US drops atomic bomb on Japan, August 6, 1945

Posted on August 7, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
US drops atomic bomb on Japan

 
US drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima Dropcap_t_tarzan he beginning of the Atomic Age. Note that the Associated Press story identifies Hiroshima as a Japanese army base. President Harry Truman says the Japanese "may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth." 

As far as I can tell, there isn’t a word as to how many people were killed. Just the subhead that "Man’s most destructive force, one equal to 2,000
B-29 loads, blasts Nips."

Below, who are the "Pale Hose?" the White Sox. Oh those sports guys.

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Posted in @news, Current Affairs, Science, Sports | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Police pose as reporters to evict woman, baseball players fight on airplane; August 6, 1958

Posted on August 6, 2008 by lmharnisch




 
Jazz legend Ziggy Elman vanishes from his Valley home after an argument with his wife … over a chicken sandwich!

 
Robbers smash a jewelry store window and steal gems valued at up to $1
million ($7,287,702.23 USD 2007) after throwing a smoke bomb through the front door. The owner
calls it a professional, well-planned job … Five deputies disguised
as reporters trick Mrs. Lomie Puckett into leaving her home, which is bulldozed immediately to make way for the Golden State Freeway …
Note: Ziggy Elman turned up playing at a Long Beach jazz club as if
nothing was wrong–he just happened to be calling himself Red Nichols.
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Dusty Rhodes and Joe Margoneri get into a fight aboard a Western Air
Lines plane en route from Portland to Phoenix. The Phoenix Giants
teammates were ordered off the plane during a stop in San Francisco.
Both had been drinking heavily, a flight attendant said.  And the Cards
beat the Dodgers, 13-3.
Posted in Dodgers, Front Pages, Music | 1 Comment

Circus pays man for elephant bite; Angels win in 12th, August 6, 1938

Posted on August 6, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
Jimmy Johnston gives boxer Bob Pastor some tips for his upcoming bout against Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom … Jack Oakie and his wife are headed for divorce … and the Angels — the Los Angeles Angels — win against the San Francisco Seals.

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Here’s a fun discovery. See if you can find the unknown movie star on this page … Supervisor John Anson Ford withdraws from the recall election against Mayor Frank Shaw … Superior Court Judge Fletcher Bowron is suggested as a replacement, but he is opposed by organized labor, The Times says … And a jury decides an elephant bite is worth $4,500 ($64,347.92 USD 2007).

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Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom and Bob Pastor fight to a draw at Gilmore Stadium. Buried way down in the type: Herbie Katz "New York Hebrew" defeats Chester Parks "Los Angeles Negro" in an "eight-round slugaroo" … And Bob Feller walks 11 batters.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Los Angeles History: Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on August 5, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
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Above, Eagle Rock as seen via Google Earth.


 
I don’t recall reading anything about a cross at the base of Eagle Rock, but there it is. According to The Times archives, a cross of electric lights was placed on Eagle Rock at Easter sunrise services in the early 20th century, but that’s all I could find.
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Movie executive hurt in crash; Cards beat Dodgers, August 5, 1958

Posted on August 5, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
The Dodgers lose to the Cardinals, 3-2 … Willie Mays hits a home run to help the Giants beat the Cubs … Producer Jack L. Warner is badly hurt when his car hits a truck in France … Syria seals its border with Jordan.

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Film executive Jack L. Warner, 66, is hospitalized in Cannes after his Alfa Romeo hits a truck … King Hussein of Jordan breaks off relations with the United Arab Republic and seals Jordan’s border with Syria … Officials begin inquiries into a rise in crime … And a Teamsters business agent who had been called to testify in a crime investigation is soaked with a flammable liquid and set on fire.   



 
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The Redskins scrimmage at Occidental … Pittsburgh beats the Braves with a home run by Roberto Clemente … The Floyd Patterson-Roy Harris fight won’t be broadcast on radio or TV because the bout is being filmed for closed-circuit viewing in movie theaters.
Posted in #games, @news, broadcasting, Current Affairs, Dodgers, Film, Front Pages, Sports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie executive hurt in crash; Cards beat Dodgers, August 5, 1958

Lila Leeds: Movie star mystery photo

Posted on August 5, 2008 by lmharnisch




 
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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times


To be fair, this week’s mystery movie star is more of a starlet. But you knew that, right? Can you identify her and, better yet, where the mystery photo was taken?

Gosh, people really know their pictures of Lila Leeds! Steven Bibb guessed almost immediately that this is Leeds at her home after the raid in which Robert Mitchum was arrested, showing that it’s not a marijuana shack. Also guessing correctly were Alexa Foreman, Richard Heft, Mary McCoy, Alan K. Rode and Charlie O’Brien. Congrats!

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About
last week’s mystery guest. Nobody guessed who he was, so he will return for another 15 minutes of fame later this year. There were some great guesses but, alas, none of them was right.

