The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

...Fred Fitzsimmons has accomplished much during his sixteen-year major league career, but yesterday marked a first for the portly pitcher -- he was drafted to serve as an umpire during yesterday's game between the Dodgers and the Boston Braves when the team of arbiters assigned to work the contest were late in arriving at Braves Field. Fitz and coach Johnny Cooney of the Braves were unanimously voted by the two teams to umpire the contest until the real umps arrived....

"Portly."

...
(Huh. Good part for Joan Leslie.)...

A quiet evening at home with Jane is looking pretty good right about now.

...
(I bet Her Majesty still has that car.)...

And soon enough, there will be charging stations for it everywhere.

...
(I keep thinking "Openweider" must be some kind of a gag name, but I can't figure out what the gag would be, and that's really irritating me. But seeing Irwin TIED TO A CHAIR is, at least, a distraction.)...

Meanwhile, Dan Dunn, the star of our strip has regained his memory, but decided to remain an obscure taxicab driver thinking: "This life is pretty good, no Irwin, no BS and no boss once I save up enough to buy my own hack. I hope things are going well for Kay; I'm sure she'll meet someone nice. Tralalalala."

...
It's in all the management guides -- the best way to back up your authority in the workplace is to show up with an assassin and a giant mystical wizard. Works every time.....

Or said less colorfully than Lizzie, this is not how that works, this is not how any of that works. One only takes over that way in 1930s mob movies from Warner Bros.

...
"Yeah," says Burma. "But still -- who's gonna warm my feet?"....

Well, good job Burma, now you can't have sex.

 

[Harp]

^^^Burma's maternal instinct came through splendidly. A wonderful instance of heroic selflessness.

Back at the ranch of course, its still a chaste brother-sister act incestuously strict according to editorial censure.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Eighteen foreign agents believed to be part of the greatest spy ring ever uncovered in this country will be arraigned today in Brooklyn Federal Court, following their arrest in a weekend sweep by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The spy ring, based in Brooklyn, and acting on behalf of a foreign power believed to be Germany, is reported to have been led by Frederick Joubert Duquense, 64-year-old man of mystery once charged with murder in connection with an espionage case during the World War. Another of the suspects, engineer Everett Minster Roede, is an employee of the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation, and worked on the top-secret bombsight recently turned over to the British. A third suspect, Alex Wheeler-Hill, is reported to be the brother of a top aide to imprisoned German-American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn.

In addition to the eighteen suspects arrested in Brooklyn, another eleven were taken into custody by Federal agents around the United States in connection with the ring's operations, including three women.

Duquense is stated by the FBI to have been involved in international intrigue for forty years, dating back to the Boer War, and was arrested in 1919 on a murder and insurance fraud charge connected to the sinking of the British ship Tennyson. He escaped from jail after that arrest, and the charges were subsequently dropped. Born in South Africa, Duquense is a naturalized American citizen, described as "a writer, lecturer, and professional spy."

Russian armed forces appeared today to have slowed down the whirlwind Panzer blitzkrieg, but German reports stated that Nazi forces have captured Lwow, about 100 miles west of the former Russo-Polish frontier, and a key position on the road to the Ukraine. German forces have also opened a new front on the 600-mile border between Russia and Finland. There appears, however, to be no clear description of the situation around Minsk, where Soviet and German forces remain engaged in fierce combat.

Famed Polish pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski died last night in his Manhattan apartment, exiled from his homeland and his music by the war. Padrewski, who was 80, has not performed in public since the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and instead devoted all his time and energy to patriotic activities on behalf of Polish war relief.

Brooklyn College president Dr. Harry Gideonse today announced the suspension of all chapters of the American Student Union, banning the organization from the campus for the second time in a year as the culmination of a series of "incidents" pitting ASU members against College authorities. The protest last week during commencement ceremonies over his refusal to grant a diploma to Miss Roslyn Cohen due to the content of her testimony before the Rapp-Coudert Committee was seen as the final straw. Dr. Gideonse's action suspending the ASU followed a recommendation from a faculty committee charging that the organization's charges against the administration contained "misstatements and misinformation." Dr. Gideonse noted that this suspension will be for "an indefinite period," and that therefore all ASU activities planned for the summer will be barred from College facilities.

"Utilizing their feminine powers of persuasion and resourcefulness," two quick-thinking young women last night talked a suicidal young Bay Ridge man out of jumping from the roof of a three-story house. Twenty-year-old Frank Burgio, a boarder at 759 40th Street, became despondent last night over his unemployment situation, and climbed to the roof of the house intending to leap to his death -- but a fellow boarder, 23-year old Millie Polina, chased him up the stairs, grabbed and tore his shirt, and when he reached the roof, she screamed to alert the other boarders, and sent a boy to fetch her friend, 29-year-old Connie Di Olsa, who lives at 771 40th Street. Together, Miss Polina and Miss Di Olsa urged the man not to jump, arguing that the shock of seeing him die would be "too much" for Miss Di Olsa's "weak heart." Burgio agreed not to jump as long as they were watching, and urged them to go away --but while they continued to watch, police and an ambulance crew arrived to bring the man down and take him to Kings County Hospital for observation.

("Dolores Costello!" sneers Elaine Barrie. "He's talking about Dolores Costello!")

