The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

It's hard to see in the picture, but the Prohibition Party symbol seen on the voting machine is an image of a water fountain. Whoever it was who chose the logos to be shown had a very perverse sense of humor.

Dennie is about fourteen, I'd guess, and Slim wasn't a young man when his son was born, so he's probably somwehere in his forties here. Lore has it it that the accident that took the life of Mary's husband and Slim's wife somehow came about thru Slim's secret dealings with a corrupt businesman named "Craftee." He was certainly craftee enough to leave Slim holding the bag.

One can only attempt to imagine what 2020-style social media would say about the LaGuardia and Early incidents. It's not for nothing that the Daily News often refers to the Mayor as "Butch."

We've only heard the beginning of the Len Bates affair. It's still seven years till Jackie Robinson, but he didn't just come out of nowhere.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

5 years married and she kept saying no and giving him the cold shoulder. The man is a saint for putting up with her for that long, but in all honesty I think he should've left her a lot sooner. There has to be more to the story no man in his right mind would put up with her.

Nice article about Sonija Henie she is one of my favorite figure skaters.

Hanging 10 stories up and survives, phew.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

For every one in America Election Day is Nov 3rd so not to confuse you with the 1940s date.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

And an even bigger ad for Chaplin's film.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

As a vintage car enthusiast I figured that was the route Downwind was planning one going. I always read about how some men have found their car skeletons rusting away in the most oddest places. I read one man climbed a fence and found an abandoned 1930s car frame rusting away.

My favorite vintage car magazine is Hot Rod Deluxe sadly they folded in January 2020. And now Ol' Skool Rodz has taken up the slack to help keep print media alive. And thank goodness this happened Ol' Skool Rodz under new management has improved their magazine. I am always reading and re reading and drooling over the pages of this awesome car magazine.
https://www.olskoolrodz.com/


And my favorite TV show is Fast N Loud from the men over at Gas Monkey Garage.
https://gasmonkeygarage.com/

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hah! If we could see Downwind's face, it'd be completely pale. The reckoning has come!

We had a lot of abandoned cars rotting away in my neightborhood. There was a Ford Model A coupe in the gully down behind my grandparents' house, and we'd go down there and play in it. "COME OUTA THERE," my grandmother would yell, "YOU'RE GONNA GET LOCKJAW!" Or "YOU'RE GONNA GET HYDRAPHOBIA!"

Never got either of them, so there.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A crowd estimated at 24,000 persons swarmed the Academy of Music last night to hear President Roosevelt roused his followers in Brooklyn's Democratic stronghold with the claim that Nazi, Soviet, and American reactionary forces have formed an "unholy alliance" to destroy the New Deal.

With four thousand supporters crammed into the Academy hall, an additional twenty thousand surrounding the building to listen to the speech over loudspeakers, and an audience of millions tuned in to a coast-to-coast radio hookup, the President declared that the only factor uniting "the very strange assortment of political bedfellows" opposing his bid for a third term as "the only common philosophy and common purpose they have" is their desire "to get wholly rid of all the New Deal -- lock, stock, and barrel -- and to get control of government -- your government -- in their own hands for their own purposes." He further stated that "something evil is happening in this country when a full page advertisement against this Administration, paid for by Republican supporters, appears -- of all places -- in the Daily Worker." The President went on to state that "the true sentiment of Republican leadership" became plain a few days ago when a leader of the Philadelphia bar asserted in a campaign speech that the only ones supporting him for reelection are "paupers who earn less than $1200 a year, and the Roosevelt family." After praising those "paupers" as "the common people who helped build this country," the President concluded by declaring that he is fighting to "keep this country out of foreign wars and to keep foreign conceptions of government out of our own United States."

Meanwhile, Republican challenger Wendell Willkie returned to New York City today for the climactic swing of his surging campaign, and lashed out at President Roosevelt for his Brooklyn speech, charging the President with attempting to "stir up class hatred and divide our people," combining in his address "the tactic of Lenin, the strategy of Hitler, and the preaching of Trotsky." He further stated that the "leader of the Philadelphia bar" quoted by the President in his speech has nothing to do with and did not speak for the Willkie campaign. Mr. Willkie will rest this afternoon in preparation for his address tonight at Madison Square Garden.

