Minister Discovers Ancient Race of Giants

Posted on August 9, 2009 by lmharnisch

Aug. 9, 1899, George L. Cole

Aug. 9, 1899: "With the trophies of his summer's explorations spread out about him, Dr. Cole has turned his parlor into an anthropological museum. One table is covered with water jugs and incense pipes, the sofa hidden under stone axes, mortars, pestles, weaving shuttles and pottery; another table is decked with a row of grinning skulls and huge crossbones; beneath it comfortably repose all the parts of a skeleton, from the toe bones to the shoulder blades, waiting to be wired together, and strewn about are bows and arrows, baskets, jugs of twisted twigs made water-tight by pitch; modern Indian pottery, photographs by the score, and a hundred-pound stump of petrified wood. The skulls are a particularly valued possession."


Cole Pottery Detail

A detail of some of the pottery found by the Rev. George L. Cole. The original picture is at USC's digital library.

The Rev. George L. Cole of Los Angeles tells amazing stories of a weird, ancient culture that flourished in the cliffs of New Mexico. A race of people 7 feet tall (this grew to 8 feet in later stories) with curious teeth who worshiped the sun and considered the turkey to be a sacred animal. They also played flutes made of pelican bones, Cole said. (Pelicans in New Mexico, eh? I wonder how that happened).

Here's another sample of Cole's scholarship: (Sept. 5, 1900): "One bit of pottery is supposed to have been a tear bottle, in which penitents collected their bewailings and buried them."

I'm horrified when I read old stories about these grave robbers with their crackpot theories about ancient people. What's worse is a later account that says:
"Dr. Cole thinks the government should protect the cliff dwellings. Five
years ago there were a number of finely preserved prehistoric dwellings
in the charcoal district. Every one has been destroyed by explorers."

A Sept. 5, 1900, story in The Times says Cole's human remains and artifacts were sent to Northwestern University. A Feb. 22, 1908, story says his collection of relics was to be put on display at Venice Pier.

Unfortunately, The Times evidently didn't carry an obituary on Cole, so it's unclear what became of him. His son, Fay C. Cole, was affiliated with the Field Museum in Chicago.

Posted in books | 2 Comments

Miss Nelson Battles Personal Demons

Posted on August 9, 2009 by lmharnisch
Aug. 9, 1889, Seven Devils

Aug.
9,
1889: Another peculiarity about the woman is that she is industrious and hard working, and while her language is anything but choice she will allow no familiarities from men. In fact, a short time ago she smashed a mirror over the head of a man who made an insulting proposal to her, cutting him up pretty badly about the face and head.

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Matt Weinstock, Aug. 8, 1959

Posted on August 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

August 8, 1959: I Could Go On This Way ForeverMushroom Trouble

Matt WeinstockFor some unknown reason this has been a big year for Lapiota morgani, the poisonous plant resembling the mushroom, which grows on lawns and in shaded places. As a result, about a dozen persons, more than in preceding years, have been rushed to hospitals. However, there have been no fatalities.

The cases follow a pattern. Someone, usually a European who claims to know the difference, eats them or gives them to friends to eat. Result: a stomachache.

Lapiota morgani, the commonest variety, is only mildly toxic. In fact, some people are
immune. Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, Aug. 8, 1959

Posted on August 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

August 8, 1959: Tell Hoffa's Threat to 'Starve Out' L.A. Confidential File

Mash Notes and Comments

Paul Coates, in coat and tie(Press Release) “COOK’S MUSICAL NOTES, by Ira Cook:

“If you’re statistically-minded about your music, just tune to the Ira Cook Show on KMPC, and we’ll keep you posted on the progress of the never ending parade of platters.

“To date, I have received just over 3,000 45-speed records and 660 albums.

“Now, just for fun, let’s see what we can do with these figures . . .

“If I had started stacking up my 45-speed records on Jan. 1, 1959, I would have, today, a stack 20 feet high!” . . .(signed) Publicity Department, KMPC, Hollywood.
— Well, Ira, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.

Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics

Posted on August 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

Aug. 8, 1956, Nancy

Ernie Bushmiller's "Nancy," Aug. 8, 1956. I usually don't spend much time thinking about the age of Nancy and Sluggo. They're cartoon characters, after all, and Bushmiller cartoon characters at that. They're sort of ageless, like the kids in "Peanuts." I generally figure they're somewhere in late elementary school or maybe junior high. Then a strip like this comes along and I'm not sure.

