The Era -- Day By Day

[PrivateEye]

From practically the day you started these fantastic Day by Days (thank you, Lizzie, for all the work you do on these - they are a FL treasure), I've been thinking about December 7th still being in the future and how it would feel to read it somewhat like the way people in '41 did. Following these papers day by day is an interesting way to experience history.

Allow me to second that Lizzie, we really do appreciate the work that must go in to this. I look forward to it daily.

I've been waiting for this day to come - it's hard to grasp that this was the only real source of daily news at the time. Now the news is old by the time the papers come out - assuming they still exist, and we're likely too see live footage as it happens.

When my grandmother passed away we found the original Boston Globe and Boston Record (I think it was the Record?) front pages from this date. No one ever knew she had them. Unfortunately they weren't stored properly, and pretty much disintegrated at being touched.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I know the Record well -- it was a Hearst tabloid, a Boston cousin to the Mirror in New York, complete with Walter Winchell's column, a pretty good comic section, a fiesty sports page, and a Page Four that makes the Daily News seem prudish. It later merged with the Hearst evening paper in Boston, the American, to become the Record-American, which we used to get from time to time when I was young. It's the lineal ancestor of today's Boston Herald, in both mindset and makeup.

I have a bound volume of the Record from May 1934 under my bed right now, positioned in such a way as to catch the box spring if the frame collapses in the night as it is wont to do, and a tall stack of loose copies from the mid-thirties in my office closet. How it managed to stay on the newsstands, with Boston being what it was at the time, is nothing short of a miracle.

 

[Fading Fast]

Joe and Sally couldn't sleep last night, so about quarter past eleven they turned on the radio, spun around until they hit WOR, 710 on the dial, and for the next hour this is what they heard. A band remote interrupted for late developments, a talk by an official in Newark, Dave Driscoll speaking to the night crowd in Times Square, a news summary, interviews with politicians, and interviews with a few soldiers. Not much destined to help one sleep...

https://soundcloud.com/eleanor-roosevelt-809230250/411207-pearl-harbor-1115pm

That is a really cool recording. People gathering outside the Times Building in Times Square to see headlines scroll by is so of the period. That said, until the internet, people would still pay those headlines some attention. I used to take the subway, occasionally, from Times Square in the 80s/early 90s and would glance up at them now and then.

Funny to hear the commentator get the age of the draft wrong.

"We were caught off guard but not unprepared -" ummm.

I believe one of the reporters was named Karl Marx - at least that's what it sounded to me like. Just funny.

How visceral is the report of the bonfire at the Japanese embassy.

Won't Thailand be happy to know that the Japanese are going to protect its independence.

No surprise, but the stylistic differences in how things are reported then versus today is fascinating.

"Newsboys are on every corner" in DC.

 

[Fading Fast]

I know the Record well -- it was a Hearst tabloid, a Boston cousin to the Mirror in New York, complete with Walter Winchell's column, a pretty good comic section, a fiesty sports page, and a Page Four that makes the Daily News seem prudish. It later merged with the Hearst evening paper in Boston, the American, to become the Record-American, which we used to get from time to time when I was young. It's the lineal ancestor of today's Boston Herald, in both mindset and makeup.

I have a bound volume of the Record from May 1934 under my bed right now, positioned in such a way as to catch the box spring if the frame collapses in the night as it is wont to do, and a tall stack of loose copies from the mid-thirties in my office closet. How it managed to stay on the newsstands, with Boston being what it was at the time, is nothing short of a miracle.

"...and a Page Four that makes the Daily News seem prudish." Hello.

 

[LizzieMaine]

New York City and the entire East Coast today experienced their first air raid alarm of the war, with reports that enemy planes were approaching Long Island, first from off New England and subsequently from off the Virginia coast. It was claimed that bombers were headed for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, for Mitchel Field, and for other key points. The reports were confusing, but local defense organizations, based on Sunday's events in Hawaii, took no chances. At 1 pm, Lt. Fitzhugh Querrier of the Army Defense Command reported that ten unidentified planes were on their way to New York, and confirmed that the reports were not a drill. As interceptor planes took off from Mitchel Field in search of the enemy, air raid sirens sounded at 1:30 pm, and police radios broadcast the warning that enemy planes were "expected over the city in ten minutes." In offices and factories, workers were sent home, schools were evacuated, and police cleared pedestrians from the streets. On Long Island, police and fire departments began evacuating all residents living close to Mitchel and Roosevelt Fields. An all-clear siren sounded at 1:45 pm, but fifteen minutes later another alert was sounded by both the Police and Fire Departments and remained in effect until the final all clear sounded at 2:41 pm. Mitchel Field command headquarters subsequently called the events of the afternoon a "full dress test," and "an official air raid alarm," but not a practice raid.