British planes rained bombs and incendiaries on Berlin's entertainment district last night, thundering down destruction on tens of thousands of persons in theatres, movies, restaurants, and cafes. The air raid sirens shrieked just as evening pleasure seekers were thronging in the streets and the subways were full of riders heading homeward. Official German communiques state that "several persons" were killed and wounded.

Greek mountain troops have thrust into Albania, seizing control of the village of Bikliksta, and have advanced to a point within seven miles of the Yugoslav border, threatening to halt further Italian advances in that territory.

Mayor LaGuardia admits he can't make make progress in ending the strike at the World's Fair that has halted all demolition work on the grounds. The dispute pitting truckmen, plumbers, and wreckers against the city Parks Department. Local 95 of the Housewreckers' Union has now joined with Locals 282, 900, and 814 of the Teamsters Union and Local 1 of the Plumbers Union in picketing the grounds of the defunct exposition in a dispute over jurisdiction with the Parks Department over work to be done at the site. The various parties are scheduled to meet with an arbitrator on Monday, with the Mayor acknowledging today there isn't anything he can do to resolve the dispute.

The Brooklyn Dodgers have endorsed President Roosevelt for reelection, with President Larry MacPhail and manager Leo Durocher wiring the President that "the Dodgers are for you," and inviting him to throw out the first ball at Ebbets Field on Opening Day 1941. Other sporting figures endorsing the President last night at his Academy of Music rally were former boxing champions Jack Dempsey, Jimmy Braddock, and Max Baer.

Today is the twentieth anniversary of regular radio broadcasting in America. On November 2, 1920, Dr. Frank Conrad of the Westinghouse company broadcast returns of the Harding-Cox election over company radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh. Dr. Conrad is celebrating this year his 50th anniversary with the Westinghouse firm, where he is presently Director of Engineering. Dr. Conrad will appear next Thursday over the Westinghouse Musical America program on WEAF to discuss his role in the development of broadcasting.

If you didn't hear WOR's broadcast of the closing of the World's Fair last week, you missed out on a pip of a show, with the station's announcers interjecting themselves into the closing ceremonies. Henry Morgan, dressed in a sailor suit, sung the finale in the last performance of the "American Jubilee," Alvin Josephy went underwater to interview the swimmers at "Twenty Thousand Legs Under The Sea," and Jerry Danzig allowed himself to be frozen alive at the "Frozen Alive!" exhibit as "thousands jeered."

(Ah, radio. Twenty years of progress!)

(SO THERE.)

"A Constant Reader" writes in to give his or her impressions of the presidential campaign, noting that the Eagle has "left no stone unturned" in revealing that it has climbed "fully aboard the Willkie bandwagon." But Mr./Mrs./Miss Reader also observes that "the Democrats call Willkie a devil, and the Republicans call Roosevelt a devil," before citing the old proverb "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." But Miss Sally Ross writes in from Chicago, where she has seen in a Chicago paper that the Eagle has come out for Mr. Willkie. "Hurrah!" she exults, "and thanks to you!"

("Positively Mr. Chamberlain? Absolutely Mr. Baldwin!")

The biggest crowd ever to see a football game in Brooklyn is expected at Ebbets Field tomorrow as the Football Dodgers and Football Giants clash for their twenty-third National Football League contest. Since the grid rivalry began in 1926, the Giants have lost only one game to Brooklyn -- and that was in 1930. In the decade since, the Giants' record has been unblemished against the locals, but for the first time ever, the Dodgers go into a game against their hated rivals as the clear favorite -- and this in spite of injuries sidelining tackle Bruiser Kinard- whose infected hand has yet to heal -- and back Ralph Kercheval, who broke his toe in a practice session this week. It is expected 40,000 persons will cram into the Flatbush ballpark to see Sunday's contest, exceeding the record set when the Army-Notre Dame Game was played in Brooklyn in 1923.

