The Era -- Day By Day

[Harp]

Caniff wielded if not an iconoclast's scepter pen, a quill peeler that shaved off complacent assumptions;
hardly a simple crayon or caricature comic character among the buccaneers. His historical usage is similarly
revealing, a prescience as captivating now as then. Yet some loose ends are apparent. Kept dangling without darn,
unraveling yarn, the plot drags, impatience reigns. And, the reader is left want to wonder at apparent boundary,
deliberately set by artist, editor, newspaper?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Caniff was overseen by Daily News publisher Joseph Medill Patterson, who personally edited all the News-Tribune Syndicate comics. Patterson created the essential concept of the strip -- "give me something about a kid and an adult having adventures in China" -- and it was Patterson who named it. Caniff was allowed to do as he pleased within that framework -- until he did something Patterson didn't like, and then he'd be called to heel and told to stop it. It was Patterson who's responsible for the refusal of the strip to actually identify the Japanese as the Japanese, and it's also Patterson who draws the line when the sexual implications of the strip go further than he thinks prudent. Given the sort of stuff that goes on on Page Four every day of the week, it's obvious that Caniff can go further than he could if he worked for the Herald-Tribune, but even that comparative freedom does have its limit.

I don't think Bro. Harp was with us when Dude Hennick and Raven Sherman had their window-ledge encounter last year, but it probably marks the furthest reaches of Capt. Patterson's tolerance in such matters.

"Terry" isn't the only strip that's held under such reins. There was a scene in "Gasoline Alley" last summer where Skeezix and Nina were romping around a haystack on a farm, and it seemed pretty strongly implied that they did more than "romp," but Mr. King was required to fade out the scene before it could proceed to its natural conclusion. And there really doesn't seem any other way than the obvious to think about what was going on last year between Harold Teen and Senga.

 

[Fading Fast]

Caniff was overseen by Daily News publisher Joseph Medill Patterson, who personally edited all the News-Tribune Syndicate comics. Patterson created the essential concept of the strip -- "give me something about a kid and an adult having adventures in China" -- and it was Patterson who named it. Caniff was allowed to do as he pleased within that framework -- until he did something Patterson didn't like, and then he'd be called to heel and told to stop it. It was Patterson who's responsible for the refusal of the strip to actually identify the Japanese as the Japanese, and it's also Patterson who draws the line when the sexual implications of the strip go further than he thinks prudent. Given the sort of stuff that goes on on Page Four every day of the week, it's obvious that Caniff can go further than he could if he worked for the Herald-Tribune, but even that comparative freedom does have its limit.

I don't think Bro. Harp was with us when Dude Hennick and Raven Sherman had their window-ledge encounter last year, but it probably marks the furthest reaches of Capt. Patterson's tolerance in such matters.

"Terry" isn't the only strip that's held under such reins. There was a scene in "Gasoline Alley" last summer where Skeezix and Nina were romping around a haystack on a farm, and it seemed pretty strongly implied that they did more than "romp," but Mr. King was required to fade out the scene before it could proceed to its natural conclusion. And there really doesn't seem any other way than the obvious to think about what was going on last year between Harold Teen and Senga.

Having been with you for all those encounters, I agree with your analysis and nuance (there was no point to Senga otherwise). Raven and Dude were the closest I've seen to it being clear they fully canoodled.

The shame with this restriction is that it hurts the realism of these stories. I have no interest in more gratuitous sex - we have that all the time now in TV shows / movies - but when it fits the story and the writer can't go there, it hurts the realism.

Skeezix and Snipe are another one where, IMO, she would have been his older-women education while enjoying his youthful stamina - it happens, it's real life, and it would have perfectly fit the story. Hu Shee and Terry spending all that time traveling alone was another example - the story suffered for it not happening.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Meanwhile, Grandpa and Aunt Pruny are out there on that hillside, reaching for the moon...

 

[Harp]

Thanks for the update Lizzie. In reading the newspaper coverage of adultery, murder, rape, and affairs
of the heart I am surprised at the amount of detail given, legal and lurid betwixt, which, were I seated on either
side of the case fence, I would find objectionable. Comparing this cover to comic, and considered with the mature
war correspondence and editorials featured, Caniff's reticence in certain respects was noticeable. I assumed he
had the riot act pep talk right at the get-go.

 

[Fading Fast]

Meanwhile, Grandpa and Aunt Pruny are out there on that hillside, reaching for the moon...

