On March 13, 2006, 1947project completed its mission to spend one year documenting the offbeat and criminal history of 1947 Los Angeles. You've found our archive site.
Come explore our other time travel blogs:
1947project.com (1907 and 1927 Los Angeles crimes)
On Bunker Hill, a lost neighborhood found
In SRO Land, lost lore of the historic core
Or climb aboard the Esotouric bus to discover the secret heart of Los Angeles
Shop in the Esotouric Emporium of L.A. Lore for fascinating true crime and social history.
Please stop by for all your early Los Angeles history needs.
yours sincerely,
the history fiends of 1947project
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Monday, March 13, 2006
Police Grill Pin Boy in Winters Whack
March 13, 1947
Los Angeles
Detectives questioned James Joseph Tiernan Jr., 30, tonight about his movements Monday night, both before and after the time he claimed that Evelyn Winters, 42, left his hotel room at 912 W. Sixth Street. Winters turned up dead just after midnight Tuesday in the railyard at Ducommun Street, her clothes in disarray, with a blood alcohol level of .28, a nearly fatal proportion. According to Dr. Frederick Newbarr of the Coroner's Office, cause of death was blows to the head, exacerbated by the extent of her drunkenness. Tiernan was arrested the next day at the bowling alley at 924 S. Olive Street where he was formerly employed.
Captain Jack Donahoe is following up on Tiernan's story. Tiernan admits to knowing Winters--a former movie industry legal secretary fallen on hard times--for about two years. He says he met her on Sunday at the public library, then took her to his hotel room. They both liked reading, and alcohol. On Monday night, they were drinking together in the Sixth Street room. Winters left alone between 7:30 and 8 pm. Tiernan stayed in, and that was the last time he saw his friend Evelyn.
Confidential to 1947project readers: 1947 has been an incredible year, and we hope to see you over at our new digs real soon, where the subject is 1907.
Los Angeles
Detectives questioned James Joseph Tiernan Jr., 30, tonight about his movements Monday night, both before and after the time he claimed that Evelyn Winters, 42, left his hotel room at 912 W. Sixth Street. Winters turned up dead just after midnight Tuesday in the railyard at Ducommun Street, her clothes in disarray, with a blood alcohol level of .28, a nearly fatal proportion. According to Dr. Frederick Newbarr of the Coroner's Office, cause of death was blows to the head, exacerbated by the extent of her drunkenness. Tiernan was arrested the next day at the bowling alley at 924 S. Olive Street where he was formerly employed.
Captain Jack Donahoe is following up on Tiernan's story. Tiernan admits to knowing Winters--a former movie industry legal secretary fallen on hard times--for about two years. He says he met her on Sunday at the public library, then took her to his hotel room. They both liked reading, and alcohol. On Monday night, they were drinking together in the Sixth Street room. Winters left alone between 7:30 and 8 pm. Tiernan stayed in, and that was the last time he saw his friend Evelyn.
Confidential to 1947project readers: 1947 has been an incredible year, and we hope to see you over at our new digs real soon, where the subject is 1907.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Down By The River
March 12, 1947
Whittier
Sheriff's deputies have obtained a confession from shaggy-haired Myron Funk, 23, in the shocking slaying of Mae Lorena Lund, the 46-year-old ladyfriend of Funk's father Frank (aka Hardrock).
Lund's strangled body was found in the shallows of the San Gabriel River in Norwalk, several miles from her home at 115 Burton Street, Bellflower. Funk admitted that he had returned alone to Burton Street after he and his father went home to South Gate following a night of heavy drinking. He claimed to recall arguing with Lund, but to be uncertain over what. He knew he had hit her in the jaw, shoved her onto the bed, then wrapped an electrical cord from a nearby iron tight around her throat. He claims he drove her corpse to the river, then returned home to sleep.
The next morning, Hardrock Funk asked his son for a ride to Mrs. Lund's, where the lady's absence received no special mention from Myron. They fed the chickens and left quickly.
Investigations focused on tire tracks in the soft river mud, which led Sheriff's deputies to the Funks' car. Myron was questioned at the Compton jail while his father sweated it out in Whittier. A search revealed human blood on the spare tire.
Myron's confession seems to exonerate his father, who claims he was too drunk that night to remember much of anything.
Whittier
Sheriff's deputies have obtained a confession from shaggy-haired Myron Funk, 23, in the shocking slaying of Mae Lorena Lund, the 46-year-old ladyfriend of Funk's father Frank (aka Hardrock).
Lund's strangled body was found in the shallows of the San Gabriel River in Norwalk, several miles from her home at 115 Burton Street, Bellflower. Funk admitted that he had returned alone to Burton Street after he and his father went home to South Gate following a night of heavy drinking. He claimed to recall arguing with Lund, but to be uncertain over what. He knew he had hit her in the jaw, shoved her onto the bed, then wrapped an electrical cord from a nearby iron tight around her throat. He claims he drove her corpse to the river, then returned home to sleep.
The next morning, Hardrock Funk asked his son for a ride to Mrs. Lund's, where the lady's absence received no special mention from Myron. They fed the chickens and left quickly.
Investigations focused on tire tracks in the soft river mud, which led Sheriff's deputies to the Funks' car. Myron was questioned at the Compton jail while his father sweated it out in Whittier. A search revealed human blood on the spare tire.
Myron's confession seems to exonerate his father, who claims he was too drunk that night to remember much of anything.
Easter Sunday Nightmares of Bunker Hill Crime Bus Tour
Oh, you delightful sickniks! After tabulating the votes for the next Crime Bus date, I see that the majority of respondents have asked for the tour to roll on Easter Sunday, 4/16.
And so it shall. If you would like a seat on the Easter Sunday Crime Bus tour, featuring strange and horrible tales from the history of downtown Los Angeles, please visit this site to purchase through paypal.
You may also email me directly to reserve seats and pay by check or money order, if you prefer.
Each seat is $47, and includes a 5-hour guided tour, snacks, beverages and surprises.
Want to hear what some of the passengers said about the last Crime Bus tour? Check out the latest podcast.
If demand indicates, we will be scheduling another downtown tour in the near future. Please email if you are interested in an alternate date.
best regards,
Kim
1947project
Disclaimer: Although it is extremely unlikely, the organizers reserve the right to postpone the tour in the event of extreme weather, riot, act of war or plague. Refunds may be available no more than 72 hours before Sunday's tour departs, and at the discretion of the organizers. You may substitute an alternate passenger's name if you are unable to attend. We regret that there are no refunds for people who miss the bus. Passengers may call Kim at 323-223-2767 or email amscray@gmail.com with any questions.
And so it shall. If you would like a seat on the Easter Sunday Crime Bus tour, featuring strange and horrible tales from the history of downtown Los Angeles, please visit this site to purchase through paypal.
You may also email me directly to reserve seats and pay by check or money order, if you prefer.
Each seat is $47, and includes a 5-hour guided tour, snacks, beverages and surprises.
Want to hear what some of the passengers said about the last Crime Bus tour? Check out the latest podcast.
If demand indicates, we will be scheduling another downtown tour in the near future. Please email if you are interested in an alternate date.
best regards,
Kim
1947project
Disclaimer: Although it is extremely unlikely, the organizers reserve the right to postpone the tour in the event of extreme weather, riot, act of war or plague. Refunds may be available no more than 72 hours before Sunday's tour departs, and at the discretion of the organizers. You may substitute an alternate passenger's name if you are unable to attend. We regret that there are no refunds for people who miss the bus. Passengers may call Kim at 323-223-2767 or email amscray@gmail.com with any questions.
1947project is moving house on Tuesday 3/14
Henceforth you will find us at our own URL, 1947project.com.
Our RSS feed will be published exclusively through feedburner.
And a whole new adventure begins...
Our RSS feed will be published exclusively through feedburner.
And a whole new adventure begins...
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Lucky Dime, do not disturb
March 11, 1947
Los Angeles
A shiny new dime glinted brieflyat the bottom of a hole at East 58th Street and Naomi Ave. before being topped by a trolley pole, the first of many to planted as part of a new electrical trackless trolley system.
B.M. (Barney) Larrick, L.A. Transit Lines operating manager, dropped the dime as a symbolic good luck offering to the new coach route which, once it opens on June 1, will run up Central Ave. to Fifth Street, west to Beaudry, then east on Sixth. It's hoped the gods of transit safety will be pleased with so paltry an offering. It's the thought that counts!
Los Angeles
A shiny new dime glinted brieflyat the bottom of a hole at East 58th Street and Naomi Ave. before being topped by a trolley pole, the first of many to planted as part of a new electrical trackless trolley system.
B.M. (Barney) Larrick, L.A. Transit Lines operating manager, dropped the dime as a symbolic good luck offering to the new coach route which, once it opens on June 1, will run up Central Ave. to Fifth Street, west to Beaudry, then east on Sixth. It's hoped the gods of transit safety will be pleased with so paltry an offering. It's the thought that counts!
Friday, March 10, 2006
Not quite cleaned out
March 10, 1947
Los Angeles
James Edwards, 57-year-old busboy in a Broadway cafeteria, is one of those folks who doesn't trust banks. He's been saving for many years with the dream of owning his own home.
This morning, near East Second and Los Angeles Streets, a robber clouted him over the head and emptied his wallet. When checked into the Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, Edwards still wore his cartridge belt, stuffed to bursting with crumpled bills. Nurses and a detective helped the dazed man count his savings for the first time in a long while... $3843 total, plus $1.17 in loose change. The robber got $75.
Word's out, oh frugal friend. You better open a bank account, or take a cab to work from now on!
Los Angeles
James Edwards, 57-year-old busboy in a Broadway cafeteria, is one of those folks who doesn't trust banks. He's been saving for many years with the dream of owning his own home.
This morning, near East Second and Los Angeles Streets, a robber clouted him over the head and emptied his wallet. When checked into the Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, Edwards still wore his cartridge belt, stuffed to bursting with crumpled bills. Nurses and a detective helped the dazed man count his savings for the first time in a long while... $3843 total, plus $1.17 in loose change. The robber got $75.
Word's out, oh frugal friend. You better open a bank account, or take a cab to work from now on!
April Crime Bus Tour: Nightmares of Bunker Hill
Gentle riders,
The 1947project bloggers have been hard at work, uncovering some of the
most ghastly tales ever to unfold in the great central heart of our
city. In April, you can discover these horrors on a little bus tour
we're calling Nightmares of Bunker Hill.
To give us a sense of how much demand there is for seats, we ask your
assistance. If you would be interested in attending this tour, please
visit our online poll and answer three simple questions, as accurately
as you can. Answering will not obligate you to purchase tickets, but
will help up reserve the proper size bus or busses for our passengers.
Don't forget, it's just four days until the big changeover from
blogspot to our own URL, and a brand new year of true crime discovery.
If I were you, I'd peel an eye at http://www.1947project.com over the
weekend... some clues might be dropped.
yours faithfully,
Kim
1947project
The 1947project bloggers have been hard at work, uncovering some of the
most ghastly tales ever to unfold in the great central heart of our
city. In April, you can discover these horrors on a little bus tour
we're calling Nightmares of Bunker Hill.
To give us a sense of how much demand there is for seats, we ask your
assistance. If you would be interested in attending this tour, please
visit our online poll and answer three simple questions, as accurately
as you can. Answering will not obligate you to purchase tickets, but
will help up reserve the proper size bus or busses for our passengers.
Don't forget, it's just four days until the big changeover from
blogspot to our own URL, and a brand new year of true crime discovery.
If I were you, I'd peel an eye at http://www.1947project.com over the
weekend... some clues might be dropped.
yours faithfully,
Kim
1947project
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Taxi Driver
March 9, 1947
Santa Ana
Flummoxed partway through the ride home to El Toro Marine Base, when the Negro cabbie suggested he come up front and take the wheel as he was feeling sleepy, Patrick Crawford accomodated the snoring driver by delivering him straight to the Santa Ana cops. It was a good instinct on the young Marine's part: investigation revealed that sleepy Mervin Wilturner, 21, was likely the fare who had shot the cab's real owner, Beverly J. Barton, twice in the head earlier this evening. Barton is in critical condition in French Hospital, while Wilturner, a transient, is being held at Newton Street Police Station on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder.
Santa Ana
Flummoxed partway through the ride home to El Toro Marine Base, when the Negro cabbie suggested he come up front and take the wheel as he was feeling sleepy, Patrick Crawford accomodated the snoring driver by delivering him straight to the Santa Ana cops. It was a good instinct on the young Marine's part: investigation revealed that sleepy Mervin Wilturner, 21, was likely the fare who had shot the cab's real owner, Beverly J. Barton, twice in the head earlier this evening. Barton is in critical condition in French Hospital, while Wilturner, a transient, is being held at Newton Street Police Station on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Those who can't do, teach
March 8, 1947
Alhambra
While busting Robert Chelsea Putter, 49, on a forgery charge, officers made a delightful discovery. Putter had written an 18-page booklet instructing would-be forgers on the rules of the trade. Unfortunately, he had neglected to follow his own advice, and landed in the pokey.
The specific rules not followed? "When you don't succeed in passing a check, get out of town but fast." And "chain markets keep a list of names that have been used in past forgeries."
Alhambra
While busting Robert Chelsea Putter, 49, on a forgery charge, officers made a delightful discovery. Putter had written an 18-page booklet instructing would-be forgers on the rules of the trade. Unfortunately, he had neglected to follow his own advice, and landed in the pokey.
The specific rules not followed? "When you don't succeed in passing a check, get out of town but fast." And "chain markets keep a list of names that have been used in past forgeries."
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Har-de-har-har
March 7, 1947
Portland, OR
In the course of fining a driver who admitted to driving 38mph in a 20mph zone, Judge J.J. Quillin quipped that he admired the fellow's forbearance, for he was the first California driver he'd ever known to drive under 50!
Portland, OR
In the course of fining a driver who admitted to driving 38mph in a 20mph zone, Judge J.J. Quillin quipped that he admired the fellow's forbearance, for he was the first California driver he'd ever known to drive under 50!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Fatal Heroics
March 5, 1947
Venice
His curtains blazing, Charles Mason, 71, raced towards the heat of the flames and fought bravely to extinguish them. He gave no thought to his blindness and merely did all he could to staunch the fire and save his furnishings--and succeeded, though not without injury. When his roomate William H. Watson came home to the flat at 1126 Washington Blvd., he found Charles terribly burned, and he died soon after at Santa Monica Hospital.
Venice
His curtains blazing, Charles Mason, 71, raced towards the heat of the flames and fought bravely to extinguish them. He gave no thought to his blindness and merely did all he could to staunch the fire and save his furnishings--and succeeded, though not without injury. When his roomate William H. Watson came home to the flat at 1126 Washington Blvd., he found Charles terribly burned, and he died soon after at Santa Monica Hospital.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Boo-boo for a Looky-loo!
March 4, 1947
Los Angeles
When two Pacific Electric freight cars derailed near Firestone Blvd. and Maie Avenue, Helen Gil, 25, observed the carnage from a prudent 40 yards away... prudent, that is, until the fence beside which she was standing crumpled under the weight of the cars and collapsed, fracturing her ankle and giving her a possible concussion.
Los Angeles
When two Pacific Electric freight cars derailed near Firestone Blvd. and Maie Avenue, Helen Gil, 25, observed the carnage from a prudent 40 yards away... prudent, that is, until the fence beside which she was standing crumpled under the weight of the cars and collapsed, fracturing her ankle and giving her a possible concussion.
Friday, March 03, 2006
The Case of the Divorcee in the Elevator
March 3, 1947
Los Angeles
Since 1944, Sarah Shirley Ruenker, 32, has suffered crippling claustrophobia, an ailment that today nearly kept her from filing for divorce against her machinist husband Carl. Accompanied by her attorney Barry Woodmansee, she bravely stepped into the tiny elevator at City Hall... then crumpled in tears and had to be carried out by Woodmansee and the operator. After quieting her, Woodmansee rode alone to the 19th floor, where he explained to Judge Paul Vallee the reason for Sarah's nonappearance. A sympathetic man, the judge agreed to hear the case on the ground floor of the Probate Courts Building, and granted the lady her divorce on grounds of non-support.
Los Angeles
Since 1944, Sarah Shirley Ruenker, 32, has suffered crippling claustrophobia, an ailment that today nearly kept her from filing for divorce against her machinist husband Carl. Accompanied by her attorney Barry Woodmansee, she bravely stepped into the tiny elevator at City Hall... then crumpled in tears and had to be carried out by Woodmansee and the operator. After quieting her, Woodmansee rode alone to the 19th floor, where he explained to Judge Paul Vallee the reason for Sarah's nonappearance. A sympathetic man, the judge agreed to hear the case on the ground floor of the Probate Courts Building, and granted the lady her divorce on grounds of non-support.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Lucky Penny
March 2, 1947
Los Angeles
Cabbie Clifford Brown is fortunate to be alive tonight after an encounter with an armed robber at 110th and Central. A fare asked him to wait there while he picked up a buddy, but the buddy came packing heat. Before Brown had a chance to respond, the gunman's finger twitched, and a bullet tore into the cabbie's breast pocket. The pocket was stuffed full of change, which made an improvised shield as its contents flew wildly away from the shocked victim. The original fare, a cool sorta cucumber, suggested, "Don't be so nervous there, Joe. Get down and pick that money off the floor."
Brown, who lives at 1683 1/2 Palm Lane, lost $58 and was bruised around the chest, but is otherwise unharmed.
No relation:
Los Angeles
Cabbie Clifford Brown is fortunate to be alive tonight after an encounter with an armed robber at 110th and Central. A fare asked him to wait there while he picked up a buddy, but the buddy came packing heat. Before Brown had a chance to respond, the gunman's finger twitched, and a bullet tore into the cabbie's breast pocket. The pocket was stuffed full of change, which made an improvised shield as its contents flew wildly away from the shocked victim. The original fare, a cool sorta cucumber, suggested, "Don't be so nervous there, Joe. Get down and pick that money off the floor."
Brown, who lives at 1683 1/2 Palm Lane, lost $58 and was bruised around the chest, but is otherwise unharmed.
No relation:
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Whoooo whooooo!
March 1, 1947
Los Feliz
The long-awaited midget railroad in Griffith Park is nearing completion, and wee tykes citywide can scarcely hold their water as they anticipate the thrill of circling the figure-eight-shaped, half-mile track near the Riverside Drive side of the Park.
The new concession is work of Floyd Wells and Sam Bornstein, its $50,000 cost covered by the city in return for $150 monthly rent and 25% of the gross income. Mr. Bornstein is the proprietor of miniature railways in Cleveland, Kansas City and Toledo. The cost for a ride will be 14 cents for adults, 9 cents for kids.
Los Feliz
The long-awaited midget railroad in Griffith Park is nearing completion, and wee tykes citywide can scarcely hold their water as they anticipate the thrill of circling the figure-eight-shaped, half-mile track near the Riverside Drive side of the Park.
The new concession is work of Floyd Wells and Sam Bornstein, its $50,000 cost covered by the city in return for $150 monthly rent and 25% of the gross income. Mr. Bornstein is the proprietor of miniature railways in Cleveland, Kansas City and Toledo. The cost for a ride will be 14 cents for adults, 9 cents for kids.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Oh, and that kidnapped girl...
February 28, 1947
near Long Beach
'tis the season for faked abductions, with yesterday's nude 17-year-old found bound in her underpants with a cigarette burn on her wrist confessing to police that she had "dreamed up" the sinister man who attacked her, and had tied and injured herself. She's Jacqueline Mae Stang of 2009 Chestnut Ave., Long Beach, currently in custody of the Long Beach juvenile division as investigators satisfy themselves that there really is not a kidnapper loose in their community.
Must be all that Black Dahlia coverage putting weird ideas in folks' heads.
near Long Beach
'tis the season for faked abductions, with yesterday's nude 17-year-old found bound in her underpants with a cigarette burn on her wrist confessing to police that she had "dreamed up" the sinister man who attacked her, and had tied and injured herself. She's Jacqueline Mae Stang of 2009 Chestnut Ave., Long Beach, currently in custody of the Long Beach juvenile division as investigators satisfy themselves that there really is not a kidnapper loose in their community.
Must be all that Black Dahlia coverage putting weird ideas in folks' heads.
Monday, February 27, 2006
February 27, 1947
near Long Beach
Fiends are loose in the city, and no girl or woman is safe! The latest victim is a 17-year-old high school girl--found naked and bound with her own underclothes, with a cigarette burn on her wrist--near the Union Pacific underpass at Willow Street. After treatment at Seaside Hospital, which revealed no sign of criminal assault, the shaken girl recovered sufficiently to describe being followed by a strange man and then grabbed in an alley, after which her memory was mercifully blank.
Police records show the same girl reported being followed by a man in a car with no license plates on February 5.
near Long Beach
Fiends are loose in the city, and no girl or woman is safe! The latest victim is a 17-year-old high school girl--found naked and bound with her own underclothes, with a cigarette burn on her wrist--near the Union Pacific underpass at Willow Street. After treatment at Seaside Hospital, which revealed no sign of criminal assault, the shaken girl recovered sufficiently to describe being followed by a strange man and then grabbed in an alley, after which her memory was mercifully blank.
Police records show the same girl reported being followed by a man in a car with no license plates on February 5.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Phoney Baloney!
February 26, 1947
Seattle, WA
Remember Eugene White, the businessman who disappeared on Valentine's Eve, leaving his coat, wallet, bloodstained car and gifts for the Missus? Police speculated he'd been robbed, beaten and tossed into a passing freight car, but it turns out he's fine and well, and camped out with a pal in Seattle. It was the wife of that friend, Jay Stevens, who convinced White to phone his worried wife. She called the cops.
White explained that he was feeling overwhelmed after years of working 14 hour days, and so faked his own disappearance. "I felt I couldn't go on. I wanted to go to sea or work in a lumber camp." So he cut his hand with a razor and stage set his own abduction.
A shocked Mrs. White told reporters that if Eugene didn't come home, she guessed she'd take the kids and go home to mama in Michigan. Then she asked to be left alone to figure things out.
Seattle, WA
Remember Eugene White, the businessman who disappeared on Valentine's Eve, leaving his coat, wallet, bloodstained car and gifts for the Missus? Police speculated he'd been robbed, beaten and tossed into a passing freight car, but it turns out he's fine and well, and camped out with a pal in Seattle. It was the wife of that friend, Jay Stevens, who convinced White to phone his worried wife. She called the cops.
White explained that he was feeling overwhelmed after years of working 14 hour days, and so faked his own disappearance. "I felt I couldn't go on. I wanted to go to sea or work in a lumber camp." So he cut his hand with a razor and stage set his own abduction.
A shocked Mrs. White told reporters that if Eugene didn't come home, she guessed she'd take the kids and go home to mama in Michigan. Then she asked to be left alone to figure things out.
May-December Indian Clubs
February 25, 1947
Los Angeles
Juggling-act partners Elizabeth Reinke, 25, and Walter Beemer, 77, married in 1943 and divorced in 1946, stepped into judge's chambers today to re-knot their troth. The lady explained, "It was not the same after our divorce. We both worried. It once caused him to drop an Indian club on my foot." We hope the pair have many happy years ahead of them, with no broken toes in the forecast.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Fat 'n' Sassy
February 24, 1947Compton
Little Patti Sue Roeder, stricken with polio before she turned two, has become the pet of the Textile Association of Los Angeles. The group vowed to donate the child's weight in ten cent pieces to the March of Dimes. When she stepped onto the scale today, it read 33 pounds... and while the TALA had raised 37 pounds of coinage, they decided to let the difference slide. The total: $8700.
They've vowed to repeat the gesture in 1948, and Patti Sue promises to be quite fat when the next weigh-in comes. The girl lives at 620 S. Chester Street.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Another victim
February 22, 1947
Los Angeles
Ten hours after the plating factory explosion on East Pico Blvd., 20-year-old Charles Batye turned on a machine at the creamery at 1120 Towne Avenue and was badly injured when a shard of glass, a by-product of the explosion, flew out and hit him in the left eye.
Los Angeles
Ten hours after the plating factory explosion on East Pico Blvd., 20-year-old Charles Batye turned on a machine at the creamery at 1120 Towne Avenue and was badly injured when a shard of glass, a by-product of the explosion, flew out and hit him in the left eye.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
A New Club Dedicated To Historic SoCal Dining Lore
A message from our pal Jonathon at the essential L.A. Time Machines site, who is speaking at this March 18 event:
The group we are forming will focus on Los Angeles Restaurant History in general, with an emphasis on restaurant memorabilia collectors, writers on restaurant history and the oral history of classic restaurant employees and owners. Scheduled to speak at our first meeting are Jim Heimann, author of "Out With the Stars" and "May I Take Your Order", as well as countless other books on Los Angeles and Pop Culture of the 30s to 70s. Also Charles Perry, the renown columnist for the Los Angeles Times and Food Historian. And Filomena D'Amore, owner of Patsy's Pizza, whose father Patsy D'Amore owned the Villa Capri restaurant in Hollywood along with Frank Sinatra (and it was James Dean's favorite place). Our first meeting is at the Hollywood Heritage Museum on March 18 at 10AM.
Most of this is on the attachment hopefully. The principal organizer is Chris Nichols who you might know from ModCom or LA magazine.
A Terrible Blast
February 21, 1947
Los Angeles
The city continues to reel under the horrific impact of yesterday's chemical explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Company, 926 E. Pico Blvd., which leveled the factory, damaged 116 homes, injured hundreds and killed more than a dozen persons.
City officials scattered rat poison around the blast site to deter vermin, while others condemned the contents of local restaurants and bakeries, lest glass fragments find their way onto plates. And into the night, the bulldozers made their silent, constant grab at the debris, dislodging severed limbs, dead cats and dogs, and the ruins of countless lives.
The aftermath of the explosion was carried live on local television station W6XYZ, with narration by reporter Dick Lane.
It is believed that staff chemist Robert Magee was experimenting with using volatile perchloric acid to polish aluminum when the blast occurred. The formula was his own secret recipe, and a patent had reportedly been applied for. Magee and his newly-hired assistant, Alice Iba, are both missing and presumed dead.
Los Angeles
The city continues to reel under the horrific impact of yesterday's chemical explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Company, 926 E. Pico Blvd., which leveled the factory, damaged 116 homes, injured hundreds and killed more than a dozen persons.
City officials scattered rat poison around the blast site to deter vermin, while others condemned the contents of local restaurants and bakeries, lest glass fragments find their way onto plates. And into the night, the bulldozers made their silent, constant grab at the debris, dislodging severed limbs, dead cats and dogs, and the ruins of countless lives.
