Specialists in Men’s Problems

Posted on May 29, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 29, 1899: What to do about men's "loss of vital force."

Posted in Downtown, health, LAPD | Comments Off

Murdered Teenager Found Near Tracks

Posted on May 29, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 29, 1919

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Found on EBay — Bullock’s Wilshire

Posted on May 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

Talk about a period piece! This polyester outfit from Bullock's Wilshire has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $9.99.

Posted in Fashion | Comments Off

A Fast Start

A long-cherished
dream of the professors of the Italian department at UCLA — a cultural
magazine named the Italian Quarterly — recently came true. As any
proud authors, the profs were keenly interested in its reception. Would
it be a hit or a miss? And so, on publication day they hovered about a
bookstore near the campus to see how the 20 copies planted there were
going.

To their pleased amazement all 20 were quickly snapped up.

And
then the truth hit. It seemed some prof had assigned a class to
translate into English some work by Machiavelli, which by pure chance
the authors had included in Vol. 1, No. 1.

A SKUNK
occasionally skulks through the Sierra Vista section where Bob Will
lives and Bob is careful not to excite it. But the other day he saw
four baby skunks near a storm drain outlet and because his children are
inquisitive about wildlife he phoned the Animal Regulation Department
for advice.

He was referred to the North Side office where a
lady told him, "We have an individual who traps skunks." She took his
name and phone number. And then she added, "But don't call us, he'll
call you!" To Bob, who works in Hollywood, it was the ultimate switch.

THE BOSS

He is always right,
I am always wrong.
If I keep this in mind,
We always get along.

-PEARL KELL

LEE BELSER'S series of articles on the problems faced by released criminals has brought some curious reactions.

One
man phoned her and said he was a "perfect rehabilitated ex-con,"
happily married to a girl of Japanese descent. Another said he needed
rehabilitating badly and asked where he could find an "understanding"
woman. Another felt Lee had slighted hisalma matter, the Vacaville men's prison. "It's just as plush as Corona," he said proudly, "and I think you should have given it more space."

THE "Save for Ball" campaign is rapidly becoming ubiquitous. This is the madness devised by playful friends of Doarwell
Ball, a pressman, of printing the phrases on walls, buildings, vacant
store fronts and tall girders, mostly in the Civic Center. The running
gag grew out of Ball's habit of salvaging scraps of wood and other
materials by printing the phrase on them. Well, IvanNemo reports that a
portable Chic Sale installed by construction company on a project in
San Fernando Valley now has the sign, "Save for Ball" on it.

THREE YEARS AGO Janet Salter gave a party with nearly 100 guests for her polite, intelligent black cocker spaniel Windy, in honor of his 13th birthday. Next week she planned another for his 16th
birthday. But Windy's poor old heart couldn't hold out for it. He died
Sunday. In terms of human life she estimates he was about 112 years
old. possibly the oldest pooch in town.

IT SEEMS
to be spring, all right. Samuel Anderson spotted this ad, in a girlish
handwriting, among those posted on the "customer service" bulletin
board of a Long Beach market: "Cute boy wanted. Short, 7th grade, dark hair, blue eyes." And her phone number.

AT RANDOM — Inasmuch as all sorts of weird proposals for solving the water problem are echoing against the woodwork Ernie Maxwell of Idyllwild
has another — how about towing icebergs here from the Antarctic …
There's a scene in "A Hole in the Head" in which the sheriff comes to
evict Frank Sinatra from his debt-ridden Miami Beach Hotel. Frank
smooth talks him with, "Hello, sheriff, how's everything at Dodge
City?" A poke at westerns … Not many people know that L.A. has a
Madison Ave., too, near Beverly Blvd, and Virgil. But charcoal gray
clothes are not required garb … The gang in a downtown office has not
only a win pool on the Indianapolis race but a death pool. You pick the
name of the driver you think might get killed. They call it a ghoul
pool.

Posted in Columnists, Matt Weinstock | Comments Off

Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, May 28, 1959

Posted on May 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

Confidential File

Medical Profession Recognizes a Peril

There
are groups in this town that are highly sensitive to criticism by the
press. So sensitive, in fact, that I get the feeling sometimes they'd
just as soon we didn't exist.

They don't like the idea of our
reporting — to coin a phrase — all the news that's fit to print.
Especially, if the news happens to place them or their cohorts in a bad
light.

They can't stand having their mistakes hung up in public places.