Stop, don't say anything further.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The most notable and obvious example of Patterson's editorial overreach, of course, is the sudden and clumsy excision of Mr. Nick Gatt from "Little Orphan Annie," an incident so painful to recall that it still resonates nearly a full year later.

NICK LIVES

Interesting side note: Harold Gray's strip was first called "Little Orphan Otto." Patterson took a look at the samples and said "Kid looks like a sissy. Put a dress on him and call him Annie." And so he did.

 

[Fading Fast]

The most notable and obvious example of Patterson's editorial overreach, of course, is the sudden and clumsy excision of Mr. Nick Gatt from "Little Orphan Annie," an incident so painful to recall that it still resonates nearly a full year later.

NICK LIVES.

Did someone mention Nick.


Nick is close to deal to join "Terry and the Pirates," which is as strip he'd do great in, they are just hung up on the terms. T&TPs has offered a big salary and signing bonus, but Nick is holding out for a percentage deal, which Caniff is afraid will lead to Pat, The DL and Even Raven then asking for a cut too.

Interesting side note: Harold Gray's strip was first called "Little Orphan Otto." Patterson took a look at the samples and said "Kid looks like a sissy. Put a dress on him and call him Annie." And so he did.

Not PC, but that is funny as heck.

 

[LizzieMaine]

President Roosevelt is preparing today to implement his proclamation last night of a state of unlimited national emergency by invoking new executive powers to enlarge the scope of the aid-to-Britain program and to mobilize industry and labor in the interests of National Defense. The President will further outline his program in a press conference at the White House this afternoon.

Last night's fireside chat led to an explosion of comment from members of Congress on both sides of the interventions-vs-isolation line. Senator John Connolly (D-Texas) called the speech "a ringing call to duty and service for all Americans," while Rep. Melvin Maas (R-Minnesota) flatly declared "this means war." Former Republican presidential nominee Alfred M. Landon called the President's program "the end of democratic government in the United States, at least for the time being," while Secretary of Commerce Jesse Jones stated that the statement of policy was "just what the people were waiting for."

World reaction to the speech finds Great Britain praising the President for "throwing down the gauntlet" to Hitler in the battle for freedom of the seas, while in Berlin, Nazi authorities insisted that they will maintain their blockade of ships bound for Britain, on the grounds that "Roosevelt's unilateral declaration of freedom of the seas is unacceptable."

Special orders have been drafted within the past 48 hours to make effective the complete mobilization of American industry and manpower required to carry out the policies spelled out by the President. Informed sources indicate that those orders may include a command to the Maritime Commission for the requisitioning by the government of American merchant ships as circumstances may require. All American-flag vessels would be liable to such requisitioning under the order, especially tankers. The President's emergency powers could also authorize the White House to require the fulfillment of orders for industrial goods by any manufacturing plant normally engaged in the production of such goods, and to commandeer any plant refusing such orders or failing to meet production quotas. The Government under the emergency proclamation may also be empowered to take over the operation of any broadcasting station, or to close down any broadcasting station, or to suspend any regulation applicable to the licensing of any broadcasting station, and may deploy the armed forces as needed to ensure the protection of means of communication.

Thousands of commuters on the Long Island Rail Road were delayed up to an hour this morning by the collapse of an old sewer that undermined the track bed on the westbound route near Autumn Avenue in Jamaica. Riders bound for Brooklyn complained that the railroad did not inform them of the tieup, which would have enabled them to continue on to Manhattan instead, and there take the subway into Brooklyn. Nor was there any announcement at Woodhaven Junction, where a train sat for twenty minutes before it could be switched to an eastbound track. Some trains were diverted to Pennsylvania Station, including the 5:40 from Massapequa, which arrived in Brooklyn 38 minutes late. Rail officials say the recent heavy rains were responsible for weakening the rail bed in the area where the sewer collapsed. New pipe is being installed today, and the work is expected to continue into the evening rush hour.

The Bomb Squad is seeking today to determine the origin of a stick of dynamite found on a stairway of the 168th Street IRT station in Jamaica. The explosive, wrapped in brown paper, was found by a clerk employed by the IND subway, and lacked a cap or a fuse. Police say the package was "slightly damp."

The German High Command said today that one of Germany's most famous naval commanders, Admiral Guenther Leutjens, went down with the Bismarck, along with Captain Ernst Lindemann and most of the 1400 officers and crewmen on board the brand-new battleship, sunk by British forces yesterday in retaliation for the destruction of the HMS Hood.

