Bad Girls of Old Los Angeles edition
Gentle reader...
This week, we're all about the Bad Girls, those dark and self-confident figures who stalked the streets of old Los Angeles and did it their way. Too often in the film noir and murder mystery narratives, these femmes fatales are just objects for the hero to lose or some crumb to knock around.
But on Sunday, at the V is for Vice forensic science seminar, LASD historian Mike Fratantoni will introduce us to the crime queens of the old Sunset Strip, real life Bad Girls who are guaranteed to beguile and fascinate in all their complexity. We think you'll find them the best sort of company for a most illuminating afternoon.
We're back on the bus on Saturday touring Charles Bukowski's Los Angeles, along the paths he took as he drank, fought and loved his way to literary greatness. Along the way, we hope to sneak a peek at part of the restored Clifton's Cafeteria not yet open to the public. Join us, do!
RECOMMENDED READING
When Dennis Eichhorn died suddenly last week, aged 70, the comics community let out a collective moan. This sweet, funny guy who always had a kind word or a gig for a young artist was also the main character in some of the most entertaining tales of lowlife misadventure ever laid down in cartoon panels. Extra Good Stuff, just published by Last Gasp! and featuring two stories that originally appeared in Kim's zine Scram, is his last anthology, and a terrific introduction to this utterly original American character, who was literally born in a maximum security prison, but lived as free as anyone we ever met. Farewell, maestro!
COMING SOON
CHARLES BUKOWSKI'S LOS ANGELES - SAT. 10/17... Come explore Charles Bukowski's lost Los Angeles and the fascinating contradictions that make this great local writer such a hoot to explore. Haunts of a Dirty Old Man is a raucous day out celebrating liquor, ladies, pimps and poets. The tour includes a visit to Buk's DeLongpre bungalow, where you'll see the Cultural-Historic Monument sign that we helped to get approved, and a mid-tour provisions stop at Pink Elephant Liquor. (Buy tickets here.)
HALLOWE'EN HORRORS: DARK SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LORE FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF KIM COOPER - FRI, 10/30... This illustrated true crime lecture and catered dinner, featuring our Kim Cooper, is presented by the Beverly Hills Women's Club. ($60 for non-members, reservations required. For info click here.)
THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA - SAT. 10/31... Join us on this iconic, unsolved Los Angeles murder mystery tour, from the throbbing boulevards of a postwar Downtown to the quiet suburban avenue where horror came calling. After multiple revisions, this is less a true crime tour than a social history of 1940s Hollywood female culture, mass media and madness, and we welcome you to join us for the ride. (Sold out, repeats 1/9/2016. Sign up for the waiting list here.)
RAYMOND CHANDLER'S L.A. - SAT. 11/7... Follow in the young writer's footsteps near his downtown oil company offices to sites from The Lady in the Lake and The Little Sister, meet several real inspirations for the Philip Marlowe character and get the skinny on Chandler's secret comic operetta that we discovered in the Library of Congress nearly a century after it was written. Plus a stop at Scoops for noirish gelato creations and a visit to Larry Edmunds Bookshop. (Buy tickets here.)
BLOOD & DUMPLINGS - SAT. 11/14... Forget Hollywood, babe, 'cause the quintessential L.A. town is definitely El Monte, its history packed with noirish murders, brilliant thespians, loony Nazis, James Ellroy's naked lunch and the lion farm that MGM's celebrated kitty called home. See all this and so much more, including the Man from Mars Bandit's Waterloo, when you climb aboard the daffiest crime tour in our arsenal, and the only one that includes a dumpling picnic at a landmark playground populated with fantastical giant sea creatures. (Buy tickets here.)
ECHO PARK BOOK OF THE DEAD - SAT. 11/21... New on our calendar, a crime bus tour meant to honor the lost souls who wander the hills and byways of the "streetcar suburbs" that hug Sunset Boulevard. See seemingly ordinary houses, streets and commercial buildings revealed as the scenes of chilling crimes and mysteries, populated by some of the most fascinating people you'd never want to meet. Plus a visit to Sister Aimee Semple McPherson's exquisite Parsonage, now a museum. (Buy tickets here.)
RICHARD'S 47th BIRTHDAY BUS TOUR OF THE PALOS VERDES PENINSULA - SAT. 11/28... Pack a picnic lunch (we’ll supply the birthday cake and coffee) and join us for an all-day outing exploring the history, landscape and built environment of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. This is a one-time only special event bus adventure that will never be repeated. (Get more info and buy tickets here.)
PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL - SAT. 12/5...The Crown City masquerades as a calm and refined retreat, where well-bred ladies glide around their perfect bungalows and everyone knows what fork to use first. But don't be fooled by appearances. Dip into the confidential files of old Pasadena and meet assassins and oddballs, kidnappers and slashers, black magicians and all manner of maniac in a delightful little tour you won't find recommended by the better class of people. (Buy tickets here.)
HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 12/12... Through the 1940s, downtown was the true city center, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost. This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood's neglected history. (Buy tickets here.)
2016 tours include: The Real Black Dahlia (1/9), Charles Bukowski's L.A. (1/16), The Lowdown on Downtown (1/23) and Eastside Babylon (1/30).
LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 10/18
Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State Los Angeles under the direction of Professor Donald Johnson to explore the history and future of American forensic science. Your $36.50 ticket to V is for Vice: Eight Decades of Sin & Scandal, from the Sunset Strip to Beverly Hills benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. For more info, click here. Just added: January 2016 seminar DETECTIVE’S CASEBOOK: L.A. BOMBING & THE MAKING OF A SERIAL KILLER.
OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST
In the latest edition of You Can't Eat the Sunshine, we're back from hiatus with a bang as we talk shop with restoration architect Brian Kite and peep inside the wild 1950s diary of Clifton's Cafeteria camera girl Vilma. Click here to tune in.
AND FINALLY, LINKS
Will L.A.'s daffy dingbats survive this retrofitting rule?
Charles Bukowski slept here. Soon, you can, too. (Our photos.)
A love letter to a great new joint in Chinatown that feels like it's always been there.
Don't be fooled by this 200 year old headline like we were. The central coast's most charming mission lives! (From our blog, an idyllic visit.)
As we heard from Rev. Andy Bales at Union Rescue Mission on last week's history walk, "housing first" leaves a lot of homeless Angelenos out of luck.
Robert Silverstein stops irresponsible developers who run amok and tear down historic landmarks. We appreciate the L.A. Times giving this community hero a platform.
We agree--real artists don't deface historic houses.
A city with a past like ours deserves more than a mediocre future.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
If you enjoy all we do to celebrate and preserve Los Angeles history and would like to say thank you, please consider putting a little something into our digital tip jar. Your contributions are never obligatory, but always appreciated.
yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric