Los Angeles history -- Wattles Mansion

L.A. orders Hollywood preservation group out of mansion Email Picture Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times HISTORIC: Gardener Lupe Flores works at the Wattles Mansion. Hollywood Heritage has supervised the estate for 25 years under an exclusive agreement with the city of Los Angeles. City says Hollywood Heritage ignored rules and rented out the Wattles Mansion for disruptive parties. The organization denies the events are a nuisance and says the eviction notice was a shock. By Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 20, 2008 Hollywood's leading preservation group has been ordered out of the community's most prominent historic estate for allegedly ignoring city rules and renting out the mansion for disruptive parties. Hollywood Heritage has supervised the famed Wattles Mansion for 25 years under an exclusive agreement with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. The city purchased the mansion for about $2 million in 1968. Read about the history of the Wattles Mansion here.

Los Angeles history -- car designer

The tail fin era General Motors designer Chuck Jordan visits Los Angeles to encourage young car nuts to pursue their dreams. His advice: 'Start as bold as you can.... If you don't start out ambitious enough, it will be drained down to nothing.' Above, Chuck Jordan's design for the 1959 Eldorado. Below, the 1955 Chevrolet Cameo.

One of the joys of this blog is that I never know what I'm going to find in the daily paper. It could be some tragic killing or an oddball brite. But today, I fell into the rabbit hole of research with a brief story about a local boy who made good as a General Motors car designer after winning a student contest 11 years before. His name was not, as Bill Dredge wrote in The Times in 1958, Chuck Gordan. He was, in fact, Charles M. "Chuck" Jordan, designer of the 1955 Chevrolet Cameo), the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado and many other autos. Chuck Jordan's winning entry in the 1947 Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild contest. Photo by Harry Schoepf As for the contest, back in 1947, Jordan received a brief writeup in the weekly auto column after winning the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Award.  We caught up with him again in 1965 when he was in charge of the automotive design studios at General Motors Styling. By then, the Fullerton High graduate was visiting the Art Center to monitor students' progress on a special design project. "A man has to have a real sincere interest in cars," Jordan told The Times' Bob Thomas. "Otherwise they get awful tired within a year working with cars. Every designer we have is a car bug. Also he must have the talent to design new, bold ideas. We're not after face-lifters or customizers. It takes a real talent to dig up something new." As for the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Award, the contest that was started as philanthropy project during the Depression was eliminated in 1968 as a cost-saving measure. Motor Trend has a long interview with Jordan on its website. The Automotive Chronicles has an article on a reunion of Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild Award winners.

At left, Los Angeles endures another smog alert ... The latest in a series of  pipe bomb blasts raises fears on the Westside ... The cost of living declines for the first time in two years ... The U.S. keeps Red China out of the United Nations ... And the front page lineup of UCLA and PIttsburgh for their game at the Coliseum. UCLA is the 7-point favorite, The Times says.

In sports, USC beats Oregon 21-0 at the Coliseum ... In Chicago, the Dodgers beat the Cubs, 5-1, with runs by Ron Fairly and Don Demeter, giving Ralph Mauriello his first major league win ... Gene Littler sets a personal record of 62 in the second round of the Hesperia Open ... And sports editor Paul Zimmerman takes a look at the upcoming game between the Rams and the Steelers, especially quarterback Jack Kemp.

           

Movie revivals -- Crimson Kimono

Coming soon to a theater near you...

Above, "Crimson Kimono" (paired with "Battle of the Coral Sea").

Jan. 27, 2009, 8 p.m. Ramo Auditorium at Caltech. "The Crimson Kimono," with discussion afterward. Frank Capra Film Series. Free.

 

Los Angeles on smog alert, Braves win against Cards, September 19, 1958

Los Angeles urged to drive less and reduce smog  Ozone levels in the region reach 0.53 per million, which would be a Stage 3 alert in 2008.

The "Mating Urge," in "flaming color." Imdb says this wasn't released until 1959. Oops.

Girl crushed in elevator Los Angeles goes on what was then a Stage 1 smog alert. Today it would be a Stage 3. A Times editorial suggests offering an award for the invention of an "afterburner" for cars. Also, a young woman dies in an extremely peculiar accident at the home of a wealthy La Jolla family. On the jump, the City Council holds a hearing on redevelopment of Bunker Hill and a former football star is killed when his car spins out of control in Sylmar. In sports, Braven Dyer has an amusing story about illegally widening the football field at the Coliseum. Probably not true, but funny.  The pill goes on sale Oregon favored over USC

Movie revivals -- The Godfather

Coming soon to a theater near you...

Above, "The Godfather," 1972.

Sept. 19-25, 2008, ArcLight Hollywood. "The Godfather" and "Godfather II."  Member movie.

Los Angeles history--Nuestro Pueblo

The hanging tree Once described as the oldest rubber tree on the American continent, it was actually an Australian fig ... maybe. Either way, it's gone now. And the rustlers who were supposedly hanged here must have been awfully short because the branches are low.  2015 Long Beach Ave. in 1938 and, below, via Google maps' street view.

