Was that sign on the rear door...

Was that sign on the rear door of Mayor Tom Bradley’s office Wednesday some kind of a joke? Perhaps a reference to the many legal questions raised in the last several months by His Honor’s outside jobs, campaigning and fund raising?

No, it was just a temporary prop for the filming of a TV show, “Shannon’s Deal.”

Don’t read anything into the sign:

“Department of Legal Affairs.”

Good news for you restless souls looking for somewhere exciting to visit in L.A.:

The 1991 Thomas Bros. Map Guide for Los Angeles County lists 147 entries in its “Points of Interest” section, including eight new ones.

We’d advise the family to think twice about flocking to two of the spots, the Venice Pier and the Olympic Auditorium, both of which are boarded up.

Ah, L.A.--like a movie set, always changing. It’s something of a shock to peruse a 1941 city guidebook written by the Work Projects Administration.

It mentions numerous now-vanished attractions, such as the California Alligator Farm near Lincoln Heights, which was the “home of 1,000 alligators of various sizes and ages.” The authors added that some of the alligators “perform tricks for visitors. . . .”

Then there was the L.A. Ostrich Farm, which opened at the turn of the century “during the vogue of . . . plume-bedecked feminine headgear.” We wonder whether the ostrich farm’s demise was related to its location next door to the alligator farm.

Numerous sites have, of course, undergone face lifts since 1941. Chavez Ravine, for instance, was described back then simply as a former burial spot for indigents in the pueblo days and as “the county ‘pest farm’ during the 1850 and 1880 smallpox epidemics.”

We don’t know what a “pest farm” is, and we have a hunch the Dodgers don’t want to know.

No sooner did L.A. City Council members receive permission to visit hospitalized colleague Gilbert Lindsay before voting on whether to oust him than we received this press release:

“Councilman Nate Holden announced that he is pleased with being afforded the opportunity to visit ailing Councilman Gilbert Lindsay. He will visit Lindsay today at 12:30.”

Thanks for letting us know, Nate.

Wait! We interrupt this column to bring you a news bulletin, which we just received:

“Councilman Nate Holden has postponed his 12:30 p.m. visit to the bedside of Councilman Gilbert Lindsay.”

Keep in touch, Nate.

miscelLAny:

Among the items in the L.A. County Museum of Natural History’s collection is a deposit of fossilized dung from a ground sloth that is more than 10,000 years old.