CaliNative, re: Mencken's '26 L.A. trip, I found this...from the H. L. Mencken Collection - Enoch Pratt Free Library....
Portrait photograph taken November 19, 1926 of H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken with friends in the courtyard of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Standing from left to right are American film producer Walter Wanger (1894-1968); H. L. M.; and American writer John Hemphill (1891-1957)--the three appear to be examining the brain of writer Joseph Hergesheimer (seated center); and vice-president and editor of Photoplay magazine James R. (James Reddy) Quirk (1884-1932) (far right). Seated from left to right are American actor, playwright, producer, and director John Emerson (1874-1956), the husband of Anita Loos (in crib); American writer, critic and actress Helen Klumph (b. 1896); American writer Joseph Hergesheimer (1880-1954), who appears to be watching over a wedding cake; American film and stage actress Aileen Pringle (1895-1989), who was later rumored to be romantically involved with H. L. Mencken; and American film and stage actress May Allison (1890-1989), the wife of James Quirk. Lying in a baby's crib is actress, novelist, and screenwriter Anita Loos (1888-1981), John Emerson's wife, who claimed H. L. Mencken was the inspiration for her story Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.