The aftermath of the explosion was carried live on local television station W6XYZ, with narration by reporter Dick Lane.
It is believed that staff chemist Robert Magee was experimenting with using volatile perchloric acid to polish aluminum when the blast occurred. The formula was his own secret recipe, and a patent had reportedly been applied for. Magee and his newly-hired assistant, Alice Iba, are both missing and presumed dead.
Monday, February 20, 2006
*Hic!* Zoom!
February 20, 1947
Los Angeles
When Walter John Munro, 29-year-old plumber and amateur pilot, lurched out of his new plane at the Torrance Airport, after an erratic low altitude flight over Hawthorne last December 8, he claimed that air sickness and not alcohol was the cause. He was so anxious to land that he touched down in Torrance, and not Compton, where he'd begun his flight.
Clifford Cottam, manager of the Torrance airdrome, testified before Superior Judge Edward Brand today that Munro had skimmed houses and power lines, and staggered when administered a sobrietry test by sheriff's deputies.
Munro is home at 238 E. 139th Street on $1000 bail pending sentencing on March 13. He faces 1-5 years imprisonment if convicted.
Los Angeles
When Walter John Munro, 29-year-old plumber and amateur pilot, lurched out of his new plane at the Torrance Airport, after an erratic low altitude flight over Hawthorne last December 8, he claimed that air sickness and not alcohol was the cause. He was so anxious to land that he touched down in Torrance, and not Compton, where he'd begun his flight.
Clifford Cottam, manager of the Torrance airdrome, testified before Superior Judge Edward Brand today that Munro had skimmed houses and power lines, and staggered when administered a sobrietry test by sheriff's deputies.
Munro is home at 238 E. 139th Street on $1000 bail pending sentencing on March 13. He faces 1-5 years imprisonment if convicted.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
The Stone Man Burns
February 19, 1947
Pasadena
Harry L. Roberts, 53, died today in a fire that began when a cigarette fell into his bedclothes. The one-time Forest Lawn advertising manager and Tournament of Roses publicist had spent the past four years struggling with a mysterious illness that gradually paralyzed his limbs, and had most recently been laboriously typing a memoir of his sickness in hopes of discovering its cause.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Murray, in-home aids to Roberts since his wife died two years ago, noticed smoke pouring from the den at 1020 Linda Vista Ave. and called the fire department, but Roberts was already unconscious and could not be revived.
Also destroyed in the fire was his hard-wrought manuscript, which was completed earlier this week.
Pasadena
Harry L. Roberts, 53, died today in a fire that began when a cigarette fell into his bedclothes. The one-time Forest Lawn advertising manager and Tournament of Roses publicist had spent the past four years struggling with a mysterious illness that gradually paralyzed his limbs, and had most recently been laboriously typing a memoir of his sickness in hopes of discovering its cause.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Murray, in-home aids to Roberts since his wife died two years ago, noticed smoke pouring from the den at 1020 Linda Vista Ave. and called the fire department, but Roberts was already unconscious and could not be revived.
Also destroyed in the fire was his hard-wrought manuscript, which was completed earlier this week.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
A Mysterious Drive
February 18, 1947
Los Angeles
All evidence suggests that, while driving west on Washington Boulevard under the overpass near Santa Fe Avenue, trucker Robert Frazer was struck by a piece of falling concrete. He then drove more than eight miles, in heavy traffic, before careening onto the sidewalk at his place of employ, at Firestone and Paramount Blvds. Co-workers rushed to his aid, and found Frazer unconscious, with a wound over his eye. On awakening, he had no memory of anything after the concrete bounced off his hood and shattered his window.
Los Angeles
All evidence suggests that, while driving west on Washington Boulevard under the overpass near Santa Fe Avenue, trucker Robert Frazer was struck by a piece of falling concrete. He then drove more than eight miles, in heavy traffic, before careening onto the sidewalk at his place of employ, at Firestone and Paramount Blvds. Co-workers rushed to his aid, and found Frazer unconscious, with a wound over his eye. On awakening, he had no memory of anything after the concrete bounced off his hood and shattered his window.
Friday, February 17, 2006
SMASH! .... SPLAT!
February 17, 1947Long Beach
The truck filled with empty milk bottles hit the car on Santa Fe near 23rd Street yesterday, and both drivers were launched forward through space, where they smashed together as surely as their machines had. Truck driver Abner Teachout, 49, is in Compton Clinic, his condition serious, while 24-year-old Phil Meyers is in critical condition at Seaside Hospital, Long Beach.
The truck filled with empty milk bottles hit the car on Santa Fe near 23rd Street yesterday, and both drivers were launched forward through space, where they smashed together as surely as their machines had. Truck driver Abner Teachout, 49, is in Compton Clinic, his condition serious, while 24-year-old Phil Meyers is in critical condition at Seaside Hospital, Long Beach.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Where is the body?
February 16, 1947
Los Angeles
Police and railroad officials continue their search today for Eugene Hamilton White, 31, tool company executive missing since Valentine's Eve, when he cashed his paycheck and left his office en route to his Woodland Hills home.
His bloodstained car was discovered near a Southern Pacific loading spur and warehouse, between 50th and 51st Streets, Long Beach Avenue and Alameda Street, its top ripped open and window shattered. Inside, the man's empty wallet, eyeglasses, overcoat and jacket, a heart-shaped box of Valentine's candy, a silver belt, and a blood-soaked handkerchief wrapped around the end of a tire iron.
Police suspect the man was beaten and robbed, then thrown into a passing freight car. His distraught wife Elizabeth, waiting at 22034 Providencia with little Bette Gene and Eugene Jr., says her husband was devoted to the family, and she can think of no reason for him to disappear.
Los Angeles
Police and railroad officials continue their search today for Eugene Hamilton White, 31, tool company executive missing since Valentine's Eve, when he cashed his paycheck and left his office en route to his Woodland Hills home.
His bloodstained car was discovered near a Southern Pacific loading spur and warehouse, between 50th and 51st Streets, Long Beach Avenue and Alameda Street, its top ripped open and window shattered. Inside, the man's empty wallet, eyeglasses, overcoat and jacket, a heart-shaped box of Valentine's candy, a silver belt, and a blood-soaked handkerchief wrapped around the end of a tire iron.
Police suspect the man was beaten and robbed, then thrown into a passing freight car. His distraught wife Elizabeth, waiting at 22034 Providencia with little Bette Gene and Eugene Jr., says her husband was devoted to the family, and she can think of no reason for him to disappear.
And on this day in 1929....
Our friends at the LAist are blogging one of the more notorious crimes in Beverly Hills history, the mysterious Ned Doheny killing, when the son of the oil heir ended up dead steps away from his similarly gun-shot male secretary. Was it a simple murder-suicide, a lover's quarrel, or the work of Doheny's spurned bride? Carolyn Kellogg looks into the mussed clues and controversy, and shares an especially awful photo on the LAist flickr feed.
If you haven't visited Greystone (now a public park, though the house is off limits save for special events bookings), do!
If you haven't visited Greystone (now a public park, though the house is off limits save for special events bookings), do!
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
You Never Know
February 15, 1947
San Fernando
Leila Nichols, 18, had dated 22-year-old William Hunter once prior to their interaction this evening. Hunter, who spent 3 1/2 years in a Japanese prison camp, accosted the girl as she crossed a vacant lot after midnight, en route to her home, bashing her in the head with a lead pipe. The assault was interrupted when Nichols' brother-in-law John T. Rust drove by and heard her screams. Hunter ran home to his mother and said, "I just killed a girl with a pipe; I don't know what prompted me to do it." Mom turned him in.
Leila Nichols is recovering in San Fernando Hospital, while Hunter has been charged on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He has refused to say anything but his name, rank and serial number. The girl lives at 11327 Tamarack Street, her assailant at 15431 Romer Street.
San Fernando
Leila Nichols, 18, had dated 22-year-old William Hunter once prior to their interaction this evening. Hunter, who spent 3 1/2 years in a Japanese prison camp, accosted the girl as she crossed a vacant lot after midnight, en route to her home, bashing her in the head with a lead pipe. The assault was interrupted when Nichols' brother-in-law John T. Rust drove by and heard her screams. Hunter ran home to his mother and said, "I just killed a girl with a pipe; I don't know what prompted me to do it." Mom turned him in.
Leila Nichols is recovering in San Fernando Hospital, while Hunter has been charged on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He has refused to say anything but his name, rank and serial number. The girl lives at 11327 Tamarack Street, her assailant at 15431 Romer Street.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The Men Who Loved Jeanne French
February 14, 1947
Los Angeles
Alcohol is a terrible drug. It lured Jeanne French, mother and wife, out to gin halls, where, in the words of her sobbing son David Y. Wrather, "She made friends easy, awful easy. She went out alone sometimes. She's gone now, and I'm sure she would want me to say the right thing. She made a lot of her own trouble. Her husband tolerated a lot from her. He was a tolerant man, a very tolerant man."
After the inquest, officials exonerated Jeanne's husband Frank F. French of any suspicion in her beating murder, leaving police to continue their search for the nameless, dark-haired man seen with the woman at a drive-in at 3992 Sepulveda Boulevard around 2am Monday. French's body was found on a hillside early the next morning, and the presumption is that her date was likely her killer.
Los Angeles
Alcohol is a terrible drug. It lured Jeanne French, mother and wife, out to gin halls, where, in the words of her sobbing son David Y. Wrather, "She made friends easy, awful easy. She went out alone sometimes. She's gone now, and I'm sure she would want me to say the right thing. She made a lot of her own trouble. Her husband tolerated a lot from her. He was a tolerant man, a very tolerant man."
After the inquest, officials exonerated Jeanne's husband Frank F. French of any suspicion in her beating murder, leaving police to continue their search for the nameless, dark-haired man seen with the woman at a drive-in at 3992 Sepulveda Boulevard around 2am Monday. French's body was found on a hillside early the next morning, and the presumption is that her date was likely her killer.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Tony Cornero's Wife Is A Real Firecracker
February 13, 1947
Beverly Hills
Sheriffs' officers came all the way from Fresno today to arrest Barbara Land, 27, the gal who married gambler Tony Cornero Stralla last fall, after which they divorced and subsequently remarried.
The charge is burglary of the Snow Line Lodge, near General Grant Park. Miss Land and her pals Elaine Rodgers, 29, and Robert Cabaniss, 31, allegedly visited the tavern, but found it closed. They entered after Miss Land "accidentally fell through a glass back door" and whooped it up with a few drinks.
The Goldilocks Gang claim to have left a check for $25 to cover their entertainment and damages, but owner Paul Haney reports no check was left, and $110 was missing from the till. Land and company deny the charges.
Beverly Hills
Sheriffs' officers came all the way from Fresno today to arrest Barbara Land, 27, the gal who married gambler Tony Cornero Stralla last fall, after which they divorced and subsequently remarried.
The charge is burglary of the Snow Line Lodge, near General Grant Park. Miss Land and her pals Elaine Rodgers, 29, and Robert Cabaniss, 31, allegedly visited the tavern, but found it closed. They entered after Miss Land "accidentally fell through a glass back door" and whooped it up with a few drinks.
The Goldilocks Gang claim to have left a check for $25 to cover their entertainment and damages, but owner Paul Haney reports no check was left, and $110 was missing from the till. Land and company deny the charges.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Hey, Mister! Mister!
February 12, 1947Los Angeles
Nightclub owner Paul Rubin is a cautious fellow... at least he likes to think he is. So when he stopped at the bank near his club at 1571 W. Washington Blvd. to withdraw two $500 bills, he put his antennae up. While shopping in the drugstore around the corner at Washington and Vermont Ave., those antennae detected a strange man who seemed inordinantly interested in his activities.
Rubin darted off to his club, highly conscious of the grand in his pocket. The stranger followed close. As Rubin slipped in the front door, he pushed a buzzer that told employees to call the cops. The stranger stepped inside as the buzzing died in the air, two green portraits of William McKinley in his hand. "Say Mister, you dropped these in the drugstore!"
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Oopsy!
February 11, 1947Los Angeles
While visiting the home of producer Ray Stark and his wife, actress Gene Tierney stumbled on a rug and fell backwards down some steps, breaking her left foot. Miss Tierney is confined to a wheelchair and will be unable to return to work for two weeks.
Friday, February 10, 2006
The Unfortunate Mrs. French
Larry Harnisch takes a breather from blogging the Big Bad Wolfe Book to request
a Moment of Silence, Please
Today is the anniversary of the Feb. 10, 1947, Jeanne French murder. Frequently linked to the Black Dahlia in the popular imagination and absurdly claimed as one of the umpteen victims of Dr. George “Evil Genius” Hodel in “Black Dahlia Avenger,” French was a tragic, broken-down alcoholic. Spending the last night of her life in a Westside cafe, she dumped the contents of her purse on the bar and picked through the debris in hopes of finding enough money for just one more drink. She had no paper money, nothing more than a few coins. Whoever killed her beat her with the handle of a socket wrench, pushed her out of his car into the street and stomped on her until a rib broke and punctured her heart. A bleak, terrible death.Her son, David Wrather, told the coroner’s inquest: “She’s gone now and I’m sure she would want me to say the right thing—she made a lot of her own trouble.”
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Today's Lesson: Speak Respectfully To Your Elders (while robbing them)
February 9, 1947
Carson
Memo from Alex J. Wysocki: "if you wanna rob my liquor store, don't start by saying 'Hi, Pop'!"