And they're not the least bit timid about running to a reporter's boss if they feel their dignity has been sullied.

A few days ago I wrote an article directly concerning a group which prides itself on its dignity.

Probably it's the most respected profession in the world today; the medical profession.

I
told the story of a doctor who had been very careless — careless
enough to have almost caused a tragedy involving a 2 1/2-year-old child.

He
had disposed some prescription medicine — pretty, colored pills — and
some hypodermic needles in an alleyway where some kids got their hands
on it and began passing it around as "candy."

I pointed out that
the doctor wasn't very concerned with the health and safety of the
public to have committed such a negligent act.

Then I sat back and waited for the repercussions. And I'd been around long enough to know that I could expect some.

But I was mistaken.

I did get some calls from doctors. They weren't "incensed subscribers," however.

One thanked me for the column and added:

"If you didn't reach anybody else, you reached me. Just before I sat down with the newspaper. I had absent-mindedly tossed a package of sample pills from a pharmaceutical house into the waste-basket."

I heard from the Los Angeles County Medical Assn. They assured me that the occurrence which I described wasn't a common one.

"However," I was told, "it can happen. Every now and then we run a reminder about it in our bulletin."

The LACMA issued a special bulletin on the subject the day after the column appeared.

Another
doctor told me that the Los Angeles Police Department had recently sent
out warnings of its own to various medical associations.

The police were more concerned with the hypodermic-needle problem.

A
new type of disposable injection unit, called a preloaded hypodermic
syringe insert, is beginning to find its way into the hands of addicts
around town.

It's a simple matter to turn one of the disposable
inserts into a hype kit — and the LAPD urged the doctors to break the
needles before tossing the inserts into the trash.

I was also told by the California Osteopaths Association that they plan to run the LAPD warning in the next issue of the monthly publication.

But
most interesting was the information I received that a lot of the
pharmaceutical house free samples which flood local doctors' mail boxes
end up where there's a genuine need.

The alumni association of
the College of Medical Evangelists' school of medicine has had as a pet
project since 1951: the collection of medical equipment and surplus
drugs for distribution to missionaries throughout the world.

Medical Evangelists at Work

In the last 12 months they've shipped out 18 tons of medical equipment and supplies.

The
alumni contribute their surplus free drug samples to the project, but
— I'm told — they'll welcome similar contributions from other
doctors. Any doctor interested may contact the project's co-ordinator, Mrs. Esther Hackman, at ANgeles 2-2173.

For
my part, I'm glad the doctors took my criticism as it was intended, I
guess they're too busy being sensitive about more important matters to
have time to take offense at a published account of a mistake by one of
their colleagues.

Posted in Columnists, Paul Coates | Comments Off

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Your Music

Posted on May 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 28, 1981. $842.16 USD 3008

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Mayor Reelected, Angels Fire Manager

Posted on May 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

View this page
Sam Yorty wins the mayor's race, but …

May 30, 1973, Bradley Wins

View this page
… loses to Tom Bradley in 1973 after a particularly dirty campaign.

Looking back, it's easy to see why the Angels hired a former Dodger executive to run the team and he hired a former Dodger scout and coach as manager. The Angels were going nowhere fast in 1969, an expansion year when new weak teams should have allowed established clubs a little breathing room.

Instead, the Angels were dead last in their division and owners of a 10-game losing streak when General Manager Dick Walsh decided to end the Angel career of Bill Rigney, the only manager the franchise had known. Harold "Lefty" Phillips, who had been with the Dodgers for 17 seasons, replaced Rigney.

The Angels weren't the only team filled with Dodgers. The San Diego Padres were in their first season and were being built by longtime Dodger executive Buzzie Bavasi. He hired former Dodger coach Preston Gomez as manager and the coaching staff was sprinkled with ex-Dodgers.

Would the Dodgers make much of a difference in Anaheim? Here's how The Times' Ross Newhan put it: "On a bright, warm day in Anaheim, they changed managers for the sake of changing managers."

Rigney, whose roots were in the Giants' organization, had a long run for a manager of an expansion team. He was manager of the year in 1962, when the Angels flirted with a pennant and finished a remarkable third. After leaving the Angels, he managed in Minnesota and San Francisco.

Phillips said of Rigney: "He was a very sound manager. I'd say that 95 percent of the time I agreed with the way he did things. The other 5 percent you could go either way."

