Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, May 20, 1941

May 20, 1941: International playboy Baldwin M. Baldwin (d. 1970), the son of Anita Baldwin and the grandson of E.J. “Lucky” Baldwin (the despot of Arcadia, according to The Times) gets married for the fifth time. The Germans in Venezuela have gotten the bounce, Tom Treanor says. "The parting of the ways was accomplished with great finesse on both sides. Contracts were settled up equitably, severance was paid, transportation back to Germany was given in many instances and, to hear it told, you would think that the era of good feeling and universal peace had arrived." Desi Arnaz's mother, after waiting in Mexico weeks to enter the United States on a quota number, must now due to a legal technicality return to Cuba and enter from there, Jimmie Fidler says.

Paul Coates, March 27, 1961

March 27, 1961: Paul Coates has the story of two students who went on vacation to Mexico and came back with a 12-year-old orphan.    And Mirror reader Jerry Feldner sends a letter about the artistry of bullfighting.

Strike Threatens Imperial Valley Lettuce Crop, 1961

Feb. 20, 1961: Chester Gould really likes the idea of vehicles driving on frozen lakes and rivers, doesn’t he? And here’s an update on the lettuce strike in the Imperial Valley: In December 1960, the Imperial Valley Growers Assn. rejected demands by the United Packinghouse Workers of America and the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee that workers be paid $1.25 an hour [$8.87 USD 2009] instead of the current 90 cents an hours. A strike was called for Jan. 16, 1961, that would place the Imperial Valley's lettuce crop at risk, and union representatives charged that growers were using braceros (Mexican workers who came to the U.S. for seasonal farm work) to break the strike. At one point, businessmen, students, housewives and office workers volunteered to harvest lettuce. But by February, the farmers association had plowed under 3,000 acres of lettuce due to bad weather, low prices and labor trouble, The Times said. In March, the two unions called off their strike and blamed Secretary of Labor Arthur J. Goldberg for delaying an order to remove the braceros from the farms until after the harvest had peaked, despite repeated demands by the Mexican government that the braceros be withdrawn to protect their safety.  In 1963, Times reporter Ruben Salazar and an unidentified photographer toured the state to document the impending shutdown of the bracero program, which expired Dec. 31, 1964.

Matt Weinstock, Jan. 16, 1961

Jan. 16, 1961: More Mexicans are expected to cross the border for farm work this year, the Labor Department says. Matt Weinstock has an amusing item about a pool player and his wife … and an Aldous Huxley sighting!   CONFIDENTIAL TO "ON THE FENCE": Don't be afraid to take a big step. You can't cross a stream in two small jumps.

L.A. County Cuts Welfare Costs, Pays Immigrants to Go Back to Mexico -- Updated

Dec. 3, 1941: I have been reading old newspapers for years and very little about Los Angeles history surprises me anymore, but this one amazed me.  To reduce the welfare rolls, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approves paying $100 [$1,441.19 USD 2009] to immigrants to move back to Mexico. Families were to receive $10 a month for 10 months either through the Mexican government or the U.S. consul, The Times said. [Update, Dec. 5, 2010, 3:57 p.m.: A headline and previous version of this post said payments would be offered to illegal immigrants. Further research in The Times’ clips shows that in 1941, legal and illegal immigrants were apparently eligible for relief (see the above story from March 15, 1941, in which the state Legislature tried to ban welfare to illegal immigrants). However, it appears that payments were to be offered to all immigrants, regardless of legal status.] The story is on the jump.

Labor Secretary Calls for Immigration Crackdown

Dec. 1, 1930: Editorial cartooning from the pen of a younger Bruce Russell, in the days when newspapers ran them on the front page. And no, Russell’s concepts didn’t get any clearer over the years. Compare his 1960 cartoon on Richard Nixon’s experienced hair.  (Hm. Reminds me of A. Victor Segno.) Also on the front page: James J. Davis, President Herbert Hoover’s outgoing secretary of Labor (he resigned to become a senator from Pennsylvania), calls for tighter restrictions on immigration.  Notice the proposal of Sen. David A Reed (R-Pa.) who wants to shut down immigration for two years. On the jump, how should sports announcers cover football games? Lots of color and constant chatter or pure statistics and long pauses? ALSO Times Editorials on Immigration: The Japanese ‘Menace,’ 1920 Accepting Jewish Refugees Is Impractical, 1938

Immigrants’ Home Burned in Apparent Hate Crime

Oct. 24, 1960: Vandals set fire to the Baldwin Park home of the Jaskolsky family and paint a swastika and the words “Notzi Rat” on a cinder-block wall in the backyard. German immigrants Ewald Jaskolsky, 25, his wife, Wilhelmine , 20, and their two young children had spent the night at the home of friends and returned to find their house destroyed. Wilhelmine says: "The words on the wall hurt more than the loss of our home. We've done nothing to anyone. We were just children during the war." The Jakolskys' plight has brought an outpouring of support from Ewald’s co-workers at Beckman Instruments Co., as well as help from friends and strangers, and although the family plans to leave Baldwin Park they are grateful for the aid they have received. "People have been so wonderful to us it has made us more determined than ever to become American citizens," Wilhelmine says. "They've made us feel like one of them -- like we're not foreigners anymore."

Russia Expels Thousands of Jews From Kiev

April 26, 1910:  “Heartless cruelty marked the ejection of the Jews. Young and old, well and ill, the strong and the weak, mothers with babes only a few days old, were driven out at the word of command. Many who did not move fast enough to suit the troops were clubbed or jabbed with bayonet points,” The Times says.

Screen Actors Guild Goes on Strike

March 7, 1960: The Screen Actors Guild goes on strike over residuals on movies made after 1948 that are broadcast on TV.  “The Magnificent Seven” and “Ocean’s Eleven” are unaffected.

A Letter of Defense

Remember the editorial about the Japanese stranglehold on farmland? Here’s a response. More on the jump, plus Clare Briggs.

Times Advocates Importing Chinese Workers for Menial Jobs

“It Happens in the Best-Regulated Families,” by Clare Briggs.

March 2, 1920: People – especially women – are drawn by a live model who stands perfectly still in a display window at Harris & Frank’s shop on Spring Street. On the jump, The Times advocates importing workers from China on three-year contracts to perform menial farm jobs that Americans don’t want and won’t take.

Ultimate Baby Einstein? Sperm Bank Specializes in Nobel Winners

Look! It’s a Trash 80 with 64K RAM and an 8-inch floppy drive for only $3,450 [$8,902.02 USD 2008].

Feb. 29, 1980: Let’s see … a sperm bank of Nobel-winning scientists. These children should be at least 30 now.Wonder what they're up to.