Category Archives: Miscellaneous

A Letter From Mrs. Rayburn

This week, while watching an episode of the classic American TV sitcom “Leave It To Beaver”, I stumbled upon what one might call an “Easter Egg”.

In the episode “Her Idol”, first aired on November 6, 1958, the principal of Grant Avenue Grammar School, Mrs. Rayburn (played by Doris Packer) sends a typewritten complaint letter to Mr. Ward Cleaver (played by Hugh Beaumont). The letter appears on screen for only a brief moment, and Beaumont reads only the last line aloud. When the episode was aired, television resolution was so low that the audience could not have deciphered the letter. But with today’s high definition scans, it is possible (albeit with some difficulty).

And as it turns out, one of the show’s writers (or maybe the props department) had a bit of fun here. The letter reads:

Mr. Ward Cleaver
485 Mapleton Drive
Mayfield, State

My Dear Mr. Cleaver:

This paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with anything. It is here merely to fill up space. Still, it is words, rather than repeated letters, since the latter might not give the proper appearance, namely, that of an actual note.

For that matter, all of this is nonsense, and the only part of this that is to be read is the last paragraph, which part is the inspired creation of the producers of this very fine series.

Another paragraph of stuff. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. My typing is lousy, but the typewriter isn’t so hot either. After all, why should I take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with which all of us must contend. Lew Burdette just hit a home run and Milwaukee leads seven to one in the series. This is the last line of the filler material of the note. No, my mistake, that was only the next to last. This is last.

I hope you can find a suitable explanation for Theodore’s unusual conduct.

Yours truly,

Cornelia Rayburn

Two things of note:

“Mayfield” is a fictional American small town, and the show never disclosed the state it was located in. Hence there is no such reference in the letter’s address section.

Lew Burdette (November 22, 1926 – February 6, 2007) was of course a very real person – a very famous Major League Baseball pitcher who played primarily for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves. He was considered the most valuable player of the 1957 World Series, leading the franchise to its first championship in 43 years, and the only title in Milwaukee history. So as it happens, the reference to Burdette and the second game of the World Series allows us to date the letter: it appears to have been typed in the early afternoon of Thursday, October 2, 1958.

On that day, beginning at 1:00 PM Central Time, the Milwaukee Braves played the New York Yankees at County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the 2nd game of the World Series. There, during the first inning, with the Braves already leading 4-1, Burdette scored a three-run homer, bringing the tally to 7-1. The Milwaukee Braves ended up winning Game 2, but in a reversal from 1957, the Yankees defeated the Braves in seven games to win their 18th title, and their seventh in 10 years.

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The Garden Of Allah

On the left in this rare image of Sunset Boulevard just west of Crescent Heights, taken during the early 1930s, we see the entrance to the Garden of Allah at 8152 Sunset Boulevard. On the right is the Chateau Marmont, which still stands. A house behind the trees in the center would eventually become the Preston Sturges’ Players Club, then the Imperial Gardens, Miyagi’s, and the Roxbury.

About three decades preceding this photograph, the hills to the north were still lined with orange groves. What became Sunset Boulevard was just a dirt road. By 1905, real estate mogul William Hamilton Hay (1865-1946) began dividing and developing 160-acres of land bounded by today’s Sunset Boulevard to the north, Santa Monica Boulevard to the south, Crescent Avenue (today’s Fairfax Avenue) to the east and Sweetzer Avenue, in what is now the City of West Hollywood.

At the originally assigned street address of 8080 Sunset Boulevard, the “Hayvenhurst Estate” occupied a 2.5 acres site fronting Sunset. It was bounded by Crescent Heights Boulevard on the east, and Hayvenhurst Drive (today spelled Havenhurst) on the west. The property’s southern edge formed the city limits between the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, and what later became the incorporated City of West Hollywood. Eventually, the property’s address was changed to 8152 Sunset Boulevard.

The estate had twelve rooms and four bathrooms. The interior finishes were fashioned from Circassian walnut wood which Mr. Hay and his wife Katherine had collected on a trip to the Philippines in 1912. (It is said that the couple personally managed the project). The interior walls were covered in hand-painted canvas and hand-painted. Perhaps unusual for the time, the property included a two-car garage (with upstairs rooms servants).

Completed in 1918, the property stood vacant for several years, as Mr. and Mrs. Hays had moved on to other building projects.

Around that time, the property was recommended to silent film actress Alla Nazimova, who first leased and then bought the estate from the Hays.

Alla Nazimova and Charles Bryant (actor) in a photo dated Dec. 6, 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress.

Facing bankruptcy, Ms. Nazimova apparently found investors, and had the property converted to a hotel by commissioning 25 villas on the site. In 1927, this became known as “the Garden of Alla”.

Main house interior, date unknown

Not skilled in running a hotel, Ms. Nazimova was forced to sell the money-losing property to a holding corporation, which renamed it to “Garden of Allah”. It was, in its heyday, a bohemian hangout for young creative types flocking to Hollywood’s film industry from all corners of the world. Given the list of guests (see below) and the many stories of rambunctious parties, dubious events and salacious happenings, it was quite the place to be.

