January 12-13: Soviet leader visits Los Angeles

Posted on January 12, 2009 by lmharnisch

January 12, 1959: LAPD officers next to limousine as crowds gather before Anastas Mikoyan arrives at LAX.
LAPD officers keep control as a large crowd gathers at LAX in anticipation of the arrival of Deputy Soviet Premier Anastas Mikoyan. His plane was diverted to Burbank, where he landed without incident, The Times said.

Today, Anastas Mikoyan (1895-1978) is hardly a household name and his trip to Los Angeles is mostly a footnote to history. His AP obituary didn’t even mention that he had visited the city. With the nation’s fears about communism and the Soviet Union, public sentiment was far different and his brief stay received wide publicity. Continue reading →

Posted in @news, broadcasting, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, LAPD, Politics | 2 Comments

East wins Pro Bowl, 28-21, January 12, 1959

Posted on January 12, 2009 by lmharnisch
1959_0110_lonelyhearts
1959_0112_sports Former USC star Frank Gifford returned to the Coliseum and led the Eastern Division team to a 28-21 victory in the Pro Bowl. Gifford, a star for the New York Giants, played halfback but did much of his damage in the air by passing for 75 yards and a touchdown.

The Pro Bowl in its current format has been held in Hawaii since 1971, so that must mean at some point Los Angeles was considered an exotic getaway to lure the players for an all-star game. Interesting that the ’58 game drew a then-record 72,250, another sign that L.A. once was a pretty fair pro football town.

–Keith Thursby
Posted in Film, Hollywood, Sports | 1 Comment

Found on EBay — Catalina Tile

Posted on January 11, 2009 by lmharnisch

Catalina_tile_ebay02
 Catalina_tile_table_ebay

This is a table with an image from Catalina Tiles embedded in the top. It’s listed on EBay with a starting bid of $500. I have no idea what the going rate is for a genuine Catalina Tile table, as all I’ve seen so far are the more dubious ones. As always, check the vendor and the item carefully before spending that kind money.

Posted in Architecture, art and artists, Real Estate | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Catalina Tile

Demonstators protest arrival of Soviet leader; Dodger turns to acting, January 11, 1959

Posted on January 11, 2009 by lmharnisch
1959_0111_cover

Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Mikoyan provokes demonstrations in San Francisco en route to his visit to Los Angeles. Recall that Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev will come to Los Angeles later in the year. And a federal court strikes down a regulation used to keep Georgia’s college campuses segregated.
1959_0111_jazz

1959_0111_nba_riots

At left, a jazz concert featuring George Shearing, Shelly Manne, Anita O’Day and Andre Previn. I’m not sure how the Kingston Trio got mixed up with Shearing–must have been interesting. Previn had quite a career as a jazz pianist and film composer before he became a serious conductor.   

At left, Andre Previn and Oscar Peterson.

1959_0111_snider Found a rather extensive photo package about the Dodgers’ Duke Snider trying his hand at acting. Snider had a role in an episode of "The Rifleman," which starred former Brooklyn Dodger (and very briefly, former Boston Celtic) Chuck Connors.

According to Leslie Lieber, Connors invited Snider to try acting while they were at a Dodgers’ practice (maybe he meant in the outfield before a game). Leiber referred to Snider as "the great clouter" and "pride of the Los Angeles Dodgers" but said as an actor he "has the most retiring gun in the Wild West–it hardly gets out of the holster."

Connors had no regrets about quitting baseball. "Tell me how much would I have had to hit last year to make $41,000 in baseball," Connors told The Times’ Frank Finch in a story published later in January. "Well that’s what I made last year in front of the TV cameras and it’s only the beginning."

–Keith Thursby

Posted in #Jazz, broadcasting, Dodgers, Downtown, Front Pages, Hollywood, Music, Television | 1 Comment

A. Victor Segno — “How to Live 100 Years”

Posted on January 11, 2009 by lmharnisch
“Many people think that by boiling water they purify it. This is a mistake. The germs of disease are partially killed but the decaying carcasses of the germs remain to be taken into the system. Water cannot be purified by filtering it.”