A labor jurisdictionary dispute pitting the Teamsters and the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees on one side against Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians on the other has been resolved after preventing last night's performance of "Charley's Aunt" at the Flatbush Theatre. At issue was the responsibility for loading musical instruments and equipment into the theatre for the performance, with the both the Teamsters and the AFM claiming jurisdiction, and the Teamsters further challenging the theatre's use of non-union labor to move the show's sets from the Windsor Theatre in the Bronx. The Teamsters threw up a picket line after initial discussions failed to produce an agreement, with the IATSE workers refusing to cross, but discussions last night reached a settlement this morning.

(Mr. Pollock had his review all written before he even left for the theatre, and he is really really sore at being caught out.)

The best year since 1929 looms for Coney Island, as Brooklyn's prime pleasure spot prepares to open its gates for the summer season on Memorial Day. A fresh new carpet of white sand laid by crews under the employ of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses awaits bathers, and the district's amusement parks are freshly painted, brightly lit, and replete with new attractions, including a number imported from the World's Fair. The famous World's Fair Parachute Jump now looms over Steeplechase Park, and Luna Park, now styling itself "The New York World's Fair of 1941," has imported from Flushing several shows and rides that proved popular in the Fair's Amusement Zone last year. Luna will also offer a nightly program of "live musical comedies" thru the summer season.

(Yeah, who knows where we'll be in six months.)

(At it again, are we?)

(Mr. Etten looks around and sees Mr. Nugent selling off all the Phils' quality players just to make payroll, and wonders "why not me?" And down at the bottom of the page, this is the first mention we've seen of Lou Gehrig in quite a while, and generally when you don't hear about someone in his situation for a long time it's not a good sign.)

"Fibber McGee and Molly" land atop the latest Crossley chart of radio program audience ratings, according to figures just released, comfortably ahead of such rivals as Bob Hope, Charlie McCarthy, and Jack Benny. The McGees -- in reality Jim and Marion Jordan from Peoria, Il. -- are in Hollywood this week working on "Look Who's Talking" for RKO, in which they will appear alongside Mr. McCarthy and his stooge Edgar Bergen.

(Cousins? This is Boody Rogers we're talking about. They'll turn out to be brother and sister.)

(Careful, George -- you want a subpoena from the Dies Committee?)

(Wait, what???)

(Yeah, it's no fun to rhumba alone.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Restaurantitis?" Maybe this explains that guy the other day who went back to hassle the waiter.

I just don't think I could live on a farm.

Almost a full year later and we still don't know any more about who was responsible for that bomb than we did then.

Look, Doc, why don't we just get on with it, OK?

I have worked with people this literal, and it's really exhausting.

THINK ABOUT IT KID

Just the first glimpse of panel one caused me to laugh out loud.

Pretty sharp suit for a country yokel -- I didn't know they went in for high armholes.

Hey Chigs, don't lose hope. At least Emmy goes for the bald guys.

Poor Lem. Gets so little joy in his life.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(At it again, are we?)...

Lichty is clearly cranky as he usually gives, at least, the young guys, like a bridegroom, a full head of hair, but not today.

... (Mr. Etten looks around and sees Mr. Nugent selling off all the Phils' quality players just to make payroll, and wonders "why not me?" And down at the bottom of the page, this is the first mention we've seen of Lou Gehrig in quite a while, and generally when you don't hear about someone in his situation for a long time it's not a good sign.)...

It's been interesting to see how baseball is covering and adapting to night games in real time.

...
(Wait, what???)...

Seriously, what the h*ll does that mean?

From qa-mor1.htm

Q From Mike Reilly: Anything interesting in the origin of There’s more than one way to skin a cat?

A To a lexicographer, all phrases are interesting, it’s just that some of them are more interesting than others ...

There are many versions of this proverb, which suggests there are always several ways to do something. Charles Kingsley used one old British form in Westward Ho! in 1855: “there are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream”. Other versions include “there are more ways of killing a cat than by choking it with butter”, and “there are more ways of killing a dog than choking him with pudding”. The earliest version appears as far back as 1678, in the second edition of John Ray’s collection of English proverbs, in which he gives it as “there are more ways to kill a dog than hanging”.
​

Okay then.

View attachment 337844 ... "Restaurantitis?" Maybe this explains that guy the other day who went back to hassle the waiter.....

Good connect Lizzie. Heck, I completely misinterpreted that headline and was initially shocked by it, even on Page Four.