Hank Greenberg was killed today in military maneuvers outside Camp Forrest, Tennessee -- but only for practice. The Detroit Tigers slugger, now a private in the 2nd Infantry of the 5th Division, was ranked a casualty in war games between the Red and the Blue Forces.

A five-year-old Scotch terrier went on a rampage at LaGuardia Field yesterday, after escaping from the baggage compartment of a flight bound for Charlotte, North Carolina while his owner relaxed before departure in the airport coffee shop. The pup, named "Scotty," belongs to Mrs. Julian Busby of Kannapolis, N. C., and sent police and airport security staff on a wild chase as he dashed across the field, among the planes, and, evading pursuit by a police radio car and a tractor, out into Flushing Bay, where he began swimming, presumably, back to Scotland. Two children in a rowboat overtook Scotty and fished him, wriggling and barking, out of the water for the trip back to shore. He was reunited with his owner, who by this time had missed her flight. Mrs. Busby carefully supervised Scotty's loading into a second plane, and they departed for home without further incident.

(Mrs. Busby wasn't really having coffee, she just couldn't tear herself away from the coin-operated foot vibrator.)

(Seldom do you see a political cartoon that sums up a situation so well.)

(I don't know a lot about knitting, but I'm pretty sure that's not how you knit a sock.)

(The Brooklyn Angle: Wee Willie Keeler was a local star in the days of "Hanlon's Superbas" around the turn of the century, and how dare this Yankee try to break his record, even if Willie was playing for Baltimore when he achieved it. Oh, and "The Stork Club Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association?" Looks like Mr. Holmes won't be sending Winchell a Christmas card this year.)

The Bushwicks and the Newark Eagles got in only a single game at Dexter Park yesterday due to rain, but that was enough for the Woodhaven club to come out on top by a score of 4-3. It was the Bushwicks' 11th win in their last 12 games, and their first win over the Eagles this season.

Harold Parrott fumes over the likely makeup of the National League All Star team, with manager Bill McKechnie of the Reds expected to snub Dolph Camilli as starting first baseman in favor of Johnny Mize of the Cardinals. Camilli is having a fine year at the plate -- and has only missed one game all season -- but Mize is hitting .350 and you can maybe make a case for him. But how can you not have Pete Reiser, burning up the batting race with an average well ahead of Mize, as a starting outfielder? McKechnie has every reason to choose the Pistol, but Deacon Bill does tend to prefer veterans over youngsters.

(All-Star teams in 1941 are chosen by the managers, not by a fan vote.)

("Hedy? Hedy who?")

(Tomorrow: Jo's head explodes.)

(Yeah, Bill, wait'll you see the bellboy suit.)

("A tip? Weisberg got a whole new cab! And a liquor store to boot!")

 

[Harp]

Later in the war a German sub landed eight Nazi agents off the North Carolina coast.
These men were soon apprehended and sent to the electric chair pronto.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News.

A cat would never put up with this. A cat would insist on a seat in the cabin.

Bring a bib.

Sure he's a lunatic. But he's OUR lunatic!

"OH NO," says Burma. "NOT AGAIN!"

If only Ellery Queen was here to sort it all out.

"Ya wanna get THE RUG?"

"Really, Andy? I mean, it wasn't *THAT* good..."

Oh, Skeez, you naive boy.

There's no fool like an old fool.

Unless it's an old aristocrat.

 

[Harp]

The enemy's area of operations is populated by local guerillas who farm rice paddies by day
and conduct wolf patrols at night, guys not so easily removed. And Terry and Burma are driving around in a convertible.
Rag toppers get noticed in this neighborhood.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

("Dolores Costello!" sneers Elaine Barrie. "He's talking about Dolores Costello!")...

You gotta love, after the lurid reporting of the article, the newspaper-style just-the-facts ending: "Barrymore missed the wedding."

...A five-year-old Scotch terrier went on a rampage at LaGuardia Field yesterday, after escaping from the baggage compartment of a flight bound for Charlotte, North Carolina while his owner relaxed before departure in the airport coffee shop. The pup, named "Scotty," belongs to Mrs. Julian Busby of Kannapolis, N. C., and sent police and airport security staff on a wild chase as he dashed across the field, among the planes, and, evading pursuit by a police radio car and a tractor, out into Flushing Bay, where he began swimming, presumably, back to Scotland. Two children in a rowboat overtook Scotty and fished him, wriggling and barking, out of the water for the trip back to shore. He was reunited with his owner, who by this time had missed her flight. Mrs. Busby carefully supervised Scotty's loading into a second plane, and they departed for home without further incident....

Best recent dog story we've seen.

"...where he began swimming, presumably, back to Scotland."

... (Tomorrow: Jo's head explodes.)...

No kidding. Jo needs to run off and join the circus. Maybe she'd even reunite with Tootsie, but she's got to get out of here.

...
("A tip? Weisberg got a whole new cab! And a liquor store to boot!")

Marsh, effectively, gave himself a day off.

... "Really, Andy? I mean, it wasn't *THAT* good..."...

Behold the ego's recuperative powers.

... Oh, Skeez, you naive boy.....

Snipe can take care of herself.

 

[LizzieMaine]

German blitzkrieg forces swept forward today in the Baltic States and apparently breached the main Russian defense system in the area of Minsk. A report from a Columbia Broadcasting System correspondent in Stockholm stated that German troops have taken control of the Latvian capital of Riga, and reports from Minsk are contradictory -- but it is believed that Nazi armored forces have broken thru the Stalin Line and are fanning out northeasterly toward Moscow, and southeasterly in the direction of the Ukraine. The German line is now about 410 miles from the Soviet capital, having penetrated approximately 250 miles from its starting position at Brest-Livstok.

It is reported that about 25,000 Soviet naval troops are "encircled" at their base at Hango in southwestern Finland, with "no hope of escape."

The Vichy Government has authorized French "volunteers" to join with Germany in the war against "Communist Russia," with one of the volunteer units to be headed by Eugene Deloncle, formerly associated with the Cagoulards, pre-war Fascist-terrorist organization known as "the hooded men," an organization which benefited from the financial backing of leading French industrialists now aligned with Vichy.

Germany, Italy, Rumania, Slovakia, and Croatia have formally recognized the Nanking government of occupied China, a move seen as tightening links among members of the Axis. A communique issued by the Government Information Board in Tokyo stated that "recognition will be a telling blow to those who, not having realized the great ideal of the establishment of an East Asian New Order, continue the folly of resistance to Japan."

A long parade of witnesses who will testify before a Federal grand jury in the case of a massive spy ring uncovered this week by the FBI is being marshaled by U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District Harold Kennedy. It is expected that at least some of the seven defendants who have already pleaded guilty to espionage charges will testify against other members of the vast Brooklyn-centered spy operation.

An agreement by management at the Sperry Gyroscope Company to raise wages from 5 to 15 percent depending upon employee classification has averted a strike at the Brooklyn manufacturer of precision instruments, and allows production of crucial military bombsights and other devices to continue without delays. Some 4000 union members in a stormy session last night agreed to accept the offer, after being warned by Scientific Instrument Workers of America president Frank Dyer that "if you walk out, Washington will walk in."

A 57-year-old blind ex-convict faces murder charges after stabbing a woman who may or may not have been his wife to death in an Akron, Ohio hotel room last week. George Youns was arrested as he stepped off a Greyhound Bus at the line's Manhattan terminal early today, and admitted slaying 22-year-old Patricia F. Patrick last Sunday. Youns stated that he had gone thru a City Hall marriage with Miss Patrick, but was now "not sure if that was a hoax." He claimed that Miss Patrick abandoned him in Rochester, N. Y. shortly after the ceremony, taking with her $4200 in cash he claimed to have saved from money sent to him by his relatives in Massachussets. Youns had been living in a rooming house in Brooklyn until he received a wire from "his wife," asking him to join her in Akron, and he did so -- but then, he claims, she abandoned him again, this time taking $200. At that point, police say, Youns tracked her down and killed her. Youns was on parole from a Florida prison, to which he was sent after shooting a woman to death in 1933 during a gunfight with another man. He told police he "went blind in prison" in 1939.

("Don' lookit me," says Joe. "I got married in 1937." "Yeah," says Sally. "Annit was about time!")

(Swing it, Pete! And if Dixie and Cookie don't team up with Uncle Sammy there to do a close-harmony number, the kids'll be very disappointed.)

Mrs. E. D. writes in to Dr. Brady wanting to know where she can get benzedrine sulfate tablets. "I am 40 years old, have had two major operations, and cannot afford private medical care." Doc Brady will not countenance such a thing, declaring "if my conscience would permit, I would be happy to tell you where to get such dope and how to use it, but that would be a wicked disservice." Doc advises E. D. to ask the doctors who did her operations for the drug, adding that "if I know the medical profession, they will advise you now, whether or not you can pay a fee."

(One of my favorite plays of the Era. Yes, there's a lot of dated battle-of-the-sexes stuff, but underneath that is a powerful commentary on campus redbaiting and academic freedom. Hope Dr. Gideonse has opening night tickets.)

(Somehow I just don't see Mr. Lichty as a member of "the horsey set.")

The body of pianist and Polish patriot Ignace Jan Paderewski will lie in state at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan until funeral services are held Thursday morning. Archbishop Francis J. Spellman will officiate a pontifical Mass Tuesday morning at 10 AM, to be followed by a eulogy. Paderwski's body will be temporarily interred at Arlington National Cemetery until it can be returned safely to Poland for reburial after the war.

(Somewhere Mayor LaGuardia is feeling a sudden craving for a tall, cold glass of milk.)

(Once again, there really needs to be an official investigation of exactly why the Dodgers are so often getting hit in the head. If Judge Landis didn't loathe Larry MacPhail so much there would've already been one.)

Welterweight Al "Bummy" Davis, the Brownsville brawler once expelled from New York boxing circles for various incidents of misconduct inside and outside the ring, will make his pugilistic comeback tonight in a rematch with Frankie Zivic at the Polo Grounds. Bummy had to receive special permission from the Army to participate in the bout, given his present service with the 69th Coast Artillery Anti Aircraft battalion in Texas, but when he agreed to turn over his earnings to the Army Relief Fund, military authorities agreed to place him on "detached duty" for the fight. Davis and Zivic last clashed in 1939, a fight won by Zivic on a disqualification after Davis repeatedly fouled him. Following that fight, Bummy got into a brawl with fans outside the arena, and his license was revoked by the New York State Athletic Commission. He has been a good boy, however, since joining the Army, and boxing authorities have agreed to reinstate him for the rematch.