(Hitchiking the nine miles from Williamsburg to Bensonhurst on the back of a truck because he couldn't get a trolley in the panic, Joe finally arrives home to find Sally, smeared with soot and coal dust, fuming in the kitchen. "T'em RATS!" she fumes. "Onna radio t'ey said it was a RAID, annem sireens wennoff, anna supeh runs t'ru t'hall poun'in' onna doah an' sez "alla yez downa basemen'! Allayez downa basemen'! So I grab Leonora an' we run downna staiehs, an' hole up downeah like t' Mole a'sump'n, breat'in in allat dus', seein'nem eyes inna dahk, like rats a'sump'n, an' we downeah f'two houehs, awmos', till 'ey blowsa whissle, anna cop comes downeh staiehs an' sez y'c'n c'mout now!" Sally takes a deep breath and begins to sob. "IZZIS WHAT IT'S GONNA BE F'M NOW ON? IZZIT?" And Joe can give no reply.)

Congress is prepared to declare war against Germany and Italy if those countries fulfill their pledge to join Japan in war against the United States. House Speaker Sam Rayburn says Congress will adopt another war resolution immediately if those nations take action. President Roosevelt will address the nation on the war tonight over all networks at 10 pm

(And you can hear the broadcast here:

)

A night of blackouts lies ahead for the West Coast, with Army authorities asserting that Japanese aircarft are operating off California's shores, with blackouts ordered from the Pacific Northwest to San Diego. The Canadian province of British Columbia will also be blacked out. In Seattle, Washington last night, a mob of approximately 3000 persons rioted, kicked in store windows, and smashed electric signs of merchants who failed to comply with the blackout order.

United States defense forces were officially reported today to have inflicted "considerable losses" on Japanese air squadrons attacking the Philippines, but officials have withheld comment on reported enemy land operations on the islands of Lubang and Mindonao. Reports broadcast by the Berlin radio asserted that Japanese troops have landed in the Philippines.

A British communique reported that Hongkong's artillery batteries have "opened up on attackers" and "halted their advance."

The House Naval Affairs Committee today announced an inquiry to determine whether "someone was asleep" among the Navy High Command when the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday. Navy Secretary Frank Knox and Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, have been summoned to appear before a secret hearing tomorrow.

(Looks like that special camp they were building last summer out at Upton will be put to use.)

Stock prices plunged in wild trading today on the New York Stock Exchange, with extreme losses dropping eight points as wild war rumors circulated in the city. By the start of the final hour of trading, more than 7,000,000 shares had changed hands.

(Monitoring overseas broadcasts will be a prime news source thruout the war, with all caveats as to reliability applied.)

(Business is about to boom, kid.)

(For now, at least.)

(Foxx is on the downward slope, so this would be a very bad deal for the Dodgers. But Camilli would have an absolute field day at Fenway Park.)

(Hey Stretch, what part of "report to your base immediately" didn't you understand?)

(Isn't that Oakdale's old uniform?)

(FACE EATING CONNIE! FACE EATING CONNIE! FACE EATING CONNIE!)

(Dan Dunn, Method Actor.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

On days like this you can follow the news just by glancing at papers held up by people on the subway.

Suddenly the Page Four editor feels very very unimportant.

In this time of national crisis, Americans of every walk of life and every shade of believe unite in... hey, that's right! The Plushbottoms did have twins! They turned out to be niece and nephew not daughter and son, but still..

We figured it out, Mr. Gray. No need to lampshade.

Poor Min.

Loose lips, Wilmer. Want yours tightened?

April once spent several weeks with Raven, but Raven didn't teach her this.

"Come. The Mole has already prepared an insane death trap. Oh, wait, I have a gun. Never mind!"

Has "HALT OR I SHOOT" ever actually worked?

"Ah," said Mr. Peevey, as he gently rested his case on the step, and carefully placed his hat on the newel post. And then he went on a violent rampage, set fire to the boardinghouse, beat Lord Plushbottom to a viscous pulp, and fled screaming into the night.

