July 15, 1938

Posted on July 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

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From The Times’ editorial page, July 16, 1938. Note the Bible passage.
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e can add this to The Times’ editorials against a federal anti-lynching law (not necessary) and offering refuge to people fleeing Nazi persecution (they would just go on welfare and take jobs away from Americans): What’s all the fuss with a recall election? One thing that’s evident about The Times’ editorial pages in this era is that they were staunchly in favor of the status quo.

Meanwhile, we seem to be in favor of a ballot initiative on working women that I don’t entirely understand. Looks like some digging is in order.
 
At left, petitions are filed seeking to recall Mayor Frank Shaw. He says his opponents are a "disgruntled, discredited, hypocritical handful of politicians, racketeers and misguided zealots…." Los Angeles? Why it’s the "white spot" of the nation!

And we’d be willing to host the 1940 summer Olympics after Tokio was forced to withdraw because of the war between Japan and China. 

Also … Katharine Hepburn and Howard Hughes? Let me say that again: Katharine Hepburn and Howard Hughes?

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Note to Jaded: It’s not such a bargain. Adjusted for inflation, $13.33 is $190.61 USD 2007.


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Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on July 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

 

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Prospect and Myra avenues …  No, I couldn’t make this up. I really couldn’t.


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July 15, 1908

Posted on July 15, 2008 by lmharnisch

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ere’s an update on the story of Joseph H.N. Longy, who was arrested on charges of sending threatening letters to local businessmen. The Times gives an elaborate description of his "oil gun" and a primitive hand grenade that was found in his room.

At left, Frank Leroyxez is badly injured during a Bastille Day celebration when his parachute becomes snarled after he jumps from a gas balloon at Chutes Park. Leroyxez landed on a building at 16th Street and Main (at left, the intersection), and was rescued by firefighters. 

In November, Leroyxez will be part of a balloon race with hopes of setting a distance record.

Also … Chinatown gamblers target police officers for blockading their businesses … Painters are trapped in a stockade being built to house the homeless … Wilmington deals a setback to plans for laying streetcar tracks … And the South Main Street and South Side improvement associations oppose bonds for improved roads.

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El Segundo revisited

Posted on July 14, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Dropcap_n_nash26 orman Frederick Gagnon looks like an excellent suspect in the unsolved killing of two El Segundo police officers last year.

In an incident quite similar to the El Segundo case, Charles H. May and a female companion (The Times, fortunately, did not identify her) were kidnapped as they left a Lawndale restaurant at 2 a.m. on a Saturday. Gagnon drove them to Crystal Lake, where he pistol-whipped May and raped the woman while bragging that he had killed El Segundo Officers Richard Phillips and Milton Curtis. (Today, we know Gerald F. Mason was the killer).

Gagnon was convicted under the Little Lindbergh law and in 1959 was sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole. The Social Security Death Index lists a Norman F. Gagnon, born in 1927, dying March 25, 1997, in Sacramento.

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July 14, 1938

Posted on July 14, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Dropcap_t_kiddo he Times lists 25 prospective candidates to run against Mayor Frank Shaw in a recall election. Leading the list is Judge Fletcher Bowron, the eventual winner. The list also includes Judge Fricke, county Supervisor John Anson Ford, former Mayor Porter and Clifford Clinton.

And… Hazel Drain and Ray Stanford file an assault complaint against fan dancer Sally Rand. They say the entertainer attacked them at a downtown theater because they were photographing her act. She is accused of biting Drain’s arm, scratching Stanford’s neck and ruining their film.

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July 14, 1908

Posted on July 14, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Adjusted for inflation, the $15 refrigerator sold for $329.81 USD 2007, the $26 refrigerator was $571.66 USD 2007.
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Cropcap_r_lincoln abid socialist Joseph H.N. Longy writes threatening letters to Los Angeles businessmen, saying that he’ll burn down their homes unless they send him $5. Of course, if he had been psychic Victor Segno, and promised to send a daily "success wave" for $1, he would have been successful.  Longy, who was released in 1909, above, used the return address of Howell Hall, 814 S. Main St.