(C'mon, Sparks, if you're not gonna wear a superhero uniform, at least put on a sweater. It's cold up there.)

("Hell hath no fury...")

(Don't smirk yet, Bill -- you're gonna have to live here too.)

("No, I'm hungry. Ya think I'm gonna skip lunch?")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I'm very disappointed in our Page Four editor today. When it comes to my Barrymore coverage, I expect the News to go all out with original material, not the same wire-service story the Eagle ran yesterday. And I hope Shipwreck saw that Ken Magazine cover.

The initial theme of the "Cola Wars" was a simple "Mine's Bigger Than Yours."

Um.

"So -- ahhhh -- you'll call off that big guy with the rug, right?"

Mr. Gould can't decide whether to give the plug to Owl Drug or Walgreen's, so he compromises. But what's he got against Rexall?

"And the moral of our story is..."

Yeah, no.

Migawd, Skeez is jealous.

Harold's not so good at this "adulting" stuff, but at least he tries.

Tsk. Mr. Willard got so caught up drawing Emmy's facial expression in panel three, he left the word "not" out of her balloon.

 

[Fading Fast]

...A 57-year-old blind ex-convict faces murder charges after stabbing a woman who may or may not have been his wife to death in an Akron, Ohio hotel room last week. George Youns was arrested as he stepped off a Greyhound Bus at the line's Manhattan terminal early today, and admitted slaying 22-year-old Patricia F. Patrick last Sunday. Youns stated that he had gone thru a City Hall marriage with Miss Patrick, but was now "not sure if that was a hoax." He claimed that Miss Patrick abandoned him in Rochester, N. Y. shortly after the ceremony, taking with her $4200 in cash he claimed to have saved from money sent to him by his relatives in Massachussets. Youns had been living in a rooming house in Brooklyn until he received a wire from "his wife," asking him to join her in Akron, and he did so -- but then, he claims, she abandoned him again, this time taking $200. At that point, police say, Youns tracked her down and killed her. Youns was on parole from a Florida prison, to which he was sent after shooting a woman to death in 1933 during a gunfight with another man. He told police he "went blind in prison" in 1939....

There are no heroes in this story, but it sounds as if Mr. Youns married Senga.

...[
(C'mon, Sparks, if you're not gonna wear a superhero uniform, at least put on a sweater. It's cold up there.)...

Maybe the cosmic rays keep him warm too.

... The initial theme of the "Cola Wars" was a simple "Mine's Bigger Than Yours."....

While dated, the thing about this Pepsi ad, like Coke's the other day, is how much better it is than almost every other ad we see in these papers. The "Cola Wars" were mainly an advertising war and both sides bought the best weapons system they could.

... Migawd, Skeez is jealous.....

I don't want you, but I don't want anyone else to want you either - charming.

"I've never had one like that within range of my guns, Skeezix, and a fella can't just sit around and wait." A bit more insight into Snipe than we've gotten and she seems less in control than I thought.

...[
Harold's not so good at this "adulting" stuff, but at least he tries....

Here's hoping passion makes up for experience in whatever he is planing.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The greater part of the Soviet armies trapped east of Bialystok was "finally destroyed yesterday," according to a comminique released today by from the field headquarters of Adolf Hitler. The Nazi High Command reported in that comminique that "more than 100,000 prisoners, 400 tanks, and 300 guns" were taken. German estimates of Russian troops trapped between Nazi spearheads swinging around from the north and south during a drive on Minsk stood at from 420,000 and 640,000 men.

A communique from Moscow stated today that Soviet forces continue a large-scale battle against German advance tank units on the Dvinsk/Minsk/White Russian front. It was implied in the communique that, far from being "trapped" by the invading Nazi forces, Soviet troops are engaging in an "anti-blitzkrieg tactic," by permitting advance forces to pass, the better to engage and disrupt the supporting forces that follow in their wake.

The Japanese Government today approved a foreign policy declaration of neutrality in the Russo-German war, and will concentrate its efforts on expansion of Japanese influence in the Far East and on efforts to keep the United States out of the war by "diverting its attention from Europe." American newspaper correspondents in Tokyo were forbidden, under pain of death, from "speculating on the nature" of the Government's decision. The decision was reached following the fourth Imperial Conference since Japan invaded China in July 1937.

A fifteen year old boy was shot out of a tree by police following a chase thru Downtown Brooklyn after an attempted burglary by the youth of a bar and grill at 46 Hoyt Street. Raldo Madonia, of 945 42nd Street, reported to be an escapee from the Dobbs Ferry Children's Village, was seen by a passerby as he broke into the Hoyt-Livingston Bar and Grill around 4:15 this morning. Police from the Hamilton Avenue and Butler St. precincts, and a squad car full of detectives from the 11th Division saw Madonia and an accomplice fleeing down Hoyt Street, and pursued the boys onto Schermerhorn Street, across a parking lot to State Street, and across a vacant lot to Smith Street, where the youths clambered up a tree, apparently in an effort to reach a nearby roof. Police fired fifteen shots into the tree before one of their bullets found its mark, sending Madonia plummeting to the roof, critically wounded. The other youth, 15-year-old George Barker of 450 Baltic Street, surrendered immediately. Madonia was taken to Holy Family Hospital, and both boys will face charges of juvenile delinquency. Police say their loot amounted to a "some pennies and a partially-filled cigar box."

