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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.
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Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."
Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.
The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.
Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.