–A. Victor Segno,
“How to Live 100 Years,”
Los Angeles, 1903
Posted in books, health | Comments Off on A. Victor Segno — “How to Live 100 Years”

Found on EBay — J.W. Robinson’s

Posted on January 10, 2009 by lmharnisch

Adrian_ebay
 Adrian_label_crop

Adrian_jw_robinson_label_crop

Here’s an Adrian-designed outfit sold at J.W. Robinson’s in Los Angeles, listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $75.

Posted in Fashion | Comments Off on Found on EBay — J.W. Robinson’s

Matt Weinstock — January 10, 1959

Posted on January 10, 2009 by lmharnisch




Chinese Puzzle

Matt_weinstockd
On a recent
excursion to San Francisco, a Hollywood press party with TV executive
Ted Galenter as host went to a Chinese restaurant. The food was
wonderful but a writer named Jim didn’t eat. He said he wasn’t hungry.

Afterward
the party went to a Chinese nightclub and in the swirl of music and
dancing Galenter observed that an incredible repast, enough for half a
dozen persons, had been placed in front of Jim at the far end of the
table and he was eating.

Galenter called the waiter and asked
who had ordered it. The waiter shrugged. Galenter asked him to inquire
if Jim had ordered it.

THE WAITER WENT to the end of the table, said something, and Jim nodded in approval.

Next
day, still puzzled, Galenter asked Jim, "How come you didn’t eat that
fine food at the first place and you ordered all that stuff at the
second place?"

1959_0110_red_streak
"I didn’t order it," Jim replied, "I thought you did."

"No," Galenter said, "I sent the waiter over to ask and you shook your head."

"Now wait a minute," Jim said. "All he asked was ‘Are you enjoying the show?’"

Inscrutable, those fellows.

* *

DURING THE recent American Physical Society meeting at UCLA
a man came into the press room, announced he was a physicist from
Greece and said, "I want an interview."

Tom Tugend, handling
press arrangements, started to introduce him to reporters but the
newcomer said, "No, no, I don’t want to be interviewed — I want an
interview, for a job!"

Thud.  

* *

THE LAST LAUGH

The writers of science fiction
Are daring in their depiction.
Logic says that we must doubt them
But where would we be without them?
– JOSEPH P. KRENGEL

* *


AT THE ANNUAL carpenters’ picnic a man named Joe was
having phenomenal luck at the games of chance, knocking down prize
after prize — until he came to the booth where the prize was a wooden
hammer. Try as he might, he couldn’t ring one with the hoops. The
disappointment showed on his face so much that the booth attendant
tried to comfort him by saying, "Just remember, Joe, you can’t win a
mall."

* *

1959_0110_schulz

JAPAN HAS its problems with drunks, too, Newsweek reports,
and to curb them Mayor Takayama of Kyoto has devised a diabolical
punishment. Tape recorders are being placed in jail cells and
inebriates will be forced to listen to their own wild ravings the next
morning.

Mike Molony, the Socrates of Spring Street, came upon
an even more fiendish torture the other day in a downtown bar. Two gay
blades were working on a friend who had overindulged.

"The best thing for a hangover," one said authoritatively, "is a hot buttered muscatel on the rocks."

"Only," the other put in, "if you add a cold pork gravy float."

* *

A COPY BOY, discussing the SC ban, made a man on the copy desk starkly aware that he was getting old.

"I’ve followed the Trojans all my life," the young boy said. "Even as a little boy I watched them on TV."

* *

FOOTNOTES — The space-saving apartment-for-rent ads in
another paper were lively the other day. One was, "$95, if decorate 3
crummy rooms w/character." Another, "$57.50. Clean Single Child" . . .
Whenever Mattie Rae sees them bury another corpse on "Gunsmoke" she
wonders if Marshal Dillon and Chester consider it duty of the beyond
call . . . Bill Crago has to watch himself whenever he has to say
"Internal Revenue" or it will come out "External." Mental block,
aggravated by tax consciousness, he figures . . . Revised smile: As
certain as death and taxes and automobile insurance going up.

