The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Over $1,000,000,000 in military aid to Britain will be released immediately after President Roosevelt affixes his signature to the Lease-Lend bill, following final approval of that measure in the Senate last night by a vote of 60-31. That vote concluded eighteen days of testimony and debate over the details of the measure, with opponents of the bill arguing that with its enactment, the United States can expect to be fully involved in the war by April 1st.

Twenty-six persons were injured yesterday when two trolley cars collided on the Fulton Street line, just west of the switch at Hopkinson Street. One of the two cars jumped the track due to snow and ice on the rails and skidded head on into the other trolley traveling in the opposite direction. Eleven of the injured persons were hospitalized. The accident was the most serious to occur in the wake of Friday night's blizzard. More heavy snow is expected to strike the borough today on top of the foot of accumulation from the previous storm.

A borough-wide celebration will be held in April or May to mark the start of demolition work on the Fulton Street L. Borough President John Cashmore made the announcement today in an effort to head off competition between rival civic groups anxious to play a prominent role in razing ceremonies. Last year, competition for seats on the last train to roll on the Black Spider line became so heated that it became necessary to run two "last trains."

A bus strike called for tomorrow by the Transport Workers Union CIO may lead to a tieup of all city transportation except the Independent subway system. Addressing a union meeting yesterday President Michael Quill announced that all union members working on the BMT and IRT lines will be called on to join the strike. "We'll conduct a safe and sound strike," promised Mr. Quill, "with no violence and no destruction of property." Mayor LaGuardia immediately offered his services as mediator to settle the strike as quickly as possible. Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine yesterday conferred with police commanders from each of the boroughs to map out police details for the strike.

Brooklyn Attorney General Harold Bennett condemned waste and inefficiency in the ongoing investigations of subversive activity in the borough in a report submitted last night to Governor Herbert H. Lehman. Mr. Bennett's report also specifically warned against any attempts to establish extrajudicial or self-constituted "investigations. The Attorney General declared that his deputies will permit no "witch hunts" to be conducted in Brooklyn.

(YAAAAAA! These are the exact shoes I had to wear to protect my "weak feet" until I was five years old. I still have one of them sitting on my bookshelf as a souvenir of happy childhood days.)

A new organization to combat efforts to eliminate the Brooklyn-Queens accent from the speech of youth has formed at Queens College. "The Dead End Boys" have banded together at the Flushing institution to fight back against Pure English crusaders out to eradicate the distinctive local speech. "They're ruining the folk element in my speech," protested one of the boys, who declared his opposition to the attempts on campus by the English Department to inculcate a "Park Avenue" accent among the students. "Someone hasta hold up the spirit of the common people."

(America's Biggest Small Town.)

With yesterday's clash between the Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians washed out yesterday by Havana rains, the two clubs will today introduce yet another Larry MacPhail First -- the first-ever spring training doubleheader. The Tribe and the Flock will meet for a pair at La Nacional Stadium, and for both games all Dodgers will be required to wear the new MacPhail skull protectors at the plate, either wrapped around their regular caps, or worn as a liner underneath the caps. Joe Medwick and Pee Wee Reese were so enthusiastic about the special protective headgear when they wore it on Friday that MacPhail has made the use of the protectors compulsory for all Brooklyn batters from this point forward.

The big attraction in game one of today's twinbill will be the pitting of Cleveland ace Bobby Feller against the newly rejuvenated Van Lingle Mungo, whose fastball seems to have resumed its 1934 status thanks to a rebuild shoulder.

Old Timer Bart A. Phillips down there in Bensonhurst -- a neighbor of Joe and Sally, yet -- remembers watching Admiral Dewey's ship steaming into the harbor from the roof of a three story house on 5th Street. He also remembers the trouble that followed when he punched his pocket knife thru his friend Augie's new derby hat, back in the days when kids wore derby hats.

(Kayo Mullins says "whatta ya mean 'back in the days?'")