Also note the story on early Los Angeles residents asking the City Council to preserve the Protestant cemetery on Fort Hill, which "has become unsightly through neglect," The Times says.

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July 13 1938

Posted on July 13, 2008 by lmharnisch
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North Main Street, below, via Google maps’ street view. Where would you rather go for a walk, Main Street 1938 or Main Street 2008?
1938_0713_page Dropcap_t_theatrical he upcoming election on whether to recall Mayor Frank Shaw is one of the key moments in Los Angeles history. So where does The Times play the story? Page 8 of the second section. Granted, this is only a prelude (Roy Smith announces that he will file the recall petitions tomorrow),  but one still has to wonder about the editors’ news judgment.

And although the filing of recall petitions will land on Page 1, it’s not the lead story. That will be Howard Hughes’ record flight around the world: 3 days, 19 hours, 14 minutes, 10 seconds.

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Posted in #courts, Architecture, art and artists, City Hall, Downtown, Front Pages, LAPD, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

July 13, 1908: Attempt to Smuggle Chinese Into U.S. Ends in Gunfight

Posted on July 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

July 13, 1908: An attempt to smuggle Chinese men into the U.S. ends in gunfire.

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Olympics in L.A.?

Posted on July 12, 2008 by lmharnisch

July 12, 1958

1958_0712_sportsBy Keith Thursby
Times staff writer

Los Angeles officially threw its hat into the Olympic rings for the 1964 Summer Games.

Mayor Norris Poulson announced the bid after a meeting with the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games.

"We in Southern California, Los Angeles in particular, already have unparalleled facilities for the successful staging of the Games," Poulson said in Braven Dyer’s story in The Times. The 1932 Olympics had been a success in Los Angeles.

Money was already an issue in picking future Olympic cities.

Dyer wrote that "many European countries claim, after having made the long trip to Australia for the 1956 Olympics, that they will seek to keep the big international program in Europe for years to come, travel expenses being so heavy for many nations which lack the financial standing of the United States."

Unlike many of the paper’s stories leading up to the Dodgers’ move, Dyer’s piece kept the Olympic bid in perspective. He pointed out that Tokyo was expected to make a bid in 1964 since the city was awarded the 1940 Games, a competition that didn’t take place.

Tokyo was named the host city in 1964, with Detroit finishing a distant second in the International Olympic Committee voting. Detroit was viewed as a better Olympic city than Los Angeles? California did get another Olympics in 1960, with the Winter Games coming to Squaw Valley.

L.A. had to wait until 1984. Detroit is still waiting.

keith.thursby@latimes.com
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July 12, 1938

Posted on July 12, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Mystery photo revealed!

Posted on July 12, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Yes, it is Rod Cameron and Adrian Booth in "Brimstone," correctly guessed by Michael Ryerson, Michael Goosman, John Jarnagin, Gary Hertzberg and Howard Decker. 

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More important, note the Colt Single Action Army Frontier he’s carrying. At least that’s my best guess. 

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Above, our mystery guest, identified by Don Danard as: Adrian Booth, Lorna Gray and Virginia Pound (I would have accepted any of these names).

But of course, the Daily
Mirror isn’t done. Now the mystery guest is the fellow on the right.

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And just because I’m in a good mood, here’s another photo. Keith Thursby asked if this was taken at the Golden Horseshoe at Disneyland. Alas, no. (This is on the set of "The Black Hills," Sept. 10, 1950).

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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Speaking of fur coats, who’s the lady wearing this one? (She was photographed in March 1945 after being arrested on drug charges. She was later exonerated, see below). 

P.S.: Dig that great metal plate around the doorknob.

Hint: This actress has more than 50 credits on imdb and to the best of my knowledge is still alive.

Big hint: Our mystery guest appeared in a film with two of the actresses listed below (Lorna Gray, Ida Lupino and Rita Hayworth appeared in "The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt.")