I have worked with people this literal, and it's really exhausting....

Yes it is. I believe it was a day or two ago when we noted how Caniff's women are often clearly smarter than many of the men. But what I like is that Caniff is balanced, everyone gets knocked around a bit, sometimes the man outsmarts the woman and vice versa, as in real life.

Today's virtue-signaling writers limn two-dimensional women who are always smarter than the dumb, or mean, or sexist men. It's so obviously forced and stupid. Caniff's women are also physically strong and capable, but they rarely beat up men as today's writers love doing, which of course can happen, but is rare.

I've known women in my life like Caniff's women (my grandmother* being one, my girlfriend another), but I don't know the "super" women today's writers create.


* Like Burma, my grandmother had no patience for stupid people. Sick or on hard times - she was quite kind (plenty of evidence of that), but just stupid, she had no tolerance for that at all.

..
THINK ABOUT IT KID....

There are so many old saws for this on Wall St. such as "they are only paper profits till you sell."

... Pretty sharp suit for a country yokel -- I didn't know they went in for high armholes....

IRL, he'd be in incredible pain from the burns he suffered.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Great Britain today placed before the world for the first time a formal statement of its war aims, calling for the establishment everywhere of a peace based upon President Roosevelt's Four Freedoms -- freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear and freedom from want. The statement released by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden also called for the establishment of "political and military terms" intended to prevent Germany from ever again challenging world peace or becoming "the worst master the world has ever known," and for the establishment of "worldwide social security" thru coordinated efforts of Britain, the Dominions, the United States, and South America to "stabilize currencies, feed starving peoples, and avert fluctuations of employment, prices, and markets." The statement of principles also called for the extension of a "new moral order" to the Far East once the Sino-Japanese War "has been liquidated," and British support for the independence of Syria and the formation of a "unified Arab world."

Evidence of a hopeful attitude on the part of the Roosevelt Administration that Japanese political ties with the Axis can be severed was suggested today in remarks from reliable Administration sources. It was stated by a participant in conferences leading up to the President's Tuesday night fireside chat that the President believes that "Japan's business leaders" will not long continue to cooperate with the present "military clique" ruling that nation, and that he anticipates that this clique will ultimately be overthrown.

Prizefighter Max Schmeling, former heavyweight champion considered the greatest of all German boxers, was reported killed today while trying to escape after being captured by New Zealand troops fighting on Crete. According to reliable New Zealand sources, Schmeling landed on Crete with the first wave of Nazi parachute troops, was wounded, and was taken prisoner. It is reported that he 'became truculent and threatening' while being taken to a prison camp, seized a rifle from one of his captors, and was shot to death in the ensuing escape attempt. While there has as yet been no official confirmation of the boxer's death, it is stated by New Zealand sources that his body was "positively identified." Schmeling is well-known in America for his 1936 defeat of Joe Louis, and for his subsequent decisive defeat by Louis in a 1938 rematch. Schmeling, who was married to German film star Anny Ondra, volunteered for duty in the Nazi parachute forces in 1939, and had recently been promoted to the rank of corporal.

Hundreds of German parachutists landing in Crete have been slaughtered by fierce bayonet-wielding Maori warriors serving with the New Zealand forces helping to defend the island from the Nazi invasion. The Maori soldiers, from an Aboriginal tribe "with a history of cannibalism," roared with laughter as they set upon the parachutists attempting to land at Malemi Airport.

A Sheepshead Bay family is suing the Brooklyn Bus Company for damages totaling $161,500 resulting from a bus accident in 1938 in which all five members of the family were injured. Parents Arthur and Rose Brook of 2179 E. 29th Street, and their three children David, Joseph, and Sondra all appeared today in Brooklyn Supreme Court before Justice Edwin L. Garvin to argue their case. According to their testimony, Rose Brooks and the three children were in a car struck by a bus on Oriental Boulevard in Manhattan Beach on July 2, 1938, after the bus driver swerved into their path while he was having an "altercation" with a woman passenger annoyed that he had missed her stop. The company maintains that the accident occurred because Mrs. Brook had "failed to maintain control of her car."

A Flatbush lawyer who sued the Dodgers for giving him a poor seat has lost his case in Brooklyn Supreme Court. Attorney Milton Sparagas of 480 E. 21st Street had filed suit against the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club, Inc. for $20,000 damages after he failed to receive "a good seat" for an Ebbets Field doubleheader against the New York Giants on July 8, 1939. Mr. Sparagas charged that he was told that his seat was "a good one" when he bought the ticket, but was instead "shunted off" to a seat with a poor view of the diamond. Mr. Sparagas further charged that when he complained, he was beaten up by Ebbets Field special officers and thrown in jail for three hours on a disorderly conduct charge. Attorney Arthur Derby, representing the Dodgers, argued that Mr. Sparagas was "noisy and boisterous" and had to be restrained from throwing the first punch in the struggle with the specials.

Actress Judy Garland, not yet 19, will marry the ex-husband of screen comedienne Martha Raye next fall. The wedding of the MGM star and Hollywood composer David Rose is expected to take place in October. Rose, age 30, and Miss Raye received their final divorce decree two weeks ago. Miss Garland told reporters she wants "a home wedding," and that she intends to marry "only once."

(It's never too soon to start the "national defense tie-in" ads.)

("A conga line a mile long." They'll never get Shaw to play here.)

(Yeah, but Jean Arthur says "is this the best they can give me?")

Reader Wm. H. Saul writes in to critique Charles Lindbergh's recent remarks at the America First rally at the Garden, dismissing them as "Nazi purring," meant to lull the listener into a false sense of security. He finds Lindbergh's views replete with "Fourth of July oratory and flag-waving" intended to blind Americans to the Nazi threat, and found the rest of his speech filled with Nazi arguments concerning the Treaty of Versailles, "a treaty more generous to Germany than the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Germany forced upon the Russians before Versailles was ever heard of." He further denounces as "Nazi-inspired deviltry" the claim that last year's election was a referendum between "war and peace," and notes that even Lindbergh was forced to admit the German people themselves have no say in the policy of their government.

(Well, it is. Look, there's his teeth right there, floating in the glass.)

(Bill Terry will earn his plaque in Cooperstown not for his playing and not for his managing -- but for his trolling.)

(Boy, Sparky's a real catch, isn't he gals?)

(I'm with Jo on this. You can tell a quality building by the number of feral cats roaming the halls.)

(If we're about to see Mary go all Carry Nation on this town, I can't wait.)

(That cat sure gets around.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Phone girl in a jukebox recording company" is a job description you just don't find anymore, but it had a flare of popularity in the early forties, when "wired jukeboxes" became a small fad. These were basically coin operated remote speakers tied in by direct wire to a central studio where women with sultry voices sat with turntables and stacks of records, playing requests for listeners who submitted their requests after dropping a nickel in the slot.

In 1941 Theodor Geisel of Springfield, Massachussets already has several successful children's books under his belt, and he's just beginning his career as an editorial cartoonist at PM. But his bread and butter still comes from Esso, for whom he has long drawn, and will continue to draw, a long series of advertisements for the company's popular bug spray. All will have the same tag line, but we never see exactly who "Henry" is. And the good Doctor isn't saying.

"Geronimo?"

All in a day's work...

"That old fire?" Try a better choice words, huh?


"And then there was the time he sat on the stove, but that healed up. And the time he got kicked in the face by a horse, but that went away and you can hardly see the gruesome scar under that moustache he wears."

And the wonder is, this scam is still going around.

Mr. King is having way too much fun with this.

Annnnnnnnd away we go!

Margaret Hamilton is lobbying hard to play Emmy in the "Moon Mullins" movie.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Actress Judy Garland, not yet 19, will marry the ex-husband of screen comedienne Martha Raye next fall. The wedding of the MGM star and Hollywood composer David Rose is expected to take place in October. Rose, age 30, and Miss Raye received their final divorce decree two weeks ago. Miss Garland told reporters she wants "a home wedding," and that she intends to marry "only once."...

Kudus to Judy as, if you don't count her four subsequent marriages, she did marry only once.

...
(Yeah, but Jean Arthur says "is this the best they can give me?")...

The "Kitty Foyle" tie-in is so forced and cheesy.

... (Bill Terry will earn his plaque in Cooperstown not for his playing and not for his managing -- but for his trolling.)...

I know I had read it at some point, but had completely forgotten that Schmeling had been falsely reported as killed in action. It's odd to read it here knowing he wasn't.

... (That cat sure gets around.)

Isn't it about time we got an update on truck-driver-now-cab-driver Dan?

...
"Phone girl in a jukebox recording company" is a job description you just don't find anymore, but it had a flare of popularity in the early forties, when "wired jukeboxes" became a small fad. These were basically coin operated remote speakers tied in by direct wire to a central studio where women with sultry voices sat with turntables and stacks of records, playing requests for listeners who submitted their requests after dropping a nickel in the slot.....

The icepick stabbing in court seems like it should have happened in a movie.

By "central studio" do you mean a studio that served multiple establishments? If so, the expense in running all those dedicated lines had to be huge.

......
"Geronimo?"....

"....the woeful moans of the Bronx she-banshees..." Well then.

...[ All in a day's work.......

A girl in German captivity in occupied China in 1941's gotta do what a girl in German captivity in occupied China in 1941's gotta do.

@Harp, I believe what happened here is pretty clear with the cigarette in the last panel as the conclusive coda.

... Mr. King is having way too much fun with this.....

This one looks better. Snipe is a hoot.

...
Annnnnnnnd away we go!....

Ooooh yeah. Based on '41 norms, Veronica looks like she knows how to play the game.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, the wired jukeboxes ran on the same basis as Muzak's subscription background music service, with subscribers connected by wire to a central distribution point fed by a studio. The only difference is that Muzak didn't feature announced programming and the talking-jukeboxes did. The service was operated under various names including "Mystic Music," "Your Choice By Voice," "Multiphone," "Phonette," and "Telo-Tone," and was popular in several major cities starting around 1940. The overhead, as you suggest, was not low, but the gimmick of being able to call in your request from your restaurant table set it apart from the usual nickel-in-the-slot record machines.

These services faded out after the war, but Muzak kept going using wire lines into the 1960s, when it switched to using FM subcarrier broadcasts and still later to satellite delivery.

 

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Brooklyn police are patrolling waterfront defense installations on this Memorial Day after receiving a "confidential warning" from the Federal Bureau of Investigation warning of possible "acts of violence" today against plants engaged in defense work. Factories in Long Island and Manhattan are also under heavy guard, but the strongest police presence is in Brooklyn given the large number of such plants in the borough. At Fort Dix, New Jersey, all leaves were cancelled for the day on direct orders from Washington.

Some 20,000 men and women marched today in Brooklyn's Memorial Day parade, including aged veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic who fought to preserve the Union and the sons of World War veterans marching alongside their elders. Grand Marshal for the parade was 98-year-old Robert G. Summers, sole surviving member of the Ulysses Grant Post of the G. A. R, who led the marchers down Eastern Parkway past a reviewing stand full of dignitaries, and thru the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch to the northern end of Grand Army Plaza. Borough President John Cashmore, himself a World War veteran and member of American Legion Brooklyn Post No. 500, headed the guard of honor.

A suave, well-financed German diplomat described as "the No. 1 Nazi agent in America" is being held today without bail at Ellis Island pending deportation proceedings. Dr. Kurt Heinrich Reith was arrested by Federal agents at his luxurious $600-a-day suite at the Waldorf-Astoria on charges of being in the United States illegally and under false pretenses after visiting every South American Country. Dr. Reith told the agents that his "business here is private," but the Department of Justice called that a lie, noting that its records show that he has been an active German political operative for more than twenty years, and expressed the belief that his presence here is in line with that of other German "political and economic tourists" who have established themselves in European nations prior to a Nazi attack.

The Office of Production Management today indicated that steps have been drawn up intended to curtail the civilian use of gasoline in view of anticipated shortages along the Atlantic Seaboard created by the lack of available transportation facilities due to National Defense. A Federal appeal will urge civilian motorists to forego pleasure driving, to use trains, buses, trolleys or subways to go to work, and to avoid the use of any gasoline at all on Sundays. Toward the latter goal, the OPM may order all gasoline stations to close on Sundays. The office is also considering the possibility of formal rationing of gasoline and fuel oil in the affected area, but at this time such a step is considered "unlikely."

Three contracting companies conducted by Vito Picone, who until his indictment was one of the leading figures in the paving racket under investigation by Assistant Attorney General John H. Amen, have been declared insolvent. Kings County Republican leader John H. Crews was appointed receiver of the three firms, and George A. Arkwright, president of the Brooklyn Bar Association was appointed referee of claims.

Lance Corporal Max Schmeling is ill, not dead, according to an announcement from Berlin. The former heavyweight champion had been reported killed in an escape attempt after being taken prisoner by New Zealand troops fighting on Crete, but Nazi sources say those reports are false. German authorities report that Schmeling "has contracted a slight case of tropical fever," and has been taken to a Luftwaffe base hospital for treatment.