(And the mention of Mustapha Kemal brings to mind one of my favorite puns of the Era. This guy walks up to a cigarette machine and looks over the choices. He quickly rejects Luckies, Chesterfields, Old Golds, and Phillip Morris. What's his name? Mustapha Kemal.)

New Federal regulations governing the labeling of hot dogs go into effect this week. From here on, when you buy a string of franks at your local butcher's, you'll notice that every few links there'll be one wrapped in a paper band with the ingredients clearly spelled out in clear and unmistakable words. Any cereals or other non-meat fillers contained in the weenies must be specifically identified as such.

Edward Arnold has become, in recent years, pretty much the smiling archetype of American Fascism on the screen -- and he loves it. Arnold says he relishes the chance to play villain roles, whether those of evil bankers, corrupt political bosses, or scheming publishers. Arnold started his career as a leading man but quickly found that it's the character roles that are most rewarding. You'll see him this week in "Meet John Doe," opening at the Times Square Rivoli and the 51st Street Theatre on Wednesday.

("Gringo Bill????" Bring back Bigfoot!!!)

(Hmph. We would never cue laughs like this on our show. We do use an applause sign because you need it to control timing in a live broadcast, but cueing laughs is for punks. Well, sometimes I do make a face if a gag flops and THAT gets a laugh, BUT I DON'T HOLD UP A SIGN!)

(I wonder what the Royals talked about at breakfast this morning.)

(Bill is the only comedy relief character in the funnies who has his own comedy relief. And as Grampa's ladyfren, please welcome special guest star Edna May Oliver.)

(And Greta Garbo joins us today as Mrs. Skull. "Again you breeng the poleece! Schmuck!")

(The poses in Panel 11 are sublime. Mr. Tuthill's art can, at times, be absolutely wonderful in capturing moments of life's inanity.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Yeah, Central Casting? Lissen, we need a guy to play another one of these hokey phoney counts. Yeah, you know the type. Big false teeth, greasy pencil moustache, giggle-o haircut. You got one? You'll send him right over? Great!"

It's just as well our boy Harold didn't go to college. They'd eat him alive.

It's the sweet old ladies you gotta watch the closest.

And if you don't like it, why, ol' Punjab'll send you off on a Magic Carpet ride too!

Aw, come on, Gus -- this could have been a chance for a special guest appearance by Dan Dunn and Irwin! They'd get this mess sorted out quick, and Wolf could eat some faces to boot.

And note that Lilacs is wearing the High School Senior fad garment of early 1941, a kind of a canvas vest thing intended to be autographed by all the wearer's girlfriends. But I do suspect he probably wrote them all on there himself.

It's always fun to see the old Alley Bunch together again, just like nothing's changed since 1921. Especially Avery's sweater.

This would be a good time for Pat and the gang to show up. Or even Alice Marble.

The art here looks like it was drawn at least ten years ago -- for one thing the lettering is not like that you usually see in this strip. Which suggests that Mr. Willard had a large night on the town, and wasn't up to drawing a new page for this week, so he just threw out a reprint. Well, hey, happens to everyone.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Last year, competition for seats on the last train to roll on the Black Spider line became so heated that it became necessary to run two "last trains."...

Really people?

...
(America's Biggest Small Town.)...

Great example of a time when even high-level official letters and documents showed the quirks of the individual typewriter and typist as opposed to today's "perfect" print.

...Edward Arnold has become, in recent years, pretty much the smiling archetype of American Fascism on the screen -- and he loves it. Arnold says he relishes the chance to play villain roles, whether those of evil bankers, corrupt political bosses, or scheming publishers. Arnold started his career as a leading man but quickly found that it's the character roles that are most rewarding. You'll see him this week in "Meet John Doe," opening at the Times Square Rivoli and the 51st Street Theatre on Wednesday....

And despite being given cartoonish "evil businessman" lines in "Meet John Doe," Arnold still manages to put some nuance and sympathy into his character to somewhat overcome the cliched writing and directing.

