Jan. 7, 1959: Paul Coates — Stolen Toupees, a New Kind of Hair Loss

paul_coates I don’t know what you do for kicks, but my friend Tiger Small snatches toupees.

Not just anybody’s toupees, understand. The Tiger’s selective. He’s been working the Catskill-Manhattan-Miami circuit for years, dealing only with the best people. The cream of the show business crowd. Doctors. Professional men.

When he came to Hollywood last month he brought quite a reputation with him.

“But in this town,” he was telling me yesterday, “they bloat everything way out of proportions.”

The Tiger — an animated conversationalist — explained that it was just a sideline with him. That he lifted his first toupee strictly as a favor for a chorus girl friend and then sort of fell into the habit.

Paul Coates knew some interesting characters, like Tiger Small, who stole toupees.

This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009. The entire post is here, via Archive.org..

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: ‘Black Dahlia Avenger’ Was Just a Prankster’s Joke

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A practical joke from 1947 is the source of the “Black Dahlia Avenger” franchise.

During the investigation of the Black Dahlia case, the killer mailed a small envelope of Elizabeth Short’s belongings to the newspapers. After that, crackpots and pranksters flooded the police and the newspapers with joke messages. One prankster using the name “Black Dahlia Avenger” sent a string of postcards and messages to the Los Angeles Herald-Express, often spelling the name “Hearld.”

Police and the newspapers attached no significance whatsoever to these prank messages. it wasn’t until Steve Hodel came along in 2003 that “Black Dahlia Avenger” was anything but a joke.

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Jan. 7, 1969: Stocks suffer worst day in 19 months; Rams rehire Allen

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Jan. 7, 1969: A 15-point drop in the Dow is Page 1 news in 1969. I wonder what they would think of today’s economic meltdowns..

Also: Gordon Lightfoot makes his debut in Los Angeles and Keith Thursby on the Rams rehiring Coach George Allen.

This post originally appeared in 2009 on latimes.com and is available via Archive.org.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Olvera Street, Salute to Los Angeles’ Spanish Past

Avila Adobe
A postcard of the Avila Adobe, listed on EBay for $1.89.



“A people that has lost touch with its historical past, forgotten its traditions and wasted its heritage is as unfortunate as a man who has lost his memory. Without knowledge of the past, both the present and the future are meaningless.”

Harry Chandler, Olvera Street News, December 1933

 

Christine Sterling Long before Los Angeles or Hollywood possessed any historic preservation organizations fighting to save architectural, cultural or historically significant buildings, Los Angeles Times Editor and Publisher Harry S. Chandler astutely summed up what preservation is all about: saving structures that help define a sense of identity and place, showing where we as a society and people come from.

Throughout its history, the city has often turned a blind eye to its past, demolishing buildings reflecting the daily lives of both ordinary and powerful citizens trying to make an impact on their own time and place. These sites and buildings often reveal the history of less powerful citizens of the time, those of other races, cultures, and orientations that are often written out of historical texts.

Mary Mallory’s latest book, Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,”  is now on sale.

 

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Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Pushover, Jan 12, 2019
This week’s mystery movie was the 1954 Columbia film “Pushover,” with Fred MacMurray, Phil Carey, Kim Novak (her film debut), Dorothy Malone, E.G. Marshall and Allen Nourse.

Screenplay by Roy Huggings, based on stories by Thomas Walsh and William S. Ballinger, gowns by Jean Louis, photography by Lester H. White, art direction by Walter Holscher, film editing by Jerome Thoms, set decoration by James Crowe, makeup by Clay Campbell, hairstyles by Helen Hunt, associate producer Philip A. Waxman, music conducted by Morris Stoloff and musical score by Arthur Morton. Produced by Jules Schermer, directed by Richard Quine.

“Pushover” is available on a DVD set from Amazon.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , | 29 Comments

Jan. 6, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Law Is Upheld’

matt_weinstock A very upsetting ruling came down recently from Appellate Justice Paul Vallee.

Shocked by the discovery that three men were held in jail for five days before being arraigned, he stated in an opinion, “It appears the police are permitted to flout, defy and violate the law they are sworn to uphold.”

Asked for a ruling on Justice Vallee’s opinion, City Atty. Arnebergh advised Chief Parker that prisoners must be arraigned within two days after being arrested, to be taken before a magistrate without delay. It also raises the question whether it’s legal to arrest a person on “suspicion.”

That hollow laughter you hear is from those who weren’t so lucky.

Weinstock also writes about the death of Victor Angel, who was fatally injured by the falling body of Louise Albina Stark after she jumped off the seventh-floor ledge of a building at Broadway and 4th St.

This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009.

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Jan. 6, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – My Responsibilities as Your Reporter

L.A. Mirror, 1959, L.A. Times, 2009

Jan. 6, 1959: Paul Coates writes about protecting his sources, citing the case of New York Herald Tribune writer Marie Torre, who was sentenced to 10 days in jail for refusing to reveal her source for a story about Judy Garland.

