Author: 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.

All Hail Jinx Ballantrae!

marie prevost and doggy

March 27, 1927
Portland, OR 

Moving Picture star Marie Prevost travelled all the way to Oregon to exhibit Jinx Ballantrae, one of the handsome Cairn Terriers trained by her husband of three years, leading man Kenneth Harlan, at the Portland Kennel Club’s fifth annual show. And for the first time ever, a Cairn Terrier was named best in show. We’re sure it had little to do with the pretty lady on the end of the lead, though. After all, her three Cairns also swept up all the prizes at last years San Fernando Valley Kennel Club meet.

marie prevost and kenneth harlan

A month later, Miss Prevost and Mr. Harlan would exhibit their Cairns at the first annual Glendale Dog Show, Miss Prevost clad in a handsome green John Held sports outfit. Also on the floor: Francis X. Bushman and Harold Lloyd with their Great Danes and Arthur Rankin with a whippet. This time, the silver cup was taken by Lloyd Bacon and his Wire Haired Terrier, and Jinx Ballantrae let out a terrific growl that was heard all the way to Tujunga. And in May, Miss Prevost filed for divorce from Mr. Harlan on grounds of cruelty, complaining that he kept her up all night before shooting days with drunken phone calls saying he’d be home soon, and that when he did come home he brought unsavory people with him and made lots of noise in the swimming pool. But everyone knows that Jinx made her do it, still miffed about his hometown loss.

And if we point our futurist’s spyglass further still, we see 1937, and that unpleasant business with alcoholic Miss Prevost starving to death and being gnawed on by another little doggy. Ugh, put the spyglass down. Let’s leave the pretty lady, her handsome husband and frisky pups to enjoy their moment in the sun.

…and to Matron I leave a wild goose chase

March 23, 1927
Los Angeles 

Notorious con artist Mrs. Mary Williams, aka Rose Mary Langhorn, has expired aged 65 in General Hospital while awaiting trial on charges that, shortly after making her acquaintance aboard the steamship Mongolia between Havana and L.A. last spring, she relieved Mrs. Marguerite Nonemacher of Highland, California of the burden of $3000 cash money, in exchange for some oil stock royalties which were certain to yield $10,000 shortly, and $500,000 in the longer term. Mrs. Nonebacher bit, and later squealed when not a nickel or a whisper was forthcoming from her shipboard pal or the phantom wells.

USS Mongolia

The APB that went out for the flim flam artist described a plump, cheery gal of later years, who was "full of conversation and bounced about the boat calling everybody ‘honey’ and ‘dear.’"

"Sure I stole her money," said Mary whatever-her-real-name-is on her deathbed, but merely for "the fun of the thing." It all started when she was a rich young woman ruined after trusting other wealthy people, and so devoted her career to exacting revenge on other members of her former class. And who can begrudge her that?

The dying woman made a will naming a New York friend as her executor. But as California law forbids wills to be executed by non locals, she was instructed to think again. Not having many friends in California, and perhaps feeling indisposed to benefit Mrs. Nonemacher, Mary chose Chief Matron Vada Sullivan of the County Jail.

And that’s why Matron is leaving work today to take a ride up to Ukiah, where Mary’s strongbox was stored, to examine its contents and her bank accounts. Assuming all are well-stuffed,  there will be numerous local souls benefiting from their proximity to the fading swindler, among them attorney M.W. Purcell ($1000), Father Vanderdoucht ($1000), three physicians ($1000 each) and nurse Florence McDaniel (a ranch).

jail matron vada sullivan

above left: Matron in 1937, and it’s pronounced Dee-KEY, sheesh. 

Recommended viewing, Preston Sturges’ The Lady Eve, our favorite filmic treatment of the shipboard swindler’s art and love:

Small Image

and the new year is…

Gentle reader, we’ve concluded our explorations of the good year 1907, and now turn our jaundiced gaze to a fresh chronological target. Our next year is both keen and nifty, where the bubbles in the market are nearly as dangerous as the fizz in your bathtub gin. Come along with us now, not backward this time, but forward, as we make the leap from sweet little 1907 to scandalous, jazz-age 1927 L.A. Bye bye, ostrich farms and bungalows, success waves and lemon fiends. We’ll miss you more than you’ll ever know, but we just can’t stay. The lure of the unknown is just too strong, not to mention the rumors of dresses that show the knee. Hotsy totsy!

We’re pleased to announce a new contributor to the site, Mary McCoy. Look for her posts every Wednesday, and should you find yourself downtown on Thursday March 29, drop by the Central Library at 12:15 to hear her 45 minute presentation on "L.A. True Crime-Fact or Fiction."

What secrets does 1927 hold close to her pretty chest? Stay tuned as we unwrap the flap, exposing scandals, oddities, horrors and delights, and maybe, just maybe, a murder on your block! 

