Tag Archives: obscenity

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 →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Comics, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, Frightening Food From the 1940s | Tagged 10 eggs, 1947, 4 cups flour, crime and courts, food and drink, Frightening Food From the 1940s, fruitcake, obscenity | Leave a comment

October 27, 1927: Follies Theater’s ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

Posted on October 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

On Oct. 27, 1927, a campaign to “sweep Main Street clear of questionable shows” resulted in the arrest of 27 women of the “Hot Mamma” show. Police also arrested “12 chorus men, four tattooed women wearing their working clothes and last, but not least, Ill Ill, an untamed tree-climbing South African pygmy” Continue reading →

Posted in 1927, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay, Photography, Stage | Tagged 1927, crime and courts, Follies Burlesque, obscenity, photography | Comments Off

Jan. 21, 1959: Paul Coates on the Porn Trade of the 1950s

Posted on January 21, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 21, 1959: Paul Coates takes a look at the way pornography (and pretty light stuff at that) was peddled in the 1950s, when it was illegal to send such things through the mail. Coates’ column was originally published in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Paul Coates | Tagged 1959, columnists, crime and courts, obscenity, Paul Coates, porn, smut | Comments Off

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

Posted on December 17, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.. Bonus factoid: 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 … Continue reading →

Follies Theater’s 1927 ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

Posted on December 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

A EBay vendor posted this photo of a woman named Aline or Alene Carberry, and I could not resist unleashing the hounds of research. Bidding on the “Hot Mamma” photo is currently at $34.50.

Posted in 1927, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay, Photography, Stage | Tagged 1927, crime and courts, Follies Burlesque, obscenity, photography | Comments Off

1947: Bookstore Owners Fined for Selling Obscene ‘Memoirs of Hecate County’

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the days when I lived in Hecate County, I had an uncomfortable neighbor, a man named Asa M. Stryker. He had at one time, he … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts | Tagged 1947, Books and Authors, crime and courts, Memoirs of Hecate County, obscenity | Comments Off

George Carlin, RIP

Posted on June 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

aybe you remember him as Al Sleet, the "Hippy, Dippy Weatherman with the hippy, dippy weather … man" or as Rufus in "Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure" or the author of an incredible number of jokes that are eternally circulating … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, books, broadcasting, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Stage | Tagged #courts, #TV, comedians, films, George Carlin, obscenity, radio | Comments Off