More DMV laughs: We mentioned earlier that...

More DMV laughs: We mentioned earlier that the Department of Motor Vehicles had mailed Santa Fe Springs engineer Shan Treanor a driver’s license that contained his name and correct biographical data--and the photo of a woman wearing earrings.

Now we hear from Marie Ungles of Whittier, who says: “I received a letter from the DMV saying my picture did not turn out. I went back for another photo and eventually received a license with my name, etc., but a picture of a man with a mustache.”

We wonder if it’s too late for a meeting between Shan, Marie and the DMV photographer.

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Unofficial economic indicators: Val Rodriguez, Only in L.A.’s Signal Hill bureau chief, snapped a shot of a panhandler in his neighborhood who was between jobs.

A tale with a lot of mileage: This column has traced the story of the $50 Corvette back to 1953, when it was known as the story of the $50

Oldsmobile--it involves the widow who is selling a flashy car for a ridiculously low price because her late husband’s will requested that proceeds from the sale go to his mistress.

John Pfouts of Woodland Hills says the saga even inspired a French movie, “La Belle Americaine.” The title referred not to a person, but to an automobile, a concept that Angelenos can understand. The movie recounted the misadventures befalling a poor man who comes into possession of “a very expensive car.” DMV problems, perhaps?

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Maybe it resurfaces every Halloween: Then there was the recent Only in L.A. item about police responding to the screams of a Southland woman found tied to her bed. Her husband, clad in a Batman outfit, was unconscious. It turned out that the couple’s try at a bit of kinky sex had come to an end when he conked his head on the ceiling fan.

We heard it from the reliable friend of a reliable friend who had heard it from. . . .

Well, David Mikkelson of the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society informs us that variations of that story can be found in “Baby Train,” Jan Harold Brunvand’s latest study of urban folk tales.

The Batman version cropped up in St. Louis as early as 1989, Brunvand writes in his book. And he found a version starring Superman in a book published in Merry Olde England in 1986.

“A delightful twist on the story,” Brunvand adds, “has the woman rescue herself by dialing 911 with her big toe.”

Trying to I.D. C.B.: “Tuesday’s column carried a picture of Cecil B. De Mille’s tombstone,” writes Ron Rieder of Sherman Oaks. “Then (in another item) you refer to the Chicken Boy figure, but use ‘C.B.,’ which everybody knows was what De Mille was called. So which C.B. was in the storage yard and will be getting his close-up at the Arco Plaza?”

Uh, we’ll get back to you when we’ve checked their driver’s licenses, Ron.

miscelLAny A Ford Explorer that chased giant lizards in “Jurassic Park” will be on display at the Long Beach Auto Show this week. And, under a new agreement, the Official Vehicle of the L.A. County Lifeguards has become the Ford Ranger. Is it just us or have Ford vehicles been in the news a lot around here the last several months?