While looking through archives and databases at the Lafayette Historical Society, two photographs of a mystery woman have surfaced. One includes Mamie Joseph in a traditional class photo at the Moraga School, with all participants looking solemnly at the camera. Mamie is named with 17 other identified students, while three of her classmates remain unknown. […]
The 1950s — Red Scare Not Confined to Red Square, Part 4
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when open gambling along the Tunnel Strip was the hottest story under the sun….the Lafayette Sun, that is. A special issue of the Hollywood Reporter was circulated throughout this area, debunking revelations of illegal—or, at least, shady doings—brought to light by Sun Publisher Herman […]
The 1950s — The Heat Goes On….., Part 3
After the 1950 New Year’s Eve local slots extravaganza, and the January 17th Crossroads Restaurant gathering of gambling interests (including, just maybe, Eastern mobsters), a new voice joins the fray: Jimmie Tarantino, owner-publisher of Hollywood Life. A special, free, Contra Costa edition of that publication was distributed throughout Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Martinez and Richmond […]
The 1950s — Eastern Gamblers Betting on Contra Costa?, Part 2
The January 20th (1950) Lafayette SUN pointed out that “the boys were bothered by the ‘heat’ being applied by stories in the Lafayette and Orinda SUN and Oakland Tribune. So now they’re planning an attack on advertising revenues of the three papers, following the lead of one nightspot which already cancelled its advertisements in the […]
The 1950s — Eastern Gamblers Betting on Contra Costa?, Part 1
We all followed the crime wave in Lafayette a year or so ago, in which a couple of innocent-seeming massage parlors appeared to be offering some extra-special extras. But in going through the Lafayette SUN’s bound volume from 1950, we learned that Lamorinda was a festering swamp of crime six decades ago. Return with us […]
The Seal of Lafayette
Lafayette was founded in 1848 by Elam Brown, but it wasn’t until the city’s incorporation in 1968 that our 15 square mile patch got some of the privileges associated with being a ‘real’ city. Foremost among these was the chance to design and display a city seal. The seal, which would grace everything from city signs to […]
