Column: 130 years ago, a Los Angeles tamale vendor was robbed. How times haven’t changed

Andrew the tamale man didn’t stand a chance. An Aug. 25, 1893 dispatch in The Times about a street food vendor robbed near modern day Chinatown Nearly a decade later, in 1901, another Times dispatch marveled at L.A.’s street food scene: “Strangers coming to Los Angeles remark at the presence of so many outdoor restaurants, and marvel at the system which permits men … to set up places of business in the public streets … competing with businessmen who pay high rents for rooms in which to serve the public with food.” Since the start of the pandemic, but especially since the California Legislature passed laws last year that decriminalized the selling and production of street food, the trade has exploded. At the same time, criminals have increasingly targeted the vendors to the point that Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Kris Pitcher described a recent spate of taco truck stickups to my colleagues Daniel Miller, Ruben Vives and Richard Winton as an “emerging crime trend.” The most brazen instance was on Aug. 16, when the same robbers targeted six street vendors across Echo Park, Hollywood and downtown L.A. in the span of two hours. Why I rolled my eyes earlier this year when Orange councilmember Kathy Tavoularis blasted unlicensed food vendors in her city as “not entrepreneurial,” “gang-like” and “another attempt to get into our neighborhoods,” claiming they “cheated” restaurant owners “out of business.” Why I scoffed when Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster told The Times last year that anyone who buys street tacos or tamales “could be unknowingly contributing to human trafficking and exploitation” but didn’t offer proof of either. It tells the story of a tamale man harassed by another tamale man, and notes how “the public smile a sardonic smile and wax humorous” any time another misfortune fell on street food vendors.