For today’s lesson, here’s what the 1992...

For today’s lesson, here’s what the 1992 World Almanac has to say in the section titled, “Los Angeles History”:

“Founded by Spanish 1781; captured by U.S. 1846; incorporated 1850; Hollywood a district of L.A.”

The end.

Well, what more do you need to know?

If you must depend on the lobby directory to find something in the downtown Federal Building, good luck.

Visitor Bill Dougherty of Villa Park noticed that someone has rearranged the letters into a language more mysterious than bureaucratese. We’re showing you the censored version of the photo because one office was given an all-too-familiar vulgar description.

“Not to beat a dead anchovy,” begins the note. It’s from a public relations agency, beginning the latest chapter in the Great Caesar Salad Controversy. You may recall that we published Martin Elkort’s assertion in “The History of Food” that the Caesar salad was invented by Alex Cardini in the 1920s. Alex, so the story goes, then named it after his brother, Caesar, either for love or for alliteration.

However, “Julia Childs’ Cookbook,” the agency points out, gives all the credit for the creation to Caesar, based on the recollections of Caesar’s daughter.

We’re going to drop it here. We hate to see these family spats erupt around holiday time.

Incidentally, our thanks to the many readers who, responding to our inquiry, informed us that a “coddled egg”--a prime ingredient of a Caesar salad--is boiled for one minute.

One of our correspondents was even thoughtful enough to enclose his business card, which says: “Abbott Rosenberg, The Don’t Ask Comic.”

OK, we won’t.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas . . . and get your tree back to us by Jan. 12:

You can rent a Douglas fir from the Ikea furniture store in Burbank for $20--$10 of which will be refunded if you return the tree for mulching afterward. You can also designate the $10 refund to be donated to TreePeople, which will dedicate a seedling in the name of your choice.

Tree-renting, we should point out, isn’t a new concept.

During the 1980 presidential race, the Associated Press leased the rights to a live oak tree across the street from the Pacific Palisades residence of candidate Ronald Reagan. The tree, which served as a nest for a telephone, cost 50 cents a day (real estate wasn’t so high then).

Asked how he answered the phone, one reporter replied: “AP tree.”

You won’t find historical items like this in the World Almanac.

miscelLAny:

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