Thief Has Pricey Taste, Full Closet
Under the heading “Major Incidents Police News,” the Warner Center News reported: “Ten pairs of pants totaling $2,768 were stolen in Calabasas from a clothing store in the 4700 block of Commons Way. Police are on the lookout for a well-dressed person from the waist down.”
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SANTA MONICA SOUTH: David Brook of L.A. wondered why Tustin had stolen Santa Monica’s address (see accompanying). The address was on a return envelope that Brook received along with a parking citation.
It turns out a company in Tustin handles the fine collections for Santa Monica. And maybe does Santa Monica’s windows for all I know.
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WATCH THE CLAWS: Lisalee Wells of Long Beach found an ad placed by a cat owner with language that seemed taken from one of those “I Hate Cats” books (see accompanying).
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HOWDY DOODY, PRE-SURFER: Did you see where the “Howdy Doody Show” was honored with a plaque on NBC’s Walk of Fame at the Rockefeller Center in New York? Next, perhaps, the International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach will confess the cultural debt it owes the children’s TV show, which ran from 1947 to 1960.
After all, “Howdy Doody” invented the term “cowabunga,” which was used as an exclamation. Later, the term was adopted by the surfing community (“cowabunga” appeared in the titles of surfing exhibits in Santa Monica and at John Wayne Airport in recent years).
In his autobiography, “Howdy and Me,” Buffalo Bob Smith said “some chowderhead” started the rumor that cowabunga “signified a profanity” and that when kids at home yelled it out, they were cursing. Added Buffalo Bob: “I’d never teach a kid a secret way to curse.”
In truth, he said, the term was meaningless (perfect for surfers!).
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A VALENTINE FOR BUGSY: Hollywood’s Formosa Cafe, a onetime haunt of actors and gangsters, was all set to open a safe belonging to hoodlum Bugsy Siegel on Valentine’s Day to commemorate the Valentine’s Day massacre. Sure the massacre took place in Chicago, and Bugsy Siegel was not involved. Hollywood productions--and publicity stunts--rarely adhere to the facts.
Anyway, a publicist for the newly renovated eatery, which was featured in the movie “L.A. Confidential,” says the event has been postponed.
After the original announcement got out, the restaurant heard from several interested parties, including someone who claimed to be related to Virginia Hill, Siegel’s old girlfriend (or moll, as gangster girlfriends used to be called). The Formosa’s attorneys are reviewing the legal implications of the opening.
So why does the Formosa have Siegel’s safe, anyway? Publicist Harlan Boll said it was in a secret office the gangster supposedly kept at the restaurant. The safe was set aside and forgotten after Siegel’s murder in 1947. His office was dismantled and turned into a double dining booth.
Bugsy would have understood. It was just business.
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INSIDE BUGSY’S SAFE: “No one has opened it yet and we’re not even sure anything’s in there,” said Boll, trying to cushion the public for a possible repeat of Geraldo Rivera’s unveiling of Al Capone’s empty vault.
But Boll, being the good publicist, added that a psychic has said the safe may contain a list of names of Hollywood notables who used the prostitution services of the Siegel/Mickey Cohen mob.
Cowabunga!
miscelLAny:
I guess it’s only natural that a downturned sign would be noticed by a reader named Mel Upp of San Bernardino (see photo).
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.