The Angels lost their last game with Rigney, 10-0, to Detroit. They won their debut with Phillips, beating Cleveland, 2-1.

–Keith Thursby

Posted in Front Pages, Politics | Comments Off

U.S. Plays England in Los Angeles Soccer Match

Posted on May 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 28, 1959: Ed Hopkinson during practice before the U.S.-England match.

Peter Young writes:

I'm a regular reader of your blog, and I've
e-mailed you a few times before with praise for the blog and a correction or
two.

I've just realized that on Thursday it's 50 years
since I attended my first big soccer match in the U.S.A. It was U.S.A. 1
England 8 at the old Wrigley Field on May 28, 1959, attended by 10,000. I
believe the match was arranged on very short notice as the England team finished
a tour of South America and Mexico. The dirt baseball paths were in front of
one of the goals, which made things a bit difficult for the teams.

It was perhaps the first time a European national
team had visited Los Angeles for a full international match. And it was one of
only a few games the U.S.A. national team played in the Fifties.

Ten years ago I posted a story on the match on my
England team website. You can find it at http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamInteractive/Features/FeaturesFirst.html

It was my first visit to Los Angeles, and I
remember the experience as if it was yesterday. But I would love to have
whatever the press of the day had to say about the game.

View this page

At left, The Times on May 26, 1959: the British team arrives. They practiced at Hollywood High School.

View this page
England defeats the U.S., 8-1

View this page
Johnny Hynes makes it 8-1 with a tricky kick from 10 yards out.

Posted in Sports | 7 Comments

Jewish Refugees Pour Into Shanghai

Posted on May 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

Posted in Religion | Comments Off

Woman Charged With Robbing Man

Posted on May 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

Posted in Robberies | Comments Off

Black Dahlia-Related Photos for Sale

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

Mark Hansen's photos, up for auction.

An auction house has contacted me with information about a group of photos tangentially related to the Black Dahlia case.

Mark Hansen, a partner in the Florentine Gardens nightclub, was a suspect in the Black Dahlia killing because he let Elizabeth Short stay with him off and on in the last half of 1946. These photos are evidently from his estate and several of them are inscribed to him. None of them show Short, known as the Black Dahlia.

News accounts from the 1940s describe his home as being loaded with pictures like this. If I were going to bid on these items (which I'm not) I would want to make sure that they were from his home on Carlos Avenue behind the Florentine Gardens and not the home he kept separately for his wife as they seem a little passe for the late 1940s. The auction is May 30 at 10 a.m. More information from the San Rafael Auction Gallery is here>>>.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs | Comments Off

Found on EBay — LAPD Mug Shot

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

On June 15, 1908, The Times reported the case of "R. Fernandez," who was accused of trying to steal a suitcase from a wagon on Main Street. This mug shot of Ralph Hernandez, arrested in the attempted theft, has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $24.99.

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Matt Weinstock, May 27, 1959

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

Check out this font. How about that G in "judge?"

Police File Trouble

A
television station's mishandling of confidential information from
criminal files in the Police Dept.'s record room has complicated the
lives and labors of those hard-working, hard-bitten police reporters.

It
had been common practice for reporters to ask for "the package" on a
person arrested as a suspect in a current case to learn if he had any
prior arrests, what they were and whether he had served time in prison.

Now,
the "beat" reporters can't see such facts because a news agency
provided information from a "package" marked "Confidential" to a TV
station, which then broadcast it.

ONLY SPECIALLY accredited reporters had been allowed to inspect such records of past crimes; suddenly even they were banned.

Today,
Chief Parker recommended amendment of the Municipal Code to open the
police records to accredited members of the press, radio and TV.

He
asked the Police Commission to request the city attorney to draft an
amendment which would give him authority to release the records to
newsmen.

LAST
Saturday, with 900 guests aboard for a brief cruise, the 17,500-ton
cruiser Toledo, first of its type to be converted to launch guided
missiles, dropped anchor a mile off Avalon.

And while the visitors were served chicken salad, Adm. Goldsborough
S. Patrick dropped a fishing line off the admiral's porch and almost
immediately hauled in a nice flounder, which 10 minutes later was
served to him for lunch. Does it wherever he goes, according to the
scuttlebutt.

A GROUP OF Hollywood
writers was discussing the pitfalls of the profession and one old plot
carpenter recalled the time he rewrote a movie script 18 times, which
he believed was a record.