Meanwhile, there are no denials of a report out of Ohio that Ohio State University has approached Dodger coach Jock Sutherland to determine his availability "just in case." Sutherland, whose adept coaching is credited with the Football Flock's fine performance this season, has said nothing about the story appearing in the Dayton News, which stressed that the approach was made on a strictly "unofficial" basis.

Red Sox star Ted Williams is fuming at the Boston press, which is criticizing him for refusing to report his draft number. Williams, the Beantown problem child, was the only member of the Red Sox or the Bees to refuse to provide the requested information when asked by reporters to supply it.

Time has finally finished breaking up that old Gas House Gang, with Pepper Martin having announced he'll be leaving the Cardinals to take on the role of manager with the Sacramento Solons in the Pacific Coast League. Martin was the last surviving member on the St. Louis roster from the scrappy, colorful pennant-winning Redbirds squads of the 1930s. Martin was the most rambunctious of the old Gas Housers -- no small feat on a squad that included the likes of Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, and Ducky Medwick -- and he is promising to bring that same hell-for-leather style to the Coast League when he takes over the Solons next spring.

At the Patio this week it's Bing Crosby and Mary Martin in "Rhythm On The River," paired with Ray Milland and Akim Tamiroff in Technicolor in "Untamed."

(OK, that solves that problem. Now how about a story with a good villian?)

(What makes George such a tempting target for the world's trolls is that he takes everything so damn seriously.)

(Bill rounds up his unholy squirrel army for the coming assault on Slim's fortress.)

("Wait!" shouts Dan as the plane dips low into the glaring searchlight beams. "We've been TRICKED! There's no Fazian base down there -- it's just a USED CAR LOT!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Look, I realize the value of the Barrymore name to Page Four, but dragging Ethel into this story is kinda cheesy. She's been out of this picture for sixteen years, and doesn't have anything to do with Mr. Colt's subsequent cavortings. I mean, really. Next thing we know you'll be starting in on poor Lionel.

Three more days. Just three more days.

The News knows people are sick of the election, and they make a fair and decent point about Raisa Browder. But, honestly, who would *ever* want to build a stadium out in Flushing???

Given all the comments the DL *could* make, that's actually pretty mild.

Y'know, Tilda, I think Emmy Plushbottom might be hiring just now...

"You remind me a lot of this guy I used to know. Ever hear of Nick Gatt?"

Ahhh! A bicycle-stripping racket! There's big money in that!

"It isn't what you know, it's what you say you think you know..."

Awwww. Harold has been gone for exactly nine months. At least he didn't stop off and get a soda first.

"An' after them campaign trains came thru, we're all outa eggs!"

 

[Fading Fast]

...Mayor LaGuardia admits he can make make progress in ending the strike at the World's Fair that has halted all demolition work on the grounds. The dispute pitting truckmen, plumbers, and wreckers against the city Parks Department. Local 95 of the Housewreckers' Union has now joined with Locals 282, 900, and 814 of the Teamsters Union and Local 1 of the Plumbers Union in picketing the grounds of the defunct exposition in a dispute over jurisdiction with the Parks Department over work to be done at the site. The various parties are scheduled to meet with an arbitrator on Monday, with the Mayor acknowledging today there isn't anything he can do to resolve the dispute....

Sounds to me as if Mayor LaGuardia doesn't see a political win for him if he gets involved and figures anything he does will anger too many supporters, so he's staying out of this one.

... ("Wait!" shouts Dan as the plane dips low into the glaring searchlight beams. "We've been TRICKED! There's no Fazian base down there -- it's just a USED CAR LOT!")

Marsh just loves the dramatic moments of battle. You can feel him come alive as he's writing and drawing this stuff.

... Look, I realize the value of the Barrymore name to Page Four, but dragging Ethel into this story is kinda cheesy. She's been out of this picture for sixteen years, and doesn't have anything to do with Mr. Colt's subsequent cavortings. I mean, really. Next thing we know you'll be starting in on poor Lionel....