Blood & Dumplings in the Pasadena Star-News

Nathan Marsak as Hitler on the 1947project Crime Bus Tour

Why yes, Pasadenans, that was our own Nathan Marsak glowering out at you from page three of the Sunday paper, doing his little AH impression on the former site of the American Nazi Party Headquarters in deepest El Monte, as part of the Blood and Dumplings Crime Bus Tour. To read Molly R. Okean’s story, which oddly enough in the web version doesn’t feature Sarah Reingewirtz’ striking photograph, just click here.

We had a great day exploring the San Gabriel Valley with a bus full of charming passengers, including a stop for dumplings at Monster Park (sorry about the soy sauce shortage!), turn-of-the-century bungalow poetry from co-host Richard Schave, black cats crossing our paths and some truly chilling tales of forgotten crimes and misfortunes. Thanks to everyone who joined us, especially Sister Kelly and Brother Nathan, and watch this space for announcements of upcoming tours, criminal and otherwise. 

1947project at Saving LA event at the Los Angeles Theater, Sunday 3/18

Join us, gentle reader, this Sunday March 18, at the glamorous and seldom open Los Angeles Theater (1931) in the heart of downtown for the Saving LA preservation event. There will be speakers in the main hall and tables hosting representatives from local publishers and historical organizations, including 1947project. Stop by to see one of the most beautiful theaters in the city and to connect with others who care about preserving signs of the past. Linger to hear my visionary husband Richard Schave speak in the 3 o’clock hour about the vast possibilities for community building that can be accessed using free web tools.

Event details: Los Angeles Theater, 615 S. Broadway, 10am-4pm, free.

More info and a full schedule are at the Saving LA blog, https://savingla.blogspot.com/ 

1947project seeks historic crime blogger

3/28/2007: The deadline below has passed, but we’re still open to considering suitable additions to the 1947project team. If interested in being part of the site, please feel free to go through the steps below and send the answers our way.

1947project, a Los Angeles based time travel blog dedicated to unearthing forgotten crime stories and peculiar happenings from the city’s past, is seeking between one and three extraordinary contributors to research and write a blog entry once or twice weekly for one year.

On March 23, following the previous night’s 1907 Centennial Celebration party in downtown LA, 1947project will announce the secret year to next be blogged on the site. The selected new contributors will get a sneak peak at the year in question, to give them a little time to bone up on the period.

Potential contributors should be witty, concise writers and skilled researchers, with a passion for Los Angeles history and an interest in true crime. We also welcome contributors who can write knowledgably on such subjects as architecture, city planning, entertainment, transportation, business, fringe religion and other topics that have been featured in past 1947project blog entries.

To get an idea of what we do, please visit:
www.1947project.com (current site, blogging the year 1907)
1947project.blogspot.com (archive site, blogging the year 1947, with visits to the scenes)

There is no pay, but the successful applicant will have the opportunity to plug their other work in a URL at the bottom of their entries, be mentioned in press releases, and have a central spot on a website that has become a must-read for fans of L.A.’s offbeat past and has been widely covered by the local print, radio and television media.

To apply for a spot on 1947project, please do the following by March 20:

1) ensure that you can access the ProQuest archives of the historical Los Angeles Times, either through the LA Public Library website (you will need a library card), by using the LAPL in-library computers, or from another source. You can call your local public or university librarian for help. Note that ProQuest access is essential for this project.

2) pasted into the body an email (no attachments), please submit the following application materials:
a) a writing sample of 300-700 words, in which you take the basic facts of Thelma Todd’s suspicious 1935 death (Google it) and turn it into a 1947project-style blog entry. Imagine you are telling the story to a neighbor who hasn’t yet heard what’s happened, writing it up in a letter home, or submitting a story to a scandal magazine—whatever tone feels right to you. Feel free to use snappy period slang, make allegations about possibly guilty parties, and place the crime and its victim in context.
b) your resume
c) an explanation of why you are interested in being a 1947project blogger and what you feel you will bring to the project.
d) how often can you contribute, one or two posts a week?

We look forward to hearing from you!

Kim Cooper, editrix
1947project

Blood & Dumplings Crime Bus Tour (March 17, 1pm-6pm)

If there’s one thing we at 1947project love even more than uncovering
evidence of an incredibly weird forgotten crime, it’s Chinese
food–especially dumplings! Whether fried or boiled, stuffed with
shrimp, pork, pumpkin, fish, scallions or sometimes a little dollop of
soup, nothing is more comforting and delicious.