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2008_0709_mystery_pix02 Another vintage shot of our mystery guest, sans fur coat. (This is cropped from a still photo of "The Return of Captain America").

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Another photo of our mystery guest. ("The Man They Could Not Hang," 1939)

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Here she is in another fur. (Photograph by Roman Freulich, Republic Studios, Oct. 20, 1954).

  • Virginia Hill? Sorry, no.
  • Nora Eddington? Interesting guess, but no. This woman has more than 50 imdb credits and is still alive as far as I know.
  • Jean Arthur? Interesting guess. But I’m afraid not. This lady is still alive as far as I know. Jean Arthur died in 1991.
  • Lucille Ball? I’m sorry, this lady is still alive as far as I know. Ball died in 1989.
  • Jane Randolph? A very good guess. Our lady has way more credits on imdb, though.
  • Pamela Blake (with Alan Ladd or Elisha Cook Jr.)? Interesting guesses for sure. But no. 
  • Phyllis Coates? Interesting guess, but Coates has far more credits on imdb.
  • Marsha Hunt? Another interesting guess, but Hunt has far more credits on imdb.
  • Gene Tierney? (two people). Alas, this lady is still alive as far as I know. Tierney died in 1991.
  • Joan Bennett? I’m afraid not. This lady is still alive and Bennett died in 1990.
  • Ann Sheridan? Alas, no. This lady is still alive and Sheridan died in 1967.
  • Ava Gardner? Alas no. This lady is still alive and Gardner died in 1990.
  • Simone Simon? Alas no. This lady is still alive and Simon died in 2005.
  • Ava Gardner? I’m afraid not. This lady is still alive and Gardner died in 1990.
  • Rosalind Russell? I’m afraid not. This lady is alive and Russell died in 1976.

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Architectural rambling

Posted on July 12, 2008 by lmharnisch
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1907_rubidoux Dropcap_i_eastside t’s difficult to be certain, but I believe the house shown in Google maps’ street view is the one designed by Clara Content Alden. Fortunately, Riverside County has posted its historic maps online, so I was able to find the River Crest Tract. It took a bit of detective work to locate the homes, however, because all the streets have been renamed. I try to note women’s history whenever I get a chance and hoped to write about Alden, but there is nothing to be found of her in The Times. I can only recall one other woman in this period whom we wrote about as an aspiring architect, Penelope Murdoch. Nor is there much in The Times about Harry Hawes, although I learned about a man by that name who was the attorney for Mrs. Adolphus Busch and was a senator from Missouri.

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Topanga Canyon blaze

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Dropcap_a_packard spark from an electrical short in the pump house at Hertz Ranch was blamed for a fire that burned 125 acres before it was contained, The Times says.

Six other fires were also burning in Southern California, The Times says. In one of the most dramatic moments, a helicopter dropped firefighters on Mt. San Gorgonio ahead of the advancing flames in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Hertz Ranch was owned by John D. Hertz, the founder of Hertz Rent-a-Car and owner of Yellow Cab Co., who died in 1961. Hertz built an elaborate fallout shelter on the Shoup Avenue site before selling it in 1959 for the Pinecrest School.

Bonus fact: Harry James once boarded his horses there, but I can’t find any information about it being a movie ranch.

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Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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4139 Bandini Blvd., the location of the Bandini Fertilizer Co. in 1938, via Google maps’ street view feature. I was unfamiliar with the terms "Bandini Mountain" and "Mt. Bandini" until now.

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July 11, 1938

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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"I’m afraid you didn’t get my name. I’m a personal friend
of the mayor," one caller said. 
1938_0711_page Dropcap_p_packard erhaps someone in LAPD communications will enjoy discovering that crackpots haven’t changed much in 70 years. Above, Howard C. Nutt takes the calls.

At left, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gates wants to return to the whipping post for a husband who spent most of his earnings from a WPA job on drinking and gambling.

And the Park Commission will plant 20 Cape Chestnut trees along 65th Street between Vermont and Kansas.

