Orchestras Ban Women Musicians

Nov. 2, 1919: Orchestra managers want to ban women musicians because an ensemble consisting entirely of men in tuxedos is more pleasing to the eye, The Times says. No, I'm not kidding. Nov. 16, 1919: Alma Whitaker writes about the attempted ban on women musicians.

Nov. 16, 1919: The Ridge Route opens and the Times publishes a terrific illustration by artist Charles Owens – nearly 20 years before he worked on “Nuestro Pueblo” … And the Auto Club writes a proposed law to make Hill Street, Broadway, Spring Street, Main one-way and to ban delivery trucks from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in designated congested areas such as downtown.

Found on EBay – Oviatt’s

Here’s a remarkable item from Oviatt’s – a necktie that the vendor says belonged to James Benton Van Nuys. And by remarkable, I mean remarkably hideous.  But it is from Oviatt’s, one of the most distinguished men’s stores in Los Angeles. Bidding starts at $39.95.

Sept. 3, 1962: J. Benton Van Nuys dies at the age of 79.

Landmark Nightclub Modernized

Virginia Arness attempts suicide in Hawaii. The Biltmore Bowl is heavily modernized so that is virtually unrecognizable.

New and Old Chinatown, divided by Broadway. "I don't belong to the tong. I am an American. I belong to the Kiwanis Club."

Five copies a minute, only 2 1/2 cents each.

The Lions beat the Rams, 17-7.

48,000-Acre Lankershim Ranch Sold to Developers

Sept. 24, 1909: The 48,000-acre Lankershim Ranch is sold to investors who will subdivide it for homes.

The Times says of this milestone in the development of the San Fernando Valley: "This is the largest and most notable real estate transaction ever made in Southern California. The ranch just sold is the largest undivided piece of property in Los Angeles County, having a length of 15 miles and a width of more than 6 1/2 miles."

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

L.A. Prepares for Olympic-Size Traffic Nightmare

July 1, 1984: Will subways work in Los Angeles? "But others say Metro Rail will not be heavily used by poor people because it will not take them where they want to go--to jobs scattered throughout the Los Angeles area," The Times' William Trombley wrote. "The traffic patterns of low-income blacks and Hispanics are diffused," said George W. Hilton, professor of economics at UCLA. "They are highly auto-dependent and are likely to remain so in the foreseeable future." Hilton also said: "We aren't going to run out of fossil fuels. There's no economic point in finding more than a 20-year supply at one one time. As prices rise, other sources will be found." Mr. Modular was working on these pages. They look like bento boxes. Well, of course, the subways work in Los Angeles, but nobody knew it in 1984. Tunneling beneath the city was not without problems, as anyone who recalls the partial collapse of Hollywood Boulevard during construction of the Red Line will remember. And people with long memories will recall that traffic congestion during the 1984 Olympics was much less than expected.

The 1984 Olympics united Southern California residents over a familiar topic--traffic. Bob Pool's story focused on concerns in the San Fernando Valley with the Games starting in less than a month. "We're going to have problems if 70% of the people going to the Olympics don't take the bus. If 50% of them go by car, we're going to have total gridlock," David C. Royer, senior Los Angeles city transportation engineer for the Valley, West Los Angeles and LAX, told a group of Encino homeowners. The worries weren't limited to the Valley, of course. Events were scheduled across the Southland so if you lived somewhere in Southern California, you were planning for the worst-case scenario.  Royer said residents should ask their employers for flexible working hours during the Olympics and people with tickets should start reserving seats on RTD buses. --Keith Thursby

Streetcar Kills Motorcycle Officer

June 16, 1920: Motorcycle Officer E. Peter Bradley is killed when he ignores crossing signals and is hit by an inbound streetcar at Ventura and Lankershim boulevards.

Nuestro Pueblo: The Pershing Square Mystery

"The Last Argument of Kings"

Sept. 20, 1953: The cannon was moved to Travel Town in Griffith Park.

This simple post about a cannon at Pershing Square has become ridiculously complicated. All I want to know is what became of it! A longtime gathering place for malcontents and the homeless, the site has been known as the New Plaza, 6th Street Park, Central Park, St. Vincent's Park and Pershing Square. To delve into its tawdry history is to read nearly countless stories of attempts to rid it of rats, pigeons and blackbirds. But I won't get derailed into all of that today. The cannon in Nuestro Pueblo (which I'll call "The Last Argument of Kings") was captured at Santiago de Cuba and given to Los Angeles by Maj. Gen. William R. Shafter on Thanksgiving Day, 1899. This is how The Times depicted "The Last Argument of Kings" cannon on Dec. 1, 1899. Although the artwork is unsigned, I would guess that it might have been done by Ted Gale, staff artist and cartoonist. And this is Shafter's presentation speech: According to a 1947 story, "The Last Argument of Kings" was placed at the northeast corner of the park, 5th and Hill streets. After World War II, Pershing Square was excavated to create underground parking and the mature landscaping and fountain were removed. Evidently "The Last Argument of Kings" was considered incompatible with the new landscaping and moved to Travel Town, where it was photographed for a Jan. 3, 1961, Times feature. Bonus fact: Victory House was built at the park during World War II as a USO facility for servicemen.   But one cannon wasn't enough for Pershing Square. On the Fourth of July, 1935, a second cannon was placed in the park, at the southwest corner, Olive and 6th Street. The "Old Ironsides" cannon remains in Pershing Square.

In the meantime, "The Last Argument of Kings" has become a plaything for children at Travel Town, as photographed by Boris Yaro, Dec. 11, 1975.  I may have to make a field trip to Travel Town and see if it's still there.

Love Triangle Killings at Burbank Trailer Park

"Everything's Okay, Honey, Go Back to Sleep, Huh?"

Nuestro Pueblo: Pumpkin Church

Below, Strangler Lewis vs. Toots Mondt at the Philharmonic, Aug. 14, 1924. Notice the byline: Braven Dyer, who retired from The Times in 1964 and died in 1983 at the age of 83.