Date unknown

1932

1934

A striking photo of Henry Wilcoxon at the Garden of Allah, 1934. Known as an actor in many of director Cecil B. DeMille’s films, he later served as DeMille’s associate producer.

When Alla Nazimova returned to California in 1938 after a stay on Broadway, she rented Villa 24 at the hotel, and continued to live there until her death in 1945.

Library of Congress Catalog: https://lccn.loc.gov/2014712156. Image: https://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/ggbain/32000/32003u.tif

The Garden of Allah pool in 1959

Sadly, after losing its luster and falling into disrepair, the Garden of Allah was torn down in August of 1959, to be replaced with the Lytton Savings & Loan main branch. A pristine example of Googie architecture, the bank building was designated a historic cultural landmark in 2016. Nevertheless, it was condemned to demolition by a subsequent ruling, in order to make way for one of the ugly, disjointed monstrosities Frank Gehry’s architectural firm is known for.

Today, nothing remains of the Garden of Allah, except a place in history, the myth, and an imaginary landmark as one of the central locations in the Golden Era of Hollywood.

Hotel Guests

Various sources have linked the following names to stays at the Garden of Allah:

Lauren Bacall, Tallulah Bankhead, John Barrymore, Donn Beach, Lucius Beebe, Robert Benchley, Humphrey Bogart, Clara Bow, Louis Bromfield, Louise Brooks, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Charles Butterworth, Louis Calhern, John Carradine, Virginia Cherrill, Mickey Cohen, Buster Collier, Ronald Colman, Marc Connelly, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Jean Dalrymple, Lili Damita, Vic Damone, Florence Desmond, Marlene Dietrich, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Errol Flynn, Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Dorothy Gish, Jackie Gleason, Jimmy Gleason, Elinor Glyn, Benny Goodman, Frances Goodrich, Ruth Gordon, Sheilah Graham, D.W. Griffith, Albert Hackett, Jon Hall, Jed Harris, Jascha Heifetz, Lillian Hellman, Ernest Hemingway, Woody Herman, Madeline Hurlock, Garson Kanin, George S. Kaufman, Buster Keaton, Muriel King, Eartha Kitt, Alexander Korda, Elsa Lanchester, Charles Laughton, Frank Lawton, Lila Lee, John Loder, Anita Louise, Bessie Love, Ernst Lubitsch, Charles MacArthur, Frances Marion, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Groucho Marx, Sam Marx, Glesca Marshall, Somerset Maugham, Patty McCormack, Ward Morehouse, Nita Naldi, Ramon Novarro, Alla Nazimova, David Niven, John O’Hara, Maureen O’Hara, Walter O’Keefe, Maureen O’Sullivan, Clifford Odets, Laurence Olivier, Dorothy Parker, Johnny Roselli, S.J. Perelman, Roland Petit, Tyrone Power, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ronald Reagan, Flora Robson, Ginger Rogers, Harry Ruby, Natalie Schafer, Leon Shamroy, Artie Shaw, Mildred Shay, Arthur Sheekman, Robert E. Sherwood, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Everett Sloane, Barbara Stanwyck, John Steinbeck, Donald Ogden Stewart, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Gloria Stuart, Margaret Sullavan, Kay Thompson, Whitney Tower, Forrest Tucker, H.B. Warner, Orson Welles, Dame May Whitty, Herbert Wilcox, Hugh Williams, Hope Williams, John Hay “Jock” Whitney, Alexander Woollcott, Vincent Youmans.

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Healing Ailments

Mark Twain photographed by A. F. Bradley in New York, 1907

“Within the last quarter of a century, in America, several sects of curers have appeared under various names and have done notable things in the way of healing ailments without the use of medicines. There are the Mind Cure, the Faith Cure, the Prayer Cure, the Mental Science Cure, and the Christian-Science Cure; and apparently they all do their miracles with the same old, powerful instrument—the patient’s imagination. Differing names, but no difference in the process. But they do not give that instrument the credit; each sect claims that its way differs from the ways of the others.”

Mark Twain, born on November 30, 1835

It is remarkable how Mark Twain’s observation, written in 1907, still applies just the same over 100 years later.

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R.I.P. Paul Harrell (1966–2024)

This morning I learned with great sadness that YouTube personality and firearms expert Paul Harrell died yesterday, September 3, in Oregon. He was 58 old.

Earlier, on December 20, 2023, Paul Harrell recorded a video to be released after his death. In it, he said good-bye to his audience, apologized for not being able to continue, and encouraged the public to keep following his brother and his team as they were continuing the work, with Mr. Harrell’s blessings. The video will have been watched 2.5 million times within the first 24 hours of its release.

Paul Harrell served in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. Having lived a mostly quiet and private life after his long military career, little is publicly known about his personal affairs  after leaving the military – except for one incident in 2006.