The heat wave sizzling the borough will continue into this afternoon, with temperatures expected to peak at 95 degrees, but relief is on the way with thunderstorms expected to send tempartures plunging by tonight. Four people drowned yesterday in attempts to escape the searing heat, and three died in Queens as a result of heat prostration.

Ten civilian employees at the Brooklyn Navy Yard were dismissed today on allegations that they "knew" various members of the alleged Nazi spy ring broken this week by Federal agents. The local firings paralleled dismissals of employees at the San Francisco Naval Yard, and it is indicated that the firings out west were implemented on the same basis of suspicions that the persons involved had been "in communication" with the spies.

Federal authorities revealed today that a shack in the marshlands of Marine Park has been identified as a key base of operations for the spy ring. The shanty, overlooking both oceanic traffic lanes and flight paths for bombers-for-Britain leaving Floyd Bennett Field, was found to be equipped with a powerful short-wave radio transmitter and high-powered binoculars.

The current milk strike has made, so far, little dent in the city's supply of fluid milk. Only about ten percent of the regular milk supply has been withheld so far by striking farmers, and since only about half of all milk supplied is actually sold as fluid milk for drinking and cooking purposes, the rest being made into cheese, butter, and other products, the actual reduction in milk reaching consumers has so far been negligible.

Among the Dairy Farmers Union members participating in the strike is Owen D. Young, Wall Street financier and retired chairman of the board of the General Electric Company, who withdrew from big business in 1939 to operate a dairy farm in Herkimer County. Mr. Young announced his endorsement of the strike yesterday, declaring that he is withholding his daily quota of 1600 quarts a day from the market, and that he believes an increase in prices paid to farmers by milk processors is "imperative."

(Well, I suppose it's easier than wrestling a rampaging horse.)

In Nairobi, Kenya today, crowds cheered as Major Sir Delveas Broughton was acquitted of murder charges in the death of the Earl of Errol, whom he was accused of killing in a dispute over the affections of the Major's wife. Lady Broughton had reportedly confessed to the Major that she was in love with the Earl, who was subsequently found shot to death behind the wheel of his automobile in a position that suggested suicide. Major Broughton told the court that the Earl had given his wife a string of pearls worth 30,000 pounds.

(Jungle movies are in deep decline in the 21st century, but there was a time when they were more popular than even Gary Cooper. But it's pretty hokey to put a GIANT GORILLA on the poster, when you don't even list a GIANT GORILLA battle in the ad. Who's he even supposed to be fighting here? The hunter? The tiger? The python? Or is he just coming down to tell the neighbors to shut the hell up so he can get some sleep?)

Mayor LaGuardia stated today that he does not believe a network of bomb shelters, such as has been implemented in Britain, is feasible for New York City. Speaking as head of the Civilian Defense Administration, the Mayor suggested that the preponderance of large steel-framed buildings in the city should prove sufficient for protection against air raids in the event of an attack.

Aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, back in the United States after her mission delivering a new bomber to Great Britain, called today for the formation of a Women's Air Transport Auxiliary Service in the US, similar to that now in operation in Britain. The famous speed flier noted that women pilots play a vital role in the movement of supplies and equipment for the Royal Air Force, thus freeing more men for aerial combat.

(If that's a what a "very restricted" neighborhood is like, maybe you people need to stop being so particular.)

(Hamburgers, cold cuts, soda, beer -- and turkey? Ah, a good old fashioned Fourth.)

The Eagle Editorialist disagrees with those who say Russia will only be able to hold out three months, at most, against the Nazis, pointing to their record in past wars as indicating a nation of brave fighters who are now better equipped and better trained than ever before. Their record during the World War, as ill-fed, ill-clothed, oppressed victims of the Czar, at a time when victory would have gained them nothing, is a sign that they will likely last far longer than expected during the current war -- and the longer they last the greater the risk that the Germans will find themselves mired in the one thing they least want: a winter war.

(Deep down every cartoonist wants to be a POLITICAL cartoonist.)

(Medwick and Reese have been slumpy since last year. WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY HAVE IN COMMON? HMMMMM. And that Yankee-Red Sox game will, somehow I think, draw well, no matter how hot it is.)

As of yesterday, commercial television -- long delayed by technical and business issues -- is now a reality, with W2XBS now WNBT and operating on Channel 1 on a schedule of at least fifteen hours a week. An advertisement for a watch company was the first shown under NBC's new commercial license, followed by the televising of the Dodgers-Phillies game from Ebbets Field, a news broadcast by Lowell Thomas, and performances of radio's "Uncle Jim's Question Bee" and "Truth or Consequences," sponsored by a soap firm. Today viewers will see the Eastern Clay Court tennis championship from Forest Hills, followed in the evening by a feature film.

(Wouldn't it be better to think about these things BEFORE you start?)