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Los Angeles Times file photo

It was interesting to go through Lila Leeds’ photos. This is the earliest one, from December 1948, when she was fined $5 for stopping traffic.

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Photograph by Bob Martin / The Mirror

And this is Lila Leeds in 1961, 13 years later, showing newspaper clippings about her relationsip with Erwin "Bud" Arvey, the son of Illinois Democratic leader Jake Arvey. She was trying to get child support payments from the Erwin Arvey, saying that he was the father of her son.

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Photograph by the Mirror

An enterprising Mirror photographer took this picture through a window, showing two crime scene investigators at Lila Leeds’ home, Jan. 8, 1949.

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Los Angeles Times file photo

Deputy Marjorie Kellog, left, escorts Lila Leeds and Robert Mitchum to jail after their sentencing to 90 days for marijuana, Feb. 9, 1949.


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Photograph by Delmar Watson / The Mirror

Lila Leeds in a gag photo from the Los Angeles Press Club, Aug. 29, 1949. Front row, from left, Mirror reporter Roger Beck, Leeds and Mirror photographer Bob Martin. Back row, Mirror reporter Bob Buhr and Mirror photographer Loren Smith.


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Los Angeles Times file photo

Lila Leeds appears with her two unidentified attorneys after being charged in Chicago with soliciting, Jan. 25, 1956. She denied the charges, was convicted and fined $10.


By 1974, Leeds had become a minister with a Hollywood group called Spiritual Mission, Inc., Laymen’s Evangelist or SMILE, which operated a church on Western Avenue. In 1976, she was making personal appearances to promote one of Richard Lamparski’s "Whatever Became of…" books. According to imdb, she died in 1999. Apparently, neither The Times nor any other major newspaper published an obituary on her. 
Posted in Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

Dodgers win 8-6, August 4, 1958

Posted on August 4, 2008 by lmharnisch
The Dodgers split a double-header with the Reds, winning 8-6 and losing 3-1 … the Braves win a double-header over the Giants … and gunmen rob a Malibu restaurant.

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Two gunmen break into the living quarters above the Malibu Sea Lion Restaurant, 21150 Pacific Coast Highway, gag and bind the owner’s wife and children and wait for him to come upstairs with the day’s earnings … Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and China’s Mao Tse-tung call for a summit meeting on the Middle East crisis.

 
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Elmer Valo’s single scores Carl Furillo in the 10th … Warren Spahn throws the 43rd shutout of his major league career … Al Wolf profiles boxing manager Lou Viscusi.

Posted in Dodgers, Front Pages, LAPD, Robberies, Sports | Comments Off on Dodgers win 8-6, August 4, 1958

Giants win over Cubs, August 4, 1938

Posted on August 4, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
The Giants beat the Cubs, 8-3 … Pittsburgh wins against Boston … Bronko Nagurski flattens Gus Sonnenberg in wrestling … beautifying downtown Los Angeles … and Mayor Frank Shaw dismisses the upcoming recall recall election.

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Imagine this: There was a time when the north side of 1st Street between Spring and Broadway wasn’t a bombed-out moonscape. Fit only for renegade skateboarders, the moldering foundations and remnants of pavement are the one place in downtown Los Angeles that makes Pershing Square look like Yosemite.

 
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Bronko Nagurski wrestled? Who knew? King Kong Kashey? Dr. Patrick O’Callahan? These names are unfamiliar to me … And Maxie Rosenbloom is in training for a "ten-round boxing ballet" against Broadway Bob Pastor.
Posted in #games, City Hall, Front Pages, Politics, Sports | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Author: Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Posted on August 3, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
Articles by Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn from the Los Angeles Times. 

July 13, 1975, excerpts from a speech by Alexander Solzhenitsyn:

"My friends, I’m not going to tell you sweet words. The situation in the world is not just dangerous, it isn’t just threatening, it is catastrophic."

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May 24, 1976, Alexander Solzhenitsyn says KGB agents tried to discredit him by forging a letter that allegedly showed he was an informer.

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"The aim of life for each of us is not to take boundless pleasure in material goods, but to take our departure from the world as better persons than we we arrived at it, better than our inherited instincts would have made us; that is, to travel over the span of life on one path or another of spiritual improvement."   

— Alexander Solzhenitsyn, June 13, 1976

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Posted in @news, books, Front Pages | 1 Comment

Dodgers win 3-2, Aug. 3, 1958

Posted on August 3, 2008 by lmharnisch




 
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Above, the U.S. government formally recognizes Iraq … the U.S. sends
more troops to Lebanon … and Lebanon’s next president survives an
assassination attempt.   

Below, Dodger Joe Pignatano’s two-run homer sinks the Reds, making the Dodgers tied with the Cardinals for seventh place.  

