It Beats Living on the Mean Streets

Phil Proctor of Beverly Hills was puzzled after I wrote about the residents of L.A.’s Charity Street successfully lobbying to have the name changed to Grand Avenue more than a century ago. They didn’t like hearing jokes about living on Charity.

“Heck,� Proctor responded, “I lived off of Phyllis for a year and was grateful for the roof over my head.� Phyllis Street, he added, is in Beverly Hills.

Street talk (cont.): David Konigsberg, meanwhile, reminded me of an urban folk tale that dates back to grittier times.

The late LAPD spokesman Dan Cooke told it this way: “Back in the 1930s when I was growing up in New York, I heard about a horse dropping dead on Kosciuszko Street.

“The policeman calling in to headquarters couldn’t pronounce the name of the street. So he dragged the horse down to the next block.�

Cooke, by the way, also had a real-life tale about L.A.’s Kosciuszko Way, a two-block-long strip in the Bunker Hill area. He said that some cops tried to radio for assistance from Kosciuszko (named for a Polish Revolutionary War hero).

“The location they gave sounded like ‘Olivekosco,’ � Cooke said. “They were asked to repeat it again and again... Finally, they just said, ‘One block south of 1st Street.’ �

Going around in circles: “As you walk through life, make this your goal,� goes the old saying. “Watch the doughnut, not the hole!� Problem is, the doughnut doesn’t always give the whole idea of what’s being offered in these uncertain economic times (see photos), especially at Randy’s in Inglewood.

Still on a sugar high: Actually, Randy’s was altered for a humorous ad, its biggest honor since a 1950s woody station wagon was lodged in the doughnut in the movie “Earth Girls Are Easy.�

Disorienting: Mention was made here of a 45 record whose A-side was “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!� -- a 1966 novelty number about a “supposed asylum inmate.� The B-side showed the title written backward (“!Aaah-Ah, Yawa Em Ekat ot Gnimoc Er’yeht�).

Richard Lorentz and David Allen pointed out that the goofiness didn’t end there. The B-side played the song backward.

“Even more amazing is that it actually got some air time in Philadelphia,� said Lorentz. “I can still remember listening to it while eating a banana split at the counter in Woolworth’s and asking my buddy, ‘What the heck is that?’ �

MiscelLAny: Paula van Gelder noticed a spelling-challenged ad for a job that would test the mettle of even the most dedicated Hollywood hopeful (see accompanying). Guess this is what they mean by paying your dues.

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083; by fax at (213) 237-4712; and by e-mail at steve.harvey

@latimes.com.