Category

History Lessons

At my heart I’m a historian. So sometimes I write essays on weird topics. Yes, I write these because I want to, not because I’m getting paid or anything. Seriously.

The Employee Handbook, which features a woodgrain background, and the "Old Timer" with a white beard, black hat, check shirt, black vest, brown pants, and black boots, waving, and holding a pick ax. A donkey stands next to him.

The Legend of Whittles, Knott’s Berry Farm’s Forgotten Icon

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As part of being a Knott’s Berry Farm Ambassador, I am tasked with writing posts for the Knott’s Berry Blog. Last week my first blog post for them was published, which was an overall history of the Farm. While you can read the whole post here, today I wanted to take a moment to expand…

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The Moulin Rouge on a postcard from the period. A low roof building features towering script that reads "Moulin Rouge." A tall tower on the left also reads "Moulin Rouge" in neon, and also features a massive neon version fo the Eiffel Tower. Script across reads "Greetings from the Moulin Rouge"

The Fleeting Life of America’s First Integrated Casino, the Moulin Rouge

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“In Vegas for 20 minutes, our skin had no color. Then the second we stepped off stage, we were colored again. The other acts could gamble or sit in the lounge and have a drink, but we had to leave through the kitchen with the garbage.” That is how Sammy Davis Jr. described performing in…

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Screencap: Men take a body out of the orange and blue Laff in the Dark building, covered in a white sheet.

Tracing the Journey of Mummified Outlaw Elmer McCurdy to the Long Beach Pike

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Last week I talked about the history of Long Beach’s infamous Pike, including the location being used in an episode of Charlie’s Angels and The Six Million Dollar Man. What I didn’t mention was that in the Charlie’s Angels episode, “To Kill an Angel,” a man’s body is found within the Pike’s Laff in the…

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Myself standing in front of the old west medicine wagon sits in the middle of the parking lot. It is red and reads "Gower Gulch Medicinal Ointment" and has an image of an Indian wearing a headdress, wearing a black peasant top, and a green skirt with western images on it.

The Forgotten History of Gower Gulch, Hollywood’s Western Strip Mall

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Gower Gulch. Sounds like a small town in the deserts of Arizona, right? But you’d be wrong. It’s in fact a western themed small strip mall that sits at the corner of Gower and Sunset in the middle of Hollywood. But why a western theme? And just how did this corner get its name? The…

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A rounded front building faces the street, atop it a tall spire stretches toward a bright blue sky. Near the bottom red letters spell out "Crossroads of the World." Atop the spire a globe.

The Violent History of LA’s Iconic Crossroads of the World

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Sunset Boulevard is synonymous with Hollywood. It’s home to a plethora of iconic buildings and linked to many legendary people. One such building is Crossroads of the World, a bizarre little 1930s shopping center turned office complex that looks like something out of a Disney theme park, with a steamship style building “sailing” past storefronts…

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The Buffalo Soldiers: Multi-Talented Defenders of Westward Expansion

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On September 21, 1866, a brand new regiment was formed. The 10th Calvary Regiment was comprised of Black men, and was given the nickname, The Buffalo Soldiers. The nickname was given to them by the Native Americans, due to their hair reminding them of the top of a buffalos head. The regiment served in the…

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