That was the message learned the hard way by the young gunman who held Wysocki up at 21923 S. Main Street for $150 and two bottles of whiskey, then went in the back to rummage for more plunder. Meanwhile, Wysocki fumed. "Pop? Pop?!" When the kid emerged from the storeroom, Wysocki shot him four times with his .38. The robber ran off, his own gun clicking ineffectually.
A few hours later, a friend dropped the gut-shot 24-year-old Eugene L. Dodson at San Pedro Hospital. When Dodson refused to say how he'd been injured, Det. Lt. Thomas H. Rankin remembered a Sheriff's broadcast about the hold up and booked the injured man on suspicion of robbery. He was conveyed to the prison ward of General Hospital for surgery, which is where Wysocki ID'd him as the smartass who'd called him "Pop."
Carson
Memo from Alex J. Wysocki: "if you wanna rob my liquor store, don't start by saying 'Hi, Pop'!"
That was the message learned the hard way by the young gunman who held Wysocki up at 21923 S. Main Street for $150 and two bottles of whiskey, then went in the back to rummage for more plunder. Meanwhile, Wysocki fumed. "Pop? Pop?!" When the kid emerged from the storeroom, Wysocki shot him four times with his .38. The robber ran off, his own gun clicking ineffectually.
A few hours later, a friend dropped the gut-shot 24-year-old Eugene L. Dodson at San Pedro Hospital. When Dodson refused to say how he'd been injured, Det. Lt. Thomas H. Rankin remembered a Sheriff's broadcast about the hold up and booked the injured man on suspicion of robbery. He was conveyed to the prison ward of General Hospital for surgery, which is where Wysocki ID'd him as the smartass who'd called him "Pop."
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Naptime for A Numbskull
February 8, 1947
Lincoln Heights
Transient Richard Dennis, 33, broke into Mrs. G.B. Blakeley's home at 2730 Medford Street and absconded with the one thing most appealing to a sleepy sneak thief: an alarm clock. Unfortunately, he made it no farther than the front lawn before tucking in for a nice snooze. When the alarm went off, Richard slept right through it, but neighbors copped the buzz and called police, who nabbed the man on suspicion (strong suspicion) of burglary.
Lincoln Heights
Transient Richard Dennis, 33, broke into Mrs. G.B. Blakeley's home at 2730 Medford Street and absconded with the one thing most appealing to a sleepy sneak thief: an alarm clock. Unfortunately, he made it no farther than the front lawn before tucking in for a nice snooze. When the alarm went off, Richard slept right through it, but neighbors copped the buzz and called police, who nabbed the man on suspicion (strong suspicion) of burglary.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Neighborhood Watch
February 7, 1947
West Los Angeles
Harry Crocker will be making his own breakfast if his neighbors on N. Westbourne Drive have anything to do with it. Six of them have successfully sued to have Mrs. Isabel Crocker and daughters Alicia, Jean and Muriel evicted on the grounds that the mother is 3/4 Indian and the girls half so afflicted.
Although Superior Judge Ruben S. Schmidt ruled Thursday that the women must leave their home, in a neighborhood where residence is restricted to Caucasians, the distaff Crockers vow to fight all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Schmidt did grant the family thirty days in which to secure new dwellings for the those Crockers of mixed blood, noting that the Mister, a film cameraman, was welcome to remain at number 435 alone.
West Los Angeles
Harry Crocker will be making his own breakfast if his neighbors on N. Westbourne Drive have anything to do with it. Six of them have successfully sued to have Mrs. Isabel Crocker and daughters Alicia, Jean and Muriel evicted on the grounds that the mother is 3/4 Indian and the girls half so afflicted.
Although Superior Judge Ruben S. Schmidt ruled Thursday that the women must leave their home, in a neighborhood where residence is restricted to Caucasians, the distaff Crockers vow to fight all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Schmidt did grant the family thirty days in which to secure new dwellings for the those Crockers of mixed blood, noting that the Mister, a film cameraman, was welcome to remain at number 435 alone.
Monday, February 06, 2006
World's Biggest Tombstone
February 6, 1947
Downtown
While helping to unload a 15-ton marble slab from a freight car at his place of employment, 1801 South Soto Street, Ray Hunt, 43, was crushed to death. The dead man lived at 1706 Wall Street.
Downtown
While helping to unload a 15-ton marble slab from a freight car at his place of employment, 1801 South Soto Street, Ray Hunt, 43, was crushed to death. The dead man lived at 1706 Wall Street.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Larry Harnisch blogs the big bad Wolfe book
When Nathan and I spoke with Donald H. Wolfe, author of "The Black Dahlia Files," at a book signing recently, we brought visual aids with which to draw his attention to his plagiarism of our colleague Larry Harnisch's L.A. Times Dahlia article and website. (The entirety of page 295 is Larry's writing, improperly credited to John Douglas.)
Mr. Wolfe seemed flabbergasted, said he had paid Douglas' publishers to use the quotes, and promised he would check into the matter, and apologize if he'd made a mistake. While Larry waits for that apology, he's holding his nose and reading Wolfe's daffy tome, and blogging his reactions. Only on page 6, he's already gone debunked the claims that there was no nightlife in 1947 L.A., that the Examiner printed a huge-selling extra on the day of the Dahlia killing, and Wolfe's absurd claims of having been "raised on the wrong side of the tracks in Beverly Hills."
Larry warns "if you're not into Dahlia minutiae this will be painfully tedious." Tune in and see for yourself.
Mr. Wolfe seemed flabbergasted, said he had paid Douglas' publishers to use the quotes, and promised he would check into the matter, and apologize if he'd made a mistake. While Larry waits for that apology, he's holding his nose and reading Wolfe's daffy tome, and blogging his reactions. Only on page 6, he's already gone debunked the claims that there was no nightlife in 1947 L.A., that the Examiner printed a huge-selling extra on the day of the Dahlia killing, and Wolfe's absurd claims of having been "raised on the wrong side of the tracks in Beverly Hills."
Larry warns "if you're not into Dahlia minutiae this will be painfully tedious." Tune in and see for yourself.
Bombs Away!
February 5, 1947
Burbank
The war came home to the Valley today when an A-26 bomber conducting airflow tests accidentally disgorged an unarmed 12' missile, which crashed to the ground in a parking lot uncomfortably close to a home at 1730 Keeler Street.
Worried neighbors circled warily until Burbank Police Lt. K.K. Kipers determined the torpedo posed no danger to the public. The plane meanwhile had continued to a rushed landing at Murac Army Air Base, pilot Captain S. D. McFadden complaining of ill-handling after a dive, but not realizing he'd dropped anything.
Burbank
The war came home to the Valley today when an A-26 bomber conducting airflow tests accidentally disgorged an unarmed 12' missile, which crashed to the ground in a parking lot uncomfortably close to a home at 1730 Keeler Street.
Worried neighbors circled warily until Burbank Police Lt. K.K. Kipers determined the torpedo posed no danger to the public. The plane meanwhile had continued to a rushed landing at Murac Army Air Base, pilot Captain S. D. McFadden complaining of ill-handling after a dive, but not realizing he'd dropped anything.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Culver City Copy Cat
February 4, 1947
Culver City
Miss Isabel Foster feels lucky to be alive tonight after being accosted by a man in a 1940 sedan while she was waiting for a bus at West Adams and Redondo Blvd. He asked if she needed a ride, and when she demurred showed a butcher knife and demanded she climb into the passenger seat. Terrified, she complied.
"Where'dya live?"
"3-3-3-3895 M-m-m-main Street."
"Stop blubbering!"
"I... can't..."
"Shut up, or I'll give you what I gave the Black Dahlia!" And with that he cut her across the knuckles. The man drove closer to Isabel's home. When they were a block away, she opened the passenger door and ran.
Her attacker is described as, slim, dark skinned, late 20s, about 5'8", wearing dark work clothes and a "ridiculous" stocking cap.
And in mid-city Hermenegildo G. Robles Jr., 25, shot his estranged, pregnant wife Guillermina in her mother's house, goes to church and inflicted on non-fatal wound on himself.
Culver City
Miss Isabel Foster feels lucky to be alive tonight after being accosted by a man in a 1940 sedan while she was waiting for a bus at West Adams and Redondo Blvd. He asked if she needed a ride, and when she demurred showed a butcher knife and demanded she climb into the passenger seat. Terrified, she complied.
"Where'dya live?"
"3-3-3-3895 M-m-m-main Street."
"Stop blubbering!"
"I... can't..."
"Shut up, or I'll give you what I gave the Black Dahlia!" And with that he cut her across the knuckles. The man drove closer to Isabel's home. When they were a block away, she opened the passenger door and ran.
Her attacker is described as, slim, dark skinned, late 20s, about 5'8", wearing dark work clothes and a "ridiculous" stocking cap.
And in mid-city Hermenegildo G. Robles Jr., 25, shot his estranged, pregnant wife Guillermina in her mother's house, goes to church and inflicted on non-fatal wound on himself.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Who Killed Elizabeth Short?
February 3, 1947
Los Angeles
More than two weeks after the body of Elizabeth Short, 22, a Massachusetts-born transient, was discovered cut into two halves in the weeds in a Leimert Park lot, homicide detectives continued beating the pavement seeking clues to the baffling and gruesome crime.
On the town's west side, a search was on for a young blond man seen driving an unlicensed coupe with a stained blanket on the passenger seat, as well as for another vehicle possibly seen pulling away from the Norton Avenue crime scene.
Acting on reports that the victim had used candle wax to fill untreated dental cavities, and noting the presence of two votive candles in her checked luggage, detectives inquired with the bathroom attendant at the Biltmore to discover if anyone had seen Short tending to her teeth there on January 9. No one had.
Most pressing was the need to find the murder site, which was perhaps a private home located some distance from its neighbors... or maybe a trailer, one of hundreds being used as homes in the overpopulated city. And if it was a trailer, what's to say the fiend hadn't already moved away in it, taking the evidence and his wickedness far from the men of law who seek him?
Two questions remain in the forefront of every L.A. cop's mind, and those of the citizenry: who killed Elizabeth Short, and would he strike again?
Los Angeles
More than two weeks after the body of Elizabeth Short, 22, a Massachusetts-born transient, was discovered cut into two halves in the weeds in a Leimert Park lot, homicide detectives continued beating the pavement seeking clues to the baffling and gruesome crime.
On the town's west side, a search was on for a young blond man seen driving an unlicensed coupe with a stained blanket on the passenger seat, as well as for another vehicle possibly seen pulling away from the Norton Avenue crime scene.
Acting on reports that the victim had used candle wax to fill untreated dental cavities, and noting the presence of two votive candles in her checked luggage, detectives inquired with the bathroom attendant at the Biltmore to discover if anyone had seen Short tending to her teeth there on January 9. No one had.
Most pressing was the need to find the murder site, which was perhaps a private home located some distance from its neighbors... or maybe a trailer, one of hundreds being used as homes in the overpopulated city. And if it was a trailer, what's to say the fiend hadn't already moved away in it, taking the evidence and his wickedness far from the men of law who seek him?
Two questions remain in the forefront of every L.A. cop's mind, and those of the citizenry: who killed Elizabeth Short, and would he strike again?
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Fink Alert
February 2, 1947
Los Angeles
The Better Business Bureau has issued a public service warning about three bold swindles perpetrated against city residents in the past week.
BEWARE: the door-to-door baby shoe bronzer, who will disappear with mama's deposit and baby's footwear, never to be seen again...
DON'T PAY: the frantic "exterminator" who rushes into a business with a sack of "the DDT the boss ordered," demands prompt payment, and flees, leaving his hapless victim with a sack of ordinary flour...
AND TURN AWAY: the seller of off-brand vacuum cleaners, which are often not just unfamilar, but second-hand and overpriced.
Los Angeles
The Better Business Bureau has issued a public service warning about three bold swindles perpetrated against city residents in the past week.
BEWARE: the door-to-door baby shoe bronzer, who will disappear with mama's deposit and baby's footwear, never to be seen again...
DON'T PAY: the frantic "exterminator" who rushes into a business with a sack of "the DDT the boss ordered," demands prompt payment, and flees, leaving his hapless victim with a sack of ordinary flour...
AND TURN AWAY: the seller of off-brand vacuum cleaners, which are often not just unfamilar, but second-hand and overpriced.
A letter to the editor
Dear Editor of the Woburn (MA) Advocate:As one of three (not two) hosts of the 1947project Crime Bus Tour savaged by Jon Hartmere in your pages recently, I'd like to ask why he felt compelled to so thoroughly fictionalize his experience while maintaining the pretense of reportage? The tour guides were myself (Kim Cooper), Nathan Marsak and Larry Harnisch, and we have the reasonable expectation that anyone who rides along on our tour with the intent of reporting on it would call us by name, and not conflate the three of us into “Ned and Jane.” The L.A. Times, Fox News and CBS News reporters on the bus all followed that basic journalistic rule.
Perhaps his last minute gift of the seat (on the weekend's second sold-out bus) precluded his doing any research. Had he made a cursory web search, he would have discovered that the Crime Bus was developed by the bloggers at 1947project, a popular website that revives forgotten L.A. crimes of that year and pays visits to their scenes today, with side trips into subjects of historic preservation, local weirdness and yes, neon signage. These subjects are all familiar to and enjoyed by our readers, and the other passengers on Jon’s bus are already clamoring to attend the next tour.