Comments on Capra's fairytale "Meet John Doe" here: #28406

... (And Greta Garbo joins us today as Mrs. Skull. "Again you breeng the poleece! Schmuck!")...

Those are quite the whiny henchmen The Skull has. Next thing they'll be filing a grievance report about all the micro-aggressions The Skull commits against them.

"But Boss -- I'm cold!"

Seriously?

...[ "Yeah, Central Casting? Lissen, we need a guy to play another one of these hokey phoney counts. Yeah, you know the type. Big false teeth, greasy pencil moustache, giggle-o haircut. You got one? You'll send him right over? Great!"...

Didn't we already read this exact Cinderella-barge-captain-father-count story a week or two ago? Is there something new this time?

...
It's the sweet old ladies you gotta watch the closest.....

Not completely believable, but still a neat move.

... And if you don't like it, why, ol' Punjab'll send you off on a Magic Carpet ride too!....

And after tra-la-la'ing along for days, in the last two panels "Little Orphan Annie" brings in some timeless politic philosophy that has been debated since (probably earlier) the Ancient Greeks and right up to today.

... This would be a good time for Pat and the gang to show up. Or even Alice Marble.....

Kiel's got real skills. It might even be time for The Dragon Lady to put on her cape.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Why does Annie always refer to or address Warbucks with the quotation marks? We get that he didn't actually sire the precocious and plucky little moppet, but isn't it time to presume a bit of familiarity?

 

[ChiTownScion]

Talk about milking every negative stereotype for all that it's worth! Look, I get it that the undergrad experience changed a lot over the decades, but I don't think this was a real slice o' life even back in the day. What I remember most was studying for endless hours until my eyes burned, and chowing down on mediocre cafeteria fare that tasted like manna from heaven to a hungry kid.

And cripes! I didn't even know the do's & don't of white tie dress until MY kids were college age.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I just was waited on at the post office by a guy with a haircut exactly -- I mean, exactly -- like Kiel's. If he'd had on a monocle, I'd have run out the door in a panic.

I've always wondered exactly what the deal is with Daddy and Annie. I don't think he ever actually legally adopted her, at least not until late in the strip's run, and for such a doting father figure he sure has no problem with vanishing from her life for years at a time and letting her drift around to various hapless guardians -- the Tecums, the Slaggs, etc. Seems a real DADDY "Daddy" would be a bit more responsible for her, but maybe it's his way of teaching her what the world is really like.

By the way, it's been established in recent years that Dick Tracy, Annie, Harold Teen and the Gasoline Alley bunch all live in a shared "Tribune Content Agency Universe," for want of a better term. Annie, Warbucks, Punjab, and the Asp all turn up in Tracy once a year or so for a shared adventure -- one that comes to mind had Tracy investigating Warbucks for the likely murder of one of his former wives. (Turned out he probably did do it, too, but Tracy, even in his watered-down modern form, knows when he's overmatched.) Harold and Shadow were in a Tracy storyline several years back, and once Tracy was called in to help when 130-year-old Uncle Walt Wallet wandered off, as he is occasionally wont to do. Tracy has never crossed paths with the Terry gang, though, because he wouldn't have a chance against the DL.

I keep waiting for the Gumps to show up in the Tracyverse. Maybe Uncle Bim and Warbucks could finally have it out, a la Musk and Bezos.

 

[Harp]

Hawkins looks interesting. Do not know the entire grist but Passion as defense to unfortunate tragedy,
a bereaved adulterous wife, possible accusatory testimony-unlikely.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A million bus riders in Queens and Manhattan had to find another way to get to work this morning with a strike by the Transport Workers Union CIO shutting down two bus lines in Queens and nearly all bus transportation in Manhattan. Pickets appeared at the stations of all the affected companies this morning promptly at 5 AM, and all companies voluntarily recalled their buses and made no attempt to run. The walkout by 3500 bus drivers and mechanics marks the first major transportation strike in the city since the 1926 subway strike. Union leaders today rejected Mayor LaGuardia's offer for immediate mediation in an effort to settle the dispute, and called on the bus companies to make "reasonable counterproposals in an effort to demonstrate their good faith" as a foundation for negotiations.

