Oh, did the wee policeman get an owee?

December 8, 1947
Los Angeles

Man, it took some guts for Elmer E. Kunkle to file his battery suit today. Not many LAPD officers would want it widely known that, when sent by his superiors to quell the noise at a party at 206 N. Avenue 51, he not only failed to intimidate with his mere presence, but was, he claims, set upon by the rowdy guests, beaten and bum-rushed off the property. Kunkle’s suit names Graham E. Thompson and his wife Esther, William St. Charles, Jerry M. Garner, Leonard W. Likes and Angus D. Bell, and seeks $50,000 damages.

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 “Oh, did the wee policeman get an owee?”

  1. THEIR DAYS OF GLORY JUST A MEMORY
    Varied Careers Followed
    by Rose Queens of Past
    Woman Who Ruled First Tournament Is Now
    Grandmother and Another Succeeds in Films

    What has become of the Rose Queens of yesteryear?

    What has happened to the girls who in the past have ruled over the glamour, excitement and pageantry of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses?

    Did that cherished title start them on the road to fame and fortune or did it leave them just happy memories, a scrapbook and a pressed red rose?

    + + +

    In 1979, The Times surveyed former Rose Queens, finding that many of them lived in Orange County. One of the women interviewed by Lael Morgan was Patricia Auman, the Rose Queen for 1946, who selected an education at Stanford over pursuing a film career.

    Auman, who dropped out of Stanford after a year and a half to marry a fellow student, said: “I was in high school, I was 17 years old and I was thrilled to participate. And it was a wonderful event at the time. The tournament people are good people, the former queens well-meaning women. But what it really is, is publicity for Pasadena…â€Â

    The Times said: “What bothers her primarily is the commercialism of the event, ‘so many millions spent when there are so many other problems to deal with in our society.’ â€Â

    “While the tournament has always stressed it wasn’t a beauty contest I don’t like the emphasis on looks. I wish they would do away with it entirely or combine it with achievement; what a person is, now how they look,â€Â she said.

    Quote of the day: “When you’re growing up in Pasadena and you’re a girl you have this useless dream about being Rose Bowl queen. My orthodontist tried to tell me that if I took care of my teeth I’d be queen and he was right. Though later I found he told that to all the girls.’’
    Nancy True Thorne, 1954 Rose Queen
    https://www.lmharnisch.com

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