 
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Posted in @news, Dodgers, Front Pages, Sports | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dodgers win in ninth: Aug. 2, 1958

Posted on August 2, 2008 by lmharnisch




 

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Take a look at the little arsenal you could make for yourself 50 years ago. An M-1 Garand for $125 ($910/96 USD 2007). You could probably pick up half a dozen Victory Model Smith & Wesson .38s while you were at it.

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Above, the U.S. Embassy demands the release of two Marines being held by Iraq.  

 
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Dodgers win in the ninth over the Reds. Read the jump page below.

Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, @news, Current Affairs, Dodgers, Front Pages, Sports | 6 Comments

Spring Street revisited

Posted on August 2, 2008 by lmharnisch




 
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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

This picture shows the later stages in the realignment of Spring Street. Demolition workers have sheared off the fronts of several buildings.


 
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One of the most recognizable downtown landmarks–the Hall of Records (1908-1973).
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Barely visible behind the Hall of Records is the courthouse, demolished after the Long Beach earthquake, and the Hall of Justice at Temple and Broadway, which has survived. Today, of course, Spring goes just east of the Hall of Justice.




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 I missed this the first few times I looked at the photo. Here’s a fellow in the middle of the picture next to an older style streetlight. Recall that by 1928, when City Hall opened, the streetlights looked like this. These 1920s style streetlights also appear in the 1920s farther south on Spring.

According to the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting, this is a five-globe Llewellyn, a style that was installed about 1900.

Interestingly enough, the bureau’s website includes a photo of a carbon arc light from 1882 to 1885. The bureau says about 30 of these lights were installed on 150-foot poles. I’ll have to reexamine some of the photos I have posted to see if I can find any of them.
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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Here’s another view of Spring, published May 19. 1929. Notice that we now have the newer style streetlights–and that one of the buildings has disappeared.

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Here’s a better view of the Hall of Records.


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What else do we find in 1929? Aha! At left, traffic semaphore (and you thought they only existed in cartoons). And above, a crosswalk. I do not recall seeing a crosswalk in any earlier pictures I have examined of Spring, Broadway or Main. I’ll have to do a little more digging. 


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For a moment, I was thrilled because I thought these posters were advertising Erich von Stroheim’s "Greed" (wouldn’t that be cool?). Unfortunately, no. These posters are advertising auto dealer Perry H. Greer, who was running for mayor in 1929. Note the posters for the other candidates: Porter and Quinn.

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 At left, Perry H. Greer, local Hupmobile and Chrysler dealer who wanted to bring his business skills to city government. Greer ran fourth in the May 1929 primary, after John C. Porter, William Bonelli, John R. Quinn.

Porter was elected mayor in June 1929. Bonelli went on to write a little book called "Billion Dollar Blackjack."

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Posted in Architecture, City Hall, Downtown, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Spring Street revisited

Posted on August 1, 2008 by lmharnisch




 
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Moss Photographer, 315 W. Pico St. WE stmore 2301, Los Angeles, Cal.

Unfortunately, The Times’ Spring Street photo file has nothing that shows the transition at 1st Street in the critical period of the 1900s to the 1920s. Suddenly, we go from horses and buggies to what we recognize as a modern streetscape with vestiges of the past.


 




And for comparison, here’s Spring Street today via Google maps’ street view.
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The most prominent feature in our photo is City Hall, which opened in 1927. The city government formally transferred operations to City Hall on April 16, 1928. (A note on the back dates the photo to 1928).


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Whatever the date, we find stacks of lumber in the street that could be for scaffolding or a reviewing stand.

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 Notice that Spring Street still has a kink in it. The Bank of Italy, 225 N. Spring, just past of City Hall, skews off at an angle. (Bonus fact: The institution merged with the Bank of America of California in 1930).

According to The Times, demolition of the buildings between Temple and Sunset Boulevard to allow realignment of Spring Street got underway in late 1930. The buildings to be torn down included the old Hall of Justice and an old County Jail being used as a storehouse. The Times predicted that realignment of Spring would improve the flow of traffic.   
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Notice that by now we have street lighting on Spring. There are similar streetlight fixtures on Spring today, but without the long extension at the top.

Above, a roadster convertible with the city seal and a large spotlight. Note that cars are lined up on both sides of Spring despite the "No Parking" signs.

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The most striking element of the photo: Buildings blocking the street. Well, not for much longer. I haven’t been able to identify these structures. After the Phillips Block burned in 1912, a large hotel was proposed for the site, but clearly it wasn’t built.

