Found on EBay -- Enrico Caruso

Caruso in "I Pagliacci."

What appears to be a collection of ephemera given by Enrico Caruso to Rosa Ponselle has been listed on EBay. There is no strong tie to Los Angeles, although both of them performed here. For example, Caruso appeared in a Met production of "Lucia di Lammermoor" in 1905 at Hazard's Pavilion and Ponselle was at the Hollywood Bowl in 1923. I'm noting these items because there may be a few Caruso or Ponselle fans among the Daily Mirror readers who would enjoy knowing about them. Bidding starts at $429.99.

Houdini at the Orpheum!

July 6, 1899: The Times reminds tourists to watch out for pickpockets.

July 6, 1899: Look who's playing at the Orpheum. It's Houdini, with his wife, doing the Oregon boot routine. There's also a female impersonator named Tacianu. On May 30, 1897, The Times said: "Taciano is a phenomenal male soprano after the style of Stuart, the male Patti. He is reputed to be a real artist in the matter of female impersonations and the possessor of a sweet, rarely beautiful voice located high on the upper register, on the plane usually monopolized by prima donnas. On June 1, 1897, The Times said: "[Alexander] Tacianu is a wonder. He not only sings with a soprano that is sweet and round and rich in tone, but changes it to a melodious baritone that is sufficiently good voice in itself for any man to travel on. We have had female impersonators of all grades and varieties, and usually they have been of the sort that combines the falsetto of the guinea hen with a certain offensiveness of personality that is difficult of description. But not so with Tacianu. His singing is a finished performance, a work of the voice that shows quality of tone and a liberal amount of expression that could only result from good training and his personality while a simulation of the feminine is wholly without coarseness or offense of any sort. He is one of the very best features yet exploited by the Orpheum management." Very little appears to have been written about Tacianu except that he flourished from 1897 to 1899 and performed in the U.S. and Europe. He predates Julian Eltinge by a few years.

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movies

July 4, 1918: D.W. Griffith's "Hearts of the World" is playing at Clune's Auditorium 5th and Olive. At the Kinema, Grand Avenue at 7th Street, Mary Pickford stars in "How Could You, Jean," directed by William Desmond Taylor. At the Symphony 614 S. Broadway, Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels will appear in person for a showing of "An Ozark Romance."

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movies

July 3, 1913: The reopened Lyceum will show a "movie" titled "The Battle of Gettysburg." The opening "will mark the establishment in Los Angeles of a real feature picture theater of the better class devoted exclusively to the showing of the biggest and most attractive feature films now being produced in the American and foreign market." "Nothing of historical value has ever been reproduced on the screen that can compare with the Gettysburg films and while motion picture producers for a long time thought such a picture impossible, Thomas Ince, with the services of easily 10,000 men has accomplished this feat in a remarkably successful manner."

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Your Entertainment

July 2, 1911: Ethel Barrymore at the Mason Opera House ... and look! It's Marjorie Rambeau!

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Your Entertainment

July 1, 1909: "Sergeant Kitty" at the Majestic Theater ... and baseball at Chutes Park.

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept: Your Music

June 25, 1973: Phil Ochs (1940 - 1976) performs at the Ash Grove, 8162 Melrose, (1958 - 1973).

Grand Jury Vice Probe! Gilmore Field Expanded

"Put That Pistol Down, Young Lady."

Keith's 1949 post on Gilmore Field has dropped us in the middle of an extremely complicated grand jury investigation of the Los Angeles Police Department. To summarize: Officers James Parslow, Thomas C. Lindholm and Port A. Stevens were suspended by a police board that included future Chief William Parker for using excessive force during an arrest. The officers were partners of Sgt. Charles Stoker, a figure in the Brenda Allen scandal,  and they accused police officials of trying to undermine Chief C.B. Horrall to obtain control of vice in Los Angeles.   This is quite a page: Louise Overell, acquitted of helping Bud Gollum kill her parents, plans to get married. Police search for leads in the Green Twig murder of Louise Springer, who was kidnapped while sitting in a car a few blocks from the Black Dahlia crime scene.

City and county officials look for ways to keep chronic alcoholics out of the legal system. .   Episcopal humor! Ludovico Muratori, on location for "God's Earth," is killed by fumes from Stromboli volcano. Leah Ruth Chase says her husband, screenwriter Borden Chase, is having an affair with her daughter from a previous marriage. She wants a handgun permit -- and she wants her husband's gun permit revoked. I'm amazed this got into The Times -- even as a one-column ad.

The postwar building boom reached the minor leagues. The Hollywood Stars planned to transform Gilmore Field by turning bleacher seats into about 260 box seats and 1,000 grandstand seats. "We hope this will take a little pressure off the demand for box seats and reserved grandstand seats," said Oscar Reichow, the team's business manager. The right-field fence also would be removed so about 4.000 bleacher seats could be added. Here's a silent home movie showing the ballpark in 1957. Looks like the plans might have been altered or not completed. --Keith Thursby

Found on EBay -- Burbank Theater

This postcard of the Burbank Theater, 548 S. Main St., has been listed on EBay. The theater was built in 1893 and torn down in 1974.  Bidding starts at $8.

San Francisco Court Bans Strip Scene in Play

June 13, 1899: San Francisco audiences are crowding the theater to see the "widely advertised disrobing scene" in Leon Gandillot's "The Turtle." Oct. 23, 1989: Sadie Martinot's scandalous scene in "The Turtle."   May 9, 1923: Sadie Martinot, star of "The Turtle," dies in an insane asylum, quoting lines from her performances.