When he wearily turned it in the
producer, a difficult man to please because he never was sure what he
wanted, pronounced, "I liked the first one better."

The writer returned to his office in despair, thinking of all the work that had gone down the drain. Came the reprieve.

"I thought that would happen," his secretary said, "so I saved it." She received the biggest box of candy in the world.

THERE IS A general reluctance among auto dealers to talk about sales tax, but Bill Sanella of Burbank doesn't mind. He thinks it's unfair and he says so.

Here's
an example in round figures. You select a $3,000 car. You are allowed
$2,000 on the car you turn in. Actual cost: $1,000. But you must pay
sales tax on $3,000, $120, instead of the tax on $1,000, $40. Why? Ask
the Board of Equalization.

A TRUMPET
player in the orchestra at the Bolshoi Ballet sounded a sour note
during a fanfare Saturday and moments later a dancer took a bad fall.
As she bravely picked herself up Em Johnson's wife leaned over and
whispered to him, "It'll be Siberia for those two!"

AROUND TOWN —
Someone forgot to remove the yellow "witch hats" — the rubber cones
which provide an extra traffic lane during the rush hours — on Olympic
Blvd. one recent morning and they remained there until around 1 p.m.
with several sensational near misses. Two cars traveling in opposite
directions almost had a beaut of a head-on collision at Catalina. Shows
how dependent we are on even synthetic direction markers in our
headline plunge along life's precarious highway, said he, as the sun
set in the west … Sudden thought: Isn't it amazing how fast people
forget about smog when the air is clear?"

MISCELLANY — Tom Manix
asked a neighbor lady what she thought about Proposition 2, referring,
of course, to yesterday's election. She replied, "I haven't heard your
first proposition yet" … JayGurey on the phone: "Wasn't that a terrible thing about Adam and Eve? Never had a childhood"

Posted in Columnists, Matt Weinstock | Comments Off

Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, May 27, 1959

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

Is that really Toulouse-Lautrec's "A La Mie" balanced on a chair in a publicity photo for Irving Stone, the Mirror's new art crtic? It most certainly is. Luckily, the painting is now in safer hands at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It's almost as bad as putting Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" on the pavement for a photo op at LAX–but not quite. I swear, it's amazing anything survived.

Confidential File

The Coates Abound in Antitogetherness

According
to no less an authority than the slick pages of Time magazine, the
entire country has been badly bitten by the boating bug. (And if that
ain't alliteration, you tell me).

This epidemic was brought on
by our nationally weakened condition as a result of a sudden,
compulsive urge for more "togetherness." And the word is out that
nothing clusters a family closer than a boat. The theory interests me,
because my own family is a classic study in "apartness."

I am
the nominal head of a household stocked with rugged individualists. The
only things we share in common are the same surname, the same rood and
fish on Friday. Other than that we veer off in separate directions.

My daughter, Joren,
is currently infatuated with the care and feeling of a saddle horse. My
youngest son, Timmy, raises pigeons in the back yard. My older boy,
Kevin, studies the saxophone and, to my complete dismay, can already
play a chorus of "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair." Not only can he,
but he does. Interminably.

In a feeble attempt to draw us
together, I once suggested that my wife and I should take a course in
Spanish and that later the youngsters could study with us. We started.
But halfway through she switched to French, which, once again, leaves
me no one to talk to.

Consequently, in a final, desperate
effort, I allowed myself to be infected by the boat bug. The sickness
is upon me now. The symptoms are delirium, delusions of grandeur and a
general departure from reality.

At first, when the fever struck,
I though of a modest little dinghy. Then I graduated to a sloop. And
finally, within just hours, to a cabin cruiser with a full galley,
bunks and, you should excuse me, a head. As Time points out, "people
step up in boating."

I've stepped up without even stepping
aboard a boat. I'm in the cabin cruiser class already. But all I've
actually invested in anything is a dollar ninety-five for a yachting
cap.

The other evening I came home and gathered the family around me in a symbolic circle.

"I've decided," I announced, "to buy us a boat."

My bride looked ceiling-ward and said nasally: "Sacre bleu!"
Then she turned a withering glance on me, and added: "You're not
mechanically inclined enough to run a boat. You'll drown us all."

I
calmly lit a cigarette and let the smoke drift lazily through my left
nostril. (My right one has a deviated septum.) "You know," I told her.
"It's quite interesting. You must be plagued by a deep, unconscious
feeling of insecurity. And you compensate for it by constantly
deflating my ego."

