Matt Weinstock, Nov. 9, 1960

Nov. 9, 1960: Norman Mailer’s Esquire article on the 1960 Democratic National Convention gets a frosty reaction from Matt Weinstock. CONFIDENTIAL TO "BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED" (in the office romance): After investing nine years in this man, I diagnose the case as "hopeless." The cure: Major surgery. Cut him out of your life. You are only 28 and will live.

Nixon Accuses Kennedy of Using Notes During Debate

Oct. 14, 1960: Vice President Richard Nixon accuses Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) of breaking their agreement by using notes during their televised debate. Press secretary Pierre Salinger said the only item Kennedy had was the text of President Eisenhower's letter to Sen. Green, but later added that Kennedy had a “copy of a page from a book by Gen. Matthew Ridgway, former Army chief of staff, and some quotations from the late Secretary of State Dulles." If you recall the debates, you'll remember that Nixon sweated heavily under the hot TV lights, and The Times says, "The studio, at the request of his aides, had lowered the temperature from its normal 72 deg. to a chill 58 but even so, he mopped perspiration from his upper lip and chin 13 times during the program while cameras were focused elsewhere."

Kennedy, Nixon in Tight Race, Poll Finds

Oct. 12, 1960: The race between Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Vice President Richard Nixon is so close that if the election were held today, the edge in the popular vote would probably be determined by a small minority who are – as of now -- undecided, a Gallup poll finds.

Kennedy and Nixon Meet in Televised Debate

Sept. 27, 1960: While we at the Daily Mirror HQ were busy with The Times bombing, look who had a presidential debate: Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Vice President Richard Nixon. If you’re of the right vintage, you probably remember watching the debates on television. On the jump, viewers express their opinions of Kennedy and Nixon. And, frankly, it’s nice to see that The Times surveyed a variety of people – white Republicans in South Pasadena, African American Democrats in Watts  and Latinos in East L.A. – to get a cross-section of the city.

Matt Weinstock, Aug. 8, 1960

Aug. 8, 1960: Morse telegraphers were used in covering the Democratic National Convention and sent stories faster than some wire services, Matt Weinstock says. CONFIDENTIAL TO DON'S DARLING: You can be saved by the bell -- the wedding bell -- if you hurry, Abby says.

Matt Weinstock, July 28, 1960

July 28, 1960: Matt Weinstock on Stephen Potter’s “One-Upmanship,” “Lifemanship” and the political trend of “growthmanship.” CONFIDENTIAL TO S.K.: I don't blame career girls for resenting the expression "old maid." In my vocabulary there are no "old maids" -- just "unclaimed jewels," Abby says.

Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, July 21, 1960

July 21, 1960: Paul Coates writes about taking his son to the Democratic National Convention. “It’s a gyp,” the young man says afterward.

Matt Weinstock, July 19, 1960

July 19, 1960: Why is it so hard to get okra in Los Angeles? Maybe it’s because it was all sold to the Southern Democrats in town for the convention, or at least that’s the story grocer George Nakaumra told a customer, according to Matt Weinstock. CONFIDENTIAL TO CHET: Have you ever noticed that all hard-boiled eggs are yellow inside?, Abby says.

A Final Note on the Democratic National Convention

Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Pacific Telephone has pulled its equipment out of the candidates’ headquarters at the Biltmore and the cleanup crew is getting all the banners and placards off the floor of the Sports Arena. The applause at the Coliseum has died away and everybody’s gone home. Before the Daily Mirror moves on to its next story, I have a few final thoughts. If you have slogged through Kyle Palmer’s columns on the 1960 Democratic National Convention, you have read more of his work than just about anybody since he died of leukemia in 1962. I posted his stories not because they are well-written or enduring, but because they are stale and musty,  condescending, petty and blatantly partisan, as forgotten as Grandpa’s old suit, embalmed in mothballs in a spare closet. And make no mistake, despite the claim in his obituary, "He was a well-rounded newspaperman, soft-spoken, scrupulously fair,” his work was that of the worst sort of political hack. Today, Palmer is nothing but a footnote to Richard Nixon’s career, and on those rare occasions when he is mentioned at all, it is as a dirty joke about “the bad old days.”  If you read the columns by James Reston of the New York Times, which The Times syndicated, you are even more aware of the contrast between him and Palmer. Fifty years later, Reston’s writing is everything that Palmer’s is not: fresh and still insightful, without the benefit of knowing – as we do – the events that followed. There’s no point in resurrecting Palmer simply to give him one more lashing. He’s already been swept into the dustbin of history. It’s a place he earned many times over by abandoning a reporter’s duty to be impartial, seduced by what he imagined was his ability to be a power broker and kingmaker when he was merely exploited by those who used him as an eager, aggressive dupe.  Palmer is relevant today as a timeless example of a reporter who abused his position and forgot the sportswriters’ adage: “No cheering in the press box.” Those who fancy themselves political commentators, who are tempted by the notion of tilting public opinion and swaying the course of history, would do well to study Kyle Palmer’s career to see if they wish to share his forgotten corner of the political graveyard, where his grandiose marble monument, engraved with fine but empty words, is tumbled over and buried in the weeds.

The Man for the '60s

Photograph by Wayne F. Kelly / Los Angeles Times July 15, 1960: Presidential nominee John F. Kennedy arrives at the Coliseum.

If you didn’t live through this era, if all you know about JFK is the womanizing and the Rat Pack, then maybe this photo is nothing more than an interesting and somewhat ironic curio. But if you’re of the right age and recall those scant years of optimism before LBJ’s “My fellow Americans”  and Nixon’s “I’m not a crook,” this photo is heart-piercing. Today, we know that Camelot was nothing but a movie set of plywood and 2 by 4s, with the carpenters, grips and makeup crew waiting just out of the frame while Jackie Kennedy showed us the White House and John John played under his father’s desk in the Oval Office. And most of us have learned far more than we care to know about the many transgressions of the Kennedys, who had more dirty laundry than a Motel 6.  One ride in a convertible in Los Angeles in the summer of 1960. Another ride in a convertible in Dallas in the fall of 1963. The 1960s were not a more innocent time. It is only some of us who lost our innocence in them.

Movieland Mystery Photo

Los Angeles Times file photo  Update: This is Marguerite Chapman in photo marked Nov. 26, 1941.

Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday ... or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five pictures; sometimes it's difficult to choose. To keep the mystery photo from getting lost in the other entries, I move it from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, etc., adding a photo every day. I have to approve all comments, so if your guess is posted immediately, that means you're wrong. (And if a wrong guess has already been submitted by someone else, there's no point in submitting it again). If you're right, you will have to wait until Friday. There's no need to submit your guess five times. Once is enough. The only reward is bragging rights.  Last week’s mystery guest was Hampton Fancher III. The Democratic National Convention mystery guests were Paul Ziffren, Adlai Stevenson and Judy Garland; and Tennessee Gov. Buford  Ellington and Stella Stevens. Thanks to Dewey Webb for being last week’s mystery host! There’s another photo on the jump!

The Kennedys' Moment of Glory

Photograph by Larry Sharkey / Los Angeles Times July 15, 1960: Preceded by photographers, John F. Kennedy leads his entourage into the Coliseum. I believe the fellow in the lower left is Stanley Tretick, who frequently photographed Kennedy.  Los Angeles Times file photo The convention meets at the Coliseum to hear Kennedy. Notice the Dodgers’ baseball diamond.

On the jump, photos of Kennedy’s acceptance speech, Rose Kennedy and a fellow I believe is Edward Kennedy, although he isn’t identified in the caption information – and I can’t imagine what he was doing with the Wyoming delegation.