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Los Angeles gets a new mayor, September 18, 1938

Bowron: Liberal, moderate and conservative The Times' Timothy G. Turner writes: 'Fletcher Bowron is no longhair nor will he turn the town over to Psalm singers. He is little concerned with gambling and prostitution as such, only in their effect on political corruption.'

Above, a breath of fresh air at City Hall.

Battleship Arizona visits L.A. Times' veteran columnist Timothy Turner describes Bowron as a middle-of-the-road politician and a former newsman with far more experience than portrayed in our editorials. "He will not ... do anything radical in cleaning up the city. He knows the city can never really be cleaned up, that no city can. He will do the best he can," Turner says. In sports, the Cubs move within 2 1/2 games of the Pirates in the National League pennant race. Hank Greenberg hits his 52nd and 53rd home runs, leading Babe Ruth's 1927 record.  Crash injures actor Cubs beat Giants

Rams win against Cards, September 17, 1968

Defense does job; Rams win opener 94-yard TD run starts Cardinals to 24-13 defeat. Above, Richard Nixon campaigns in Yorba Linda in the 1968 presidential race.

By Keith Thursby Times staff writer There's still something not quite right about putting the Rams and the city of St. Louis in the same sentence. On this Monday night, the Rams were the visiting team and the game was still played outside (one factor in the Rams' move to St. Louis was the use of a fancy new domed stadium). The Times' Bob Oates described the weather as a "Missouri mist resembling Los Angeles smog," but it turned out to be the perfect setting for the Rams to open their season with a 24-13 victory over the Cardinals. Defense and special teams played key roles. Ron Smith returned the second half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and the Rams' defense made life miserable for St. Louis' young quarterback, Jim Hart. Oates' game story was interesting for its length and attention to detail. At times, there was a professorial tone to his writing as he tried to explain the finer points of a sport that was becoming more complex each season. At one point he examined the Rams' defense: "The Rams were in what they call combination coverage -- part zone, part man-to-man -- when quarterback Hart passed to Jackie Smith both times the ball was intercepted. Hart was keying on the tight safety (Ron Smith) on each occasion. He did not see [Eddie] Meador on either play. "NFL quarterbacks are not in the habit of watching out for free safeties when they throw the ball to the tight safety's man." These days, Oates would probably be working at ESPN, breaking down game films on one of the network's endless football shows.   This post begins a look at two Los Angeles Rams seasons: 1958 and 1968. Both teams were led by future Hall of Fame coaches (Sid Gillman in '58, George Allen in '68). In 1958, the Rams were coming off a 6-6 season under their young general manager, future NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle. The 1968 team started the season considered among the league's elite franchises after finishing the previous season 11-1-2, losing in the playoffs to the eventual NFL champion Green Bay Packers. Should be fun to retrace two very different teams in two different eras in Los Angeles sports. keith.thursby@latimes.com

Dodger struck with ball, September 17, 1958

Snider hurt; L.A. loses 2 Duke hit by line drive, may miss rest of season. Above, Lawrence Welk in stereo with "Swinging Pete Fountain," the clarinetist who once said "Champagne and Bourbon Street don't mix."

By Keith Thursby Times staff writer Scary moment for Duke Snider and the Dodgers. Snider was on third base in the fifth inning of the Dodgers' game at Cincinnati when he was struck by a line drive hit by his teammate, Frank Howard. The Times' Frank Finch wrote that the ball "struck Snider's right shoulder and then his right ear a glancing blow, dropping him as though he'd be shot by an elephant gun." Snider was taken to the hospital but was able to speak to reporters first. Finch noted that "although he'd escaped serious injury--even death--by inches, the dapper Snider insisted on showering before he was driven to the hospital." "I saw the ball coming off Howard's bat and I tried to duck into it so that I would take the blow off my plastic helmet," Snider said. "Boy, he really hit that one." The game was the nightcap of a doubleheader. The Dodgers lost both games. keith.thursby@latimes.com

Los Angeles mayor removed in recall, child killer executed, September 17, 1938

Bowron defeats Shaw Superior Court judge, elected with 65% of the vote, will take office Sept. 26. He says: 'This election, in no sense, is a personal triumph. This is not my fight. I have merely been part of a movement -- a most significant movement for clean government.'

Above, The Times' lead editorial laments the recall of Mayor Frank Shaw and emphasizes the inexperience of Fletcher Bowron, noting with alarm his support from subversives and radicals.

Chamberlain bows to Hitler Another historic day: Bowron is elected, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain concedes to Adolf Hitler on Czechoslovakia and California executes Albert Dyer in the murders of the "Three Babes of Inglewood." Note that Dyer was hanged, the method of execution used in California before the gas chamber. In sports, the Los Angeles Angels take the pennant in the Pacific Coast League, beating the Oakland Acorns at Wrigley Field. Plans are underway for the 1938 World Series to begin Oct. 5. It will be the last series for Yankee Lou Gehrig, the "Iron Horse."  Albert Dyer is executed 1938 World Series planned