The 1947project Crime Bus Tour exists for a very different audience than your reporter. Our riders know who James Ellroy is, are excited to explore unfamiliar neighborhoods, and could care less about visiting a recent, familiar crime scene like O.J. Simpson’s or the Menendez Brothers’. We wish he had asked a few questions before accepting the extra seat his friends offered, because there were a dozen people on the waiting list who would have loved to have his spot.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
SCREEEEEEEE--CRASH!
February 1, 1947
Downtown
Tearing down Bixel Street towards Seventh came death in the shape of two teenage boys in a Jeep. Richard McCrary, 16, 1317 Connecticut Street, missed his turn and careened into a fire hydrant, then two pedestrians. Water gushed out over Cornelius Enright, 50, of 121 Manhattan Place and Camille Tendeza, 61.
Enright died at the scene, while Camille was rushed to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital in critical condition with head injuries and possible chest fractures. McCrary and his passenger, 15-year-old Fred Landerstein of 1260 Miramar Street, were unhurt.
Downtown
Tearing down Bixel Street towards Seventh came death in the shape of two teenage boys in a Jeep. Richard McCrary, 16, 1317 Connecticut Street, missed his turn and careened into a fire hydrant, then two pedestrians. Water gushed out over Cornelius Enright, 50, of 121 Manhattan Place and Camille Tendeza, 61.
Enright died at the scene, while Camille was rushed to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital in critical condition with head injuries and possible chest fractures. McCrary and his passenger, 15-year-old Fred Landerstein of 1260 Miramar Street, were unhurt.
1947project Crime Bus on Fox-11 News, Saturday 10pm
The long awaited story on the Dahlia Days Crime Bus tour has been rescheduled for this Saturday night, during the 10pm Fox-11 news broadcast in Los Angeles. Tune in and enjoy.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Recipe for Marital Success
January 30, 1947
Hollywood
Get miffy at tennis pro hubby when a lady tennis player calls to suggest they team up in a tournament match, cry as he splits for the L.A. Tennis Club, drink a shot of iodine, follow it up with an antidote of flour and eggs, then telephone sweetums to tell 'im what you've done. He'll race home and speed your upsy tummy to Hollywood Receiving Hospital for emergency treatment. Game, set and match to wifeypoo.
This is the scenario played out in the third week of marriage by tennis star Tom Falkenburg and his 21-year-old model bride, Bernice Allred Falkenberg, in their home at 523 N. Cahuenga. BTW, fellas, it's a big red flag when your sweetie doesn't just try to poison herself, but administers her own antidote!
Watch Tom's sister Jinx with Rita Hayworth in Cover Girl.
Hollywood
Get miffy at tennis pro hubby when a lady tennis player calls to suggest they team up in a tournament match, cry as he splits for the L.A. Tennis Club, drink a shot of iodine, follow it up with an antidote of flour and eggs, then telephone sweetums to tell 'im what you've done. He'll race home and speed your upsy tummy to Hollywood Receiving Hospital for emergency treatment. Game, set and match to wifeypoo.
This is the scenario played out in the third week of marriage by tennis star Tom Falkenburg and his 21-year-old model bride, Bernice Allred Falkenberg, in their home at 523 N. Cahuenga. BTW, fellas, it's a big red flag when your sweetie doesn't just try to poison herself, but administers her own antidote!
Watch Tom's sister Jinx with Rita Hayworth in Cover Girl.
Save the 76 Ball!
We, the undersigned, as consumers with an abiding fondness for the striking, historic and uniquely Californian blue and orange ball-shaped Union 76 logo, be it on tall metal poles or car antennae (since 1967), hereby call on ConocoPhillips to reconsider their alteration of the 115-year-old brand, to cease replacing spherical blue and orange 76 balls at gas stations with flattened blue and red disks, and to restore the beloved spheres to the poles where they belong.
If ConocoPhillips does not demonstrate greater respect for the the history and goodwill associated with the blue and orange 76 ball, we will be taking our business to other gas sellers. This petition is being launched on January 31, six days after ConocoPhillips posted fourth quarterly earnings of $3.7 Billion, and we call for a sincere response to our concerns before the announcement of their next second quarterly earnings.
To sign the petition, click here.
To buy various antenna balls (but not for Union 76), click here.
or get vintage 76 antenna balls here.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Middy's Big Adventure
January 30, 1947
Venice
"Here, kitty kitty!" was the song of Millwood Avenue as the neighborhood joined in urging pussycat Middy to alight from her perch, 75 feet up in a palm near her home at number 750.
After six days, Middy's mistress Mrs. Don Bowser was at her wit's end, her throat raw and neck sore from craning. Although the fire department declined to assist, Boy Scouts from Venice Troop 75 milled around looking helpful. And perhaps the sight of all those little boys so plump and perfect for scratching did compel Middy to move, for suddenly the recalcitrant cat crashed down through the dry fronds, claws out and howling, and landed on the concrete below.
A neighbor reported that Middy had drunk a little milk, and would be examined by a vet because she'd shown signs of internal bleeding.
Venice
"Here, kitty kitty!" was the song of Millwood Avenue as the neighborhood joined in urging pussycat Middy to alight from her perch, 75 feet up in a palm near her home at number 750.
After six days, Middy's mistress Mrs. Don Bowser was at her wit's end, her throat raw and neck sore from craning. Although the fire department declined to assist, Boy Scouts from Venice Troop 75 milled around looking helpful. And perhaps the sight of all those little boys so plump and perfect for scratching did compel Middy to move, for suddenly the recalcitrant cat crashed down through the dry fronds, claws out and howling, and landed on the concrete below.
A neighbor reported that Middy had drunk a little milk, and would be examined by a vet because she'd shown signs of internal bleeding.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Did You Want A Fingertip With That Beer?
January 29, 1947
San Pedro
Daniel Baccarat, 50-year-old liquor store proprietor until recently serving customers at 211 W. Ninth Street is on the run after City Health Inspectors discovered that the possibly infectious leper was working with the public. An attorney who called the Health Department to inquire if a warrant had been issued for Baccarat's arrest rang off the line when asked if he represented the man or knew where he was hiding.
Baccarat first received treatment at the National Leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana in 1928, and in 1931 was discharged as an arrested case. But four years later, San Francisco physicians discovered his disease had recurred and he was forced into hospital treatment. When he volunteered to return to Carville, Baccarat was freed... and somehow turned up in San Pedro twelve years later.
If found, Baccarat will be taken to General Hospital to be examined by Leon Griest, Chief Quarantine Officer of the City Health Department, but he can only be shipped back to Louisiana if he agrees to go.
San Pedro
Daniel Baccarat, 50-year-old liquor store proprietor until recently serving customers at 211 W. Ninth Street is on the run after City Health Inspectors discovered that the possibly infectious leper was working with the public. An attorney who called the Health Department to inquire if a warrant had been issued for Baccarat's arrest rang off the line when asked if he represented the man or knew where he was hiding.
Baccarat first received treatment at the National Leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana in 1928, and in 1931 was discharged as an arrested case. But four years later, San Francisco physicians discovered his disease had recurred and he was forced into hospital treatment. When he volunteered to return to Carville, Baccarat was freed... and somehow turned up in San Pedro twelve years later.
If found, Baccarat will be taken to General Hospital to be examined by Leon Griest, Chief Quarantine Officer of the City Health Department, but he can only be shipped back to Louisiana if he agrees to go.
The Hotfoot That Slipped Through The Cracks
January 17, 1947
Downtown
Gentle readers,
In the excitement of leading the Crime Bus tour, we inadvertently neglected to blog one of the stories that, when first reading the 1947 papers with an eye to writing a book ten years ago, made it obvious that I'd stumbled onto a very interesting shadow L.A. And so we bring you, twelve days late, The Hotfoot That Slipped Through The Cracks.
Thomas Gant, 40, and Thurman Dawson, 27, were prank pals--acquaintances who took great pleasure in torturing each other with increasingly annoying shenanigans. For the past week their activities had been constant and aggressive, with the agonies of the hotfoot featuring prominently in each man's arsenal.
And so might it have continued, until all the shoes both owned were singed, but still wearable, had Dawson not been inspired to add a squirt of lighter fluid to yesterday's performance. Gant said, "Enough already" (after he shrieked like a girl), and sought the aid of the homicide cops near City Hall. They looked at his scorched shoe, laughed and wished him well in his endeavors.
Furious, Gant strode back to the hotel where he and Dawson lived, at 236 E. Second Street, and retrieved a gun. From there, he went to the cafe at 245 E. Second and found Dawson at his afternoon meal. Gant shot Dawson in the gut, killing him, and awaited the arrival of the homicide cops, who obliged by taking him more seriously this time around.
Downtown
Gentle readers,
In the excitement of leading the Crime Bus tour, we inadvertently neglected to blog one of the stories that, when first reading the 1947 papers with an eye to writing a book ten years ago, made it obvious that I'd stumbled onto a very interesting shadow L.A. And so we bring you, twelve days late, The Hotfoot That Slipped Through The Cracks.
Thomas Gant, 40, and Thurman Dawson, 27, were prank pals--acquaintances who took great pleasure in torturing each other with increasingly annoying shenanigans. For the past week their activities had been constant and aggressive, with the agonies of the hotfoot featuring prominently in each man's arsenal.
And so might it have continued, until all the shoes both owned were singed, but still wearable, had Dawson not been inspired to add a squirt of lighter fluid to yesterday's performance. Gant said, "Enough already" (after he shrieked like a girl), and sought the aid of the homicide cops near City Hall. They looked at his scorched shoe, laughed and wished him well in his endeavors.
Furious, Gant strode back to the hotel where he and Dawson lived, at 236 E. Second Street, and retrieved a gun. From there, he went to the cafe at 245 E. Second and found Dawson at his afternoon meal. Gant shot Dawson in the gut, killing him, and awaited the arrival of the homicide cops, who obliged by taking him more seriously this time around.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Zip Guns Aren't Just For Kids
January 28, 1947
Santa Monica
Jack Gillette, 68-year-old aircraft worker, was called into Judge Thurlow T. Taft's courtroom today to answer a charge of firing, without provocation, a miniature gun of his own manufacture at the lower body of Venice cabbie Jack Stewart, 29. The bullet, half the size of a .22, left a nasty bruise on the younger man's hip. Gillette declared that he had merely wanted to see if his invention worked. Judge Taft looked over the seven teeny guns that police had seized and set bail for the incorrigible oldster at $1000.
Santa Monica
Jack Gillette, 68-year-old aircraft worker, was called into Judge Thurlow T. Taft's courtroom today to answer a charge of firing, without provocation, a miniature gun of his own manufacture at the lower body of Venice cabbie Jack Stewart, 29. The bullet, half the size of a .22, left a nasty bruise on the younger man's hip. Gillette declared that he had merely wanted to see if his invention worked. Judge Taft looked over the seven teeny guns that police had seized and set bail for the incorrigible oldster at $1000.
Friday, January 27, 2006
The Party's Over
January 27, 1947
Hollywood Hills
Harry Babasin, 25, was just sitting down to a chess game with William Haller, 24, when all heck broke loose. Sixteen State and L.A.P.D. Narcotics officers busted into the large home at 5751 Tuxedo Terrace and placed the whole joint under arrest. In addition to Babasin, a member of Benny Goodman's band, and Haller, late of Freddie Slack's outfit, this included Nelson Shelledy, 28, formerly of Charlie Barnett's orchestra, and Haller's lady friend Mrs. Bonaline Stewart, 30, a secretary.
Siezed in the raid was $500 worth of primo gage (aka maryjuana), of which Mrs. Stewart groused, "I'm just a victim of circumstance. I went there on a date with Bill Haller. I was downstairs when I heard all the commotion. What will my boss think, and my family?"
They'll think that you're an older woman who hangs around jazzbos, doll. And we at 47project think you're a-okay!
Hollywood Hills
Harry Babasin, 25, was just sitting down to a chess game with William Haller, 24, when all heck broke loose. Sixteen State and L.A.P.D. Narcotics officers busted into the large home at 5751 Tuxedo Terrace and placed the whole joint under arrest. In addition to Babasin, a member of Benny Goodman's band, and Haller, late of Freddie Slack's outfit, this included Nelson Shelledy, 28, formerly of Charlie Barnett's orchestra, and Haller's lady friend Mrs. Bonaline Stewart, 30, a secretary.
Siezed in the raid was $500 worth of primo gage (aka maryjuana), of which Mrs. Stewart groused, "I'm just a victim of circumstance. I went there on a date with Bill Haller. I was downstairs when I heard all the commotion. What will my boss think, and my family?"
They'll think that you're an older woman who hangs around jazzbos, doll. And we at 47project think you're a-okay!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
A Harborside Mystery
January 26, 1947Terminal Island
Grizzled mariners are baffled by the mysterious development of a perfect lover's knot in the anchor chain of the Navy oiler U.S.S. Caliente. When anchor was dropped in 9 fathoms of water, the chain hung perfectly straight--but when they went to move her into dry dock, the knot made it impossible to weigh anchor.
Sailors cut the knot with torches and moved the ship on her way. The mermaids giggled, and the gremlins guffawed.
Grizzled mariners are baffled by the mysterious development of a perfect lover's knot in the anchor chain of the Navy oiler U.S.S. Caliente. When anchor was dropped in 9 fathoms of water, the chain hung perfectly straight--but when they went to move her into dry dock, the knot made it impossible to weigh anchor.