A split in the New York City Teachers Union is anticipated following efforts by the American Federation of Labor to expel Locals 5 and 537 on charges that they are "controlled by Communists." In response, leaders of those locals have declared their intention to either continue on as "a left-wing independent union" or pursue affliation with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

A last ditch effort in the House of Representatives to amend the Lease Lend bill to prohibit the creation of a second American Expeditionary Force to Europe will be made today by the isolationist bloc in the House, but that effort is not expected to derail the expected signing of the aid-for-Britain plan by the President tomorrow.

The government of Vichy France is warning Britain to end its food blockade and permit food ships to enter French port, or face counterattacks from French warships. Vice Premier Jean Francois Darlan stated today that the blockade is having no effect toward its intended purpose of "starving out Germany," and is instead only affecting persons not directly participating in the war,

A Brownsville baker foiled a robbery attempt this morning by knocking out a holdup man with a rolling pin. 67-year-old Harry Danenberg of 557 Wyona Street was at work behind the counter at Rothenberg's Bakery, 145 Belmont Avenue, when he was confronted by 25-year-old James White of 24 Liberty Avenue, who brandished a knife and demanded the contents of the shop's cash register. Danenberg reached under the counter, produced a rolling pin, and conked the robber over the head with it, dropping him to the floor unconscious.

A bill to be introduced before the state legislature in Albany will close loopholes in present penal laws that allow distributors of obscene periodicals to escape the prosecution meted out to newsdealers and candy-store operators who sell the publications at retail. Under present laws, retail magazine dealers are obligated under the terms of their contracts to put out for sale all publications sent to them by distributors, and the new legislation proposed by Senator Frederick Coudert will hold those distributors directly responsible for the content of all materials that they distribute.

(Yeah, my net evening dress is probably getting pretty tired at that. I loaned it to one of the kids about ten years ago, and it still isn't back yet.)

(Cagney's in that picture too. Wonder if he uses Lux?)

(Alas, Mr. Schroth, you ain't seen nothin' yet.)

(Nevermind the Hooterville gags, I wanna see more of this cat.)

Van Lingle Mungo, and his rebuilt shoulder, are done with the Dodgers as far as Larry MacPhail is concerned, after the newly-renovated hurler went on a drunken spree in Havana Saturday night after he had already been announced as the starter of the first game of yesterday's doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians. After learning that Mungo had snuck out of his hotel room after Manager Leo Durocher had ordered him to remain there, and had gone forth to sample the joys of the Havana night, and had then come staggering back to the Hotel Nacional, where police had to be summoned to settle him down and get him into bed, MacPhail flew into one of those rages of which only the Red Headed One is capable, and immediately cut the well-lubricated hurler from the Brooklyn roster, fined him $200, and banished him from the Dodger camp. Team Secretary John MacDonald was instructed to tell Mungo that MacPhail "doesn't care where he goes," but subsequently told the hung-over pitcher that transportation back to the mainland would be furnished him. MacDonald later gave Mungo a formal notice of his removal from the Brooklyn roster and advised him that he is to report to the training camp of the Montreal Royals at Macon, Georgia on March 15th.

(And nobody -- but nobody -- went out for a drink afterward.)

(Yes, it's her.)

(Harold Teen reads today's "Sparky Watts" and wonders if there's some other simp out there who looks enough like him that maybe....)

(What makes Jo's shankings of Oakdale so effective is that they're delivered with such icy detachment. It's a real pleasure to watch such a fine craftswoman at work.)

(Oh don't try to tell it was your evil twin.)

(You know, I bet she's NOT REALLY A REAL DUCHESS AT ALL.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

We have the True Crime editor with us today and I wish we didn't.

"...and a heel, too." And that's why, whatever its faults, I will always dearly love the Daily News.

