Middy’s Big Adventure

January 30, 1947
Venice

“Here, kitty kitty!” was the song of Millwood Avenue as the neighborhood joined in urging pussycat Middy to alight from her perch, 75 feet up in a palm near her home at number 750.

After six days, Middy’s mistress Mrs. Don Bowser was at her wit’s end, her throat raw and neck sore from craning. Although the fire department declined to assist, Boy Scouts from Venice Troop 75 milled around looking helpful. And perhaps the sight of all those little boys so plump and perfect for scratching did compel Middy to move, for suddenly the recalcitrant cat crashed down through the dry fronds, claws out and howling, and landed on the concrete below.

A neighbor reported that Middy had drunk a little milk, and would be examined by a vet because she’d shown signs of internal bleeding.

Published by

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 “Middy’s Big Adventure”

  1. The rewrite desk in action:

    The Examiner:
    Free Cash, Nylons and Gum—
    Then They Took Him Away!

    Dollar bills, nylons and bubble gum pelted persons at 6th and Main Streets yesterday.

    It started a near-riot and brought police on the double. One woman was injured slightly.

    The pelter was Benny Stone, diminutive candy salesman, of 5754 West Fourth Street.

    Four policemen plucked him from a soapbox in the middle of the melee.

    “I was just trying to help the poor people,â€Â Stone explained cryptically. “I’m an orphan.â€Â

    Bystanders told officers Stone was selling stockings, gum and candy at a small stand when they first noticed him.

    Suddenly he mounted the box and began throwing his stock-in-trade and cash at the crowd.

    Police took him to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital for observation.

    Mrs. Mary Dun, 43, of Pacoima, knocked down in the rush, was treated for cuts and bruises.

    + + +

    And here’s The Times story:

    ‘Pitch Man’ Giving Away Stock
    Starts Sixth and Main Sts. Riot

    Recipe for a riot: Start giving things away at the corner of Sixth and Main Sts.

    It worked for Benny Stone, diminutive salesman of 5754 W. Fourth St., yesterday.

    Benny was selling nylons, bubble gum and candy from a small stand, bystanders reported, when he suddenly mounted a box and began throwing his stock at passers-by

    Pandemonium!

    To four police officers who plucked him from the middle of the melee, Benny explained: “I’m an orphan. I was just trying to help the poor people.â€Â

    Mrs. Mary Dunn, 43, of Pacoima who was caught in the brief stampede, was treated for cuts and bruises.

    And Benny, after observation at Georgia Street Hospital, was released to relatives.

    Of course, this was business as usual in the 1940s. Newspapers freely lifted material from one another.

    Quote of the day: “Well, it was a nice trip, anyway.â€Â
    American translator, after arriving in Nuremberg, Germany, for the Nazi war trials, only to fail a proficiency test.

    https://www.lmharnisch.com

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