People and Events

To appreciate how much L.A. has changed during the 1980s, one need only think back to the start of the decade when:

* Tom Bradley was mayor.

* The Metro Rail and Century Freeway projects were unfinished.

* Medflies were a problem.

* And the Raiders were hinting they might play in the Coliseum.

Even if one poll showed that more than 50% of Angelenos had thought of moving out of the city, it wasn’t such a bad decade--especially when you consider that doomsayers predicted in 1980, 1981 and 1988 that L.A. wouldn’t see 1990.

Southern California not only survived but gave birth to several innovations: a nude blood drive at a Topanga nudist colony (no rolled-up sleeves there!), an Atheist Dating Service in Santa Monica, a doughnut art show, a talking trash can urging passers-by not to litter, and a water bar at a Rodeo Drive boutique (no ice cubes because they “void out the subtleties”).

Sure, the quality of life could have been better. But didn’t Caltrans at least discontinue those “Don’t Be Fuelish, Be Carpoolish” jingles on its freeway message boards?

Oddly enough, the most feared event of the decade scheduled here--the 1984 Olympics--proved to be the most pleasant interlude.

‘80: L.A. had its own offbeat role in the presidential race. The Associated Press rented a tree across the street from the L.A. residence of candidate Ronald Reagan to serve as a nest for a telephone. Cost: 50 cents a day. Asked what he said when he answered the phone, the AP’s Doug Willis responded: “AP tree.”

It was a year of pyramid schemes, mudslides and a Hollywood evangelist who called a press conference to announce the end of the world but showed up late because he overslept. The Palmdale Bulge never budged.

A man dubbed Leonardo da Toenail by USC campus police was seized after reportedly painting the big toenails of several female students while they were studying, some of whom didn’t realize it at the time.

‘81: The opening act of the city’s bicentennial celebration was apt: An earthquake measuring 5.1. A good jolt, but not the Big One that Wall Street guru Joseph Granville had forecast for April 10 at exactly 5:31 a.m. Obviously, Granville had no insider info.

L.A.’s inexperience at handling pests was apparent. A county inspector pinned a Medfly trap to the tree of a Torrance man, even though the tree held nothing but plastic fruits and vegetables.

Authorities did nab three-dozen Giant African Snails at LAX as they tried to enter the country. “No pictures please,” the U.S. attorney’s office told reporters.

A Pasadena couple returned from a trip to Africa where they said they saw bigger game--a dinosaur. Pictures, please? Sorry, their camera malfunctioned.

‘82: L.A. introduced an Adopt-a-Rat Program after city workers captured 53 rodents in a run-down apartment. The program fizzled after one of the ungrateful critters bit a reporter.

During a fire in the underground parking area of the Twin Towers office buildings in Century City, drivers were asked to exit to make room for fire equipment--only to be stopped by attendants demanding that they pay their toll first.

Fashion flop of the year: Neckties bearing the logo “Los Angeles City Council” that were sent to L.A.-area representatives in Sacramento and Washington in a $10,000 lobbying effort by the council. “I remember getting something stupid like that and throwing it away,” said one congressman.

Most unusual campaign expense of the election: $300 reported by Assembly candidate Tom Hayden for “makeup for Jane Fonda (to pose for Andy) Warhol print.”

Gov. Moonbeam gave way to Gov. Deukmejian, but lest anyone get the idea that California was returning to normal, the Duke’s inauguration was staged by Walt Disney Productions.

‘83: L.A. was plagued by floods, mudslides, heavy rains (increasing the sale of doggie raincoats by 25%), a storm that shortened the Santa Monica Pier by 400 feet, and a tornado that edited one downtown sign to read ENTION CENTER.

There was even a berserk blackbird that pecked at bald-headed men on a Santa Monica street corner.

A talking trash can--actually a worker in a nearby truck speaking via a hookup--was silenced after a week, partly because children kept emptying the can.

Graffito-of-the-Year was on a wall near the Music Center. Originally, it said: “The Lord Saves From Hell.” It was changed to read: “The Lord Saves from Hello Dolly Revivals.”

