Above, stock up at Jevne’s. Below, Alexander Parquett, a plasterer from Maine, wasn’t expected to live after he fractured his skull in a two-story fall at the Masonic Temple under construction at Figueroa and Pico. But he pulled through, at least for several days. After that, there is no further mention of him in The Times. A Jefferson Day celebration at Levy’s isn’t especially popular. Only 40 Democrats attend, and many politicians send their regrets, including Mayor Harper, The Times says.
April 13, 1958
KNOB-FM (103.1) went on the air in August 1957 as the world’s first all-jazz station under the ownership of Sleepy Stein, The Times said. According to an Aug. 18, 1957, story by Don Page, the station had received permission to raise its power to 70,000 watts and would be moving 97.9-FM. However a 1958 story says the station wanted to raise its power to 7,000 watts.
By 1966, the station had moved to Anaheim and was sold to Jack and Jeannette Banoczi and by October of that year KNOB-FM had a pop music format. Several 1984 stories say the station was in Anaheim and had an easy listening format. Think MOR: Barry Manilow, Kenny Rogers and Olivia Newton-John. In 1986, the station went to "love rock" and in 1988, it became KSKQ-FM, all-Spanish contemporary.
Alex "Sleepy" Stein died July 27, 2000, at the age of 81. The Los Angeles Jazz Institute has a collection of his material.
The Professional Building gets an overhaul, mostly a facade and new elevators that don’t require an operator. It was later torn down and was a parking lot for many years. I didn’t know until now that this neighborhood was called Crown Hill.
Above, the Jewish community of Vienna struggles to survive under the Nazis. Below, the trial of Police Capt. Earle Kynette begins in the Harry Raymond bombing and Kynette arrives in court having transformed his appearance … Former City Atty. Erwin P. Werner and his wife, Helen, are convicted of soliciting a $10,000 bribe ($142,995.37 USD 2007) to drop charges against promoter William McNeil … Author and Assistant Atty. Gen. Thurmond Arnold says that every male writer needs four women but declines to speculate on how many men a woman writer would need … The state grants temporary fare increases on streetcar lines because the companies are reporting increased expenses due to higher wages and Social Security taxes and a loss in revenue from recent flooding and a decline in business … And men working near the University of California’s atom smasher become radioactive, according to a Caltech physicist who suggests that this might be unhealthy. UC researchers have prepared elaborate safety shields as a precaution, The Times says.
Above, wouldn’t it be fun to know what exactly is in Dr. Hoffman’s Nerve Syrup? Below, the sad tale of a woman believed to be Mrs. W.I. Roberts, who died after collapsing in line at the Pacific Electric Depot, 6th Street and Main. Unfortunately, I can’t find any further stories on whether she was conclusively identified … The Times reports the death of Lt. C.A.L. Totten, who upset his colleagues on the Yale faculty by issuing predictions of such events as the Russo-Japanese War, the San Francisco earthquake (he was apparently correct on those two) and the end of the world (we’re still waiting on that one) … And be sure to see Los Angeles Hay Storage, 1620 E. 7th, for the finest in equine comestibles.
April 11, 1958
Los Angeles
Note: This is an encore post from 2008.
The Mirror published excerpts of the coroner’s inquest in the death of Johnny Stompanato. Several crucial paragraphs about the stabbing are, unfortunately, illegible in my scan of the first runover page. I’ll try to get a lighter image soon. It is evident that, just as Stompanto’s brother, Carmine, alleged, there was some delay in contacting medical personnel and a further delay in dealing with the dispatcher. Lana Turner’s account of her relationship with Stompanto makes him sound brutal and ugly.
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
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
And here, by the way, is the article she mentions, John Tyndall's "Dust and Disease," published in 1871.
April 11, 1958
April 11, 1958
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.
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*
* 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.
April 10, 1958
April 10, 1958
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.