(There are, of course, two Oakdales. There's smooth, impeccably-mannered J. Hartford Oakdale, the love of poor Peggy's life -- and there's sleazy Jimmy Oakdale, cheap con man on the make. Jo, of course, is the only one who understands this.)

(So Bill -- got a new job yet?)

(I see Mr. Marsh has a copy of "Initiation Stunts and Pranks" close at hand, and he makes good use of it.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

(And Joe, who turned 28 last spring, exhales a deep sigh of relief.)

"Ozzer work." Well, exactly.

Wait'll the Brooklyn vote comes in.

Every day that goes by I regret we'll never get to see Nick Gatt put Warbucks in his place.

Yeah, real guerillas won't fall for this. There'll be a bomb in your bed tonight.

Yeah, if there's one cartoonist who knows something about perspective lines and proportion, it's Mr. Gould.

Chester? Who? Oh, you mean that little kid that's up in the woods with the axe-swinging lunatic.

You know that feeling you get when you see something awful about to happen and you know there isn't a single thing you can do about it?

*snif*

"Dear Helen Worth...."

 

[LizzieMaine]

And a bonus for the day -- here you see the very first paid commercial ever aired over commercial television in the United States.

The moving clock was accompanied, at 2:29 pm, by a voice-over from announcer Ray Forrest, who declared "America Runs on Bulova Time." That cost $9.

 

[ChiTownScion]

The moving clock was accompanied, at 2:29 pm, by a voice-over from announcer Ray Forrest, who declared "America Runs on Bulova Time." .

Except that, in 1941, it really didn't. Railroad personnel coast to coast primarily relied upon Hamilton watches (minimum of 17 functioning jewels) . And they were regularly inspected by the company lest the gain or loss of a few seconds result in catastrophe.

It may have been different in the realm of broadcasting, but as far as I'm aware, Bulova never made a model that would pass a railroad watch inspector's muster. If I'm wrong on this, correct me.

 

[Fading Fast]

...The Japanese Government today approved a foreign policy declaration of neutrality in the Russo-German war, and will concentrate its efforts on expansion of Japanese influence in the Far East and on efforts to keep the United States out of the war by "diverting its attention from Europe." American newspaper correspondents in Tokyo were forbidden, under pain of death, from "speculating on the nature" of the Government's decision. The decision was reached following the fourth Imperial Conference since Japan invaded China in July 1937....

"American newspaper correspondents in Tokyo were forbidden, under pain of death, from 'speculating on the nature' of the Government's decision."

Well now, that's one way to prevent criticism.

...A fifteen year old boy was shot out of a tree by police following a chase thru Downtown Brooklyn after an attempted burglary by the youth of a bar and grill at 46 Hoyt Street. Raldo Madonia, of 945 42nd Street, reported to be an escapee from the Dobbs Ferry Children's Village, was seen by a passerby as he broke into the Hoyt-Livingston Bar and Grill around 4:15 this morning. Police from the Hamilton Avenue and Butler St. precincts, and a squad car full of detectives from the 11th Division saw Madonia and an accomplice fleeing down Hoyt Street, and pursued the boys onto Schermerhorn Street, across a parking lot to State Street, and across a vacant lot to Smith Street, where the youths clambered up a tree, apparently in an effort to reach a nearby roof. Police fired fifteen shots into the tree before one of their bullets found its mark, sending Madonia plummeting to the roof, critically wounded. The other youth, 15-year-old George Barker of 450 Baltic Street, surrendered immediately. Madonia was taken to Holy Family Hospital, and both boys will face charges of juvenile delinquency. Police say their loot amounted to a "some pennies and a partially-filled cigar box."...

"Police fired fifteen shots into the tree before one of their bullets found its mark, sending Madonia plummeting to the roof, critically wounded."

Well now, that's one way to get them out of the tree.

...Federal authorities revealed today that a shack in the marshlands of Marine Park has been identified as a key base of operations for the spy ring. The shanty, overlooking both oceanic traffic lanes and flight paths for bombers-for-Britain leaving Floyd Bennett Field, was found to be equipped with a powerful short-wave radio transmitter and high-powered binoculars....

That's right out of "Dan Dunn" or "Dick Tracy." Can't you just see the illustration of that shack in either of those strips?

...In Nairobi, Kenya today, crowds cheered as Major Sir Delveas Broughton was acquitted of murder charges in the death of the Earl of Errol, whom he was accused of killing in a dispute over the affections of the Major's wife. Lady Broughton had reportedly confessed to the Major that she was in love with the Earl, who was subsequently found shot to death behind the wheel of his automobile in a position that suggested suicide. Major Broughton told the court that the Earl had given his wife a string of pearls worth 30,000 pounds....

How is this the first we are learning about these British Colonial sexual hijinks? Why do we even bother to have a Page Four if stories like this go unreported?

"I want every editor and reporter of Page Four in my office now, I said now!"

... View attachment 344518
(If that's a what a "very restricted" neighborhood is like, maybe you people need to stop being so particular.)...

"She screams at the top of her lungs if her mother even sets a dish on the table without wiping off the bottom of the dish after taking it from the refrigerator."

Is that even a thing?

