A 1960s Halloween Tradition

Above, a publicity still of Abbott and Costello with the monsters.

Since tomorrow is Halloween, I thought I would recount a tradition that took place every year on Halloween in Los Angeles in the 1960s.

Back before the local news gobbled up air time, the CBS affiliate in L.A., KNXT Channel 2 (now KCBS), had late afternoon movies starting at 4:00 called The Early Show.

Above, the Monster with Bud and Lou in another publicity still.

Each Halloween, The Early Show broadcast the 1948 comedy-horror classic, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. This movie marked the final appearance of Universal's classic monsters: Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange), Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.). It also featured a "cameo" of the Invisible Man (Vincent Price). Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was the perfect way to have Halloween dinner before going out trick or treating for kids.

This annual Halloween tradition went on for many years in the 1960s until the expanded local news broadcasts eliminated The Early Show. It was fun while it lasted.

Above, a display of Bud and Lou with the Monster
 at a Monsterpalooza show. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Interestingly, while the movie was first released on June 15, 1948, a sneak preview of the movie was held in (nearby to me) Inglewood, California at the Academy Theater on May 18, 1948.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was the final movie Bela Lugosi appeared in for a major movie studio.

Above, the Academy Theater in Inglewood in the 1940s. 

My mother told me that she and a friend saw it at a theater during its release.

Malibu Creek Murder Victim Identified

Above, Malibu Creek State Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the last things anyone would expect to happen at Malibu Creek State Park near Calabasas is getting murdered.

CBS Los Angeles reported:

IRVINE (CBSLA)  — The father of two young girls fatally shot while camping early Friday morning in Malibu Creek State Park has been identified. 

The deceased is identified as 35-year-old Tristan Beaudette of Irvine. 

Deputies said they have no leads, no suspect and no motive.
Beaudette leaves behind his wife, Erica, and two young daughters, aged 2 and 4. 

Friend said Beaudette took the girls camping so that Erica could study for a big test she was studying for.

I have camped at Malibu Creek State Park a few times and, more recently, have used their holding tank dump station. I hope the culprit is caught.

To read more, go here.

California Democrats Want To Tax Drivers By The Mile

The Looney Left Report

President Ronald Reagan used to joke that Democrats "never met a tax they didn't like or didn't hike."

As California has become a one-party state not too different from the communist regimes of yore (we now call it the "People's Republic of California") we are seeing more and more the truth in Reagan's quip.

CBS Los Angeles posted a story on a new wacko Democrat tax scheme:

BUENA PARK (CBSLA.com) — The California Legislature is looking at a voluntary program that would tax motorists for every mile they drive. 

KCAL9’s Bobby Kaple reports that Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, introduced a bill to test out the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax because the state’s gas tax was no longer bringing in the revenue it used to due to people driving more fuel efficient vehicles. 

The program is modeled after ones in Oregon and Washington.

Naturally, the wacko California Democrat socialists would look to Oregon and Washington. Those states, too, are experimenting with left-wing Marxist laws and regulations and are controlled by Democrats. Seattle is hoping to pass a law mandating a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. A mass exodus of jobs out of that state will be the result of that if it passes.

Voluntary? Just how long do you think a so-called "voluntary" program will stay "voluntary" before it becomes mandatory?

To read more, go here.

Halloween 2012

Photo: Universal Pictures, 1948.

Back in the 1960s, one Halloween tradition was to watch Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

KNXT-Channel 2 (now known as KCBS) in Los Angeles used to have an afternoon movie program called "The Early Show."  It came on somewhere around 3:00 or 4:00 PM.

Above, Bud and Lou meet Frankenstein at the 2011 
Monsterpalooza Museum.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Every Halloween, "The Early Show" played Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It was the perfect movie to get kids in the Halloween spirit before heading out for trick or treating after dinner.

Above, the "Wizard of Oz" characters didn't fare too well at this Tarzana residence.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Some people in the neighborhood used to go all-out on Halloween and set up mini-haunted houses with monsters, spider webs and blacklights (these were the days before blacklight posters were in vogue in the late 1960s).

Above, someone met a dead end in Tarzana.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Today, very few kids (in comparison to the numbers who went out when I was a kid) go out for trick or treating.  It is just too risky these days with real-life monsters out there.

So, in keeping with the old tradition, I'll be watching Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein today.