Clifton's "Pacific Seas" Cafeteria (1940s)

After reading about today's unveiling of the old Clifton's Cafeteria facade in downtown Los Angeles, I thought I'd share this photo from the amazing book Orange Roofs, Golden Arches by Philip Langdon. 

There were actually six cafeterias opened by Clifford E. Clinton, starting with his first in downtown Los Angeles in 1931 (Clifton's is an amalgam of his first and last names).

The Clifton's Cafeteria pictured above is the "Pacific Seas" themed Clifton's, which was opened after Clinton's 1939 vacation in Hawaii. Clinton returned to Los Angeles with the idea for a tropical paradise themed restaurant. It was located at 618 S. Olive Street in Los Angeles but sadly closed its doors on June 17, 1960. A photo of the interior of the cafeteria is below.

The Clifton's that remains in downtown Los Angeles was purchased by a new owner in 2010 and is currently undergoing renovations.

Profile: the bread for dames and dolls (1959)

And here I thought that gendered bread was a relatively new thing. This ad for Profile Bread appeared in the January 15, 1959 issue of the Corsicana Daily Sun (Corsicana, TX).

The ad touts Profile Bread as a way for women to control their appetites:

There is all sorts of stuff you can eat before a meal to help control your appetite.

But Profile Bread brings you the delectable pleasure of a truly new bread treat -- that's why most folks are saying, "Profile Bread is my choice.

Brought to you by the bakers of Wonder Bread:

Thousands upon thousands of dames and dolls who never watch their weight enjoy this famous Profile Bread for its wonderful flavor and delectable toasting quality.

Drop a slice into your toaster -- hear those little wheat flakes pop and crackle -- taste the wonderful nut-sweet flavor.

Profile toast is a breakfast must in thousands of happy homes.

Profile is the only truly new kind of bread in a century of baking -- new in looks -- taste -- food value and toasting quality -- utterly new and different.

Profile Bread is being gobbled up so fast, your grocer may be sold out -- so place an order to be sure you get this wonderful new kind of bread or shop early before the mobs have taken it all away.

A good old fashioned ice melting contest

January 15, 1952 ice melting contest at the Los Angeles airport (USC Libraries)

This morning I found these photos of two people participating in what the USC Libraries describes as an "ice melting contest." Wondering what the hell an ice melting contest was, I did a little digging.

Apparently in January of 1952 four cities in the American Southwest squared off to determine who had the most sunshine. The cities of Carlsbad, New Mexico; Phoenix, Arizona; El Paso, Texas and Los Angeles, California all agreed to put out a one-ton block of ice. Whichever city's ice melted first was to be declared the winner.

Well, as you can see from these photos, Los Angeles was hit with rain. And though the rain seemed to do the trick in helping to melt the ice, it disqualified Los Angeles from the contest.

January 15, 1952 ice melting contest at the Los Angeles airport (USC Libraries)

The woman in the photo is French actress Corinne Calvet, who was in a string of films in the 1950s like What Price Glory? and The Far Country. 

The man on the right is A. K. Showalter, a meteorologist who according to his obituary in the L.A. Times, "apologized in verse" for inaccurate weather forecasts. A July 5, 1953 story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune quoted Showalter as saying that Los Angeles was the worst city in the country to be a weatherman. "The less weather you have, the more likely it is to affect people," he said.

January 15, 1952 ice melting contest at the Los Angeles airport (USC Libraries)

According to the January 17, 1952 issue of the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso was the eventual winner of the ice melting contest when its ice melted in 36 hours, 41 minutes and 52 seconds, beating Carlsbad by 5 hours and 12 minutes.

The funny twist to all of this is that cities in the Southeast wanted in on the action, but were told to stick it where the sun was not, in fact, shining. Apparently Galveston and Corpus Christi in Texas, as well as St. Petersburg, New Smyrna Beach and Sebring in Florida wanted to participate.

But Frank Kindel, the manager of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce who came up with the ice melting stunt said that those cities couldn't play because they weren't in the Southwest. Kindel said that the cities were "swampy jungle towns" and was quoted as saying "we were testing sunshine, not steam heat from swamps."

This, as you can imagine, didn't go over well in the Southeast. The excerpt below is from the January 17, 1952 El Paso Herald-Post.

C.E. McCleland, editor of the Galveston News, was shocked when he heard his town classified as a "swampy, jungle town" by Mr. Kindel.

Mr. McClelland challenged Mr. Kindel to a duel with ice tongs at 50 paces.

"Let's make it ice picks," Mr. Kindel said.

Mark Twain on copyright

[UPDATE: To be clear, Mark Twain was a rather notorious believer in infinite copyright. Just read his testimony for yourself, as linked below.]

Mark Twain testified before Congress in 1906. The bill he was testifying about was to extend the term of copyright in the United States to the life of the author plus fifty years. He said that this would satisfy any reasonable author because it would satisfy his own children. "Let the grandchildren take care of themselves," he said. An excerpt from his testimony is below.

My copyrights produce to me annually a good deal more money than I have any use for. But those children of mine have use for that. I can take care of myself as long as I live. I know half a dozen trades, and I can invent a half a dozen more. I can get along. But I like the fifty years' extension, because that benefits my two daughters, who are not as competent to earn a living as I am, because I have carefully raised them as young ladies, who don't know anything and can't do anything. So I hope Congress will extend to them that charity which they have failed to get from me.

Boostercopters

Though the first practical helicopter wouldn't be flown until 1936, this "boostercopter" appeared in the April, 1935 issue of Everyday Science and Mechanics.