Sailors cut the knot with torches and moved the ship on her way. The mermaids giggled, and the gremlins guffawed.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Young Lovers in Albuquerque
January 25, 1947
Albuquerque, N.M.
Actor Dean Jagger, 42, proposed to his lady friend Gloria Joan Ling, 24, a Fortune mag staffer. She said yes.
Oh, joyful day! But when the Santa Monica registry office refused to issue a marriage license due to the bride's Chinese heritage, the couple had to roam as far east as Albuquerque, where a call from director King Vidor succeeded in urging clerk May Cleghorn to stay open late to issue the Jagger-Ling license. A handy justice of the peace performed the ceremony in the lobby of the Bernalillo County Clerk's office, and the happy kids were free to return to Tinseltown, married in the eyes of God and Albuquerque, but outsiders in their home.
See Dean Jagger and Robert Mitchum in 1947's Pursued.
Albuquerque, N.M.
Actor Dean Jagger, 42, proposed to his lady friend Gloria Joan Ling, 24, a Fortune mag staffer. She said yes.
Oh, joyful day! But when the Santa Monica registry office refused to issue a marriage license due to the bride's Chinese heritage, the couple had to roam as far east as Albuquerque, where a call from director King Vidor succeeded in urging clerk May Cleghorn to stay open late to issue the Jagger-Ling license. A handy justice of the peace performed the ceremony in the lobby of the Bernalillo County Clerk's office, and the happy kids were free to return to Tinseltown, married in the eyes of God and Albuquerque, but outsiders in their home.
See Dean Jagger and Robert Mitchum in 1947's Pursued.
Welcome, L.A. Times readers
It was our pleasure to host the Times' intrepid Cindy Chang on our Dahlia Day Crime Bus tour to sites macabre and fascinating. Her story is a terrific snapshot of the mood of the tour and our aims in writing the blog and dragging folks around the city.
We were thrilled to discover we could sell out two full sized tour busses with only minimal publicity on this and other blogs, and in the L.A. Alternative, and are already planning future Crime Bus and Crime Walk outings to introduce more retro gore hounds to the forgotten weirdness of our city. So sign up for the mailing list* if you'd like to be informed when reservations open for the next tour, and check out this podcast, a sampling of the Dahlia Day route. But be warned: there's a lot of humor, but it is not for the squeamish.
yours in darkest noir (with a cherry on top),
Kim
*AOL's browser does not recognize the sign up page. Please use another browser to join.
We were thrilled to discover we could sell out two full sized tour busses with only minimal publicity on this and other blogs, and in the L.A. Alternative, and are already planning future Crime Bus and Crime Walk outings to introduce more retro gore hounds to the forgotten weirdness of our city. So sign up for the mailing list* if you'd like to be informed when reservations open for the next tour, and check out this podcast, a sampling of the Dahlia Day route. But be warned: there's a lot of humor, but it is not for the squeamish.
yours in darkest noir (with a cherry on top),
Kim
*AOL's browser does not recognize the sign up page. Please use another browser to join.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
A Woman's Home Is A Dentist's Castle
January 24, 1947
West Hollywood
Two days after Eviction Day at the fabulous Mount Kalmia Castle, fancy flophouse at 8311 Sunset Blvd., the 38 hapless lodgers of ex-Follies star "Queen" Patricia Noblesse Hogan continue to hustle for new homes. Back in February, the grand, turreted residence overlooking the Sunset Strip was sold to dentist Manuel H. Haig at auction for $83,000, but Her Majesty had nimbly ignored every order to quit the premises.
Until four days ago, that is, when the Sheriff arrived with a twelve-hour notice to vacate, which was the first any of the tenants--from the $300 a month suite men to the gals who shared the basement barracks for $85/per--heard about the sale. 29 hours after the deadline, moving vans still crawled up and down the hill like ants, bearing away segments of the Queen's $300,000 trousseau, while the tenants sat glumly on hastily-packed trunks awaiting taxi cabs to who-knew-where. And on the driveway, Tootsie Berry, Hogan's daughter, tried to calm her boxers Major and Colonel. Tootsie wasn't worried; the Queen would always land on her feet.
West Hollywood
Two days after Eviction Day at the fabulous Mount Kalmia Castle, fancy flophouse at 8311 Sunset Blvd., the 38 hapless lodgers of ex-Follies star "Queen" Patricia Noblesse Hogan continue to hustle for new homes. Back in February, the grand, turreted residence overlooking the Sunset Strip was sold to dentist Manuel H. Haig at auction for $83,000, but Her Majesty had nimbly ignored every order to quit the premises.
Until four days ago, that is, when the Sheriff arrived with a twelve-hour notice to vacate, which was the first any of the tenants--from the $300 a month suite men to the gals who shared the basement barracks for $85/per--heard about the sale. 29 hours after the deadline, moving vans still crawled up and down the hill like ants, bearing away segments of the Queen's $300,000 trousseau, while the tenants sat glumly on hastily-packed trunks awaiting taxi cabs to who-knew-where. And on the driveway, Tootsie Berry, Hogan's daughter, tried to calm her boxers Major and Colonel. Tootsie wasn't worried; the Queen would always land on her feet.
1947project in the news
Tomorrow (Wednesday) night, Fox-11 News in Los Angeles features the 1947project Crime Bus Tour during the 10pm newscast. And on Thursday, pick up the L.A. Times Calendar section to read all about the Dahlia Day tour and the folks behind the blog and Crime Bus.
We anticipate a lot of interest in seats on future Crime Bus tours, so please remind your friends who are interested in riding to subscribe to our mailing list, so they'll be among the first to hear when a tour is announced.
yours noirishly,
Kim
We anticipate a lot of interest in seats on future Crime Bus tours, so please remind your friends who are interested in riding to subscribe to our mailing list, so they'll be among the first to hear when a tour is announced.
yours noirishly,
Kim
...I Think I'm Sinking Down...
January 24, 1947
Chicago
Future singer-songwriter, and mythologizer of a uniquely seedy '70s noir L.A., Warren Zevon is born today.
Chicago
Future singer-songwriter, and mythologizer of a uniquely seedy '70s noir L.A., Warren Zevon is born today.
Monday, January 23, 2006
A contemporary pop interlude from the editrix
Taking a momentary break from historic gore and wackiness, I'd like to extend an invitation to SoCal readers to join me at Book Soup on the Sunset Strip on Weds., February 8, at 7pm for a reading, book signing and q&a for my 33 1/3 book "Neutral Milk Hotel's 'In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.'" This is the oral history of a fascinating and influential psychedelic rock band of the nineties who spun out of a wonderful creative community called Elephant 6.
WHAT: Kim Cooper reads from Neutral Milk Hotel band bio
WHERE: Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., WeHo CA 90069. Free lot parking.
WHEN: Weds., February 8, 2006, 7:00pm
More info.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled noir.
WHAT: Kim Cooper reads from Neutral Milk Hotel band bio
WHERE: Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., WeHo CA 90069. Free lot parking.
WHEN: Weds., February 8, 2006, 7:00pm
More info.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled noir.
Florence--change the locks!
January 23, 1947
Bell
Theodore K. Oakvid, now 64, was young and spry in November 1928, when he murdered his 12-year-old daughter Sophia with a hammer, then slashed his own throat in a failed suicide attempt. The victim was found by her brother Algird in her bedroom at 7026 Flora Avenue when he went to wake her up.
When revived, Oakvid explained that he had feared for the child's sanity, and had killed her because she would have been unable to navigate the rough waters of adulthood. But Algird told police that his father had first tried to kill Sophy when she was an infant, and over the years and his many comings and goings in the family had constantly harped on the inferiority of girl children.
Alienists declared Oakvid insane and shipped him off to Mendocino and Patton State Hospitals, from which he now re-emerges, having, it is said, been cured. He told reporters that it had been 14 years since he'd seen his wife or son, and that he reckoned he'd head out to San Berdoo to look up some relatives, among them Florence Powell.
Bell
Theodore K. Oakvid, now 64, was young and spry in November 1928, when he murdered his 12-year-old daughter Sophia with a hammer, then slashed his own throat in a failed suicide attempt. The victim was found by her brother Algird in her bedroom at 7026 Flora Avenue when he went to wake her up.
When revived, Oakvid explained that he had feared for the child's sanity, and had killed her because she would have been unable to navigate the rough waters of adulthood. But Algird told police that his father had first tried to kill Sophy when she was an infant, and over the years and his many comings and goings in the family had constantly harped on the inferiority of girl children.
Alienists declared Oakvid insane and shipped him off to Mendocino and Patton State Hospitals, from which he now re-emerges, having, it is said, been cured. He told reporters that it had been 14 years since he'd seen his wife or son, and that he reckoned he'd head out to San Berdoo to look up some relatives, among them Florence Powell.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
And you think you've got neighbor troubles!
January 22, 1947
Los Angeles
18 months ago, the tensions between Mrs. Lillian Goldberg, 1921 Garth Ave., and Mrs. Martha Kelly, of 1917, exploded. For more than a year, the families had endured mutual accusations of destroyed fences, ripped up landscaping, tossed rocks and ill-aimed hoses.
Then, under the pretense of making peace, La Goldberg asked La Kelly over to meet a prospective buyer for the Goldberg manse, and share a pot of tea... but as they walked together to 1921, according to La Kelly, La Goldberg grabbed her around the throat and chortled "I've been wanting to do this for a long time!" Soon the two women were rolling around in the flower bed. The residents of Garth Ave., by now used to such hijinx, gathered around to watch the fun.
Then from the Goldberg house emerged a man dressed like a cowboy--actually R. G. Hampton, a private detective hired to stay in the home and observe such incidents--firing a gun and demanding the fighting stop or he'd shoot the combatants! Mrs. Goldberg was arrested for disturbing the peace, with Hampton charged for firing a gun within city limits.
During court time soon after the incident, La Kelly acknowledged that she washed her sidewalk whenever La Goldberg passed over it, telling neighbors that this was a necessary chore whenever "that dirty rat" passed by. But she refused to admit to throwing rocks at the Goldberg house, and painted herself as the innocent victim. This tone continued in today's court session, as she elaborated on the tale of assault, including the allegation that Goldberg's husband David and 16-year-old daughter Norma assisted in the beating.
Mrs. Goldberg is seeking $201,000 damages for malicious prosecution, while Mrs. Kelly considers her own damages worth a comparatively paltry $200,200. The trial continues tomorrow.
Los Angeles
18 months ago, the tensions between Mrs. Lillian Goldberg, 1921 Garth Ave., and Mrs. Martha Kelly, of 1917, exploded. For more than a year, the families had endured mutual accusations of destroyed fences, ripped up landscaping, tossed rocks and ill-aimed hoses.
Then, under the pretense of making peace, La Goldberg asked La Kelly over to meet a prospective buyer for the Goldberg manse, and share a pot of tea... but as they walked together to 1921, according to La Kelly, La Goldberg grabbed her around the throat and chortled "I've been wanting to do this for a long time!" Soon the two women were rolling around in the flower bed. The residents of Garth Ave., by now used to such hijinx, gathered around to watch the fun.
Then from the Goldberg house emerged a man dressed like a cowboy--actually R. G. Hampton, a private detective hired to stay in the home and observe such incidents--firing a gun and demanding the fighting stop or he'd shoot the combatants! Mrs. Goldberg was arrested for disturbing the peace, with Hampton charged for firing a gun within city limits.
During court time soon after the incident, La Kelly acknowledged that she washed her sidewalk whenever La Goldberg passed over it, telling neighbors that this was a necessary chore whenever "that dirty rat" passed by. But she refused to admit to throwing rocks at the Goldberg house, and painted herself as the innocent victim. This tone continued in today's court session, as she elaborated on the tale of assault, including the allegation that Goldberg's husband David and 16-year-old daughter Norma assisted in the beating.
Mrs. Goldberg is seeking $201,000 damages for malicious prosecution, while Mrs. Kelly considers her own damages worth a comparatively paltry $200,200. The trial continues tomorrow.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Loose Lips Sink Ships
January 21, 1947
San Pedro
When Jay Dee Chitwood fell in front of a truck near 203rd Street and Western Avenue in August 1944, the coroner thought he had a simple accidental death on his table. But look closer. Cause of death: punctured lung? Hardly a typical injury for someone hit by a car.
Only nobody did look closer until today, when officers picked up Mrs. Helen Chitwood, who had been yapping to a gentleman friend about how she'd stabbed her husband twice and watched him fall into the street, and the dopey cops never noticed the knife wounds. Detectives dropped by Helen's pad at 888 1/2 Hamilton Way to ask if that's how it happened. Sure, she told them, we had a fight and it happened just like that.
Mrs. Chitwood is cooling her heels in the San Pedro Jail, and the coroner has got some 'splaining to do.
San Pedro
When Jay Dee Chitwood fell in front of a truck near 203rd Street and Western Avenue in August 1944, the coroner thought he had a simple accidental death on his table. But look closer. Cause of death: punctured lung? Hardly a typical injury for someone hit by a car.
Only nobody did look closer until today, when officers picked up Mrs. Helen Chitwood, who had been yapping to a gentleman friend about how she'd stabbed her husband twice and watched him fall into the street, and the dopey cops never noticed the knife wounds. Detectives dropped by Helen's pad at 888 1/2 Hamilton Way to ask if that's how it happened. Sure, she told them, we had a fight and it happened just like that.