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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

I was surprised to see just how decrepit and seedy Spring Street had become by the mid-1920s. This is the 100 block of South Spring, about 1926. Email me

 

Posted in #courts, City Hall, Downtown, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

July 31, 1958

Posted on July 31, 2008 by lmharnisch

1958_0731_toyopet

A car made in … Japan? Built by some outfit called Toy-o-ta? You can’t be serious. Hm. "33 m.p.g." I wonder what that means. Email me

Posted in Freeways, Front Pages, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Spring Street revisited

Posted on July 31, 2008 by lmharnisch


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Above, the Nadeau Hotel (sometimes called the Hotel Nadeau) at Spring and 1st streets (now the site of The Times Building), in an undated drawing.


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An early ad for a business in the Nadeau, 1889.
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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Demolition of the Nadeau Hotel, 1932.

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Times columnist Lee Shippey writes about the sad farewells to the Nadeau, 1932.

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Dropcap_s_1915_2 peaking of Spring Street, here's a bit on the Nadeau Hotel, a Los Angeles landmark built by Remi Nadeau in 1882 as the Nadeau House. 

Nadeau was a Canadian who came to Los Angeles about 1867. He began in the freight business, hauling bullion from mines in Inyo County to Los Angeles and hauling goods from Los Angeles to the miners in Inyo County. According to The Times, Nadeau had a 2,400-acre vineyard, which the paper called one of the largest in the world. 

The hotel went through some difficult times after Nadeau died in 1887. It closed for several weeks in 1912 while it was in receivership and was again in receivership in 1916.

Over the years, it was the site of countless luncheons of political and social groups, and fraternal organizations, and occasionally the site of crimes and accidents, notably an employee who was crushed by the elevator.

Bonus fact: The site of the Nadeau Hotel was previously owned by Louis Roeder, a German immigrant who operated a blacksmith shop there. At his death in 1915 at the age of 80, he still owned an adjoining lot, The Times said.

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Mystery photo

Posted on July 30, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
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Los Angeles Times file photo

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Some people have asked for another clew. Fair enough, how’s this?
I thought I’d take a break from the obscure starlet genre. Who is he? (And in response to a frequent question, if nobody guesses the mystery man/woman, the picture goes into the pile to be posted again in a few months. Of course, I could simply reveal whom these folks are, but what fun is that?)

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  • Harpo Marx? Interesting guess. But no (and a hard-boiled egg).
  • Lawrence Welk? The lovely Lennon Sisters say, I’m afraid not.
  • Is that Ann Sheridan on the left wearing the hat? (Rotter) Yes it is! Very good.

Posted in Uncategorized | 40 Comments

July 30, 1938: Sex Crimes Clinic Opens

Posted on July 30, 2008 by lmharnisch

July 30, 1938: Times Cover

Dropcap The search is on for a candidate to face Mayor Frank Shaw in the recall election. The Times story mentions Councilman Stephen W. Cunningham, but more important, it says that Judge Fletcher Bowron and Supervisor John Anson Ford “have indicated their unwillingness to enter the race.”

Also note the story about the Police Department establishing a sex crimes unit and pay particular attention to the comment that “a psychiatric examination will be made of all sex offenders with the object of recommending to the court the proper correctional as well as the punitive procedure for their rehabilitation.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Freeways, Front Pages, LAPD, Politics, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Spring Street revisited

Posted on July 30, 2008 by lmharnisch




 
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C.C. Pierce & Co. Photographers, Los Angeles, Cal., U.S.A.

An undated photograph of the Phillips Block, 1887-1912.

 
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After looking at the old photos of Spring Street over the last few days, I wanted to learn more about the Phillips Block, a seemingly lovely building north of 1st Street. The Phillips Block, designed by R.J. Reeve looked wonderful–but even before it was finished there were problems with the construction, see story below left.

In December 1888, developer Louis Phillips denied charges that, for example, "in Chicago or New York this building would be condemned in 20 minutes. He also denied that "the building is nothing but a shell and a very light earthquake might bring the whole thing to the street."

The Times lavished praise on the People’s Store, which opened in the building in July 1888.

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Above, books on sale at the People’s Store, in the Phillips Block.

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Above, in the final days of the Phillips Block, after most of its tenants had left, including the Hamburger Brothers’ store, it housed an auctioneer.
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By 1912, however, the Phillips Block was considered a deathtrap and the worst fire hazard in the city.

Below, possibly my most favorite fact in a very long while: In 1911 "mice and matches" were blamed for 12 fires in the city of Los Angeles.

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A few months after the 1912 article was published, the building, in fact, burned in what was believed to be arson. Fortunately, no one was injured in the blaze, which drew enormous crowds, The Times said. 

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Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on July 29, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
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Below, Ducommun and Garey streets, the general area where this picture was drawn, via Google maps’ street view. 

 



Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lovers’ death pact at downtown hotel

Posted on July 29, 2008 by lmharnisch


 
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The Hotel Ramona on Spring Street.


 
I stumbled across this story while researching something else and it’s too good not to post. From The Times, Dec, 28, 1891. Email me

1891_1228_ramona
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