Re Ethel Barrymore: Agreed completely, you can feel the News trying to make a "Barrymore story" where there isn't really one.

Re Sunday Theater: Talk about burying the lede. The change that allowed for Sunday's shows was the settling of, effectively, a wage dispute not, as the headline implies, some sort of lifting of a ban on Sunday performances.

Re The Mayor: The story must have been too late in the day for yesterday's deadline, but you knew Page Four wanted it.

Re 2nd Bronx Thug: "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

.... Given all the comments the DL *could* make, that's actually pretty mild....

Seriously, three much-more-rude ones came to mind and I wasn't even trying. You know it was killing Caniff to have to choose a mild one. "Tightly pressed," though, could be read a few ways.

... "It isn't what you know, it's what you say you think you know..."...

I would have no truck with Wilmer and I have pro-actively avoided jobs as a salesperson my entire life (I sold for a department store while in college and that was enough for me), but if one ever tries to make a living at it, all the jokes go out the window as it's a brutal way to make an honest living. I doubt it will do the trick, but in theory, this could be a good humbling lesson for Wilmer, but my guess, he'll just turn into a dishonest salesperson.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I had to take a second look at today's Gasoline Alley, because I thought Wilmer had been replaced by Ned Sparks. That haircut really made a difference.

The DL really doesn't care what Raven's been up to and who she's been up to it with. Everything she says and does is specifically intended to keep her off balance, thus ensuring that she remains in full control of the situation. As always with her, the larger goal remains in view.

The item about the Boston press vs. Theodore S. Williams is amusing -- Boston had nine daily papers in 1940, of all political and social persuasions, but they were united by one common factor: their universal hatred for Mr. Theodore S. Williams, a feeling that was fervently returned. This was well known in the latter years of Mr. Williams' career, but here's proof that it was a regular thing nearly from the start of that career. And, despite T. S. Ballgame's latter day image as a war hero who voluntarily gave up the prime years of his career to fight for his country -- the truth of the matter is that he fought the draft every step of the way, convinced that he was being singled out because he was a prominent athlete. I can remember reading an article when he was managing the Senators in the early 70s where he expressed his support for Vietnam-era draft evaders -- not because he liked their politics, but because he hated the Selective Service Administration just that much, and never got over it.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

for years and years I always wondered if there were any Wimpy restaurants and I just got my answer. HOORAY!

Here is a video with more in information on the once Chicago burger chain:
https://news.wttw.com/2017/02/01/ask-geoffrey-what-happened-chicago-burger-chain-wimpy-s

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[Fading Fast]

Today, "glorified" is usually meant in a cynical way saying something mundane has been made special, but really isn't, for example, calling somebody an "organizational expert" when they are really just a glorified filing clerk.

Of course, the word can also mean "made glorious," but that is not the common definition today. Hence, odd to see a chain advertise its hamburger as "The Grorified Hamburger." I'm guessing, the cynical meaning of "glorified" was not as common back then.

Great video - thank you for posting it.

Interesting how big and international Wimpy's was (and still is - in the UK and S. Africa, apparently).

It's funny to see the sports and entertainment world split its support behind the two candidates; whereas, today, most of Hollywood and the sports world support just one side, at least publicly.

We can see that Hitchcock wasn't yet getting the "star" billing he would later. I enjoy this movie for the actors and cinematography, the story always seems a bit forced and convoluted to me.

So, instead of coming clean, Downwind decided to play a sneaky meta-game.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Jack wouldn't have a problem if he didn't keep spending on his money buying those flashy outfits of his. Of course, Downwind is no slouch, with his lumberjack vest with protruding long woolen underwear sleeves setting just the right sporty note.

The Wimpy's story illustrates how non-rigorous character licensing could be in the 30s. While Disney and a few others carefully policed their trademarks, many other popular characters had their names pinched by companies unrelated to the creator or his agents. I think the Wimpy burger chain did eventually work out a deal with King Features, owners and licensors of the Popeye characters, but at first they were a simple swipe of the name. Note that the Wimpy comic strip character himself doesn't appear anywhere in the ad -- just his highly-recognizable name.