Mrs. Chitwood is cooling her heels in the San Pedro Jail, and the coroner has got some 'splaining to do.
Friday, January 20, 2006
The Strange End of Mr. and Mrs. Smith
January 20, 1947
Los Feliz
Everyone says Henry R. Smith, 20, was a different boy when he came home after his Navy service. Morose, nervous. Still, two months ago he was all smiles when he married Barbara Anne Chilton, 19. The newlyweds moved into Barbara's parents' home at 1612 Hillhurst. Chester Chilton is a building contractor, and Henry went to work as his assistant.
Last night the young couple was celebrating Barbara's return from a trip to San Francisco. They went out on the town with Chester, and returned to find the house thick with the smell of burning meat; a ham had been forgotten in the oven. (This would never have happened if the Mrs. were home, but she's in Detroit settling a family estate.)
Chester raced to the kitchen to deal with the mess, while Henry and Barbara retired to their bedroom. Half an hour later, a terrible boom split the evening's peace. Henry ran out into the hall, shotgun in hand, and cried "My God, Pop, kill me. I just shot Barbara!"
Chester passed his son-in-law and saw his daughter splayed out on the bedroom floor, shot through the eyes. Henry came up behind him. Chester wheeled and raced out of the house, thinking he had to call the police, get help, get away, do something...
Another shot rang out. Henry Smith had blown his brains out.
Los Feliz
Everyone says Henry R. Smith, 20, was a different boy when he came home after his Navy service. Morose, nervous. Still, two months ago he was all smiles when he married Barbara Anne Chilton, 19. The newlyweds moved into Barbara's parents' home at 1612 Hillhurst. Chester Chilton is a building contractor, and Henry went to work as his assistant.
Last night the young couple was celebrating Barbara's return from a trip to San Francisco. They went out on the town with Chester, and returned to find the house thick with the smell of burning meat; a ham had been forgotten in the oven. (This would never have happened if the Mrs. were home, but she's in Detroit settling a family estate.)
Chester raced to the kitchen to deal with the mess, while Henry and Barbara retired to their bedroom. Half an hour later, a terrible boom split the evening's peace. Henry ran out into the hall, shotgun in hand, and cried "My God, Pop, kill me. I just shot Barbara!"
Chester passed his son-in-law and saw his daughter splayed out on the bedroom floor, shot through the eyes. Henry came up behind him. Chester wheeled and raced out of the house, thinking he had to call the police, get help, get away, do something...
Another shot rang out. Henry Smith had blown his brains out.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Held Up in Hollywood
January 19, 1947
Hollywood
Stepping from a restaurant at 7050 Hollywood Boulevard towards their parked car, Hollywood Roosevelt Orchestra leader Freddy Rhea, his contractor roommate David Picken and Bunny Gravert, songbird with Rhea's outfit, were robbed by a trio of trash-talkin' banditos who relieved both men of their watches and Rhea of $70 in cash and $2000 in checks. The lady escaped unmolested.
Hollywood
Stepping from a restaurant at 7050 Hollywood Boulevard towards their parked car, Hollywood Roosevelt Orchestra leader Freddy Rhea, his contractor roommate David Picken and Bunny Gravert, songbird with Rhea's outfit, were robbed by a trio of trash-talkin' banditos who relieved both men of their watches and Rhea of $70 in cash and $2000 in checks. The lady escaped unmolested.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Madwoman of South Gate
January 18, 1947
South Gate
Two years ago, when she was 20, Mrs. Elaine Chatt Shedden gave birth to her second son, Robert, and suffered a nervous breakdown. She was voluntarily committed to Camarillo State Hospital, and spent three months there. Her marriage fell apart, and Mr. Shedden moved to Chicago. Elaine and the children settled in with her parents at 9230 Virginia Ave. and for a while things weren't so bad.
Then they were. Mrs. Mabel Vanessa Winters Terwilliger, 46, lurched out into her yard, a knife wound in her back. Daughter Elaine came after her, and plunged the blade into Mabel's side. The older woman was D.O.A. on arrival at Maywood Hospital.
Elaine, weirdly calm as only the mad can be, had changed out of her bloody dress and sandals and was scrubbing her hands when Capt. T.R. Chase and Sgt. Joe Heymans arrived. Sure, she stabbed her mother. The woman had nagged her about doing the dishes, and was plotting with her brother Robert Winters to have her involuntarily committed to a state institution. "I just couldn't stand it," said Elaine.
The children witnessed the incident, and neighbors, hearing screams as Elaine chased her dying mother out of the house and 40 feet onto the drive, called police.
South Gate
Two years ago, when she was 20, Mrs. Elaine Chatt Shedden gave birth to her second son, Robert, and suffered a nervous breakdown. She was voluntarily committed to Camarillo State Hospital, and spent three months there. Her marriage fell apart, and Mr. Shedden moved to Chicago. Elaine and the children settled in with her parents at 9230 Virginia Ave. and for a while things weren't so bad.
Then they were. Mrs. Mabel Vanessa Winters Terwilliger, 46, lurched out into her yard, a knife wound in her back. Daughter Elaine came after her, and plunged the blade into Mabel's side. The older woman was D.O.A. on arrival at Maywood Hospital.
Elaine, weirdly calm as only the mad can be, had changed out of her bloody dress and sandals and was scrubbing her hands when Capt. T.R. Chase and Sgt. Joe Heymans arrived. Sure, she stabbed her mother. The woman had nagged her about doing the dishes, and was plotting with her brother Robert Winters to have her involuntarily committed to a state institution. "I just couldn't stand it," said Elaine.
The children witnessed the incident, and neighbors, hearing screams as Elaine chased her dying mother out of the house and 40 feet onto the drive, called police.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Memo to Burglars: Stay off Miz Jessie's Porch!
January 17, 1947
Los Angeles
Mrs. Jessie Founder, all 100 pounds and 64-years of her, betrayed bravery beyond her station when a would-be burglar was spotted on her back porch. Matthew R. Rudolph, 21, armed with a 2 x 4 and a bottle, grappled with Mr. Founder for the latter's gun, so Miz Jessie crept up behind the louse with a lead pipe and started swinging. Rudolph suffered head injuries and died hours later in the prison ward at County General.
The Founders live at 1750 E. 118th Street, ; before his head was caved in, Mr. Rudolph hung his hat at 1644 1/2 Palm Ave.
Los Angeles
Mrs. Jessie Founder, all 100 pounds and 64-years of her, betrayed bravery beyond her station when a would-be burglar was spotted on her back porch. Matthew R. Rudolph, 21, armed with a 2 x 4 and a bottle, grappled with Mr. Founder for the latter's gun, so Miz Jessie crept up behind the louse with a lead pipe and started swinging. Rudolph suffered head injuries and died hours later in the prison ward at County General.
The Founders live at 1750 E. 118th Street, ; before his head was caved in, Mr. Rudolph hung his hat at 1644 1/2 Palm Ave.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Abandoned Oil Fields Are Unhealthy For Children And Other Living Things
January 16, 1947
Banning Homes, San Pedro
After a lengthy search, the body of 4-year-old Bert F. Long was discovered yesterday in eight feet of water in an open sump hole in the oil field just half a mile east of the housing project where he lived with his parents and five-year-old brother.
It appears that Bert wandered out of his yard while his mother Ola May was at a dentist's appointment, and his grandmother was tending to brother Johnny, who was sick in bed. Local drugstore operator T. R. McQuigg reported seeing a child who matched Bert's description around 4pm Monday, but that was the last anyone saw of the child until two juvenile officers discovered the tiny floating corpse in the hole that had recently been drilled, but left uncovered, by oil line repairmen.
Banning Homes, San Pedro
After a lengthy search, the body of 4-year-old Bert F. Long was discovered yesterday in eight feet of water in an open sump hole in the oil field just half a mile east of the housing project where he lived with his parents and five-year-old brother.
It appears that Bert wandered out of his yard while his mother Ola May was at a dentist's appointment, and his grandmother was tending to brother Johnny, who was sick in bed. Local drugstore operator T. R. McQuigg reported seeing a child who matched Bert's description around 4pm Monday, but that was the last anyone saw of the child until two juvenile officers discovered the tiny floating corpse in the hole that had recently been drilled, but left uncovered, by oil line repairmen.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Come Ride the Crime Bus - SRO!
NEWSFLASH FRIDAY 1/13 9am: We have 2 last minute openings on the Sunday 1/15 Crime Bus. These are only available to on a first come first served basis to someone who checks their email frequently and can make immediate payment by paypal ($49.74) if told that the seats are being held for them today. Preference will be given to people who want both tickets as opposed to a single. Is this you? If so, email amscray@gmail.com promptly, and await further instructions.
***
We now sold out for both days of January's 1947project Crime Bus tour, but if you'd like to be on a future tour, please sign up for our mailing list.
On the Crime Bus, each $24 ticket entitles you to a guided 5-hour bus tour through fascinating and forgotten Los Angeles crime, social and architectural history-- including a thorough debunking of the Black Dahlia myth machine courtesy of BD researcher Larry Harnisch-- on the weekend of the 59th anniversary of Elizabeth Short's murder. You'll also get a CD of a rare 1950 Black Dahlia radio play, and a chance to connect with fellow LA history fiends.
***
We now sold out for both days of January's 1947project Crime Bus tour, but if you'd like to be on a future tour, please sign up for our mailing list.
On the Crime Bus, each $24 ticket entitles you to a guided 5-hour bus tour through fascinating and forgotten Los Angeles crime, social and architectural history-- including a thorough debunking of the Black Dahlia myth machine courtesy of BD researcher Larry Harnisch-- on the weekend of the 59th anniversary of Elizabeth Short's murder. You'll also get a CD of a rare 1950 Black Dahlia radio play, and a chance to connect with fellow LA history fiends.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Thursday, January 12, 2006
The Case of the Dolt on the Bumper
January 12, 1947
Long Beach
Driving home to 1572 W. Seventh Street with his wife, Frank R. Cross heard a weird rattle in the car.
"Honey," said Frank, "You take the wheel, and I'm going to just hop up on the bumper and see if I can figure out what's going on."
"But Frank, I can't! You know I haven't driven a car in eight years!"
Frank insisted, and so they stopped, swapped, and hubby hopped up on the bumper... and promptly disappeared. Mrs. Cross heard a bump, but not a rattle, and drove on for a spell. Then she wondered if the bump might have been Frank, so she stopped--fortunately, since the bump named Frank was being dragged beneath her wheels.
Mr. Cross is in Seaside Hospital tonight with multiple injuries, his condition listed as satisfactory.
Long Beach
Driving home to 1572 W. Seventh Street with his wife, Frank R. Cross heard a weird rattle in the car.
"Honey," said Frank, "You take the wheel, and I'm going to just hop up on the bumper and see if I can figure out what's going on."
"But Frank, I can't! You know I haven't driven a car in eight years!"
Frank insisted, and so they stopped, swapped, and hubby hopped up on the bumper... and promptly disappeared. Mrs. Cross heard a bump, but not a rattle, and drove on for a spell. Then she wondered if the bump might have been Frank, so she stopped--fortunately, since the bump named Frank was being dragged beneath her wheels.
Mr. Cross is in Seaside Hospital tonight with multiple injuries, his condition listed as satisfactory.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Snaring Pigeons in the Park
January 11, 1947
Santa Monica
The day began with two elderly men and a flock of pigeons, all enjoying the breeze in Ocean Park. It ended with one man in police custody and another dead on the sidewalk, a horrified widow and the pigeons frightened away. Madness, sleepy Santa Monica-style.
Harry Jacoby, 53, of 216 Ashland Ave. vehemently objected to 68-year-old watchman Charles LeRoy Bonner of 2829 1/2 Ocean Front's attempts to snare pigeons in the park. After it was all over, Bonner told police that the younger man had twice tried to start a fight over the snaring, knocking Bonner down and then smashing his glasses.
Finally, Bonner fought back, and the two men grappled across the sidewalk. They fell together, but only Bonner got up. Harry Jacoby was dead on the ground, and Charles Bonner taken into custody on suspicion of murder. Mrs. Jacoby became hysterical at the scene and had to be restrained. And above them all, the pigeons wheeled, now careless and oblivious to the tiny men below.
Santa Monica
The day began with two elderly men and a flock of pigeons, all enjoying the breeze in Ocean Park. It ended with one man in police custody and another dead on the sidewalk, a horrified widow and the pigeons frightened away. Madness, sleepy Santa Monica-style.
Harry Jacoby, 53, of 216 Ashland Ave. vehemently objected to 68-year-old watchman Charles LeRoy Bonner of 2829 1/2 Ocean Front's attempts to snare pigeons in the park. After it was all over, Bonner told police that the younger man had twice tried to start a fight over the snaring, knocking Bonner down and then smashing his glasses.
Finally, Bonner fought back, and the two men grappled across the sidewalk. They fell together, but only Bonner got up. Harry Jacoby was dead on the ground, and Charles Bonner taken into custody on suspicion of murder. Mrs. Jacoby became hysterical at the scene and had to be restrained. And above them all, the pigeons wheeled, now careless and oblivious to the tiny men below.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
She Got A Bad Wrap
January 10, 1947
Los Angeles
Sylvia Blomier, 21-year-old gift wrapping clerk in a downtown department store, was ordered held for trial in Superior Court today on five counts of forging her customers' signatures on sales receipts.