‘84: For two magic weeks in July and August during the Olympic Games, traffic virtually disappeared. The freeway seemed almost lonely.

No performers collapsed in the smog, though one homing pigeon released during the opening ceremony did wind up at a lost and found facility.

The privately financed Games boasted everything from the Official Olympic Orthopedic Hospital to the Official Olympic Snack Food. One local merchant’s sign read: “Arturo’s Flowers Wants to Be the Official Olympic Florist.”

Back in the unreal world of L.A., a proposed county ban on fortunetellers was dropped after County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn said: “I’m afraid it would outlaw fortune cookies in the Chinese restaurants in my district.”

‘85: A video game in which Sam the Olympic Eagle was the target of gunfire was removed from the market after the Olympics committee asked the maker to “let Sam live.”

Misinterpreting a city ordinance that prohibits the throwing of objects at sporting events, the Dodgers management benched peanut-tosser-extraordinaire Roger Owens. Reinstated later, he said of his two-week ban: “It was sad to see the fans holding their hands out.”

The Lakers’ world championship celebration at City Hall was only slightly marred by a naked man who attacked a TV truck.

It was never determined whether the assault was in some way retaliation for the demolition of the former Sunset Boulevard estate of a Saudi Arabian sheik, including its controversial nude statues, which featured gaudily painted genitalia.

‘86: It was the year of “Baby on Board” signs, and the resulting backlash. One motorist, declaring himself tired of seeing the warnings “in Volvos and other Yuppie-type cars,” fashioned placards with nonsensical messages such as, “Baby Carries No Cash.”

Meanwhile, a group called Pharmacy Planning Service held a condom-awareness event at USC, featuring students in such events as a distance throw for water-filled condoms and a condom blow-up contest.

Crystal-ball gazers picketed a Long Beach City Council meeting to protest an anti-fortunetelling ordinance only to find out that the council wasn’t meeting that day.

Another surprise: A PSA jet’s takeoff from Burbank Airport was briefly held up when the captain radioed the control tower that a tortoise was blocking the runway.

‘87: As the city became engulfed in mini-malls, City Councilman Joel Wachs declared: “I simply can’t imagine who eats all those doughnuts.”

A group celebrating the so-called harmonic convergence of the planets in August declared the corner of Hollywood and Vine “a sacred site,” perhaps because there was no mini-mall there.

It was the Year of the Little Big One, the 5.9 Whittier quake of Oct. 1. When a 5.3 aftershock struck in the wee hours a couple of days later, 14 brawny members of the Raiders strike-replacement team left their hotel room and spent the rest of the night in the lobby.

At last, there was a possible explanation for the strange behavior of Southern Californians: An allergy foundation discovered that 40% of the weed pollen floating past its office in Brentwood came from marijuana--for reasons that it couldn’t explain.

‘88: The prediction by followers of the French seer Nostradamus for L.A. to fall into the ocean on May 10 proved unfounded. But another type of disaster befell many local judges and attorneys on Dec. 8 when courthouses in Torrance and Encino suddenly ran out of toilet paper during a dispute between the supplier and the county.

“Steel Cloud,” a conceptual piece nicknamed “Broken Popsicle Sticks” by critics, was picked as the winning entry in the Gateway West competition to build a monument over the Hollywood Freeway. Still missing: The $33 million needed for the construction.

One bit of unfinished business was taken care of: Maurice Diller--whoever he was--lost his star on Hollywood Boulevard. Embarrassed Chamber of Commerce officials corrected the 28-year-old typo by giving his space to Swedish director Mauritz Stiller.

Barry Minkow, the ZZZZ Best carpet-cleaning con man given 25 years in prison, sent a Christmas card to his prosecutors that said: “You guys truly are the best at what you do. I wouldn’t of wanted anyone else up there making me look sooo bad.”

Perennial singing candidate Eileen Anderson ended her daily custom of dancing on the corner of Main and Temple streets after 15 years when the city refused to designate her a public monument and give her a parking place. Her legacy remains, though. “I was the one who gave Madonna the idea of scanty outfits,” she said.

‘89: To be revealed Sunday. The way this year has gone, a lot could happen between now and Dec. 31.