Ever notice how much time Sluggo spends reading in "Nancy?"

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Second Takes — Preston Sturges

Posted on August 8, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 2, 1932, Preston Sturges James Curtis, author of the Preston Sturges biography "Between Flops," writes:
 
I was a little taken aback today when I came upon
your clutch of articles on Preston Sturges, and was suddenly reminded that he
died exactly 50 years ago in that tiny room at the Algonquin Hotel in New
York. I began researching my Sturges biography ("Between Flops") 33 years ago
when I was received at the hilltop mansion of Rudy Vallee, where Sturges was the
subject of conversation between rounds of tennis.
 
I think now of the embarrassment of riches I had in
writing that book–Joel McCrea, William Wyler, Billy Wilder, Eddie Bracken,
Colleen Moore, Orson Welles, Bill Demarest, three of his four wives–and how
today I'm reduced to interviewing the children of those people–and glad to get
them. Mr. S., incidentally, turns up in this book I've just finished, in that
Spencer Tracy was the star of "The Power and the Glory," the film that
supposedly invented the flashback (it really didn't) but does look suspiciously
like "Citizen Kane."  
 
The late Earl Felton's comment about Sturges fits
him best: "He was too large for this smelly resort, and the big studios were
scared to death of him. A man who was a triple threat (writing, directing, and
producing!) kept them awake nights, and I'm positive they were all waiting for
him to fall on his face so they could pounce on him and devour this terrible
threat to their stingy talents… In this, alas, I was right. They pounced, and
they got him good. But Preston knew the great days, when he was turning out
marvelous pictures… those days when his can glowed like a port light from
everyone kissing it!" 
 
    

Posted in books, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Second Takes | 1 Comment

In Mourning

Posted on August 8, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Aug. 8, 1899, Mourning Millinery

Aug.
8,
1899: Cut-rate mourning millinery.

Posted in Obituaries | Comments Off on In Mourning

Nightmare Farm Near Verdugo Canyon

Posted on August 8, 2009 by lmharnisch
Aug. 8, 1889, Hog Horror

Aug. 8, 1889: I have read some ghastly stories in these old papers, but "Hog Horror" is about the worst I have seen so far.

Aug. 8, 1889, Prostitution

Mrs. McFadden, one of the city's toughest prostitutes, exposes her 11-year-old daughter to the business.

 
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Found on EBay — Angeles Abbey Mausoleum

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lmharnisch
Angelus Abbey Mausoleum EBay

Sept. 8, 1929, Angeles Abbey

I had never heard of Angeles Abbey Mausoleum in Compton before I found this brochure listed on EBay. My first reaction was horrified glee that something like this ever got built — followed quickly by the question: Is it still there? The answer, yes.
Bidding starts at $2.

Posted in Architecture, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock, Aug. 7, 1959

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lmharnisch

Disturbed Jalopy

Matt WeinstockA tired old car died suddenly Tuesday while stopped for the signal on Olympic Blvd. at Georgia St. It was first in line in the center lane with the blinkers flashing for a left turn. The driver tried to start it but the engine wouldn’t catch.

Meanwhile, those backed up behind were becoming impatient. Of course, the driver immediately behind made no offer of a shove. This simply isn’t done, except by drivers of other old cars. And so the disgusted driver got out and pushed the weary old bus to the
curb, miraculously avoiding being clobbered by cars approaching in the other lanes.

He let it get its breath and after a while, with considerable wear and tear on the battery, it started. It has been running since. Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, Aug. 7, 1959

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lmharnisch

Confidential File

This May Make You Really Flip Fedora

Paul Coates, in coat and tieOne of the more humiliating aspects of my personality is that I am hopelessly under the influence of advertising slogans.

The persuasive power of Madison Avenue guides my destiny and shatters my ego.

And that’s the way it’s been since my tenderest years.

I felt, for example, that I suffered from the creeping darkness of 5 o’clock Shadow years before I was even ready for my first shave.

When research scientists at the Listerine Laboratories announced to the world that they had discovered a brand new social disease called Halitosis, it suddenly dawned on me that girls were always friendly at first but when the evening was over they never asked me for another date.

Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lmharnisch
Aug. 7, 1955, Nancy

Ernie Bushmiller's "Nancy," Aug. 7, 1955.
Posted in art and artists, Comics | Comments Off on A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics

Movie Star Mystery Photo

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lmharnisch
 

 Aug. 3, 2009, Mystery Photo

 Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: This is Wallace MacDonald, who had a long career as an actor, writer, director and producer. Above, an undated photo of MacDonald in makeup as an old man.