Posted in art and artists, Columnists, Matt Weinstock | Comments Off on Matt Weinstock — January 10, 1959

Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 10, 1959

Posted on January 10, 2009 by lmharnisch




CONFIDENTIAL FILE

Mash Notes and Comments

"Dear Paul Coates:

Paul_coates_2
"We
can’t forgive you for using the objective case instead of the
possessive or genitive case with your verbal nouns or gerunds.

"You’re
an educated man, so please clean up this little error in grammar and be
an example for us in language as well as in tolerance and big
mindedness.

"The rule is (Scribner’s Handbook of English): ‘A noun or pronoun PRECEDING AND GOVERNING a gerund is usually in the genitive case.’

"One indication of correct speech is the use of the possessive form before certain words ending in ‘ing.’

"The uneducated and even many educated persons make this mistake:

"’What did you think of HIM leaving you?’

"But it’s not what you think of HIM, but rather what you think of HIS leaving that you want to know." (signed) Ruth E. Peters, P.O. Box 308. Hemet.
-I’m just sorry to hear they broke up.

* *

1959_0110_mathis"Dear Sir:

"Confidential Service of Mexico is primarily an efficient, effective correspondence club and translation service.

"Its
most important asset is the quick satisfying results it gets for its
members, results that begin from the very first moment they receive
their first letter from a prettyCSM girl. 

"CSM can get these same results for you too, a potential new member.

"If
you are tired of the lonely life and if you are seeking a wife with
whom to settle down and raise a family, this letter could be the most
important one you will ever receive.

"If, however, you already
have a wife or seek none, then you are just wasting your time reading
this letter." (signed) Luz ElenaNorte, Director, Confidential Service of Mexico, P.O. Box 2617, Palm Springs, Calif. 

-Let’s put it this way. I already have a wife but she doesn’t understand me, dear.

* *


BULLETIN (in
a manner of speaking), Herman Hover, who’s been suffering from chronic
frustration lately, had another attack of it last night.

The
portly cafe impresario, who made Ciro’s one of the world’s outstanding
supper clubs, only to see it all dissolve in last year’s slump that hit
the Sunset Strip, has spent his every waking hour in a battle to reopen
the doors.

He came close a number of times but at the 11th hour some obstruction — usually a disgruntled creditor — would get in the way.

Again
last night, Ciro’s was scheduled to reopen. This time, as a private
with some 600 freshly paid-up members. And again, at the 11th hour —
or more precisely, at 6:30 yesterday evening — Hover had to get on the
phone and frantically call off his invited guests.

"Everything," he explained to me, "was ready. The lights were on. The bar was stocked. But I forgot to get an edible license.

"If you don’t have an edible license," he added sadly, "nobody can eat. So, we’ll open Monday instead."

I’ll
wait. But only till Monday. If it doesn’t open then, I’m going to let
my hair grow and start hanging around in coffee houses.  
Posted in Columnists, Paul Coates | 2 Comments

Voices — Christine Collins, June 30, 1931

Posted on January 10, 2009 by lmharnisch

June 3, 1931: Police Chief R.E. Steckel tells the parole board that Walter Collins should be considered a habitual criminal.

Posted in #courts, Changeling, Christine Collins, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | 1 Comment

Dodgers move outfield fence, January 10, 1959

Posted on January 10, 2009 by lmharnisch
1959_0110_coliseum
1959_0110_sports_2
1959_0110_sports_ro
The Dodgers announced they were moving the Coliseum fences in and The Times saw it as a victory for Duke Snider.

The dimensions were reduced in center (425 feet to 410) and
right-center fields (440 to 385). The short porch and tall screen in
left field weren’t changed. The Times’ Frank Finch noted that Snider
hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons but hit only six
home runs in the Coliseum in 1957.

"Time after time enemy outfielders camped under drives by Duke which
would have been home runs in other National League parks," Finch wrote.