...
(Hamburgers, cold cuts, soda, beer -- and turkey? Ah, a good old fashioned Fourth.)...

Cute USO Ad.

...The Eagle Editorialist disagrees with those who say Russia will only be able to hold out three months, at most, against the Nazis, pointing to their record in past wars as indicating a nation of brave fighters who are now better equipped and better trained than ever before. Their record during the World War, as ill-fed, ill-clothed, oppressed victims of the Czar, at a time when victory would have gained them nothing, is a sign that they will likely last far longer than expected during the current war -- and the longer they last the greater the risk that the Germans will find themselves mired in the one thing they least want: a winter war....

Spot on call EE.

.. View attachment 344529 (And Joe, who turned 28 last spring, exhales a deep sigh of relief.)..

How 'bout that, I thought those two were about 23 as I assumed they married a year or so after high school.

A...[
Every day that goes by I regret we'll never get to see Nick Gatt put Warbucks in his place...."

Nick was a real and complex character with, like most of us, many moral contradictions. He belongs in "Terry and the Pirates." He and Burma would be quite a pair.

All this "I'm wonderful, you're wonderful, we're all wonderful" Little Orphan Annie cr*p is awful.

"So, Burma, it looks like you need a hand getting out of this guerrilla-invader mess, I have an idea. Hey, who's the kid with the yellow hair?"

...[
You know that feeling you get when you see something awful about to happen and you know there isn't a single thing you can do about it?...

Snipe is, sadly, proving to be the female equivalent of the smart guy who dates bimbos. We all know, you can't tell someone whom to date or not to date.

And a bonus for the day -- here you see the very first paid commercial ever aired over commercial television in the United States.

The moving clock was accompanied, at 2:29 pm, by a voice-over from announcer Ray Forrest, who declared "America Runs on Bulova Time." That cost $9.

Fantastic, thank you for posting this, Lizzie.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm wearing a Hamilton right now -- not a railroad model, obviously, but it keeps pretty good time. My Bulova is presently in a drawer at a repair shop waiting to have six years' worth of popcorn oil cleaned off the works. I've never directly compared their accuracy, but it might be an itneresting exercise.

Bulova, however, was the dominant brand as far as the Boys were concerned. Pretty much the official time announcement on radio for nearly thirty years was "XX O'clock, B-U-L-O-V-A, Bulova Watch Time. See the 15-jewel Bulova whatever, at your jewelers now." They started running these spots on local stations all over the country when Coolidge was in the White House, and they were still at it under Eisenhower. Hamilton had a show of its own, "The Hamilton Watchman," but no matter how many times they claimed radio directors overwhemingly used Hamilton watches to time their programs, the listening public paid little mind.

I time my radio shows with a Soviet-made manual stopwatch that you could use to drive nails if you wanted a hammer that could keep time. Always gets me off "on the nose," as they say.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I get the sense that Snipe is "at that age" where she's just looking for a fun diversion, without any long term agenda in mind. But if Tops come out the better for it, well, that wouldn't have happened otherwise...

Sally was in the Class of 1931, and they didn't get married until 1937. She lived in Flatbush with her mother working in a dime store until she was 24, and there was -- some resentment -- when she finally married Joe, who she met at Roseland and was swept off her feet by his skill at doing "the Big Apple." "Praise Allah, wiggle wiggle wiggle." Joe, of course, has been around a bit, and was working on the WPA when he met Sally. Marriage wasn't an option until Solly Pincus got him in up at the Crown Pickle Works. But he is now wondering, with National Defense and all, what it would take to get in at Sperry Gyroscope. He's heard there's some openings, what with all the spies being arrested.

 

[Harp]

I'm wearing a Hamilton right now -- not a railroad model, obviously, but it keeps pretty good time. My Bulova is presently in a drawer at a repair shop waiting to have six years' worth of popcorn oil cleaned off the works. I've never directly compared their accuracy, but it might be an itneresting exercise..

I inherited my father's Hamilton wrist watch which he was wearing when killed in a car accident.
The crystal was shattered and its dials, internal component damaged. I kept it inside a box for years and
eventually sent it to a Hamilton repair shop in Pennsylvania for evaluation. A telephone call said that the watch
could be repaired but at a certain cost to lay it down on the bench, agreed, and Hamilton did a fine fix;
almost looked new even though my grandfather, a street car conductor originally purchased it.

I wore it for years until I accidentally brushed against a shopping cart handle, cracked its crystal.
Haven't kept the repair shop address or tel #, will need to locate said and get this fixed so I can pass
it on to a nephew.

 

[LizzieMaine]

German armies pounded toward the threshold of the Ukraine granaries today in a dangerous new thrust from southeastern Poland, as Soviet premier Josef Stalin called on all Russia to meet the invaders with a "scorched earth policy," and to turn occupied areas into "a hornet's nest of guerilla warfare." In a broadcast to the Soviet people, Stalin acknowledged that the Nazi invaders have made substantial gains, capturing Lithuania, Latvia, and the western parts of White Russia and the Ukraine, and that the nation and its people are in a fight for their liberty and their lives -- "a fight to the finish." The Premier called upon the Russian people to remove or destroy "every animate and inanimate thing" that might be captured by the invading Nazi forces -- "every utensil, every bit of grain or oil or ore" -- and to fight "individually and collectively with every weapon and by every means" in defense of their lives and their nation. Stalin concluded his speech with a promise, in a voice deep with emotion, that Nazism will be defeated, and that the Soviet people "will have loyal allies in the people of Britain and America in forming a united front against despotism."