The motive: acquiring fancy duds, to the tune of $1479 retail. Judge Edwin L. Jefferson ruled that the girl be held in County Jail, as she was unable to meet a $2000 bond.
Los Angeles
Sylvia Blomier, 21-year-old gift wrapping clerk in a downtown department store, was ordered held for trial in Superior Court today on five counts of forging her customers' signatures on sales receipts.
The motive: acquiring fancy duds, to the tune of $1479 retail. Judge Edwin L. Jefferson ruled that the girl be held in County Jail, as she was unable to meet a $2000 bond.
Free drinks at Black Dahlia book event, Thursday night
We direct our readers to information on an event hosted by the LA Press Club in Hollywood on Thursday, a reading and reception for Donald H. Wolfe's new book The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul, and Murder that Transfixed Los Angeles
Larry says: Having been through the D.A.’s files on the Dahlia case (I inventoried and indexed every scrap of paper) I can say definitively that Bugsy Siegel, Norman Chandler, Jack Dragna and Brenda Allen are never mentioned.
In fact, the D.A.’s files say 1) Elizabeth Short was not a prostitute and 2) she wasn’t in Los Angeles in 1944 or 1945. According to the D.A.’s files and everything else I have ever found, she arrived in late July or early August 1946.
I chatted with Wolfe while he was going through the files at the D.A.’s office so I know he had the opportunity to find those documents. He apparently just ignored them.
The D.A.’s files, incidentally, aren’t some neat archive. They’re papers that were saved when the D.A. was cleaning house and were just shoveled into boxes. Material from different cases is mixed up, including unlabeled photographs from other murders that got put into the Dahlia material–at least one turns up incorrectly identified in a certain “true” crime book.
Siegel’s voluminous FBI files are online at the bureau’s FOIA site. They are heavily censored but show he was under virtually constant surveillance from at least the middle of 1946. Agents saw him (and Virginia Hill) move out of the Chateau Marmont and into the house on Linden on Jan. 14, 1947, and files say he and Hill left for Palm Springs the next day. I refer specifically to FBI document 62-81518-406 and surrounding material.
I just got the book and haven’t read it yet as I’m getting ready for the Crime Bus tour this weekend, but anything that relies on “Severed,” which is 25% mistakes and 50% fiction, cannot be trusted. I’ll put on my waders and slog through this opus when I get a chance.
Larry Harnisch
Monday, January 09, 2006
While Mom and Pop Are Away
January 9, 1947
Los Angeles
A teenage party at 4156 Rosewood Ave. went terribly wrong tonight when 15-year-old Alan Jerome Gordon was accidentally shot by Edward Eisenhart, also 15, and Gordon's closest pal. It seems Loraine Collins, 14, brought her daddy's automatic pistol to Marcia Bronstein's soiree, and handed it over to Edward. Edward went to demonstrate the safety mechanism, after removing the clip, and squeezed off one unlucky bullet. "I'm shot through the heart," cried Alan, who died.
Police were called and got to hear a fanciful tale of a mysterious prowler who'd climbed through the window, killed Alan and run off, but the truth soon came out.
The dead boy lived at 126 Magnolia Court, Compton, his best friend and killer at 5449 Virginia Ave., and wee gun moll Loraine at 516 Commonwealth Ave.
Los Angeles
A teenage party at 4156 Rosewood Ave. went terribly wrong tonight when 15-year-old Alan Jerome Gordon was accidentally shot by Edward Eisenhart, also 15, and Gordon's closest pal. It seems Loraine Collins, 14, brought her daddy's automatic pistol to Marcia Bronstein's soiree, and handed it over to Edward. Edward went to demonstrate the safety mechanism, after removing the clip, and squeezed off one unlucky bullet. "I'm shot through the heart," cried Alan, who died.
Police were called and got to hear a fanciful tale of a mysterious prowler who'd climbed through the window, killed Alan and run off, but the truth soon came out.
The dead boy lived at 126 Magnolia Court, Compton, his best friend and killer at 5449 Virginia Ave., and wee gun moll Loraine at 516 Commonwealth Ave.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Drown A Cold, Feed a Fever
January 8, 1947
Lincoln Heights
Streetcar motorman Jesse Viscarra, 33, is not one to suffer a cold lightly. Returning home to 2403 N. Broadway on his lunch break after sneezing and wheezing all morning, he told his wife that his Army buddies had always sworn by "the old reliable" when a bug struck, and he reckoned he'd do the same.
So after snorting a snootful, Viscarra returned to his route and promptly crashed into a car driven by Mrs. Olga Milosevick, of 733 Bernard Street, at the corner of College and North Broadway. Arriving officers got a whiff of Viscarra's breath and whisked him off to the Lincoln Heights drunk tank, while Viscarra moaned that he'd never had an accident before, and that the lady had turned in front of him.
Well, so what if she did? He's still admittedly guilty of California Penal Code 367F, operating a streetcar while inebriated.
Lincoln Heights
Streetcar motorman Jesse Viscarra, 33, is not one to suffer a cold lightly. Returning home to 2403 N. Broadway on his lunch break after sneezing and wheezing all morning, he told his wife that his Army buddies had always sworn by "the old reliable" when a bug struck, and he reckoned he'd do the same.
So after snorting a snootful, Viscarra returned to his route and promptly crashed into a car driven by Mrs. Olga Milosevick, of 733 Bernard Street, at the corner of College and North Broadway. Arriving officers got a whiff of Viscarra's breath and whisked him off to the Lincoln Heights drunk tank, while Viscarra moaned that he'd never had an accident before, and that the lady had turned in front of him.
Well, so what if she did? He's still admittedly guilty of California Penal Code 367F, operating a streetcar while inebriated.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
The Child Army of San Pedro
January 7, 1947
San Pedro
Police have arrested eight youngsters on charges of burglary related to the brazen theft of weaponry from the Fort McArthur armory. The boys sawed through a lock and entered the building where returning troops' weapons were stored, making off with a veritable arsenal of a dozen automatic pistols, four carbines plus jungle knives, bayonets and ammo.
The thieves were discovered when they returned to the area to dig up their plunder, which they had hidden for later pick up.
San Pedro
Police have arrested eight youngsters on charges of burglary related to the brazen theft of weaponry from the Fort McArthur armory. The boys sawed through a lock and entered the building where returning troops' weapons were stored, making off with a veritable arsenal of a dozen automatic pistols, four carbines plus jungle knives, bayonets and ammo.
The thieves were discovered when they returned to the area to dig up their plunder, which they had hidden for later pick up.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Varmints!
January 6, 1947
Burbank
The four boys who rented ponies for an hour's canter from the Rocking Horse Stables at 470 Riverside Dr. seemed like nice kids to manager Roy Brown, but a day after they saddled up he's yet to see the front of 'em. The names and addresses they left were false--one is a Van Nuys funeral parlor--and Brown can offer few clues save that one of the quartet walked with crutches. With the horses and their gear, Brown is out $6000--an expensive lesson in the low moral character of the youth of 1947.
Burbank
The four boys who rented ponies for an hour's canter from the Rocking Horse Stables at 470 Riverside Dr. seemed like nice kids to manager Roy Brown, but a day after they saddled up he's yet to see the front of 'em. The names and addresses they left were false--one is a Van Nuys funeral parlor--and Brown can offer few clues save that one of the quartet walked with crutches. With the horses and their gear, Brown is out $6000--an expensive lesson in the low moral character of the youth of 1947.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
The Hun in Hollywood
January 5, 1947
Hollywood
The Nazis were afoot tonight, making yet another assault on the walls of the Temple Beth El synagogue at 1508 N. Wilton Place. Alert Hun-hunters will recall that the edifice was streaked with oil in a 1937 incident, and defaced with swastikas and graffiti reading "Heil Hitler" and "Viva Il Duce" the following year.
The modern anti-Semite works quicker, and in potentially more deadly fashion. Witnesses told investigating officers that a man pulled his car in front of the Temple and fired 14 rifle shots into the front door, then sped off. Bullets were later recovered from the back wall of the building.
Hollywood
The Nazis were afoot tonight, making yet another assault on the walls of the Temple Beth El synagogue at 1508 N. Wilton Place. Alert Hun-hunters will recall that the edifice was streaked with oil in a 1937 incident, and defaced with swastikas and graffiti reading "Heil Hitler" and "Viva Il Duce" the following year.
The modern anti-Semite works quicker, and in potentially more deadly fashion. Witnesses told investigating officers that a man pulled his car in front of the Temple and fired 14 rifle shots into the front door, then sped off. Bullets were later recovered from the back wall of the building.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
One Final Gift
January 4, 1947
Los Angeles
Bernard E. Schwartz died in his car near the intersection of Stocker and Baldwin Streets. He had run a hose from the exhaust pipe into the cab. When passing motorists discovered the body, they also found a note directing that Schwartz' corneas be donated to someone who needed them.
Unfortunately, Schwartz had been dead too long for his eyes to be transplanted. However, his friend and executor Arthur Wasson has honored the dead man's desires by arranging for all usable portions of Schwartz' body to be used for the aid of science at Medical School of the University of Southern California.
Schwartz, a former Naval chief petty officer who lived at 3835 W. Seventh Street, left a poignant note explaining his passing as "a simple case of suicide, induced by my complete lack of desire to continue living." He was thirty years old.
Los Angeles
Bernard E. Schwartz died in his car near the intersection of Stocker and Baldwin Streets. He had run a hose from the exhaust pipe into the cab. When passing motorists discovered the body, they also found a note directing that Schwartz' corneas be donated to someone who needed them.
Unfortunately, Schwartz had been dead too long for his eyes to be transplanted. However, his friend and executor Arthur Wasson has honored the dead man's desires by arranging for all usable portions of Schwartz' body to be used for the aid of science at Medical School of the University of Southern California.
Schwartz, a former Naval chief petty officer who lived at 3835 W. Seventh Street, left a poignant note explaining his passing as "a simple case of suicide, induced by my complete lack of desire to continue living." He was thirty years old.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Employee of the Month
January 3, 1947
Echo Park
The two robbers, one tall, one short, both shabby-looking, entered the California Bank branch and Sunset and Alvarado during the afternoon rush. At first they waited for a turn at LaVonne Quigley's window, then made a sudden switch to Edward G. Miske's teller station.
It was a bad choice. For when the tall man slid the note reading "This is a stickup. Give the alarm and we'll kill you. We want your money." across the counter, Miske looked right down the barrel of an automatic pistol and snapped "You'll not get any money!" Then he reached for the alarm and was promptly shot in the arm, severing an artery.
The two men rushed out of the bank, up Alvarado, to Reservoir and into a waiting Yellow Cab. But their bad luck wasn't over. Gerald Hough had just parked behind the cab, and reported the license to police. By nightfall, hundreds of officers were searching the city for the men, while brave, foolish Edward Miske celebrated his 26th birthday at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Despite losing a lot of blood, he is expected to recover.
Echo Park
The two robbers, one tall, one short, both shabby-looking, entered the California Bank branch and Sunset and Alvarado during the afternoon rush. At first they waited for a turn at LaVonne Quigley's window, then made a sudden switch to Edward G. Miske's teller station.
It was a bad choice. For when the tall man slid the note reading "This is a stickup. Give the alarm and we'll kill you. We want your money." across the counter, Miske looked right down the barrel of an automatic pistol and snapped "You'll not get any money!" Then he reached for the alarm and was promptly shot in the arm, severing an artery.
The two men rushed out of the bank, up Alvarado, to Reservoir and into a waiting Yellow Cab. But their bad luck wasn't over. Gerald Hough had just parked behind the cab, and reported the license to police. By nightfall, hundreds of officers were searching the city for the men, while brave, foolish Edward Miske celebrated his 26th birthday at Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Despite losing a lot of blood, he is expected to recover.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Hatching An Egg
January 2, 1947
West Hollywood
When confronted by a would-be bandit in the 8900 block of Sunset Blvd., Miss Eleanor Falk, 30-year-old bookkeeper for a nightclub at 9039 Sunset, refused to hand over the sack containing $2000 in receipts. Instead, the clever girl dropped the bag and sat on it, then commenced to yell so forcefully that the crook hopped back into his accomplice's car and took a powder. Then the unflappable miss continued along to the bank, where she made her deposit as planned.
West Hollywood
When confronted by a would-be bandit in the 8900 block of Sunset Blvd., Miss Eleanor Falk, 30-year-old bookkeeper for a nightclub at 9039 Sunset, refused to hand over the sack containing $2000 in receipts. Instead, the clever girl dropped the bag and sat on it, then commenced to yell so forcefully that the crook hopped back into his accomplice's car and took a powder. Then the unflappable miss continued along to the bank, where she made her deposit as planned.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Where There's Smoke...
January 1, 1947
Downtown
The lady on Bunker Hill saw smoke drifting and phoned the fire department. "Hurry! City Hall's on fire!" All available trucks raced to the scene, and uniformed firemen scaled the steps with crowbars and axes at the ready, caught the express elevator and searched out the flames--but there were none. It seems the caller had merely seen a small cloud pass before the venerable tower, and the cloud had passed by, leaving no destruction in its wake.
Downtown
The lady on Bunker Hill saw smoke drifting and phoned the fire department. "Hurry! City Hall's on fire!" All available trucks raced to the scene, and uniformed firemen scaled the steps with crowbars and axes at the ready, caught the express elevator and searched out the flames--but there were none. It seems the caller had merely seen a small cloud pass before the venerable tower, and the cloud had passed by, leaving no destruction in its wake.
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