Well, seems like you ought to observe Harold's actions over the next few weeks very very carefully, make very careful note of what he does, and then make sure that you do precisely the opposite.

I'd love to have overheard that conversation. "Still sending malefactors to a horrifying end?" "Indeed, sahib, and do you still heal the sick and raise the dead and -- I must say -- put a wonderful crease in a pair of pants?" "That I do, old friend, and I observe that your own trousers might benefit from my services. Make you a good price."

"All that work you make me do for nothing! Next time buy from Davega a sweater!"

Look, Gus, all this talk about mystery faces at the window -- and you haven't once actually SHOWN us a mystery face at the window? COMICS ARE A VISUAL MEDIUM.

Yeah, don't think you're so smart there, Heinie -- is ANYBODY really named "Madame Lustre?"

Like, for example, the fact that Chigs likes to douse himself in a cloud of Shalimar, and roll around on the floor in lingerie?

Yeah, another tired racial trope of the day -- but you do have to love the expressions on the cops.

Sure, Lil's a manipulator, but how 'bout her sense of balance?

 

[Fading Fast]

...A Brownsville baker foiled a robbery attempt this morning by knocking out a holdup man with a rolling pin. 67-year-old Harry Danenberg of 557 Wyona Street was at work behind the counter at Rothenberg's Bakery, 145 Belmont Avenue, when he was confronted by 25-year-old James White of 24 Liberty Avenue, who brandished a knife and demanded the contents of the shop's cash register. Danenberg reached under the counter, produced a rolling pin, and conked the robber over the head with it, dropping him to the floor unconscious....

That's awesome.

...[

(Cagney's in that picture too. Wonder if he uses Lux?)...

Evan Llewellyn Evans: "Now Mr. Norman, that's on-the-beam advertising. Why can't you do something like that for me?"

...Van Lingle Mungo, and his rebuilt shoulder, are done with the Dodgers as far as Larry MacPhail is concerned, after the newly-renovated hurler went on a drunken spree in Havana Saturday night after he had already been announced as the starter of the first game of yesterday's doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians. After learning that Mungo had snuck out of his hotel room after Manager Leo Durocher had ordered him to remain there, and had gone forth to sample the joys of the Havana night, and had then come staggering back to the Hotel Nacional, where police had to be summoned to settle him down and get him into bed, MacPhail flew into one of those rages of which only the Red Headed One is capable, and immediately cut the well-lubricated hurler from the Brooklyn roster, fined him $200, and banished him from the Dodger camp. Team Secretary John MacDonald was instructed to tell Mungo that MacPhail "doesn't care where he goes," but subsequently told the hung-over pitcher that transportation back to the mainland would be furnished him. MacDonald later gave Mungo a formal notice of his removal from the Brooklyn roster and advised him that he is to report to the training camp of the Montreal Royals at Macon, Georgia on March 15th....

Wow.

... View attachment 316999 We have the True Crime editor with us today and I wish we didn't...

Yes and yes.

...
"...and a heel, too." And that's why, whatever its faults, I will always dearly love the Daily News....

"Hocus-pocus in Hohokus." One has to believe that's not the first or last time its ever been said as that alliterating and rhyming line all but writes itself.

...[
Well, seems like you ought to observe Harold's actions over the next few weeks very very carefully, make very careful note of what he does, and then make sure that you do precisely the opposite....

Yes, being in love with two women is not where Harold went wrong. No, he entered crazy town by asking them both to marry him and by giving them both engagement rings...at the same time.

... I'd love to have overheard that conversation. "Still sending malefactors to a horrifying end?" "Indeed, sahib, and do you still heal the sick and raise the dead and -- I must say -- put a wonderful crease in a pair of pants?" "That I do, old friend, and I observe that your own trousers might benefit from my services. Make you a good price."...

Plus, "I love her to death, but man, that kid never stops asking question." [Sigh] "I know, I know."

 

[Haversack]

(Cagney's in that picture too. Wonder if he uses Lux?)

