On The Tinsel Front

Tag: Los Angeles History

  • The Zoot Suit Riots

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    Christopher Bomba
    in

    Dress and racial conflict in World War II Los Angeles SPOILER ALERT: While this post doesn’t given away any plot points, it’s best read after listening to Season 2, Episode 7: “Riot.” OLLIE: Dear Bet: Over the weekend war broke out between servicemen and zoot suiters in downtown Los Angeles and Mexican neighborhoods to the…

  • Central Avenue

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    by

    Christopher Bomba
    in ,

    I couldn’t tell a story about Los Angeles in the 1940s without some mention of Central Avenue, the road that, running due south from downtown, was the cultural epicenter of the city’s black community and a musical mecca where jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Billy Holliday, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald performed. Sadly, this…