The mother of the 17-year-old girl who killed herself on Easter Sunday because she couldn't afford a new outfit for the holiday has been released from custody. 44-year-old Mary Guigiliano of Ozone Park was found guilty yesterday of violating the Sullivan Law by owning the pistol with which her daughter Concetta shot herself, but sentence was suspended, with the judge in Special Sessions Court in Queens declaring that she has "suffered enough."

(Will those lime-green, magenta, puce, and cerulean bands from last year be back again? NICE HAT.)

(Jo Ranson, who is also the Eagle's radio editor, is at this moment in 1941 about to publish a delightful book about the history of Coney Island. It'll be released by Doubleday under the title "Sodom By The Sea," and I can't recommend it highly enough. An absolute pleasure from start to finish.)

(Kids Today. They're so CYNICAL.)

A 24-year-old artist from Astoria was indicted today for violation of the Selective Service Act because he tore up his draft card and sent the fragments to the Secretary of War. Lowell Leonard Naeve of 810 28th Avenue explained in an accompanying letter to Secretary Henry L. Stimson that he would "help no nation's war effort," and that he was ashamed that he had ever registered.

(Joe and Sally have taken the A Train all the way uptown for today's doubleheader, and Sally is not happy. "T'em bums onna subway. Sittin' like brass stachoos! While I gotta stan' up! Me, almos' six mont's gone, an' I should stan' up while'y set onneir hineys readin' t' Mirra? BUMS!" As they pick their way down the John T. Brush Stairway toward the ballpark gates, step after interminable step, Sally continues, "Where'd Solly say t'ese seats is?" And Joe, in a barely preceptible mumble, mumbles "uppa deck." "Ya mean we gotta go down all'ese steps -- an'nen go *up* MOAH steps? I hate t'is place! I hate t'Giants! I hate Bill Terry an' I hate 'at Horris Stoneham! AN' I HATE BEIN' PREGNANT!" Joe blushes fiercely as all heads turn in his direction. )

A mysterious amateur critic is bedeviling radio personalities with postcards chiding them for minor lapses of grammar, mispronunciations of names, and other trifling on-air errors. The critic invariably sends his -- or her -- critiques on postcards bearing a bold rubber-stamp signature reading "BE VERY CAREFUL -- BILDAD IS LISTENING." No one along Radio Row has any idea who Bildad is, but the postcards have become so frequent as to become a genuine annoyance. Among those receiving them is news commentator Raymond Gram Swing, who was reprimanded for "using the redundancy 'every once in a while.'"

(I hope Bildad lives long enough to experience the Internet.)

(Doc will now be played by Lionel Atwill.)

(Tuthill's art has often been described as 'ungainly,' which is deliberate, I'm sure -- because when he wants to he can show a real sense of composition. The silhouettes here are beautifully and skillfully done.)

("Stop by the hardware store, will you Bill? I want to pick up a hatchet.")

(SHUT UP IRWIN, JUST SHUT UP)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

From the day it was dedicated down to 1941, and onward to our present day, "Civic Virtue" has been excoriated as one of the ugliest and most offensive bits of public art ever foisted on an unwilling world. I'm not sure what that says about Queens Borough President George U. Harvey, but given some of the recent news surrounding him, I have my theories.

The thing that bugs me most about Mr. Allcaps is not that he never has anything new to say, but that he's so insistent about saying it. The interventionist side, to be honest, doesn't really have anything new to say either, but at least they don't come across like a guy about to get thrown out of a bar.

I'm shocked that nobody says cheese, which as every right-thinking person knows, is nature's most perfect food.

Well then, it sure is a good thing he's not just Random J. Guy, isn't it?

"Kraft durch Freude," eh Fritz?

"What are you driving at, Dick? And get your hand off my shoulder unless you mean it."

Is Tilda being sick the seed of a new storyline? Or is she just sick of you two?

I dunno. Why not try an upsweep next?

It's Kayo's deadpan that always sells his trolling.

There's no fool like an old fool.

 

[Fading Fast]

...A suave, well-financed German diplomat described as "the No. 1 Nazi agent in America" is being held today without bail at Ellis Island pending deportation proceedings. Dr. Kurt Heinrich Reith was arrested by Federal agents at his luxurious $600-a-day suite at the Waldorf-Astoria on charges of being in the United States illegally and under false pretenses after visiting every South American Country. Dr. Reith told the agents that his "business here is private," but the Department of Justice called that a lie, noting that its records show that he has been an active German political operative for more than twenty years, and expressed the belief that his presence here is in line with that of other German "political and economic tourists" who have established themselves in European nations prior to a Nazi attack....