Well, its just the kind of hair wire he is.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Y'know, we get a lot of recurring characters as the days go by and 1941 unfolds before us, but I want to take a minute to recognize one of them in particular --

The jaunty looking fellow hanging out in the dugout with Lippy is John McDonald, secretary of the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club Incorporated, and official designated lackey and general whipping boy to Mr. Leland Stanford MacPhail. Whenever there is unedifying work to be done, or the results of a MacPhail tantrum to be cleaned up, it is the poor, honest Irish face of Mr. John McDonald that manages to smile thru tears as that unfortunate chore is seen thru to its bitter finish. Mr. McDonald will also serve as MacPhail's personal keeper on more than one occasion, picking him up off the floor after drunken rampages, going around behind his back trying to soothe feathers that his master has left ruffled among other baseball and political dignitaries, and for his efforts he will at least on one occasion be punched into unconsciousness by his predictably unpredictable employer. But despite all that he will remain a Dodger man for many years, until the sad and sorry day when he'll be told to hand in his keys and packed off to Montreal by Mr. Branch Rickey.

Poor John. It makes me sniffle just to think of the poor sap. Look, they even stick a watermark across his face.

 

[LizzieMaine]

House Resolution 1776, the Lease-Lend Bill for aid to Great Britain in its war against Germany, is now in the hands of President Roosevelt, who is expected to sign the bill into law this evening, following House approval by a vote of 317 to 71 of amendments made to the bill by the Senate. Final Congressional approval came just two months and a day after the bill was first introduced by the President on January 10th. Representative Claude Woodrum (D-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee today indicated that he has been advised by the President than an immediate initial appropriation of $7,000,000,000 will be sought to inaugurate the aid program.

A seventeen-year-old sophomore at the Brooklyn High School for Homemaking wanted new furniture for her Flatbush home so badly that she set the house on fire in hopes of getting it. Mildred Godfrey of 1434 Flatbush Avenue faces arson charges after she ignited two mattresses yesterday on the top floor of the three story home where she lives with her parents. The girl told police she had been impressed by fine furnishings at the home of a friend, and hoped that her parents' fire insurance would pay for similar furnishings in their own home. She will be arraigned today in Felony Court.

The strike of 3500 bus company employees that has shut down most bus transportation in Manhattan and Queens is expected to be a lengthy one, leaving 900,000 regular riders in search of other transportation. With trolleys extinct in Manhattan since 1936, buses dominate surface transportation in that borough, leading to morning congestion on the subway and elevated lines as commuters tried to make their way to work. The Transport Workers Union is seeking an across-the-board pay increase of 25 percent along with other benefits, and has called on the management of the affected bus companies to come to the table with "a reasonable counter offer" as a basis for negotiation. Bus company officials have expressed willingness to bring the matter before Mayor LaGuardia for arbitration, but have not yet met the call for a specific counter-proposal. There has been no attempt by the bus companies to use strikebreakers, and there have been no incidents of violence in the strike so far.

A twenty-three-year-old poultry salesman from Williamsburg will serve 55 days in the workhouse for forcing his attentions upon a 20 year old woman. Morris Strang of 197 Roebling Street was found guilty of disorderly conduct for having followed Miss Lillian Fink of 315 Madison Street, Manhattan, to work after being told by her that she didn't wish to see him until Friday. Miss Fink told Magistrate Nicholas H. Pinto that she intended to break off her relationship with the man because "he gave me too much trouble beating me up and messing my lipstick and hair." Strang was found guilty on a similar charge in a similar incident a year ago.

A deluge of rain that began shortly after 2 this afternoon is making a serious dent in the mounds of accumulated snow and ice remaining from last weekend's blizzard, with temperatures expected to reach a high of 45 degrees. The rain will prove a welcome help to the Sanitation Department workers who have been working since Friday to clear the streets of snow and slush.