A Soviet war communique reported today that Red Army forces have fought off repeated enemy mechanized attempts to cross the Berezina River en route to Moscow. The communique also confirms fierce fighting in the Tarnopol sector along the former Polish-Ukrainian frontier.

Striking dairy farmers fired on state troopers this morning outside Utica, as the troopers escorted 19 tank trucks carrying 175,000 quarts of milk to the city. One trooper was nearly hit by a bullet, but the shooter was not identified. The Dairy Farmers Union issued a statement condemning the use of State Police as strikebreakers, and declared that a formal protest will be lodged with Governor Herbert H. Lehman.

Six young men were injured last night, two of them critically, when the car in which they were riding jumped a curb in Jackson Heights and plunged 25 feet into an excavation pit before landing upside down. Police say the driver, 23 year old George Strollo of Corona, lost control of the car while trying to avoid striking a barricade at the edge of the pit. Strollo is one of the men critically hurt, and is hospitalized at St. John's Hospital in Long Island City along with 19-year-old George Speranzo of East Elmhurst.

The mercury will drop nearly twenty degrees from yesterday's high of 94, with the heat wave finally broken by the arrival last night of showers and cool air. Three deaths in Manhattan and the Bronx yesterday were attributed to the heat.

Theatrical producer Sam H. Harris died today at his Manhattan apartment. The impresario was 69, and had been ill for several weeks. Mr. Harris began his producing career at the age of eleven by organizing holiday entertainments, and has been an outstanding figure in Broadway circles for decades.

("Coming events cast their shadows before...")

Heavyweight champion Joe Louis is headed for divorce court, with his wife of six years filing a petition for dissolution of their marriage in Cook County Superior Court in Chicago. Mrs. Marva Trotter Barrow accused the boxer of striking her last June and again this past April during "fits of temper," and seeks "reasonable living provisions" from Louis' earnings. Louis admitted to "shadow boxing around the house" but denied ever striking his wife. The boxer told reporters in Detroit that he didn't expect to contest the divorce. "If she wants a divorce," he said, "what good would it do to try and force her to remain my wife?" Friends of the couple noted that they have been separated since last Christmas.

Comedian Buster Keaton, who has not appeared on a Broadway stage since his days in vaudeville nearly a quarter of a century ago, will hit the boards at the Brighton Theatre in Brighton Beach in "The Gorilla." The former film star will appear alongside onetime Mack Sennett villian Harry Gribbon in the comedy-mystery play by Ralph Spence. It will be something of a homecoming for Buster, since "The Three Keatons," legendary act in which he appeared as a child alongside his parents Joe and Myra Keaton, were on the bill at the Brighton during its opening season in 1909.

("Why men leave home?" I thought that was a draft notice.)

(Gary Cooper made an entire career out of playing characters at least ten years younger than he was.)

(Judge Liebowitz can be a controversial character, but deep down he is, as the saying goes, a mensch.)

The Eagle Editorialist salutes Joe DiMaggio for breaking Wee Willie Keeler's hitting-streak record yesterday, and wishes the Yankee star the best as he moved onward from 45 straight games. But he can't help but wistfully add, "if he were a Dodger, now, we could show him some adulation that would make his cool head spin."

(Someday, Mr. Lichty really should try the Automat...)

("Fourt' a' J'ly dubblehedda 'gainsta Jints!" exults Joe. "An' lookat'is! Two tickets! LEF' FEEL, LOWA DECK! Act'chly, I had FOUR uvv'm, an' I sol' two ta Solly -- so we're four bucks ahead onna deal!" Sally pokes the brisket and her eyes narrow. "How'ja manage 'at?" "Ah, it wunnutt'n," Joe boasts. "I was inna canny stoah, right? An' I'm talkin' ta t'is guy, see, an' -- um --- um -- well, it was like t'is, --- uh --" "Ahhh, nevvamin'," says Sally. "At leas' ya won." "Yeah," nods Joe. "I use t'em dice ya brutta gimme befo't'ey sennim up -- uh -- um -- gee, t'at brisket smells good...")

Leo Durocher, who is fast becoming a radio favorite, will be on the air once more this coming Sunday. He'll be Bill Stern's guest on the Sports Newsreel program, 9:45 pm over WJZ.

(Hawkman says to Sparky "scram, kid, I'm workin' this side of the street...")

(Um, where's Peggy? Anybody seen Peggy?)

(Like lambs to the slaughter...)

(Again with the creepy bondage stuff, Marsh? Get some help.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"There," says the Page Four Editor. "Happy now?"

Stay tuned.

You tell 'em, Mattie!

I can't look.

See, Irwin, this is what a sidekick's supposed to do -- all the boring legwork the star detective can't be bothered to handle.

Healing up pretty well there after MAJOR CRANIAL SURGERY, aren't we?

Yeah, you better open the box.

Mind your own business, Skeez. Don't meddle in forces you can't understand.

It's just as well, these cross-country cab rides rarely work out.

Family values.