In 2006, according to court records and newspaper reports, Mr. Harris was involved in a fatal self-defense shooting. According to Lewiston Tribune quoting the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 26, 2006, “Benjamin Paul Harrell, 40, of Yakima, was charged with murder and is in the Umatilla County Jail”.

The case was investigated by the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregon State Major Crimes Team, Walla Walla Police Department and Walla Walla County Coroner’s Office. 

According to the Wallowa County Chieftain (Nov. 29, 2006), Mr. Harrel was arraigned on charges of manslaughter, two counts of first-degree assault, menacing, and first-degree criminal mischief. Presiding over the arraignment, Wallowa County Judge Phillip Mendiguren set bail at $250,000. Mr. Harrell was later exonerated and freed by a grand jury, and the shooting was ruled to have occurred in self-defense. 

Some sources say Mr. Harris worked as a dental hygienist for some time, and he himself spoke of a past, messy relationship with a woman whom he deemed mentally ill and vindictive, and from who he had separated many years ago. 

But Mr. Harris found fame as a YouTube personality. His public persona was characterized by his always calm and rational demeanor, and his displays of both confidence and humility. His presentations were spiced up with dry humor and the occasional sarcastic, self-deprecating remarks. One of his famous closing lines was, “Don’t try this at home. I am what you might call a professional.”

His successful YouTube Channel was launched in 2012. (There was an earlier, little known channel which only had a handful of views). By 2023, the Paul Harrell Channel passed the 1 million follower-mark on YouTube. At the time of this writing, the channel has 1.15 million subscribers and 455 videos, some of which have been watched between two and more than four million times.

In July 2023, Mr. Harrell matter-of-factly announced that he had been diagnosed with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer. According to his videos, he was initially hopeful that the disease had been caught early enough. Although the odd of recovering from pancreatic cancer are very low, Mr. Harrell remained optimistic about continuing his work. He requested his audience not to give no medical advice in their comments, not to pity him, and not to dwell on the situation. He continued to release well produced videos, but with less frequency.

By January 2024, Paul Harrell had turned control of his channel over to his brother, Roy Harrell. In the following months, the two brothers often appeared in videos together, the last of which seems to have been recorded in or around July of 2024.

In his field, Paul Harrell was a recognized expert and a committed American patriot dedicated to the causes of American liberty, personal freedom and independence, personal responsibility, and minimal government interference.

Ever private about his personal affairs, there have been no publicly released details about Paul Harrell’s medical treatment, the circumstances of his death, funeral arrangements, and his final resting place.

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Beware Of Bank Mergers And Acquisitions

When banks and brokerages eat each other, it’s always a scourge for their customers. In every instance, financial institutions promise a seamless transition, but I have never found this to be the case.

When one financial institution is acquired by another, missing payments and deposits, late fees, service outages, messed up data, lost transactions and exorbitant wait times for customer service are the norm, not the exception. Although most of these problems will be fixed (eventually), you’ll be spending your unpaid time with their overwhelmed customer service reps (mostly on hold) to get things straightened out.

Possibly even worse, the transition process involves third parties handling your most sensitive customer data. This creates the possibility for data leaks, and an opportunity for cybercriminals and corrupt operators.

Take my advice: As soon as you find out that your bank or brokerage is being acquired, look for a new bank or brokerage. Take this as an opportunity to shop around for the best conditions and services. While evaluating new financial institutions to take your business to, make sure to investigate not only their services and fees, but also their corporate political, social and ideological engagements. (A surprising number will sponsor and support causes you dislike or judge to be unworthy of your support).

Once you find what you are looking for, open a new account and transfer your funds and securities. Then, download all records, double check to make sure you have everything. Finally, shut down the old account before any of these dreadful automated transitions disrupts and violates your life.

If you want a trial period, you might even open up several new accounts, see which ones you like best, and then shut down those which suit you the least.

Be proactive, and you will save yourself a lot of aggravation and time, and possibly get a better deal.

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Halloween 2023

All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.

We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,
Along the passages they come and go,
Impalpable impressions on the air,
A sense of something moving to and fro.

There are more guests at table than the hosts
Invited; the illuminated hall
Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,
As silent as the pictures on the wall.

The stranger at my fireside cannot see
The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;
He but perceives what is; while unto me
All that has been is visible and clear.

We have no title-deeds to house or lands;
Owners and occupants of earlier dates
From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,
And hold in mortmain still their old estates.

The spirit-world around this world of sense
Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere
Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense
A vital breath of more ethereal air.

Our little lives are kept in equipoise
By opposite attractions and desires;
The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,
And the more noble instinct that aspires.

These perturbations, this perpetual jar
Of earthly wants and aspirations high,
Come from the influence of an unseen star
An undiscovered planet in our sky.

And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud
Throws o’er the sea a floating bridge of light,
Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd
Into the realm of mystery and night,—

So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this,
O’er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 – 1882)

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Street Lights

Here’s a picture of 6th Street (between Olive Street and Flower Street) in Downtown Los Angeles, 1930. It was part of this article about the history of street lights in Los Angeles.

California Historical Society Collection, University of Southern California Libraries

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