Pranksters from a rival college are believed responsible for the abduction of a wooden cigar-store Indian that serves as mascot for St. John's University, after the figure, known as "Big Chief Blackjack," disappeared from Madison Square Garden last night during a basketball game between the St. John's Redmen and the St. Francis Terriers. A masked group of collegiate roisterers was seen last night treating the figure to a meal at a one-arm lunchroom, posing it on a corner in the guise of a traffic cop, and otherwise displaying it in ludicrous settings before it was, reportedly, hidden in a dressing room at the St. Francis College gym. A ransom note made up from words clipped from newspaper and magazine advertisements threatens to cut up the figure into "a dozen Charlie McCarthys" if terms are not met. It is reported that St. John's has appointed a "go between" to negotiate for the Chief's release.

(This actually sounds pretty good, but just imagine having all those nightmares about being chased by beer-drinkign goats.)

(George Lichty is not yet 36 years old, which suggests he *could* have a kid in college, but it isn't all that likely. He just doesn't seem the type to have gotten off to an early start.)

(Joe and Sally exchange a look of mixed apprehension and pride. Who can afford to raise twins -- but won't it be swell when they run out to the keystone at Ebbets Field as the star double-play combination for the 1962 Dodgers?)

Van Lingle Mungo was a Dodger for ten years, but those days now appear to be definitively over, and there is talk now that the turbulent twirler may be bound for the Phillies. The Philadelphia club is in sore need of pitching, what with their having dealt their best hurler, Kirby Higbe, to the Dodgers last year, and with their next-best pitcher now enduring his first days as Private Hugh Mulcahy, U. S. A., and it is suggested that the Phils may attempt to claim Mungo on waivers after he was cut from the Dodger roster yesterday in the wake of his drunken rampage in Havana Friday night. Mungo, having been banished from the Dodger training camp, boarded a Pan American plane for the mainland today, vowing that he was "going to reform," but unless Reform is a town in his native North Carolina, there is considerable doubt that he will arrive at that that destination.

Meanwhile, the Flock begins the final stretch of its Havana sojourn with the first of five games against a squad of Cuban All Stars. The full team will play today, and Thursday the club will split in two, with one faction heading over the water to Miami to play the Giants in a weekend series and the other half of the team remaining to continue the All Star series. After much cogitation, Durocher decided not to send a team of scrubs and rookies to face the Terrymen, and instead will roughly divide his regulars between the two squads. Joe Medwick, Pee Wee Reese, and Dixie Walker will head the Miami delegation under Chuck Dressen, while Durocher will remain in Havana with the rest of the first stringers.

(My mother still shivers at the thought of the Squeaking Door, which terrorized her childhood, but I have, as in this essay, only ever found "Inner Sanctum" a mordant and occasionally hilarious *parody* of a radio spook show. Most of the notions latter-day folk have of the whole campy, gory, leering, and wildly exaggerated style of what they imagine all radio horror programs to have been like come directly from this one program. "Pleasssssaant dreeeeeeeeams?")

("Well, I'm SORRY, sir, but "SORRY" just isn't good enough! I bet your cousin Lord Plushbottom wouldn't be that dumb.")

(Look, Butcherly, dolling, wouldn't your lives be so much simpler IF YOU WOULD JUST MOVE?)

(If it turns out that Pat is - ah - not inclined to be interested in Ted, then I for one will laugh and laugh.)

"Aw -- it's safe enough, Duchess --"???? Whoa. The Skull started out played by Karloff, and now all of a sudden he's played by Eddie Bracken?

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The look of horror on poor Kay Francis's face says it all.

This is basically the same one I have -- they produced this model both before and after the war, until early 1946 -- and for once the Boys are not putting you on. I've clocked mine and it really does run about twelve minutes an hour "under normal conditions." And that's with being nearly eighty years old.

Yep, he's back, and we'll be seeing a lot out of him over the next few weeks I'm sure.

Yeah, I'd say that he does, in fact, have folks over there. And as for Sandy, I guess we can just be thankful that this is not a five-panel strip.

OK, so we have our cast of characters for this storyline all set, and your mission for today is to determine which of them will be dead, chopped up, and fed into that furnace by the first of April.

