking the Joy Out of Life,” by Clare Briggs.
 

Dec. 31, 1919, Mazdaznan Cult 

Dec. 31, 1919, Mazdaznan Cult
 
Dec. 31, 1919: Ottoman/Othoman Zar-Adusht Hanish, "little master" of the sun worshiping Mazdaznan cult, arrives in Los Angeles. He is accused of "revolting offenses against young boys and girls," The Times says. His real name is Otto Z. Hanisch, son of Richard Hanisch, a Milwaukee piano teacher, the story says.

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Man’s Skull Fractured in Assault

Posted on December 31, 2009 by lmharnisch
Dec. 31, 1909, Assault 

 
Dec. 31, 1909: Former stockbroker Henry SO. Clark  is hospitalized after hitting his head on the pavement at Spring and 9th streets when a man struck him for talking to his wife. 

Posted in Downtown, LAPD | Comments Off on Man’s Skull Fractured in Assault

December 30, 1959: Matt Weinstock

Posted on December 30, 2009 by lmharnisch

Year-End Recess

Matt WeinstockAgain this year there’s an unmistakable though unorganized trend toward calling everything off between Christmas and New Year’s Day and letting the week drift itself out, which it does anyway.

Nobody feels up to anything, especially answering the phone or paying attention to the stern, year’s end admonitions by savants and politicians.

They’re recovering from the Dec. 25 overindulgence and bracing themselves for the Jan. 1 bacchanalian revel.

Actually all they’re interested in, besides having a little fun, is getting through the week alive or at least not spending a night in the drunk tank.  Everyone is frightened by the traffic statistics. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on December 30, 2009 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1959: Mirror cover

Pappy Coates Cases Learning With Kids

Paul Coates, in coat and tieFeeling good all over, today.  In this age of neurotic juveniles and delinquent parents, I, at least, have met my responsibility as a father.

Maybe you don’t know “Where Are Your Children, Tonight,” but I know where mine were, last night.

They were with me, getting a firm foundation in their religious training.

While other youngsters were out carousing in poolrooms, dancing in dance halls and lounging in front of pizza parlors whistling at girls, mine were in the balcony of Fox Wilshire Theater.

I took them there to see “Solomon and Sheba,” a wall-to-wall, silver-screen, religious epic about two nice kids in love.  In living color. Continue reading →

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Three Tristans Update

Posted on December 30, 2009 by lmharnisch
image7 

 
No credit in Season Book "courtesy of Metropolitan Opera Press Department" ??  Three Tristans update: I sent this item to bass-baritone  Alan Held, who’s appearing in the current Metropolitan Opera production of “Tales of Hoffmann.”

Held says, “ I have been in several performances where a singer had to be replaced midway through the night–most memorably was a Tannhauser at The Met where we went through 2-3 tenors in one night (can't remember). It seemed we went through the entire list of Met tenors during that show. I also did a lot of Tristans in Barcelona that seemed to have a revolving door of tenors. My own professional debut was made while jumping in as Colline in Boheme.  These things happen all the time in opera–sometimes a singer really isn't sure if he can make it through the night but wants to give it a try and then once confronted with the dryness of the stage, things change. And I've been in countless performances where the singer isn't sure they can even start the night but ends up singing the best performance of the run. These are special nights and can bring a lot of excitement to the show.”

Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Posted in #opera, classical music | Comments Off on Three Tristans Update

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Posted on December 30, 2009 by lmharnisch
Dec. 30, 1941, Hedda Hopper 

Dec. 30, 1941: “Jackie Cooper is studying the finer points of drumming with Buddy Rich of Tommy Dorsey's band these days and doing so well that he sits in with the band at the Mocambo now and then just to get used to playing before an audience.”

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On the Brink of the 1960s

Posted on December 30, 2009 by lmharnisch
Dec. 30, 1959, Hedda Hopper

Hedda Hopper tapes a “Ben-Hur” segment with Stephen Boyd, Francis X. Bushman and Ramon Novarro, but not Charlton Heston.

Dec. 30, 1959, Heston

Dec. 30, 1959, Traffic

Los Angeles officials struggle once more to deal with congested streets. I have said this before, but it bears repeating: Traffic in Los Angeles is 100-year-old problem.

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Dec. 30, 1959, The 1950s

Dec. 30, 1959, The 1950s

Dec. 30, 1959:  “Americans came to the end of the 1950s with more of everything, more wealth, more cars, more schools and churches, more gadgets, more babies–and more self-doubt–than ever before.

“A vague shadow of uneasiness spread across the land.

“ ‘There is an overwhelming feeling here that somehow we have lost our way,’ wrote James Reston, Washington correspondent of the New York Times. ‘Nobody seems to know just how or why. But everybody feels that something's wrong.’ ”

Posted in broadcasting, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Television, Transportation | Comments Off on On the Brink of the 1960s

A Poem for the New Year

Posted on December 30, 2009 by lmharnisch
Dec. 30, 1919, Railways  

Isn’t this a great drawing? I suppose in 1919 smokestacks meant progress and not pollution.

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Enumerators prepare to take the 1920 census and have a few questions. Is a lone man or woman without any known relatives a family? Yes. When is a chicken ranch not a chicken ranch? When it earns more than $250 a year. Then it’s a chicken farm.  

Dec. 30, 1919, Poem

Dec. 30, 1919:  George Steunenberg writes:

"Our streets will be real thoroughfares instead of auto parks;
And not a feature will remain to merit the remarks
Of those gol-darned New Yorkers who say our town is slow–
L.A. will be a city in the year One-nine-two-O."

Posted in Environment, health, Politics, Transportation | Comments Off on A Poem for the New Year