But Snider, in a story last year by The Times’ Ross Newhan, blamed a
1957 knee surgery more than the Coliseum for his power decline. "That
was before arthroscopic surgery and the knee was never the same,"
Snider said. "I was never the same hitter, I had to change my whole
style. I
had to try to be more of a contact hitter, a tough adjustment
when you’ve been a free swinger your entire career."

Snider was no fan of the ballpark, however. "Baseball deserves its
own identity," he said. "It shouldn’t ever be piecemealed into a
football and track stadium, which is what the Coliseum is."

One strange thing about the original story: General manager Buzzie
Bavasi said the Dodgers wanted to get Manager Walt Alston’s approval
before making the changes official.

–Keith Thursby
Posted in Dodgers, Downtown, Front Pages, Sports | 1 Comment

Another Nixon story challenged, January 10, 1959

Posted on January 10, 2009 by lmharnisch

1959_0110_strike_2

A strike at a Hollywood supermarket turns into a management lockout involving 1,000 grocery stores across Southern California that lasts for 28 days. The union negotiator charged that the lockout was aimed at crushing the clerks’ union and forcing smaller markets out of business in favor of the "Big Dozen."

1959_0110_metro_2

Richard Nixon’s memoirs famously begin "I was born in the house my father built." But his mother told The Times he was born in a hospital!

1959_0110_crikelair_3

1959_0110_lapd_3
Above, a father commits suicide on the grave of his young son and a driver gets six months for killing an LAPD officer.

Robert Mangrum admitted running a red light and broadsiding the patrol car of Officers Joseph Bennett and George Burgoon. The impact threw both officers out of their vehicle. Bennett was killed when hit a utility pole 35 feet away and Burgoon was injured when he was thrown under a parked car. Mangrum told police he was doing 35 mph in a 25-mph zone.
1959_0110_deseg_2
Federal courts rule Atlanta’s bus segregation laws are illegal.
1959_0110_rifle
Back when you could order a World War I 03 Springfield or Colt Government Model ($281.24 USD 2007) by phone–like a pizza!

Update: I stand corrected. The ad says handguns had to be purchased in the store. Evidently only rifles and shotguns were available C.O.D. by phone–like a pizza. So much for my fantasy: "I’d like a Union Switch & Signal .45 in original finish, no anchovies, please."

Posted in Countdown to Watts, Front Pages, LAPD, Politics, Suicide | 1 Comment

Found on EBay — Oviatt’s

Posted on January 9, 2009 by lmharnisch

Oviatt_jackett_eisenhower

Oviatt_jackett_eisenhower_label

Oviatt_label_lbj_02

Here’s what appears to be an Eisenhower-style herringbone jacket from Oviatt’s, listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $99.99. The Vintage Fashion Guild’s label guide has nothing for Oviatt’s, but the label, below left, contrasts with a known label from 1955, above. I would suspect it’s more recent.

Posted in Fashion | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock — January 9, 1959

Posted on January 9, 2009 by lmharnisch




Rugged Fisherman

Matt_weinstockd_2
The telephone
rang at 3 a.m. Wednesday in the Venice home of Bill O’Connor. It was
Pat Lister, Santa Monica harbor master, informing him that gale winds
were whipping the bay and his boat was dragging its mooring.

O’Connor, 47, a former champion swimmer and lifeguard, is now a fisherman. He owns the 30-foot El Salvador.

He
dressed and rushed out in the rain to his car only to find his
headlights wouldn’t work. He grabbed his little girl’s bicycle and was
off, aided by a strong tailwind. Within minutes he was at the end of
the groaning pier.

Still clothed, without hesitation, he
jumped into Santa Monica Bay and headed for his boat, pitching in heavy
seas 200 yards away. The next time Lister saw him was in the eerie glow
of a flashlight on deck.

1959_0109_hostage
O’CONNOR SET a stern anchor, reinforcing his mooring lines, put stronger lashings on the deck gear, then too another header into the bay.

As
he climbed up the ladder to the dock, a $10,000 catamaran broke loose
from its mooring and swept toward the beach. O’Connor and Chad Merrill,
assistant harbor master, jumped onto its deck, threw lines to the dock,
and swam back to the pier.