I really and truly can't wait till the Dragon Lady gets ahold of this guy.

OMG MIN IS FINALLY GROWING OUT THAT COLLEEN MOORE BOB SHE'S BEEN WEARING SINCE 1922! No wonder Tilda looks so shocked.

King is doing a wonderful job delineating Chigs' repulsiveness just thru facial expressions and poses alone. Any woman who has ever worked with a man like this can actually smell the reeking cologne.

Once again Mush finds an effective means of not taking any more of Moon's crap.

Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick....

 

[Harp]

Dragon Lady, what style did she study?

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Joe and Sally exchange a look of mixed apprehension and pride. Who can afford to raise twins -- but won't it be swell when they run out to the keystone at Ebbets Field as the star double-play combination for the 1962 Dodgers?)...

Lizzie, you've done a heck of a job bringing Joe and Sally to life as I immediately thought about them when reading this ad, even before I saw your comment.

...Van Lingle Mungo was a Dodger for ten years, but those days now appear to be definitively over, and there is talk now that the turbulent twirler may be bound for the Phillies. The Philadelphia club is in sore need of pitching, what with their having dealt their best hurler, Kirby Higbe, to the Dodgers last year, and with their next-best pitcher now enduring his first days as Private Hugh Mulcahy, U. S. A., and it is suggested that the Phils may attempt to claim Mungo on waivers after he was cut from the Dodger roster yesterday in the wake of his drunken rampage in Havana Friday night. Mungo, having been banished from the Dodger training camp, boarded a Pan American plane for the mainland today, vowing that he was "going to reform," but unless Reform is a town in his native North Carolina, there is considerable doubt that he will arrive at that that destination....

Haven't been there in several years, but Philly always had a lot of good bars.

... ("Well, I'm SORRY, sir, but "SORRY" just isn't good enough! I bet your cousin Lord Plushbottom wouldn't be that dumb.")...

Amnesia, a doppleganger and a secret honeymoon location - Rogers has no aversion to piling the unbelievable items up one on top of the other.

... (Look, Butcherly, dolling, wouldn't your lives be so much simpler IF YOU WOULD JUST MOVE?)...

It wasn't that long ago, remember the last time this idiot tried to engage a lawyer?

...
(If it turns out that Pat is - ah - not inclined to be interested in Ted, then I for one will laugh and laugh.)...

Dude, you made a pretty good rescue effort with the cab home and speech, but "I'm sorry I 'wasted' time coming home," was the absolutely worst thing you could have said.

...
This is basically the same one I have -- they produced this model both before and after the war, until early 1946 -- and for once the Boys are not putting you on. I've clocked mine and it really does run about twelve minutes an hour "under normal conditions." And that's with being nearly eighty years old.......

And in two or three years, you should be able to buy it "new" and on sale at Devagas.

I no longer remember the models (the make of one was definitely a Frigidaire), but I rented a bunch of lower-end apartments that had those old '40s an '50s refrigerators, and this was in the '80s and 90s. Those things were indestructible warhorses.

... I really and truly can't wait till the Dragon Lady gets ahold of this guy....

A skill in life Terry still needs to learn is knowing when you are outmatched for the moment and to just bide your time.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I never recall Archie living out a scenario as dark as the one Harold is experiencing. I'd proffer that comparisons between the two comics is a stretch. Only thing "teen" about Harold in these features is his surname: he's clearly living a twenty something existence. Did he start out as a high school kid and age as time passed?

Like the Statler Brothers told us: life gets complicated when you get past eighteen.

 

[Fading Fast]

I don't know why this just pinged in, but was there no "Invisible Scarlett" strip in this Tuesday's (Sunday in '41) paper?

It's not great, but still worth the look see each week.

 

[PrivateEye]

and for once the Boys are not putting you on. I've clocked mine and it really does run about twelve minutes an hour "under normal conditions."

Not sure which is most surprising - that they're telling the truth, or that you made the effort to time it?