I think their use of "Glorified" is a Ziegfeld reference -- after the whole "Glorifying the American Girl" line he used to promote the Follies.

 

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Before an audience of more than 20,000 persons jammed into Madison Square Garden, Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie brought his campaign to a flood-tide climax with a dramatic appeal to the nation's voters to "resist a master's rule" over their future lives and to reject forces who "prove a lust for power by seeking a third term." As an additional 50,000 persons unable to get into the Garden surged around the block outside, Mr. Willkie characterized Tuesday's vote as "The Battle For America," and called upon the country to use the franchise to save America's "free way of life," a verdict which he stated would tell the imprisoned peoples of other lands that "America's flame of democracy remains unquenched."

Meanwhile, speaking last night in Cleveland, President Roosevelt declared that "the storm raging over the world" is the true reason why he is seeking a third term, and stated that he expects the world to emerge into the clear before that term is over. "When that term is over," he continued, "there will be a new President, and many more Presidents in the years to come, and I think the word 'President' will be a word to cheer the hearts of common men and women everywhere." Mr. Roosevelt further stated that he is proud of the opposition he receives, and stated of his opponents "it is their constant purpose in this, as in other lands, to weaken democracy, to destroy the free man's faith in his cause. In this election, all of the representatives of these forces are, without exception, voting against the New Deal."

Greece's hardy mountain fighters are reported to have driven one wing of the Italian invasion troops back with a bayonet charge three miles deep into Albanian territory. Official Greek sources state that four Italian ports have been seized at bayonet point, and nine officers, 153 men, and 100 horses have been captured in the thrust.

Strong RAF resistance beat off German and Italian air raiders over London last night, with British radio reports stating that Nazi losses are running ahead of British losses by a ratio of three to one. Further reports described a low-flying German plane opening fire with its machine gun over a London street crowded with late-afternoon pedestrians, most of them women carrying shopping bags.

Magistrates in Flatbush are united in their demand that the Kings County Court take steps to replace the "ancient judicial chair" in which they are forced to sit. A letter to Chief Magistrate Henry H. Curran by Flatbush magistrate Nicholas Pinto condemns the old chair as "torture to sit on," with broken springs that offer no support, and points out that since the institution of the Brooklyn-Queens Night Court earlier this year, that shabby old chair is in constant use from nine in the morning until midnight. Pinto indicated he spoke for all of his colleagues in demanding a new chair.

("HAH!" says Joe. "How 'bout he do like we gotta do on them trolleys an' sit onna papah. I allays lookunna th' seat, seefIc'nfinea Woil-Tellagram -- it's good 'n sof'." "If he's liketha restat'em judges," adds Sally. "he don' need no paddin'.")

The Army has ordered four million blank registration tags for use by young Americans who will serve over the next four years. The War Department included the tags in a $1,822,908 appropriation to purchase items intended to make life easier for Army trainees.

(25 miles per gallon wasn't a bad deal at all in 1941, and in a couple of years, people who laughed at this car will be choking on their ration stamps.)

(Is "Buy in November, Pay in January" supposed to be a political dig? And is this really the best time to be marketing "(Invader) Mink?" Don't let the DL hear you're pushing that stuff.)

District Attorney William O'Dwyer will be the guest of honor and principal speaker at the annual dinner-dance/bar mitzvah exercises of the Pride of Judea Children's Home, to be held next Sunday evening at the Hotel St. George. A number of the seventeen orphan boys who recently reached their 13th birthdays will also speak, in both English and in Yiddish.

(Two more days.)

78,000 cheered at Yankee Stadium yesterday as Notre Dame nipped out a fighting Army squad 7-0. The lone touchdown of the tense contest came in the first quarter, when Steve Juznik intercepted a pass on the 19 yard line and rushed 81 yards to score, brushing off a tackle at the 40 from Army's Henry Mazur.

Missouri crushed NYU 33-0, with Missouri quarterback Paul Christmas dazzling the Violets with his passing technique. Star Violets running back Len Bates was conspicuous by his absence, with Missouri refusing to permit the Negro athlete on its campus, and NYU accepting that condition.

