As you sit in rush-hour traffic today,...

As you sit in rush-hour traffic today, try to think of it as a kind of anniversary parade honoring inventor J. Philip Erie, who drove the first gasoline-powered automobile through Los Angeles exactly 92 years ago.

On that fateful day, Erie was concerned about what traffic he would encounter--the four-legged variety, that is. Fearing that his sputtering Erie and Sturgis Gasolene Carriage would panic horses, he waited until 2 a.m. before rolling the $30,000 carriage out of its garage at 208 W. 5th St.

The four-cylinder chariot was pushed half a block to Broadway. Then it was cranked up and Erie took off, along with S. D. Sturgis, his financier, their wives and a couple of workers.

In an article headlined “Without Horses,” The Times reported afterward that the “innocent-looking, black tallyho” zipped over “the awful Sixth Street pavement” and the “chuckholes innumerable on Main Street” so smoothly that the “passengers scarcely felt any motion at all.” No horses panicked. And gasoline fumes were “barely noticeable.”

The Sunday Herald, however, noted that the jalopy “barely moved” faster than foot traffic and didn’t come close to its advertised top speed of 25 m.p.h.

In fact, the engine so overheated that it was inoperable afterward. Sturgis refused to put up any more money, so Erie--who described himself as a “wealthy New York inventor”--reportedly went into mining. The pioneer car evidently wound up in the city’s first auto-wrecking yard.

Today, the roads of Los Angeles County carry more than 6 million successors to the Erie and Sturgis Gasolene Carriage.

Inasmuch as the seashore is practically an extension of Santa Monica College, the latest catalogue of classes contains a feature on “Best Study Beaches.” For studying schoolwork, of course.

A variety of beach experts, including Santa Monica College history professor Art Verge, an ex-lifeguard, recommend “for solitude and quiet” Lifeguard Tower 17 on Will Rogers State Beach because it “attracts fewer people.”

Why? Simple. No parking.

When Monterey Park recently held a Laura Scudder Day, some residents were surprised to learn that the late Potato Chip Queen had begun her business 60 years ago in their city.

It was a reminder that the somewhat-overshadowed suburbs of Los Angeles have made countless contributions to modern-day life.

Lakewood, for instance, was the home of Denny’s, while Long Beach gave us the first Marie Callender’s. Bob’s Big Boy grew up in Glendale, In-N-Out got its start in Baldwin Park and the oldest surviving McDonald’s is in Downey.

Paramount is still the headquarters of the Zamboni ice-resurfacer machine. San Gabriel can boast the nation’s first comic traffic violators school--Lettuce Amuse You. Pic ‘N’ Save was born in Culver City. Foxyriders, the magazine for women motorcyclists, is published in Agoura.

And Pomona, in its centennial history, claims the distinction of introducing to the United States that creeping vegetation known as Bermuda--or “Devil’s”--grass.