Tag Archives: labor

October 29, 1907: ‘Oh, God, The Bassoon!’ Musicians Union Dispute Becomes Operatic

Posted on October 29, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 29, 1907: A labor dispute forces an opera company’s performance of “Mignon” to use local players, almost entirely unrehearsed, leading the conductor to exclaim: “Oh, God, the bassoon!” Continue reading →

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Oct. 10, 1907: The Want Ads

Posted on October 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 10, 1907: George Sumi’s Japanese Employment Agency. Most reliable in the city. 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, 1943: Union Pleads With Streetcar Workers Not to Strike

Posted on September 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 5, 1943: The head of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen pleased with Pacific Electric workers not to strike. Eight to 10 streetcar workers are quitting every day to take better jobs. 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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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 1960 Writers Strike Echoes Today

Posted on July 25, 2023 by lmharnisch

63 years ago, writers and actors were struggling. Looking for a small share of revenue to help fiscally survive, they asked simply for residuals from post-1948 films sold to television, while studios pled poverty. Both unions went out on strike, … Continue reading →

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News Quiz, 1947: How Many Stories of the Year Do You Know?

Posted on December 30, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. I think of it as a report card from the past. For the last few months, the 47P has explored stories that seemed important or unusual, … Continue reading →

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October 29, 1907: ‘Oh, God, The Bassoon!’ Musicians Union Dispute Becomes Operatic

Posted on October 29, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. October 29, 1907 Los Angeles Given The Times’ view of unions, it’s a little difficult to determine precisely what went wrong with a production of Ambroise Thomas’ “Mignon” at the Auditorium, but … Continue reading →

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Oct. 10, 1907: The Want Ads

Posted on October 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

This is an encore post from 2006.

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

Posted on September 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. “Up from his 160-acre vegetable farm at San Juan Capistrano, veteran rancher H.L. Remmers informed the committee that he must “get Mexican workers” or “think about … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Immigration, Labor | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on August 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Aug. 12-13, 1907 Los Angeles Despite the name Bismarck Cafe, police call the saloon at Main and Winston Streets the Bucket of Blood because it’s a continual source of crime and violence. … Continue reading →

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June 20, 1907: Salesclerks Fight to Keep Shortened Work Hours on Saturdays

Posted on June 20, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. June 20, 1907 Los Angeles The salesclerks of Los Angeles are steaming—and not over the warming temperatures. Beginning last summer, all the department stores agreed that instead of closing at 10 p.m. … Continue reading →

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May 18, 1907: Black Worker on Search for Lost Lumber Gets in Fatal Fight

Posted on May 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. May 18, 1907 Los Angeles William Mullen, a black strikebreaker for the Pioneer Truck Company, was delivering a shipment of lumber when he realized that he had lost some of his load … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947: Thomas R. LeBlanc, Influential Figure in Los Angeles Music

Posted on May 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

LeBlanc’s Creole Band in an undated photo, via the Sentinel. May 8, 1947: I went down the research rabbit hole on the story of Thomas R. LeBlanc, who was featured in the Sentinel. This is a story that deserves more … Continue reading →

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Navy Doctors Defuse ‘Human Bomb’

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 19, 1943: In a story delayed for wartime, the Associated Press reports that Allen L. Gordon, 23, of Rock Island, Ill., fire control operator third class, was struck Dec. 2 with a 20-millimeter antiaircraft shell that lodged in his … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, African Americans, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Hollywood, Labor, Medicine, Music, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Union Pleads With Streetcar Workers Not to Strike

Posted on September 5, 2013 by lmharnisch

Sept. 5, 1943: Explaining that “war strategies between President Roosevelt and Britain’s Prime Minister Churchill come first,” William P. Nutter of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen pleads with dissatisfied employees of the Pacific Electric Railway to stay on the job. … Continue reading →

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Action by FDR Averts Streetcar Strike!

Posted on July 25, 2013 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1943: President Roosevelt intervenes in the planned Pacific Electric Railway strike, saying that he did not want to use Army trucks to transport war supplies. The strike centered on a raise of 13 cents an hour, which has … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Columnists, Labor, Streetcars, Tom Treanor, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

AFSCME Seeks to Organize LAPD

Posted on March 20, 2013 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1943: The AFSCME sets up a local for LAPD officers, an action opposed by Police Chief Clemence “C.B.” Horrall and Deputy Chief Joe Reed.  The Los Angeles Police Protective League, established in the 1920s, began bargaining on behalf … Continue reading →

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June 13, 1958

Posted on June 13, 2008 by lmharnisch

ow here’s an interesting way to beat traffic, at least if you’re Judge Leo Freund. It seems that Freund didn’t care for being stuck while big dump trucks building the San Diego Freeway used Santa Monica Boulevard. Freund decided that … Continue reading →

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April 22, 1938

Posted on April 22, 2008 by lmharnisch

Above, there are people in this world who insist that before the advent of top-40 radio in the 1950s, programming was a formless blob. Note, in fact, that programming was often tightly organized in 15-minute blocks. Below, Officer Donald M. … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Front Pages, Long Beach, Rock 'n' Roll | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment