Found on EBay –Lili St. Cyr

Lili St. Cyr performs at the Follies on Main, May 12, 1947. At left, this letter from Lili St. Cyr, a legendary striptease artist who performed at the Florentine Gardens and many other nightclubs, has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at a pricey $45.

Found on EBay -- Earl Carroll's

A souvenir photo of a couple enjoying themselves at Earl Carroll’s, dated March 1, 1945, has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $9.99.

Found on EBay -- Earl Carroll's Nightclub

This photograph of a man, possibly a fellow named Harrison Randall, with a bicycle outside Earl Carroll's nightclub has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $5.35.

Found on EBay -- Earl Carroll's Nightclub

This menu from Earl Carroll's nightclub in Hollywood (now the Nickelodeon building at 6230 Sunset Blvd.) has been listed on EBay. The vendor suggests the menu is from about 1946. Bidding starts at $9.99.

Police Seek to Close Dance Halls

Sept. 13, 1909: Edmund Waller "Ted" Gale draws Dr. Reinhardt Wernigk.

A campaign endorsed by Police Chief Dishman is underway to shut down the dance halls of Los Angeles. The businesses would have already been closed except that they their exercised their rights under the City Charter and sought to put the matter to a referendum in the next city election, The Times says. According to The Times, some dance academies are respectable businesses. At many others, however, young and impressionable women -- wearing short dresses that barely cover the knees -- mix with the toughest men in the city and women who have already fallen on the path of shame and debauchery. "Down at the Adams dance hall on Main Street opposite the Burbank Theater, there is a motley gathering every night. The police say that this is one of the resorts that give them the most trouble. Yet, under the existing order of things the officers have no right to interfere." Among other licentious activity, dancers are doing "The Dip," The Times says. That roller-skating rink down on 12th and Ivy streets isn't much better.

Ike Rides Wave of Popularity; Dodgers Call Up Reinforcements

Sept. 2, 1959: A story about President Eisenhower's European trip marking the 20th anniversary of Hitler's invasion of Poland notes that he remains popular. But look at what's happening in the country as Ike prepares to leave office: The prime rises half a point to 5%, the highest rate in 28 years (1931) ... and a deficit, though small, is forecast for the national budget.

The Times spent a lot of space covering the sentencing of two women convicted on misdemeanor charges stemming from the eviction of Chavez Ravine residents to clear way for the Dodgers' new ballpark. Here's my problem with that. This is a story The Times covered (I believe) only because it became a huge television story. You couldn't ignore the pictures. Covering the judge's lecture was an obvious way to paint two Chavez Ravine residents as villains in the drama. This from a paper that had spent years ignoring the Chavez Ravine neighborhood and its residents while taking every opportunity to push reasons why a ballpark should be built Makes me wonder how many other misdemeanor cases were covered so thoroughly. I think I know the answer. -- Keith Thursby Should I see "North by Northwest" at the Picwood or the Panorama in Van Nuys? Never mind, let's go see Robert Mitchum and Linda Darnell in "Second Chance." It's interesting to note that the original display ads featured Cary Grant and the crop duster, one of the classic sequences in film.

Meet Ho Chi Minh, communist leader of North Viet-Nam. You'll be hearing more about him. Troubling economic news -- and wedding bells for Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado.   Isn't Mr. Pilsnerhead great? I particularly like the little bow tie.

The Gallup Poll surveys America's attitudes on gun control. Remember that this is before the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the resulting Gun Control Act, which took effect in December 1968. Note the attitudes toward gun ownership in the South compared with the rest of the country. Rep. Williams, a Mississippi Democrat, takes a stand against Khrushchev's visit. The jukebox and bongo drums at the Gas House in Venice aren't culture! "She Will! You Can Be Sure of That!"

The Dodgers called up some minor league reinforcements who turned out to have staying power. Frank Howard, Norm Sherry and Bob Lillis were among the September call-ups. The Times' Frank Finch reported that team officials also were considering elevating Tommy Davis, who was leading the Pacific Coast League in hitting. Now that's some farm system. -- Keith Thursby

Judge Bars Bus Strike; Giants Beat Dodgers

Aug. 29, 1959: A judge's temporary restraining order prevents a bus and streetcar strike. Someone has a Cold War souvenir in the shed. Let's fire it up and see what happens.

The threat of communist aggression casts a shadow over world peace. And Times readers are talking about singing the National Anthem, what it means to get old in America, hating Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ... and looking for a lost dog. Above, more trouble with Beatniks: Mrs. Swan kept a record of "goings-on" in and around the Gas House. It contained such notations as, "Music not so loud tonight ... closed at 2 a.m." But it also told how one beatnik was "kissing and messing around" on the beach in front of the Gas House on July 12. On the same date, the bongo drums began at 10 am. until police stopped the bearded beats at 10 p.m., she testified. At left, leaders of the National Council of Churches, encouraged by Paramount President Y. Frank Freeman, study whether to begin calling for a boycott of films that emphasize sex and violence. George A. Heimrich, who initiated the idea, says: "We have no interest in harming the movie industry, but apparently producers feel it's difficult to get good box office and that they need sex and violence. We are well aware of the importance of the motion picture industry and we are as much for good box office as the producers. But we don't feel sex and violence are the best answer."

One nice thing about ProQuest is that it's possible to enlarge the comics and see the details that aren't visible in the newspaper, especially strips like "Li'l Abner." Above, an expert calls for fluoridation of water to prevent dental cavities. In time, the fluoridation of water came to be viewed -- at least by some -- as a shadowy communist conspiracy ... calling Dr. Strangelove!   At left, trouble for Synanon. In the 1950s, The Times wrote stories praising the program's success. But by the late 1960s, leader Charles E. Dederich turned the drug treatment program into a cult. Read more>>>

After losing to the Pirates and the Phillies, the Giants beat the Dodgers in a 5-0 shutout.

Found on EBay -- Florentine Gardens

This souvenir photo from the Florentine Gardens has been listed on EBay. These nightclub photos turn up somewhat often and there's quite a collection of them at the Daily Mirror HQ. Bidding starts at 99 cents, but there is a reserve.

Deputies Raid Spahn Movie Ranch; Booed by Fans, Wills Hits Grand Slam

Aug. 17, 1969: I suppose we at the Daily Mirror HQ should be talking about "Amerika" and how the military-industrial complex sucks the blood of the Woodstock Nation. But we're not. The only thing up against the wall here are the filing cabinets. Coming up in October: The Moratorium peace march! South African golfer Gary Player is pelted with ice by civil rights protesters at the PGA championship ... and the Fire Department has fewer blacks than it did in 1956.

"Frykowski [fixing the original error] and Miss Folger were involved with strange people. She was interested in witchcraft, Black Masses, that sort of thing, and she and Frykowsky would go to weird, kinky places." At left, an odd juxtaposition: Dial Torgerson's "tick tock" story on the Manson killings next to the arrests of a group of people "living like animals" at George Spahn's Movie Ranch.

Nancy becomes a stalker.

"Somehow the business details were worked out and the Ash Grove not only survived but became the biggest and busiest showplace for folk music in America." "...the artist does not have to stand up on the stage and look at the audience, as in a nightclub, and ask himself how he can please those people out there. He can reach deep within his soul to find his deepest values and, hopefully, bring the audience along with him."

Maury Wills returned to Canada for the first time since leaving the Expos so he could return to the Dodgers. There were plenty of boos to go around, almost all of them directed toward Wills, who in the long run didn't let it bother him. ""It's as if the fans here thought I played poorly because I wanted to be traded and now I'm playing good because I was traded," Wills told The Times' Ross Newhan. "Unfortunately I'm not that good of a player to do one thing one day and another thing the next. I also have too much pride." There was plenty to be proud about against the Expos. Wills singled twice, scored two runs and stole a base in the Dodgers' 9-2 victory in the first game of the series. Then he hit the first grand slam of his career in a 9-3 victory. Gene Mauch, the Montreal manager and future Angel manager, had an interesting perspective on Wills' short stay with the Expos: "When Maury first came to us from Pittsburgh the fans expected him to be perfect. They booed him when he wasn't and he became tense. Then he tried to meet it with indifference and that certainly isn't Maury Wills." --Keith Thursby

Police Botch Raid on Club

July 19, 1899: Police testified about a raid on the Republican Club, run by African Americans, but although they described debauchery, they couldn't cite specific instances. They just said it was a bad place: "Officers who testified were woefully lacking in specific information as to the nature of the orgies that made the place notorious ...  Men and women, white and black, had been drinking and dancing there and having a good time generally prior to the police raid." "Mrs.Sibyl Slone of Pasadena is in deep distress over the wayward actions of her sister, Inola Reed, 17 years.... Last week Mrs. Slone called on Chief of Police Glass and stated that Inola had been sustaining improper relations with a tailor named Cohen."