With Blood & Dumplings, we’re combining our favorite things to bring
you the first new Crime Bus tour of 2007, a a grim and gleeful descent
into the criminal history of the San Gabriel Valley, including the battling Nazis of El Monte, the chilling (and probably incestuous) Case of the Buried Bride, missing Salvador Dali paintings, the dark history of the Lions Club’s lion meat BBQs held in eye- and nose-range of hundreds of the lovely beasts, the Man from Mars Bandit (his mystery revealed!), plus Phil Spector, neglected Manson victim Steve Parent, Geneva Ellroy and a peculiar East L.A. link to the JFK assassination, concealed Black Panthers and the coolest trailer parks in the Southland.

Included in the $55 ticket price is a special stop for Chinese comfort food at one of the best dumpling joints in Monterey Park  and an afternoon picnic surrounded by real sea monsters.

Click here to buy your ticket by paypal, or email to reserve a seat that you will purchase with a money order or check.

We hope to see YOU on the Crime Bus!

your hosts,
Kim Cooper & Richard Schave

1907 Centennial Celebration Line Up

The proposals for the 1907 Centennial Celebration are in, and what wonderful performances they’ll be! We are so very pleased to host some of our favorite folks in a night dedicated to remembering the Los Angeles of one hundred years past.

When you join us at Bedlam on Thursday night, March 22, this is what you’ll being thrilling to, in order of appearance:

The invocation of Zuckerman the Potato King (Kim Cooper and Kelly Kuvo)
The strange tale of  A. Victor Segno, Mentalist with Beautiful Hair (Larry Harnisch)
A description of life in 1907 L.A. (George Garrigues)
The song stylings of Miss Figueroa Daguerre
Witty period readings from George Ade’s "Fables In Slang" (Brooke Alberts)
J. Stuart Blackton’s comic short film "The Starving Artist, or: Realism in Art" (American Vitagraph Company, 1907, live accompaniment by Laura Steenberge, presented by Ross Lipman)
Fortunes told in Madame Pamita‘s Parlor of Wonders
And the lovely Miss Janet Klein accompanied by Tom Marion revealing the next secret year to be blogged at 1947project, in song and patter.
 
The fun starts at 9pm sharp, and we anticipate about one hour for the show, with a potluck party to follow. Please bring an old fashioned recipe to share, dress in period duds if you’ve got ’em, and join us as we bid a centennial adieu to this great and endlessly surprising year of 1907 and welcome in the next year which we’re certain will prove every bit as worthy of obsession. Will it be 1967? 1887? Shhhh… you just have to come to Bedlam to find out!

Where: Bedlam Arts, 1275 E. Sixth Street, downtown L.A. 90021
When: Thursday, March 22, show starts at 9pm sharp
Cost: Free, but it would be neat if you brought an old timey potluck dish to share (recipe links are here)

See you then!
Kim & the 1947project gang 

Celebrate 1907’s Centennial in March

Reminder, you have until February 5 to submit your proposals for the 1907 Centennial celebration. We’ve already received some fascinating submissions–including one for the first public appearance in more than a decade of a legendary L.A. postpunk band, presenting a live score to a Melies Brothers short — and would love to have you be a part of it. So send over your ideas, half-baked or cooked straight through, and join us on March 22 at Bedlam.

1907 Centennial – open call for performers

For the past year, the bloggers at 1947project.com have been immersed in the weird old L.A. of 1907, a city of open sewers and Mexican revolutionaries, 15mph hot rodders and prankster firemen, holy rollers and hollow earthers. As the calendar strikes March and the conclusion of twelve months of 1907 research, we’re hosting a special centennial celebration, and we’d like YOU to be a part of it.

Writers, musicians, actors, artists, comics, storytellers, vaudevillians, curators, filmmakers, historians, poets and others are invited to propose a 3-10 minute presentation on a theme inspired by 1907-era Los Angeles (or the wider world). Your piece can be original or an adaptation of something you’ve read on 1947project.com or elsewhere. All media are welcome (we can provide amplification and video projection). The only requirements are that it be entertaining and respectful to any crime victims involved.

Prospective presenters should provide the following:
1) A one paragraph creative bio, 200 words or less, suitable for publication
2) A description of what you propose to do at the 1907 Centennial event, noting any source material that you have been inspired by
3) Length of proposed performance
4) Contact info
5) Your website or other helpful links

Event curators Kim Cooper, Larry Harnisch, Lucinda Michele Knapp and Nathan Marsak will be collecting proposals through February 5 and announcing the line up shortly afterwards. The ’07 celebration will be held on Thursday, March 22 at Bedlam Art downtown, and will culminate in the festive revelation by a very special musical guest of which historic year will next get the archival treatment from 1947project. The event will be free, with refreshments and libations on hand. Vintage recipes will be provided for those who enjoy cooking to contribute pot luck offerings to share.

Need more info to stoke the fires of your creativity? Visit www.1947project.com/1907 for some helpful historic resources.

Please submit your proposal for The 1907 Centennial by February 5 to Kim by email or mail to PO Box 31227, Los Angeles CA 90031.