Tag Archives: food and drink

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — Pisco Punch

Posted on December 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

For New Year’s Eve, the last of our retro drinking guides: Pisco Punch. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide – The Queens Cocktail

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

In today’s edition of the Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide, we have the Queens cocktail, not as in royalty but as in the borough of Queens, New York. Continue reading →

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December 30, 1907: Old Soldiers of the Civil War, Held as Drunks, Get Free Run of Jail

Posted on December 30, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 30, 1907: Six Civil War veterans are jailed on charges of being drunk and rowdy in Sawtelle, the settlement outside the gates of the veterans home. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Posted on December 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

In our year-end look at retro drinking, The Bronx Cocktail! Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Brooklyn Cocktail

Posted on December 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

In looking at retro drinks, today’s subject is the Brooklyn Cocktail. No, really. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: The Harvey Wallbanger

Posted on December 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

Young persons: This is what grandma and grandpa used to drink (along with the Tequila Sunrise) when they went out in the 1970s. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: A Brief History of the Tom and Jerry

Posted on December 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

Retro Drinking Guide: A brief history of the Tom and Jerry, and no, the drink came before the cartoon characters. 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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Los Angeles Celebrates Christmas, 1913

Posted on December 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 13, 1913: Celebrating Christmas in Los Angeles by having dinnor at the Cafe Bristol or taking an invigorating bath at Melrose and Gower, location of the Radium Sulphur Springs, which advertises: Drink the most radioactive natural curative mineral water. 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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October 8, 1907: Sewage-Eating Fish Spread Disease at Local Markets, Health Officials Say

Posted on October 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. October 8, 1907Los AngelesHealth officials and a deputy district attorney have joined to urge the Board of Supervisors to ban fishing within a half-mile of the city’s Hyperion line that pours sewage … Continue reading →

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September 6, 1947: Mexican Workers Essential as Americans Refuse Stoop Labor, Ranchers Testify

Posted on September 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 6, 1947: Ranchers tell Congress that they cannot survive without importing Mexican workers. Americans won’t do “stoop labor,” the ranchers say. Continue reading →

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September 5, 1944: Left in Car While Mother Goes Dancing, Boy, 6, Drinks Fatal Shot of Whiskey

Posted on September 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 5, 1944: Maria Fierro goes dancing with Robert Fierro and Robert Gomez. Her children weren’t allowed in the cafe, so she left them in the car. Her daughter, Stella, went to get a bottle of soda, but her son, Rudolfo, found a bottle of whiskey and drank enough to kill him.
Continue reading →

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Aug. 12-13, 1907: Bucket of Blood Is a Den of Drunken Debauchery

Posted on August 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

August 12, 1907: The L.A. Times describes the Bismark Cafe, known to police as the Bucket of Blood, as “drunken debauchery among girls of tender ages, painted women and men.” It is an “immoral pesthole” where “young girls are enticed nightly do drink and listen to a band concert.” Continue reading →

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Found on EBay: Vintage Cocktail Napkins

Posted on January 31, 2025 by lmharnisch

A napkin from Sunset Bowling Center, 5842 Sunset Blvd. A collection of vintage Los Angeles (mostly) cocktail napkins has been listed on EBay, priced at $274.99 or best offer. Nightspots include many favorite watering holes of the past: Sardi’s, the … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — Pisco Punch

Posted on December 31, 2024 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Just in time for New Year’s, we’ll take a look at a “lost drink,” making a brief inquiry into San Francisco’s Pisco Punch, made famous by Bank Exchange saloon owner Duncan Nicol … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide – The Queens Cocktail

Posted on December 30, 2024 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Joe Vogel asks if there was a Queens Cocktail. The answer is yes. According to the Jamaica Long Island Daily Press, Jan. 24, 1935, the Queens Cocktail debuted at the Hotel Commodore … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Posted on December 29, 2024 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com. In case you plan … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Brooklyn Cocktail

Posted on December 28, 2024 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Yes, the Manhattan cocktail once had competition from drinks named for the other boroughs. Here’s a recipe for the Brooklyn Cocktail, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 7, 1937. The Brooklyn Cocktail … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: The Harvey Wallbanger

Posted on December 27, 2024 by lmharnisch

A vintage 1972 iron-on transfer of Harvey Wallbanger himself, on EBay for $12. Note: This is a repost from 2013. We have been looking at some historic drinks for this holiday season. To the millennials in the audience: This is … Continue reading →

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