After a look around to see that
everything else was secure, O’Connor got back on the bike and headed
home. Wonder how things are these days with Ernest Hemingway?

* *

THE STRONG WINDS also awakened an advertising executive who suddenly remembered a newly planted 8-foot tree and rushed outside to the rescue.

On
reaching up to brace the tree against the wind his pajama pants dropped
around his ankles. When he reached down to retrieve them the tree
swayed dangerously in the gale. This happened over and over, like in an
old Laurel and Hardy movie, and his wife, who watched through the
living room window, is still laughing.

* *

UNANIMOUS
Never a letter from a friend or foe,
They’re either ads or bills I owe.
– RALPH FREEMAN

* *

REMEMBERED quotes from the lavish Sports Illustrated dinner acclaiming UCLA’s Rafer Johnson:

Art Linkletter introduced a celebrity as having "a greater rating than if Brigitte Bardot played ‘Lolita’ on TV." He also referred to Henry Luce as "the Vic Tanny of the publishing world."

An apt line by Luce: "The test of a high civilization is the pursuit of excellence — that’s why we honor Rafer."

Romain
Gary: "I saw Mr. Luce play golf a few days ago in Phoenix. If I were
the owner of Time, Life, Fortune and Sports Illustrated I’d hire
someone to play for me."

* *

1959_0109_hostage_runover
NEW YEARS 33 years ago — Jan. 1, 1929 — a young ensign named Edward V. Dockweiler drew the midwatch
(midnight to 4 a.m.) aboard the USS Idaho, anchored off San Pedro. This
was before the present nine-mile breakwater was completed.

An unwritten rule required that midwatch entries in the log be in rhyme and Dockweiler
wrote, "We are anchored in Pedro Harbor, though there isn’t much of a
fee, and why they call it a harbor, is something I never could see."

Imagine the surprise of Bernard J. Caughlin,
general manager of L.A. Harbor, to read this in the January 1959 issue
of U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, which reprinted it. Dockweiler, a retired admiral, is the Harbor’s chief engineer. Caughlin is his boss. 

* *

MISCELLANY — Conductor Fritz Reiner’s appearance with the Philharmonic orchestra reminded Orlando Northcutt of the time Reiner
conducted at Hollywood Bowl. During rehearsal, the orchestra had
difficulty mastering tricky passages of a new symphony and after a
hectic session Reiner invited them to a beer bust, and unheard of gesture. But it relaxed everyone . . . A group of La Mirada residents have hastily joined forces to oppose incorporation of their community to be voted on Tuesday. They claim Gardena gambling interests are behind the proposal . . . Sign on a market in the 8300 block of Wes 3rd Street: "Tomorrow’s fish today."  

Posted in Columnists, Matt Weinstock | Comments Off on Matt Weinstock — January 9, 1959

Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 9, 1959

Posted on January 9, 2009 by lmharnisch




CONFIDENTIAL FILE

‘Madame Guillotine,’ Alias Pierre Coates

Paul_coates_2
As a combined result of personal preference and the common sense
economics of knowing what side my bread is buttered on, I have a
paid-up subscription to this newspaper.

And I recall reading in its pages, many months ago, a series of articles titled "Why Johnny Can’t Read."

At the time I thought this scathing indictment of laxity in our educational system would produce favorable results.

But it hasn’t. At least, not where I live.

There’s a teenage daughter in our household. And don’t ask me what I’ve
gone through to see that this kid got the best of everything. I wanted
her to have the chance in life that I never had — to go to Sarah
Lawrence and come out engaged to a Yale boy.

The way she’s going, however, she’ll be lucky to nail a subsidized SC football player.

1959_0109_cover
When I came home last night she was sitting at the kitchen table and
staring mournfully at the blank pages of a loose-leaf notebook.
"Whatsa’matter with her?" I demanded of my wife.

"She’s got to do an essay on the French Revolution for her homework. And she needs your help. She doesn’t know enough about it."

I spun around angrily and faced the child. "Why do you wait until you get home to do your homework?" I shouted.

"Daddy," she replied, "I wanted to wait until you were here. There are some things I don’t know about the French Revolution."