An all-time football attendance record will be set in Brooklyn this afternoon as the Grid Dodgers and Giants clash at Ebbets Field. Ten thousand general admission grandstand seats will go on sale in the marble rotunda this morning.

Football Dodgers quarterback Ace Parker, who has been nursing a sore foot this season, says he will hang up his cleats at the end of this season in favor of baseball spikes. Parker played last summer with Syracuse in the International League, and a broken ankle he suffered on the diamond is believed by many to be the root of his present problems. But Parker insists otherwise, and believes he will last longer as an athlete if he confines himself to baseball in the future. He is presently owned by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and last played in the major leagues for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1936-37.

While coach Luke Sewell remains the inside favorite to replace the departed Oscar Vitt as manager of the Cleveland Indians, with Bucky Harris running second, several additional candidates have now emerged for the job, all of them with major league managing experience -- among them Roger Peckinpaugh, an old Indians favorite who managed the Tribe from 1928 to 1933. Also named as possibilities are Mickey Cochrane, who managed the Tigers to a World Championship in 1935, and Rogers Hornsby, last seen in the majors as manager of the Browns from 1933 to 1937. The Indians figure to be the only big league club to take the field under a new manager in 1941.

Rumors out of Boston suggest that troublemaking young slugger Ted Williams may be changing his socks soon. The Red Sox are reported to be considering a trade that would send Williams to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for outfielder Taft Wright, infielder Johnny Rigney, and a bindle full of cash, but Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey is seen as unlikely to go for the bait. Yawkey has nothing but money, and a reputation as a buyer not a seller -- and despite Williams' reputation as a hothead, he is probably the single greatest asset the Bosox have.

(The irony of the New Deal is that it made a lot of so-called "self made" fortunes possible.)

Old Timer Daniel T. Sherlock remembers the good old days in Williamsburg's Fourteenth Ward, when they used to drive herds of cattle thru the streets on the way to the abattoir. (Today with all the urban livestock and rooftop chicken coops, a good abattoir might make some real money there.)

What are the odds? There were two reluctant King Georges in 1940. This week, Trend features the one you probably don't know about...

Controversy continues to rage in New York City schools over the flag salute. State Attorney General John Bennett objects to the traditional straight-arm salute due to its Fascist/Nazi connotation, and per his objections, New York schools have adopted the raised hand military-style salute in its place. Superintendant of Schools Dr. Harold Campbell notes that the miltary salute was the original form of the flag salute, with the straight-arm adopted in its place due to complaints from pacifist parents.

Tonight at 7:30pm over WABC, the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre offers Mr. John Barrymore in "The Great Man Votes," with Thomas Mitchell and Virginia Weidler. Tune in here:

("Bad mens lightum boom sticks!" Doncha hate when that happens?)

(Gilbert Miller is a prominent figure in New York theatrical circles, where wearing a derby in the shower is a habit likely to attract no attention at all.)

(Don't worry, Dennie -- it's Blackston's house after all, and he'll have the State Department of Public Works over to fix it in the morning. And Irwin --THAT ISN'T HOW BOMBERS WORK.)

(It's probably a good thing George didn't live to see Twitter.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I had totally forgotten our friend the key-swallowing stewardess. Hey Zack Mosley, here's a plot idea! And if you had asked me to guess what would be the oddest story of the day I gotta say I wouldn't have come up with "nudist Canadian Russian Orthodox fifth columnists."

"We've Come So Far."

OK, I'm lost. Extortion racket? Insurance scam? Or just general sociopathy?

Somebody needs to slip poor Peg a copy of "Fashion Is Spinach" before it's too late.

Could it be we've stumbled upon -- the next Dan Dunn plot?

Maybe you oughta see what Joy thinks first.

The DL has agents everywhere.

Mr. King has a unique gift for seeing the world thru the eyes of a child.

That's what happens when you don't put on the girdle first.

I can't wait till Kayo and Kitty grow up and get married and form a husband-and-wife con-artist act.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]