Is your telephone box burning…?

November 1, 1947
Pico Rivera

A freak accident left telephone boxes flaming inside nine homes and one service station after a truck that was being towed broke loose and hit a high tension tower, which fell, breaking a telephone cable. The fires, all in the vicinity of Rosemead and Washington Blvds., were quickly extinguished by two county fire engine companies.

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Kim Cooper

Kim Cooper is the creator of 1947project, the crime-a-day time travel blog that spawned Esotouric’s popular crime bus tours, including The Real Black Dahlia. She is the author of The Kept Girl, the acclaimed historical mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe, and of The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles. With husband Richard Schave, Kim curates the Salons and forensic science seminars of LAVA- The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. When the third generation Angeleno isn’t combing old newspapers for forgotten scandals, she is a passionate advocate for historic preservation of signage, vernacular architecture and writer’s homes. Kim was for many years the editrix of Scram, a journal of unpopular culture. Her books include Fall in Love For Life, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, Lost in the Grooves and an oral history of Neutral Milk Hotel.

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Kim Cooper

Kim Cooper is the creator of 1947project, the crime-a-day time travel blog that spawned Esotouric’s popular crime bus tours, including The Real Black Dahlia. She is the author of The Kept Girl, the acclaimed historical mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe, and of The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles. With husband Richard Schave, Kim curates the Salons and forensic science seminars of LAVA- The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. When the third generation Angeleno isn’t combing old newspapers for forgotten scandals, she is a passionate advocate for historic preservation of signage, vernacular architecture and writer’s homes. Kim was for many years the editrix of Scram, a journal of unpopular culture. Her books include Fall in Love For Life, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, Lost in the Grooves and an oral history of Neutral Milk Hotel.

One thought on “Is your telephone box burning…?”

  1. S.C. Pooch Gets His Letters
    –but They’re All Wrong

    George Tirebiter was given a partial shave yesterday and seemed very unhappy about it.

    George is the big black and tan mascot of the University of Southern California campus.

    Four UCLA students brought George to The Times. They swore they found him, complete with tonsure, on the Westwood campus. Neatly barbered into the hair of George’s back were the letters “U C L A.â€Â

    + + +

    The assault on USC’s campus canine prompted angry letters to The Times and a pointed barb on the sports pages. “Whoever did that had a warped mind,â€Â columnist Braven Dyer said.

    Of course, the Trojans were up to the challenge and shortly before the schools’ annual grudge match, painted the Westwood campus with slogans like “George Tirebiter’s Revenge.â€Â The scoreboard was vandalized to read: “USC 1,000, UCLA 0.â€Â The actual score was much closer. USC, which at that point was unbeaten, defeated UCLA 6-0 and went to the Rose Bowl, although it subsequently lost its homecoming game to Notre Dame 38-7.

    As for the unpleasantness on New Year’s Day, 1948, USC was devastated 49-0 by the Michigan Wolverines, a game that remains the worst defeat in USC history.

    George Tirebiter, who got his nickname from chasing cars near the USC campus, died in 1950 while pursuing a car in El Centro, where he had been sent after becoming a little too aggressive. The Times obituary reports that his paw prints were in concrete at the north entrance to the campus.

    Bonus factoids: George Tirebiter’s middle name was Torres.
    USC leads UCLA in Heisman Trophy winners accused of murdering their ex-wives: USC, 1; UCLA, 0.

    Quote of the day: “I don’t like you. You are not a good American.â€Â

    New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno, before sticking a gun in the stomach of a doorman at the Drake Hotel in New York.

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