"There are some things a lot of people don’t know about the French
Revolution," I said mysteriously. Then, pacing up and down irritably, I
challenged: "Go ahead. Ask me."

"Well," she asked, "like what caused the French Revolution?"

"Politics," I said.

"And who was Robespierre?"

"Yes," I nodded sagely, "He was one of them."

1959_0109_runoverI rubbed my chin thoughtfully and continued: "The major engagement of the French Revolution was known as the Battle of Concord."

"Concord? That’s in America," she said.

"France," I snapped.

"But, Daddy," she pleaded, "wasn’t the Battle of Concord in the American Revolution?"

I shot her a glance that would wither a lesser child. "My dear," I said
coldly, "let me answer a question with a question. What is France’s
leading product?"

"Wine," she said.

"Very good," I commended in a tone that oozed sarcasm. "Now then, if you please, from what is wine made?"

"Grapes," she replied.

"Excellent. And," I hooted triumphantly, "I suppose you never heard of Concord grapes!"

That victory won, I warmed up to the subject. "Make notes while I talk," I commanded. And, pacing furiously, I went on:

"The mother of the French Revolution was an old lady named Madame Chere
who was known affectionately to the unwashed hordes as ‘Ma Chere.’ She
used to sit in the bleachers at the guillotine and knit while they were
knocking off the Royalists.

That Same Old Revolution

"It was in this same revolution that Marie Antoinette, upon being
advised that the peasants were storming the palace courtyard made the
now historic remark: ‘If they don’t like it here, let them go back
where they came from.’"

1959_0109_simcaAfter giving her a few basic facts, I dismissed her with a gentle
reminder that while I was glad to help her, I wouldn’t be here forever,
and she must learn to think for herself.

Obviously, she’ll get a good grade on her essay. And she’s informed now
about the French Revolution. But you can’t thank our school system for
that. If you want to thank anybody, thank me. 

Posted in @news, Columnists, Paul Coates | Comments Off on Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 9, 1959

Voices — Christine Collins, June 19, 1931

Posted on January 9, 2009 by lmharnisch




1931_0619_christine_collins_01
Posted in #courts, Changeling, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Comments Off on Voices — Christine Collins, June 19, 1931

Movie star mystery photo

Posted on January 9, 2009 by lmharnisch
2009_0105_mystery_photo
Los Angeles Times file photo

Our mystery woman has more than 150 credits on IMDb. Update: She is Blanche Sweet, whose career spanned 1909 to 1960. In this undated photo, she is returning to the U.S. on the ship Pennsylvania.

2009_0106_mystery_photo
Los Angeles Times file photo		 Lots of guesses about our mystery woman, but none of them right. Here’s another photo.

Update: Two correct guesses so far. Dewey Webb and Nick Santa Maria have identified the mystery woman, but I’m not going to publish the answer yet to give other people a chance. Keep checking back throughout the week for more photos and the answer on Friday!

Update: Blanche Sweet in 1927
2009_0107_mystery_photo
Los Angeles Times file photo		 Update: We have correct guesses from Mary Mallory and mmullen98. Congratulations!

Update II: Blanche Sweet in 1926.
2009_0108_mystery_woman

Los Angeles Times file photo

One thing we can never get enough of at the Daily Mirror is photos of movie stars posing with a Studebaker. Here’s our mystery woman on the running board of roadster. (Did you know Frances Bavier–Aunt Bee from "The Andy Griffith Show"–drove a Lark Daytona? It’s true!)


2008_0109_mystery_photo

Los Angeles Times file photo

Blanche Sweet in a photo for the 1926 film "Diplomacy," when movie publicity consisted of having someone drive across the country carrying the film cans. One of the men in the photo is director Marshall Neilan, Sweet’s husband at the time (I believe he’s the gent on the right). The other fellow is, alas, unidentified. Clifford Street, as seen in the photo, intersects with Glendale Boulevard north of downtown.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | 46 Comments

‘Hair’ cast kicked out of Mexico; Stars lost in darkness, January 9, 1969

Posted on January 9, 2009 by lmharnisch




1969_0109_hair

1969_0109_sports
The ABA and LA should have been a good fit. The game was wide open,
with lots of dunks and three-pointers. The team even had a perfect name
for the town–the Stars. Definitely a better match than the previous
season when the franchise was called the Anaheim Amigos.

But things were not going well at the Sports Arena. According to The
Times’ John Hall, "The entire scene gave me the feeling I’d just
stumbled into the midst of a sinister secret society."

Attendance was dismal, with counts under 1,000 in three of the last
four home games. The franchise had started cutting back, taking the
team off the radio and dropping halftime shows and the team band.

Later in January, The Times’ Dan Hafner was more optimistic after a
season-high crowd came out on a night "when radio stations periodically
were telling people to stay home because of adverse weather."

The record crowd was all of 4,003. By the 1970-71 season, the Stars had moved on to Salt Lake City.

–Keith Thursby

Posted in Music, Sports, Stage | Comments Off on ‘Hair’ cast kicked out of Mexico; Stars lost in darkness, January 9, 1969

Found on EBay — Bullock’s Wilshire

Posted on January 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

Bullocks_ebay_tearoom
 Here’s a menu from the famous tearoom at Bullock’s Wilshire with a cover that shows a map of Los Angeles. Shrimp cocktail was 35 cents. Bidding starts at $9.99.
Posted in Fashion, Food and Drink | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Bullock’s Wilshire

Matt Weinstock — January 8, 1959

Posted on January 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

Dogs, Diapers, Taxes

 
Matt_weinstockd Comes now that hiatus between cries, when the feverish race begins to clear away Christmas bets in time to pay for auto license renewals by Feb. 4 and then face up to income taxes in April.
 
"Any changes in the rules?" I asked a tax consultant.
 
"No important ones," he said, "but you might remind people that they may not claim deductions for dog licenses, traffic fines, baby-sitters, campaign contributions, diaper service, dues for social clubs or life insurance."
 
He went on, "Best rule of thumb to follow is that almost anything has to do with creating income is a legitimate business expense. If you go to San Francisco on business it’s deductible, but if you go there to see the bridges it isn’t. Not even Alcatraz."
 
* *
 
1958_0908_crane
FUN-LOVING Bob Crane of KNX has totaled his mileage for 1958 on what he calls the Greasy Spoon Circuit and comes up with a few pertinent observations about food.
 
He did 270 personal appearances, traveling about 20,000 miles, mostly in this area.
 
Most popular meal, he supposes, was chicken with gravy, then roast beef with gravy. At a breakfast club in the San Fernando Valley, he swears he had corn flakes with gravy. At one place in San Diego he had Yankee pot roast, Southern style.
 
The reason he isn’t sure the most popular meal was chicken with gravy is that he frequently encountered an imponderable he calls only-the-cook-knows with gravy.
 
* *
 
LADY IN THE RAIN
The rain falls ever softly there
And glistens in her shining hair
How sad she seems: how cold, aloof
Perhaps I should repair the roof.
– GUY MULLEN
 
* *

 
1959_0108_red_streak A HOLLYWOODIAN I know takes no sides in the dispute between the retail clerks and the owners of the 1,000 closed food markets, but he admits he feels pretty good about it.
 
"I was a sneaky snacker," he said. "I would thoughtlessly load up on hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries and doughnuts."
 
He has lost 8 pounds since his favorite market closed.
 
* *

 
IN RESPONSE TO an inquiry, this is to report that the author of the basic prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous members is unknown. The classic prayer is, "God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."
 
It was published in the 1950 Farmers Almanac and a similar version is credited to Reinhold Niebuhr, but the actual origin is unrecorded.
 
* *

 
1959_0108_runover DATA, the Better Business Bureau weekly report, takes note of a formula devised by a San Francisco newspaperman to confuse and outwit phone-pitch pests.
 
The intended victim deliberately misses the simple question put by the caller but is told he has won the consolation prize, "Just think — $35 worth of free dancing lessons!"
 
