Tag Archives: 1947

January 7, 1947: Man Uses Same Coffee Cup for 27 Years

Posted on January 7, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 7, 1947: Truman B. Carl of Whittier has used the same coffee cup for 27 years. That’s it. That’s the story. Really. Continue reading →

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January 5, 1947: Two Black 15-Year-Olds Set for Electric Chair After Losing Plea

Posted on January 5, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 5, 1947: In Mississippi, two Black 15-year-olds lose their appeal for clemency despite the efforts of Blanche Meiers of Oakland, who pleaded for their lives. The teens are set to be electrocuted January 17 in the killing of a white man. Continue reading →

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January 4, 1947: Angry Sailor Sets Fire to Skid Row Hotel After Being Rolled

Posted on January 4, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 4, 1947: 19-year-old mess cook second class Edward Pavlischak is so angry at being rolled for $30 while drunk in a hotel room that he sets fire to the place, killing 1 and injuring 5. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, African Americans, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, Fires, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

January 1, 1947: New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

January 1, 1947: Pansy Yokum writes her “Noo Yars Resolutions,” from Al Capp’s Li’l Abner. Continue reading →

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December 27, 1947: Youth Questioned in Georgette Bauerdorf Killing

Posted on December 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 27, 1947: Sheriff’s detectives question Robert White in the 1944 killing of Georgette Bauerdorf. Continue reading →

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December 26, 1947: No Sympathy for Alcoholics!

Posted on December 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 26, 1947: A Los Angeles Times editorial shows no sympathy for alcoholism or alcoholics. Continue reading →

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December 25, 1947: The Times Christmas Poem

Posted on December 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 25, 1947: The Los Angeles Times publishes a front-page poem for Christmas by James Warnack, who called himself “a theoretical Christian but a practical pagan.” Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia and Zodiac … ‘Solved’?

Posted on December 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

A quick reaction to claims that the Black Dahlia and Zodiac cases have been solved using AI/machine learning/LLMs. I’ll have more to say in next month’s Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia. Jan. 6, at 10 a.m. at YouTube.com/LMHarnisch Continue reading →

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December 23, 1947: Baby Girl Abandoned at Downtown Restaurant With Christmas Card Pinned to Blanket

Posted on December 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 23, 1947: The young mother asked the waitress at the cafe in the Subway Terminal Building to hold her baby for just a moment—and then she was gone. Continue reading →

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December 21, 1947: ‘Tubby the Tuba’ and Music for Children

Posted on December 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 21, 1947: An ad for children’s records, including Victor Jory reading “Tubby the Tuba.” Continue reading →

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December 20, 1947: Pulp Author Rob Eden Dies | Author of ‘Short Skirts: A Story of Modern Youth’

Posted on December 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 20, 1947: Pulp writer Robert F. Burkhardt dies at the age of 55. Writing as Rob Eden, Burkhardt and his wife, Eve, produced dozens of novels and countless short stories. Continue reading →

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December 19, 1947: Going Down – City Hall Bans Clever Nicknames for Its Floors

Posted on December 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 19, 1947: The elevator operators at City Hall are having too much fun. The call the floor with the entrance to LAPD headquarters “Flatfoot Alley” and the city attorney’s criminal division “Ball and Chain.” The floor for the divorce courts is “The War Department” and “Alimony Alley.” Continue reading →

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December 18, 1947: Jacobowicz Brothers, Orphaned in Holocaust, Arrive in L.A. (Also Turkey Stuffing With Fritos)

Posted on December 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 18, 1947: Orphaned in the Holocaust, the Jacobowicz brothers—Karl, 16, Joseph, 13, and Rudolph, 10—arrive in Los Angeles on the final leg of their journey from Vienna. Continue reading →

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Deccember 17, 1947: Frightening Food From the 1940s — ‘Unusual’ Fruitcake

Posted on December 17, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 17, 1947: A recipe for an “unusual” fruitcake. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a $2,500 fine against Hollywood book dealer Marcell Rodd for selling the obscene book “Call House Madam.” The book, by Serge G. Wolsey, is now available at the Los Angeles Public Library. Continue reading →

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December 16, 1947: Back Broken and Skull Fractured, Girl, 2 Dies of Abuse; Mother Gets 10 Years in Prison

Posted on December 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 16, 1947: A terrible story of child abuse. A woman sentenced to 10 years for killing her 2-year-old girl gives birth to a son in the jail ward of county hospital. The judge takes the baby boy from the mother, saying: ‘You shall never see this baby again!’ Continue reading →

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Reminder – My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is December 2

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

Reminder: I will be doing a live Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@lmharnisch) next Tuesday, December 2, at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Have questions? Leave them in the comments. Continue reading →

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November 25, 1947: House Indicts the ‘Hollywood 10’ for Contempt

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 10, 1947: The House cites the Hollywood 10 for contempt. Continue reading →

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November 23, 1947: ‘Lonesome’ Woman Sought Threesomes and Husband, Ex-Wife Says

Posted on November 23, 2025 by lmharnisch

Kitty Higgins in all its uproarious humor. Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. This was rather a racy edition of The Times, especially for a Sunday paper. Next to the Kertz’s saga, … Continue reading →

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November 21, 1947: Judge Tells Joel Thorne to Quit ‘Fooling Around’ With Racecars, Nightclubs

Posted on November 21, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 21, 1947: A judge admonishes Joel Thorne, who sneaked out of Cedars of Lebanon Hospital after being injured in a motorcycle crash to avoid paying alimony to his ex-wife. In 1955, Thorne was killed when his Beachcraft Bonanza plunged into an apartment building, killing eight others. Continue reading →

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November 20, 1947: Contralto Carol Brice to Perform in L.A.

Posted on November 20, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 20, 1947: Carol Brice, contralto, is performing at Philharmonic Auditorium on December 7. Continue reading →

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