Just noting, $600/day is about $18,000/month in 1941 for that suite or about $325,000 in 2021 dollars. Somebody in Germany had to approve that expense (and pray it never hit Hitler's desk or we'll have to bring out the clip of his rant from "Downfall" to show his "mood" when he was asked to approve that one).

...Three contracting companies conducted by Vito Picone, who until his indictment was one of the leading figures in the paving racket under investigation by Assistant Attorney General John H. Amen, have been declared insolvent. Kings County Republican leader John H. Crews was appointed receiver of the three firms, and George A. Arkwright, president of the Brooklyn Bar Association was appointed referee of claims...

Gee, I wonder where the money from those companies went?

... View attachment 338293 (Joe and Sally have taken the A Train all the way uptown for today's doubleheader, and Sally is not happy. "T'em bums onna subway. Sittin' like brass stachoos! While I gotta stan' up! Me, almos' six mont's gone, an' I should stan' up while'y set onneir hineys readin' t' Mirra? BUMS!" As they pick their way down the John T. Brush Stairway toward the ballpark gates, step after interminable step, Sally continues, "Where'd Solly say t'ese seats is?" And Joe, in a barely preceptible mumble, mumbles "uppa deck." "Ya mean we gotta go down all'ese steps -- an'nen go *up* MOAH steps? I hate t'is place! I hate t'Giants! I hate Bill Terry an' I hate 'at Horris Stoneham! AN' I HATE BEIN' PREGNANT!" Joe blushes fiercely as all heads turn in his direction. )...

As a regular NYC subway rider for over three decades now, I know that anything is possible in any given car on any given day, but I can't remember a time someone (often several people) didn't offer up his/her seat to an obviously pregnant woman or an obviously old and frail man or woman. It's one of the nice things that has held up. But again, that's just my anecdotal observation. Has what happened to Sally ever happened, I bet it has and well more than once.

...
("Stop by the hardware store, will you Bill? I want to pick up a hatchet.")...

Mary can pull the look off.

... From the day it was dedicated down to 1941, and onward to our present day, "Civic Virtue" has been excoriated as one of the ugliest and most offensive bits of public art ever foisted on an unwilling world. I'm not sure what that says about Queens Borough President George U. Harvey, but given some of the recent news surrounding him, I have my theories.....

A good lawyer should have no trouble getting Jack and David and Babe and Millie off. Although, Babe will be the hardest as he did have the evidence on him, but, what a shame, the cops missed him.

...
The thing that bugs me most about Mr. Allcaps is not that he never has anything new to say, but that he's so insistent about saying it. The interventionist side, to be honest, doesn't really have anything new to say either, but at least they don't come across like a guy about to get thrown out of a bar....

If you have to argue the same issue every day, you basically have to find a way to say the same thing slightly differently every day. It's a talent and exhausting, but the kids need braces.

...
I'm shocked that nobody says cheese, which as every right-thinking person knows, is nature's most perfect food.....

The country hadn't yet truly discovered pizza as it would after the war, as that is the obvious answer. Kidding aside, I'd be tempted to say peanut butter or Rita Hayworth.

...
Well then, it sure is a good thing he's not just Random J. Guy, isn't it?....

If you need any spare parts, take 'em from La Plata.

... "Kraft durch Freude," eh Fritz?....

Good one Lizzie.

Where's @Harp when, for two days in a row, Caniff is being the most explicit he's ever been, "...the woman has demonstrated to me [twice*] the technique she will use on Wolff...and there is little doubt of eventual success."

*German superman and all.

... There's no fool like an old fool.

"Veronica Vale -" great comic strip name.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm still seething about the time nearly twenty years ago where I -- after major surgery and carrying a rubber invalid ring -- had to stand on the Montreal metro while a bunch of sullen college boys sat there plugged into ipods and staring vacantly into space. But admittedly, I have had no such experience on the New York subway. On the Boston subway, yes -- when I was even carrying a cane -- but not NY.

(But on the other hand, this car is full of Giant fans, and you can't expect much from them.)

Incidentally, the John T. Brush Stairway still exists, decending from Edgecomb Avenue down into Coogan's Hollow, and is the last remaining fragment of the Polo Grounds.

It had fallen into deep disrepair but was restored a few years back by contributions from the Giants, the Yankees, and the Mets, all of whom at one time or another called the Polo Grounds home.