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 prize is bragging rights. 

The answer to last week's mystery star: Barry Atwater! 

2009_0804_mystery_photo

Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: MacDonald about 1912.

Here's another picture of our mystery guest. Please congratulate Mike Hawks for identifying him!

Aug. 5, 2009, Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: March 22, 1925, MacDonald and Norma Talmadge in "The Lady."

Here's our mystery guest with a mystery companion. Please congratulate Mary Mallory, Sue, Suzy Q, Carmen and Laura Aikens Goeller for identifying him.

Aug. 6, 2009, Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: MacDonald in a photo published June 13, 1926.

Here's another picture of our mystery guest. Please congratulate Claire Lockhart and Cinnamon Carter for identifying him.

Aug. 7, 2009, Mystery Photo Los Angeles Times file photo

Update: McDonald and Betty Compson in "New Lives for Old."

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | 41 Comments

L.A. Cyclists Study Bike Path to Santa Monica

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Aug. 7, 1889, Bicycle Path

Aug. 7, 1899: "Most of the city wheelmen think that a path to Santa Monica is sure to come in time and are ready to take hold and help in its construction…."

"One of the best paths of the kind in the country is the cycleway that runs from Denver, Colo., to Palmer Lake, a distance of about fifty miles…. When the Denver path was constructed there was some opposition from the farmers along the line of the proposed road, who thought that some depredations would be committed by the bicycle riders. It is reported that no such opposition will be met here as the residents of Ballona have already signified their intention of assisting in the construction of such a path." 

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Doctor Held as Cocaine Fiend

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lmharnisch
 Aug. 7, 1889, Fiend

Aug.
7,
1889: "Swigart is a complete wreck from the use of the drugs, his condition being really pitiable."

 
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Director John Hughes

Posted on August 6, 2009 by lmharnisch
Feb. 20, 1985, John Hughes

Feb. 20, 1985: The former National Lampoon writer is one of the few filmmakers in today's teen-crazed Hollywood who's candid enough to admit that his films — like Trix cereal — are made strictly for kids.
Feb. 2, 1985, John Hughes

Hughes' legendary work habits — he's been known to churn out a screenplay in a matter of days — are matched only by his growing reputation as an aging Dennis the Menace, who indulged in temper tantrums and arguments on the set of "Weird Science," a film he recently completed.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Found on EBay — Everett Ruess

Posted on August 6, 2009 by lmharnisch

Desert Magazine EBay

A copy of the September 1938 issue of Desert magazine with an article about Everett Ruess has been listed on EBay. Ruess was a Los Angeles artist who disappeared while roaming Utah in 1934. Bidding starts at $49.
Posted in art and artists, books | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Everett Ruess

Matt Weinstock, Aug. 6, 1959

Posted on August 6, 2009 by lmharnisch

August 6, 1959: Alley Oop panel. Alley exclaims "Ooola!" at woman standing in water. Of Men and Machines

Matt WeinstockMan’s dependence on mechanical devices was chaotically demonstrated again the other day in a huge market in San Fernando Valley.

A motorist rammed into a power pole outside the store, disrupting the electricity inside. Suddenly the customers were groping around in semidarkness, grabbing cabbages when they wanted lettuces.

Amid frantic phoning to get the power restored, a few crank handles were found to operate the registers manually. The rest of the cashiers had to get back to basic pencil-and-paper arithmetic.

All in all, it was a harrowing reminder that life without juice is not sweet.

 

Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, Aug. 6, 1959

Posted on August 6, 2009 by lmharnisch

August 6, 1959: Preston Sturges Dies

Confidential File

Here Is How Stupid One Can Easily Get

Paul Coates, in coat and tieAn old “fad” is making a comeback among Southern California teen-agers.

It’s a seemingly harmless kick, but unless the kids are wised up, and fast, tragedy could very easily be the result.

The fad — inhaling gasoline fumes and fumes from glue-soaked rags — sounds ridiculously innocuous. But it isn’t.

It can be as fatal as Russian roulette.

Just how widespread it has become, I don’t know.

But I do know that during the last week I’ve received a few calls with the information that the kids are at it again.

Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics

Posted on August 6, 2009 by lmharnisch
Aug. 6, 1954, Nancy

Ernie Bushmiller's "Nancy," Aug. 6, 1954.

Posted in art and artists, Comics | Comments Off on A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics