A delightful, affordable stocking stuffer: gift certificates for Esotouric bus adventures into the secret heart of Los Angeles
Gentle reader...
Just in time to save you from the mall, we're happy to announce a special sale on Esotouric gift certificates with deep discounts on bus adventures into the secret heart of LA when purchased in bulk. Also available, themed packages for fans of Raymond Chandler and Charles Bukowski, and copies of our newest guidebook, How To Find Old Los Angeles. Let us show your loved ones the city we love.
The monthly LAVA Sunday Salon and walking tours are on hiatus until the new year, returning on January 29 with an afternoon of Nathan Marsak on Lost Romanesque L.A.--free with RSVP.
We're back on the bus this Saturday with Richard's birthday bus adventure, a never-to-be-repeated journey through Long Beach and the South Bay. It's almost sold out, so don't wait too long to join us, do!
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. You can also click here before shopping on Amazon. Your contributions are never obligatory, but always appreciated.
RECENTLY TOURED
On the Hotel Cecil landmarking tour, we spied this marvelous griffin high above Main Street. What wonders he has seen!
LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 12/11 & 1/22
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. On December 11, 2016 join us for The Spider-Man Bandit & The Artificial Human Head: Breakthroughs in Crime Scene Investigation. Track a fearless cat burglar/killer through the decades, as his 1970s-era crimes are exposed when the cold case unit tests old DNA. Then learn about new research in blunt force injury, with a chance to perform a hands-on assault on a head built for breaking. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. For more info, click here. Then on January 22, 2017, arson detective Ed Nordskog shares his most fascinating recent case, The Hollywood Fire Devil. Click here to reserve.
RECOMMENDED READING
New from Los Angeles historian and prankster Al Ridenour comes The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas, the first major English-language study of the origins, symbolism and recent evolution of the fearful holiday demon and his various folkloric companions. When he's not researching, Ridenour leads a merry troupe of Kalifornia Krampuses who will be appearing at lecture halls, nightclubs and on dark and stormy nights near you this winter. Visit them online here... if you dare!
COMING SOON
SPECIAL EVENT: RICHARD'S BIRTHDAY BUS TOUR - SAT. 11/26...Join us for a full day exploring the the history, landscape and built environment of Long Beach and the South Bay. From Terminal Island to Art Deco landmarks, a giant coffee pot to hidden tiki icons, carnival cuties to delicious birthday cake, it's bound to be a blast. (Learn more about this one-time-only tour, or reserve your spot, here.)
PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL - SAT. 12/3... 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 confidentialfiles 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. 12/10... 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.)
THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA - SAT. 1/7... 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. This tour always sells out, so don't wait to reserve. (Buy tickets here.)
RAYMOND CHANDLER'S LOS ANGELES - SAT. 1/14... 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.)
Additional upcoming tours: The Birth of Noir (1/21), The Lowdown on Downtown (1/28), South L.A. Road Trip (2/5), Special Event: Two Days in South LA: The 1974 SLA Shootout (2/11), Boyle Heights & The San Gabriel Valley (2/18) and Weird West Adams (2/25).
OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST
Episode #115, Hollywood Book Culture & Downtown’s Chimney Swifts, we talk about the golden age of bookshops with film historian Bob Birchard, then visit the Ornithology section of the Natural History Museum for an insider's look at Vaux' swifts, tiny travelers who nest in landmarks. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!
AND FINALLY, LINKS
Thanksgiving 1970: The Vietnam War comes to Pershing Square.
CPUC warns: No more film-shoots for mothballed Angels Flight Railway.
Our Kim Cooper’s debut novel, The Kept Girl, is featured as one of Book Riot’s 100 Must-Read Works of Noir, alongside some of our very favorite books.
In the happy spirit of Lion Feuchtwanger’s Villa Aurora, Thomas Mann’s house in Pacific Palisades has been saved from certain demolition.
Los Angeles needs to do so much better than this to house and truly help the people on the streets.
Rare interior views of the historic County Poor Farm, which sadly is not being used to house our homeless, nor secured against vandals.
A worrying update to the saga of the giant Tamale of East Los Angeles.
Rediscovered identity, DNA and the kindness of strangers.
yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric