Paul Coates


April 12, 1958

1958_0412_coates

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April 12, 1938

1938_0412_yiddish

Above, Yiddish theater in Los Angeles! Below, the Harry Raymond bombing case is about to go to trial. Prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty … The bishop of Los Angeles has a Holy Week message on the front page of the B section … Youngsters out of school for spring break head to the city’s parks … On the jump, a pair of coati mundis foil a burglar at the San Fernando Valley home of George Palmer Putnam … And Joseph Grimes strangles himself rather than face charges of molesting a child in the Union Pacific railway yards.

Quote of the Day: "I wish the restaurants would give you one good cup of coffee instead of all what they call coffee you can drink. Oh ‘All the Coffee You Can Drink,’ what crimes have been committed in your name!" E.V. Durling

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April 12, 1908

1908_0412_hammock

Who do you suppose is lounging in this hammock? Certainly not the poor lady doing the housework, below. This article isn't terribly legible, but the housekeeping tips are worth the eyestrain. I'm not sure I'll be hanging my Kasmhiri Kashans and Taba Tabrizes over a pan of burning sulfur anytime soon, but it's nice to know that I could. And yes, the writer, Marion Harland, quotes her "colored mammy" in dialect.

Quote of the Day: "The fight with dust, like that we wage with inbred sin,  must be incessant and it will last until we lie down to be resolved for all time into what we hate and would destroy while we live." –Marion Harland

 

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And here, by the way, is the article she mentions, John Tyndall's "Dust and Disease," published in 1871.

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Matt Weinstock


April 11, 1958

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Paul Coates


April 11, 1958

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Know your Dodgers


April 11, 1958

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April 11, 1958

1958_0411_viking_women

Gosh, I don’t remember "Viking Women and the Sea Serpent" coming to my neighborhood theater when I was a kid. And no, it’s not on Netflix! "The Astounding She Monster" is not a title that leaves much to the imagination, is it? Below, new revelations about Johnny Stompanato and guess who shows up? It’s our old pal from the Confidential magazine case, the ubiquitous Fred Otash … Stompanato’s family says he was a quiet, pleasant boy who was deeply in love with Lana Turner, and Beverly Hills Police Chief Clinton Anderson calls him a gigolo who took a woman for $2,800 ($20,405.57 USD 2007) … On the jump, medical examiner Dr. Frederick Newbarr (yes, the same surgeon who performed Elizabeth Short’s autopsy) says Stompanato had a congenital health condition that would have killed him at an early age.

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1958_0411_stompanato02

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April 11, 1938

1938_0411_saunders

Above, someone had the wisdom to write a profile of Col. Charles J.W. Saunders even though there was no "news peg." It would be interesting to know more about him. The Times also ran a story in 1924 about his 50th wedding anniversary and noted that he had been a bugler for Gen. Philip Sheridan in the Civil War. You may be wondering how a bugler attained the rank of colonel. So am I. According to the 1924 story, Saunders was a captain in the California Rangers. Below, defense attorneys for Police Capt. Earle Kynette go to San Diego to investigate bombing victim Harry Raymond’s career as chief of the San Diego Police Department … A terrific story about Charles Mackay, a struggling actor who found an Academy Award wrapped in a sweater in a closet at his hotel. The Oscar had been awarded to Pierre Collings, a previous hotel tenant who died in poverty, for the 1936 film "Louis Pasteur." Note the byline: James Bassett Jr., the author of "Harm’s Way" and campaign aide to Richard Nixon who eventually retired as Times associate editor.

Quote of the Day: "Charles Mackay has given up the notion of becoming an actor. All he wants is a job. Because he won’t write home to tell his dad he failed." –James E. Bassett Jr., on the story of Pierre Collings’ Oscar*

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* Note: Imdb says that Collings won two Oscars for "Louis Pasteur," one for best screenplay and another for best original story. What became of the other one is another Hollywood mystery.

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Matt Weinstock


April 10, 1958

1958_0410_weinstock

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Paul Coates


April 10, 1958

1958_0410_coates

Well, this is fairly odd. We didn’t write a word about this shooting and I can’t imagine the reason. Let me take that back. I can think of one reason we wouldn’t have written about it. I’d hate to be right and I’d hate even more to be wrong, so I’ll keep it to myself for now. 

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Know your Dodgers


April 10, 1958

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Flag salute

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In an earlier post, I noted that these youngsters were giving an unusual salute and asked if anyone could shed some light on the issue. David Knox of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., writes:

In your April 10 posting, you note that the children watching "Snow White" are engaging in an odd salute. That is the end stage of the Bellamy Salute. Francis Bellamy penned the first version of the Pledge of Allegiance. He also suggested a salute that could go along with the pledge. As you started the pledge, you were to cock your arm as in a military salute, then slowly straighten your arm until the arm was outstretched with the palm up pointing at the flag. After World War II, given the similarity to the Nazi or fascist salute, the so-called Bellamy Salute was replaced with our current hand over the heart.

Thanks for sharing!

Larry

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Mystery photo

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My good friends across the newsroom are having so much fun with L.A. Unleashed that I thought I’d add a special mystery picture, just for them. OK, who is our dog lover and, for bonus points, what’s the dog’s name?

  • Natalie Wood? Good guess. But no.
  • Carole Lombard and her dachshund, Commissioner? Excellent guess! But no.
  • Susan Hayward? Sorry, no.
  • Shirley Temple? Alas, no.
  • Bette Davis? I’m afraid not.
  • Audrey Hepburn? Interesting guess, but no.
  • Judy Garland? Sorry, no.
  • Ingrid Bergman? Alas, no.
  • Marie Prevost? Interesting guess. But no.
  • Joan Crawford? (Jessell Ranilla). Joan Crawford and Pupschen? (Heath Hewitt). Absolutely right. Very impressive. This is Mrs. Franchot Tone in 1936 with "Pupchen." Hey wait! Where’s your collar, Pupchen?!

Joan_crawford_1938_0206_pupchen_fil Los Angeles Times file photo

Here are some other photos of Crawford and her pets.

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Photograph by Ray Graham / Los Angeles Times

Crawford and Lady in 1959.

Joan_crawford_1959_0528_ray_graham Photograph by Ray Graham / Los Angeles Times

Lady lies on the couch while Joan Crawford shares an intimate moment with Masterpiece IV.

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April 10, 1958

1958_0410_greenstein

Half a century does nothing to erase the pain of this picture. The young man is David Greenstein and he’s being comforted by his mother, Gladys, after a coroner’s jury ruled that his slaying of his father, Rubin, was justifiable homicide.

Rubin and Gladys were separated and Rubin had come to her home, 16631 McCormick St., Encino, for weekend visitation. He became furious when David and his two younger brothers, Sherman and Barry, weren’t there and went looking for them.

He found Barry at a playground and took him back home. The Times said. David returned and got into a fistfight with his father that went from one room to another. Rubin and his son ended up in David’s bedroom, where the youth pulled a .45 from a drawer. In the struggle over the .45, David was shot in the arm and his father was shot in the throat, stomach and left side. Rubin Greenstein, 47, was dead by the time police arrived.

Update: Jan. 30, 2021 — Recent information indicates that Barry Greenstein was not at a playground and was not taken home by his father, but returned to the house after the shooting occurred.

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April 10, 1938

LAPD pontiacs


Above, an interesting picture. Keep your eye on Police Capt. Peter Del Gado. And no, in case you’re wondering, the Haldeman of Savage-Haldeman Pontiac is Henry F. Haldeman. Harry F. Haldeman was the father of H.R. "Bob" Haldeman of Watergate fame. Below, needy children belonging to an organization called the Knothole Gang attend a showing of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The youngsters are extending their arms to salute the flag, in case you are wondering. I’ve never seen this type of salute before. Maybe someone can shed some light on the issue … Harry Raymond is ready to testify in the trial of Police Capt. Earle Kynette … Officials tighten enforcement of a dog quarantine due to the risk of rabies … And Senaida Guzman, granddaughter of Don Antonio Rocha I, who received the land grant for Rancho La Brea, dies at the age of 69.

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The comics


April 10, 1938

terry and the pirates

Meet Connie the Coolie, apparently the forebear of Short Round in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," in a panel from Milton Caniff’s "Terry and the Pirates.

terry and the pirates


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Home of the week


April 10, 1938

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And you can build it for $57,198.15 USD 2007.

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April 9, 1908

1908_0409_vandalized

Here we see the vandal’s dirty work…. and the researcher sighs.

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Matt Weinstock


April 9, 1958

1958_0409_weinstock

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Paul Coates


April 9, 1958

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