"If you must talk like that," she snapped, "at least have the decency to do it when the children aren't around."

I turned my attention to the kids. "We could take week end trips on a boat," I told Timmy.

"I can't take trips," he replied. "I have to stay home and feed the pigeons."

Won't Rock in Cradle of Deep

"We'll buy one with a foghorn on it," I appealed to Kevin.

"I already have a horn," he said.

"You could learn to water-ski," I suggested to Joren.

"I'm learning to ride side-saddle," she replied.

I looked at my wife. "And you?" I asked with a sigh.

She shrugged and informed me: "La plume de ma tante est sur la table de mon oncle."

"That's just your opinion," Isaid. "I'm still getting a boat for us. And I'll go out in it by myself."

And, I will. There'll be togetherness in my family, even if I have to do it alone.

Posted in art and artists, Columnists, Paul Coates | Comments Off

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Grooming Accessories

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 27, 1979

Posted in health | Comments Off

Monorail Planned for Downtown Los Angeles!

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

"She Was Gone … Real Gone!"

Voters reject higher taxes. View this page

Beatnik robbers tell victim to "play it cool." Woof, Daddy-o.

Above, another mass-transit plan that never got off the drawing board.

All right, you kids, no more chopped and channeled five-window coupes, understand? And no more lowered front ends on your T-buckets! Next, we're going after your Glass Packs.

Nice headline — does that mean some women aren't upset?

Above, FBI agents give the governor of Mississippi the names of about 10 men involved in the lynching of African American truck driver Mack Charles Parker.

Episcopal Bishop James A. Pike addresses a Planned Parenthood meeting and calls California's laws against birth control unconstitutional.

Pop Fligh helps Dondi get out of a jam. View this page

Isn't that awfully close to "Miss Procreation?"

May 27, 1959, Sports

The Dodgers lose to the Giants and Milwaukee beats Pittsburgh in the 13th inning. View this page

Posted in #courts, City Hall, Comics, Dodgers, Downtown, Film, Freeways, Front Pages, health, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Politics, Religion, Robberies, Rock 'n' Roll, Sports, Transportation | 1 Comment

Telephone Bandit Goes on Rampage

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 27, 1939: The Telephone Bandit shoots up pay phones to keep victims from reporting holdups.

Posted in LAPD, Robberies | Comments Off

Woman Attempts Suicide in Los Angeles River

Posted on May 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

May 27, 1919.

Posted in LAPD, Suicide | Comments Off

Cooking With the Junior League: That ’70s Show

Posted on May 26, 2009 by lmharnisch

This week in Cooking With the Junior League, Mary McCoy delves into 1970s recipes from El Paso.

She writes: "Since its publication in 1974, the Junior League of El Paso’s cookbook, Seasoned With Sun
has gone through numerous printings and remains in print today. And
with good reason. It’s a terrific source for authentic Mexican and
Southwestern cooking, and full of recipes that reflect the Indian,
Mexican, Spanish, and Anglo influences on regional cuisine."

Found on EBay — Matt Weinstock

Posted on May 26, 2009 by lmharnisch

Two copies of Matt Weinstock's "My L.A." have been listed on EBay. The book, which Weinstock wrote while he was at the Daily News, is quite like his columns for The Times. One copy is priced at $15 …. and the other is $1.

Posted in books, Columnists, Matt Weinstock | 1 Comment

Specialists in Men’s Problems

Murdered Teenager Found Near Tracks

Found on EBay — Bullock’s Wilshire

Matt Weinstock, May 28, 1959

A Fast Start

Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, May 28, 1959

Confidential File

Medical Profession Recognizes a Peril

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Your Music

Mayor Reelected, Angels Fire Manager

U.S. Plays England in Los Angeles Soccer Match

Jewish Refugees Pour Into Shanghai

Woman Charged With Robbing Man

Black Dahlia-Related Photos for Sale

Found on EBay — LAPD Mug Shot

Matt Weinstock, May 27, 1959

Police File Trouble

Paul V. Coates — Confidential File, May 27, 1959

Confidential File

The Coates Abound in Antitogetherness

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Grooming Accessories

Monorail Planned for Downtown Los Angeles!

Telephone Bandit Goes on Rampage

Woman Attempts Suicide in Los Angeles River

Cooking With the Junior League: That ’70s Show

Found on EBay — Matt Weinstock

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