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July 11, 1908

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Above, a mangled mystery — a wrecked car on San Fernando Road, stripped of anything that might identify the owner. But to no avail, for the truth will out.
1908_0711_page Dropcap_f_gump ive people riding in an auto are badly hurt when the driver tries to pass a wagon on San Fernando Road and hits a utility pole.

"Although the victims were all seriously injured, not one was taken to a hospital for treatment through fear that names would become known," The Times said.

It was soon learned that chauffeur C.L. French went off on a joy ride in the car of his employer, insurance executive George Ira Cochran, after taking the Cochran family to the theater, and he was racing back when the accident occurred.

Vaudeville actress Minnie Grace was pinned beneath the car in the crash; D.H. Christie suffered a fractured pelvis and his sister, Alma, was badly bruised on the head. Frank Dolan and another couple in the car were also injured, The Times said.

Cochran fired French and was weighing whether to take legal action, The Times said.

Apparently the Armour car repair shops, where the crash occurred, were so well known that The Times didn’t need to say where they were. Today, unfortunately, the location is a bit more obscure.

Bonus fact: George Ira Cochran died in 1949 at the age of 86. He was a University of California regent from 1919 to 1946.

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July 10, 1958

Posted on July 10, 2008 by lmharnisch

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July 10. 1938

Posted on July 10, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Now I’ll have to start checking the crowd scenes in D.W. Griffith’s films. Former Keystone Kop Edward Cline, director of "My Little Chickadee," "The Bank Dick" and "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" says that Mack Sennett used to get in costume as a police officer and sneak into the background when Griffith was filming.
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July 10, 1908

Posted on July 10, 2008 by lmharnisch
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A meeting of ranchers from the Los Nietos and La Habra valleys. Although the image is murky, it’s possible to make out one wagon and one automobile.
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Dropcap_w_hamburger arning: Some readers aren’t going to like this post because it contradicts today’s popular wisdom that the wealthy led the campaign for better roads to accommodate their fancy new automobiles.

Don’t blame me; blame John Scott, a rancher from La Habra. Scott addresses a meeting of ranchers from the La Habra and Los Nietos valleys urging support for a bond measure for a massive road-building project throughout Los Angeles County. 

Selections from his speech:

"The question of good roads is one the importance of which cannot be overestimated. To no class of people are they of greater moment than to the rancher. We will profit by the system of highways to a greater extent than any other class of people and it is but right that we should bear a good share of the brunt of the campaign."

"Roads with us are public utilities and not ornaments. The pleasure carriage and the automobile are not the chief vehicles that pass over our highways. I venture to say that, many as they are, they are greatly outnumbered by the fruit and grain wagons.

"A six-horse wagon, loaded with sacks of grain, makes no light load, and it is a heavy tax on any road’s surface. We all of us know what it is to be delayed by mud in winter and smothered by dust in summer."

""If there were nothing to be considered but the comfort and the welfare of the ranchers, the highways would certainly be worth all they will cost. They will mean that we can transport our crops to the railroads with the greatest speed and convenience, thereby saving time and energy."

"To be sure, there are careless auto drivers, but the average man is not in the business of maiming and killing, and the man who is careless of the safety of his fellow man will be just as dangerous on a poor road as on a good one."

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July 9, 1938

Posted on July 9, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Above, President Roosevelt, who will be arriving at Union Station in Los Angeles on July 16, 1938. I hope I can find some Times photos of his visit.
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Dropcap_d_dandunn r. Roy L. Smith, chairman of the Federation for Civic Betterment and pastor of First Methodist Episcopal Church, announces that he plans to file petitions seeking the recall of Mayor Frank Shaw (see story at left).

Smith made the announcement in a memo to the City Council asking it to defer action on the mayor’s appointments to boards and commissions. The council refused to speculate whether the mayor would be recalled and did not second a motion by Councilman James M. Hyde to defer voting on the mayor’s nominees. You may remember that Hyde had already called on the mayor, Police Chief James Davis and the Police Commission to resign over the Harry Raymond bombing.

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