The sucker says he can’t accept it, he doesn’t deserve it. The pitchman insists and tells him how lucky he is.
 
"Tell you what," the chump says, "just send me the money instead."
 
* *

 
ONLY IN L.A.– Joe Cordero will agree that Tuesday was the day he should have stayed in bed. En route to his job downtown, his car stalled in a mud puddle on Vermont Avenue. He got a push. On the Harbor Freeway, it went dead — out of gas. He walked half a mile for some but the car still would not start. He went after more but still no go. A tow truck came along and he got another push. Tow bill for the day, $12.
 
* *

 
AT RANDOM — Recommended reading: The short stories in Esquire by Glendon Swarthout, Baron Timme Rosenkrantz and Garson Kanin. And John J. Espey, UCLA English prof, has one in Harper’s, which should impress his students. 
Posted in broadcasting, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Matt Weinstock, Television | Comments Off on Matt Weinstock — January 8, 1959

Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 8, 1959

Posted on January 8, 2009 by lmharnisch

CONFIDENTIAL FILE

Wife Tells of Mate Who Died, and Lived


Paul_coatesBAKERSFIELD, Jan. 7 — Buried alive for hours and given up for dead, Leslie O. Stafford, a construction workman, was dramatically rescued today from the bottom of a 24-foot-deep collapsed cesspool.

* *
Yesterday I called the wife of the man who "came back" from his grave.
 

"Mrs. Stafford, how’s your husband now?"
"They’ve still got him in the hospital and he’s still spitting up dirt — but that man, he’s going to be all right."
 

"That’s fine."
 
"It’s like he’s always telling me. ‘I’m too young to die.’ I guess now, thank the Lord, I can believe him."
 

"Tell me, Mrs. Stafford, when did you first learn about the accident?"

 
1959_0107_mirror_cover "Let’s see. I’ve got so much on my mind now. It was 4:30 yesterday afternoon. I’d just come home from the potato shed. That’s where I’m working. Cutting potatoes.
 
"The phone rang and my daughter answered it and handed it to me. It was Leslie’s boss and he said, ‘Your husband’s been in a cave-in.’
 
"I answered, ‘Is he okay?’ and he answered, ‘I don’t think so. He’s been buried for two hours.’ That’s when I just went to pieces. I started screaming and went hysterical."
 

"Do you remember what happened next?"
"They sent a car over from the scene to take us over there. I asked the lady who came, ‘Is he all right?’ She told me ‘no.’ But now my friend Holly Odle and her sister were at my house, trying to calm me down. My daughter went with the people to the scene, but I wouldn’t go.
 
"I didn’t want to see them take his body out."
 

"Then you were sure he was dead?"

 
1959_0107_runover "Well, I prayed. I kept walking up and down and shouting and praying.
 
"Holly kept saying that maybe he’d be breathing when they brought him up, but I guess — well, I just figured it was impossible."
 

"When did you learn that he was alive?"
 
"We had all the news broadcasts on. Must have been 7:30 when they said on the radio he was alive. Oh, God. Right then the phone rang. It was another friend to say the same thing.
 
"They told me to go to Kern General Hospital to wait and see him. We hurried over there and waited and waited. Then they called and said, ‘No. Go to Bakersfield Memorial.’ So we went over there and waited some more.
 
"Finally they said they couldn’t get his foot free. To go to the scene. It would be three hours, at least, before they got him.
 

‘I Knew He’d Be Calling’
 
"They wouldn’t let me go near the hole. I wanted to see him because I knew he’d be calling for me, but they had me wait in a shack there till they brought him up."
 

"When was that, Mrs. Stafford?"
 
"That was 4:05 this morning. I remember that. I got up to him and he was spitting out sand and dirt.
 
"The first thing he asked for was a cigarette.
 
"Then he asked for me.
 
"Then, later, you know what he told me? He said that all the time he was down there he was worrying about me. He was worried how I’d be worried about him.
 
"I do that. Even when he’s a few minutes late from work, I worry. I’m just that way." 
Posted in Columnists, Paul Coates | Comments Off on Paul Coates — Confidential File, January 8, 1959