Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Just in time for New Year’s, we’ll take a look at a “lost drink,” making a brief inquiry into San Francisco’s Pisco Punch, made famous by Bank Exchange saloon owner Duncan Nicol (often spelled Nichol or Nicoll), who died in 1926 without revealing the recipe.
Boxie and I will be doing a live “Ask Me Anything” on the Black Dahlia case Tuesday, January 7, at 10 a.m. Pacific time, on YouTube and on Instagram. Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2017.
Joe Vogel asks if there was a Queens Cocktail. The answer is yes.
According to the Jamaica Long Island Daily Press, Jan. 24, 1935, the Queens Cocktail debuted at the Hotel Commodore in a toast to President Roosevelt. Via Fultonhistory.com.
(No word yet on the Staten Island Cocktail — and boy that sounds like a straight line).
Photo: Mary Pickford in the 1933 Rose Parade. Courtesy of Mary Mallory
Note: This is a 2012 post with a slight update. The 136th Rose Parade is Wednesday.
Tomorrow sees the 124th annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, welcoming the new year with magnificent garlands of fresh flowers. It also acts as the 80th anniversary of Mary Pickford serving as the first female grand marshal of the parade.
Begun by the Valley Hunt Club in 1890, the Rose Parade saluted the area’s wonderful weather and flowering paradise. Soon, the Tournament of Roses Assn. took over what they now call “America’s New Year Celebration, greeting the world on the first day of the year….”
This week’s mystery movie was the 1941 Universal film It Started With Eve, with Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton, Robert Cummings, Guy Kibbee, Margaret Tallichet, Catharine Doucet, Walter Catlett, Charles Coleman, Leonard Elliott, Irving Bacon, Gus Schilling, Wade Boteler and Dorothea Kent. Continue reading
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.
ladailymirror.com 