Coates’ column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009.

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Jan. 6, 1959: Errol Flynn Wounded in Cuba!

L.A. Times, 1959
Jan. 6, 1959: Here’s a busy news day in 1959. Errol Flynn is wounded in the leg while “campaigning” with Fidel Castro. On the jump, Keith Thursby takes a look at The Times’ interview by Jeane Hoffman with Eleanor Gehrig.

The post originally appeared in 2009 when the Daily Mirror was hosted by latimes.com.

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Jan. 5, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Men of Good Will’

L.A. Times, 2009

Matt Weinstock was a master of stringing little vignettes into a column. He didn’t do major reporting, like Paul Coates, but had a nice, light touch and occasionally stirred the heartstrings of Los Angeles. He also delved into L.A. history and some of its many, many quirks..

The entire piece is here, via Archive.org.

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Jan. 5, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – Desmond Slattery Is Home

Paul Coates, 1959

Along with Parkey Sharkey, Desmond Slattery was one of the colorful characters in Paul Coates columns..

The entire piece is here, via Archive.org.

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January 1959: Studio Exec Says They Would Have to Kill Him to Get Wallet – So They Did

L.A. Times, 1959

Kenneth Savoy told holdup men “If you want my wallet, you’re going to have to kill me to get it.” So they did. The story of George Albert Scott and Curtis C. Lichtenwalter, who were robbing bars across Los Angeles.

The original post from 2009, via Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Video: David Blight on ‘Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom’

C-SPAN

I’m late to the party on this book, but I was pleased to run across a Q and A with historian David Blight of Yale on his new biography, “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.” The session, with Princeton professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr., is worth your time.

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Posted in 2018, African Americans, Books and Authors, History | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 4, 1959: Grocermat – The Supermarket of Tomorrow!

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I love “futurism” stories like this one, featuring a 7-Eleven for the Jetsons.  In sports, football coach Earl “Curly” Lambeau says the split-T offense is dead. He also thinks college ball should put the goal posts back on the goal line!.

The entire post from 2009 is here via Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, 2009, Futurism, Sports | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Victor Segno: ‘How to Live 100 Years’

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A. Victor Segno is my favorite Los Angeles charlatan. I wrote a feature about him for The Times in 2012..

The entire Daily Mirror post appears on Archive.org.

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Jan. 2, 1945: The Making of ‘The Blue Dahlia’

Two Years Before the Mast

Jan. 2, 1945: Paramount promotes “Two Years Before the Mast,” with Alan Ladd, Howard Da Silva and William Bendix, all appearing in “The Blue Dahlia.”  “Two Years Before the Mast” was finished in 1944, but not released until November 1946, disproving John Houseman’s claim that

Alan Ladd – the studio’s top star and the highest-rated male performer in the U.S. — would be entering the Army in three months’ time, leaving behind him not one foot of film for the company to release in his absence.

To be continued.

Posted in 1945, Blue Dahlia, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Jan. 1, 1945: The Making of ‘The Blue Dahlia’

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Jan. 1, 1945: Raymond Chandler writes to Charles Morton, mentioning his original idea for a film. “The Blue Dahlia” would become Chandler’s first original screenplay.

To be continued.

Posted in 1945, Blue Dahlia, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 3, 1959: Russia Winning Space Race! Bulla Leads L.A. Open!

L.A. Times, 1959

The Soviets are winning the space race! Moral Re-Armament stages “Turning of the Tide” and “The New American!” French Foreign Legion rifles, only $9.88!  Johnny Bulla leads the L.A. Open!

The entire post from the 2009 Daily Mirror via Archive.org.

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Jan. 3, 1949: Tom Harmon on the Future of Televised Sports

L.A. Times, 2009

Here’s a nice piece from Keith Thursby, now of ESPN. The complete post from the Daily Mirror, Jan. 3, 2009, is at Archive.org..

Story, Part 1 | Story, Part 2

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Jan. 2, 1959: Paul Coates ‘Repeal the Mann Act?’

L.A. Times, 2009

Jan. 2, 1959: Long before Nate Silver launched 538, Paul Coates was skeptical of polls and to prove his point formed his own polling concern: the Los Angeles Survey Institute. His question: “Do you think the Mann Act deters or helps the cause of organized labor — and if you feel it deters, would you vote for its repeal?”

The Mann Act, of course, banned taking a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. Coates found that 12% of respondents realized the Mann Act involved “white slavery.” The rest? Oh dear.

Coates entire column is at Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, 2009, Columnists, Paul Coates | 3 Comments

Jan. 2, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Reader’s Choice’

L.A. Times, 2009

The old-school newspaper columnists were tough, writing six pieces a week. Six-day-a-week columnists like Matt Weinstock and Paul Coates took it easy by making their Saturday columns a roundup of readers’ letters. In those days, apparently, newspaper columnists received interesting letters. What a concept.  (Jim Murray did the same thing in his first years at The Times)..

Weinstock’s complete column is here at Archive.org.

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