 

[Fading Fast]

New York City and the entire East Coast today experienced their first air raid alarm of the war, with reports that enemy planes were approaching Long Island, first from off New England and subsequently from off the Virginia coast. It was claimed that bombers were headed for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, for Mitchel Field, and for other key points. The reports were confusing, but local defense organizations, based on Sunday's events in Hawaii, took no chances. At 1 pm, Lt. Fitzhugh Querrier of the Army Defense Command reported that ten unidentified planes were on their way to New York, and confirmed that the reports were not a drill. As interceptor planes took off from Mitchel Field in search of the enemy, air raid sirens sounded at 1:30 pm, and police radios broadcast the warning that enemy planes were "expected over the city in ten minutes." In offices and factories, workers were sent home, schools were evacuated, and police cleared pedestrians from the streets. On Long Island, police and fire departments began evacuating all residents living close to Mitchel and Roosevelt Fields. An all-clear siren sounded at 1:45 pm, but fifteen minutes later another alert was sounded by both the Police and Fire Departments and remained in effect until the final all clear sounded at 2:41 pm. Mitchel Field command headquarters subsequently called the events of the afternoon a "full dress test," and "an official air raid alarm," but not a practice raid....

"Mitchel Field command headquarters subsequently called the events of the afternoon a "full dress test," and "an official air raid alarm," but not a practice raid."

The confusion on day one is understandable, but this is what CYA looks like.

...
(Monitoring overseas broadcasts will be a prime news source thruout the war, with all caveats as to reliability applied.)...

"Nazi Raider Reported Active Off Argentina."

"Just in case this doesn't end well, Hans, maybe we should stash some gold in another country. Just sayin'."

... (FACE EATING CONNIE! FACE EATING CONNIE! FACE EATING CONNIE!)...

"Umm, Lizzie, let's talk about this as, yes, it might be a setback, but you've done such good work, I don't want us to get discouraged. When you say, 'FACE EATING CONNIE! FACE EATING CONNIE! FACE EATING CONNIE!' you don't really mean you want to see Connie actually eat someone's face off, do you?"

"Yes I do, Tom's!"

"Sigh."

... (Dan Dunn, Method Actor.)

Marsh really does love himself a good loud suit.

...
Suddenly the Page Four editor feels very very unimportant.....

"If the Government continues taking our young men away from us, the time may come when the girls will be whistling at the truck drivers." She's a pragmatist.

...
Poor Min.....

Hopefully, Jo reads "The Gumps" as that will make it much easier to be married to George.

...
"Come. The Mole has already prepared an insane death trap. Oh, wait, I have a gun. Never mind!"...

The Fedora Lounge Rulebook for Killing a TV, Movie or Comic-Strip Enemy: "Always kill your enemy as fast as you can and, then, check carefully to make sure he or she is dead."

...
"Ah," said Mr. Peevey, as he gently rested his case on the step, and carefully placed his hat on the newel post. And then he went on a violent rampage, set fire to the boardinghouse, beat Lord Plushbottom to a viscous pulp, and fled screaming into the night.

"My word, you look about as jolly as a woman locked up in a room with four hundred hats and no mirror."

 

[PrivateEye]

Lizzie, do you know how far ahead the comics were typically prepared?

 

[LizzieMaine]

It varies by artist, and between dailies and Sundays. A typical spread might be eight weeks for the Sunday page, because Sunday comic sections were usually printed in advance of the rest of the paper and held for assembly, and six weeks for the dailies. Some cartoonists would pile up a lot of advance strips so they could take a vacation, while others tried to work closer to publication date.

I think we're going to find out exactly how far ahead Milton Caniff works -- the first time he says "Japs" instead of "the Invader" will be the tipoff. He must be writhing right now, having established Pat and Terry and April in Hong Kong just as the evacuation is happening.

 

[Harp]

Burms still a no-show...

 

[Fading Fast]

Burms still a no-show...

Welcome back my friend - you've been missed. Hope all is well.

Not only Burma, but more importantly, where is Hu Shee?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Welcome back indeed -- lots been happening since you've been away!

If I had to guess, Hu Shee is in the very thick of the fighting somewhere, possibly at the DL's side, or possibly off on her own or with Dr. Ping. Not Bucky, though, she's too smart to fall for that flashy stuff.

If I had to guess about Burma, after she finished off Judas, she went as far as she could in that truck. She went nowhere near Hong Kong, because the authorities there know her well, and I doubt she made for any other city with a signficiant British presence. But maybe she crossed paths with Blaze, and they've gone into business together running guns to the Chinese. At least I hope so.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Things are not going well. Things are not going well at all.)

(In 1941, the phrase "concentration camp" meant any official facility, of any nation, intended for the detention of groups of people who were being "concentrated" in a specific place. Although Germany's camps were already well known to exist at this time, the phrase wouldn't become solely and exclusively identified with those camps until later in the war.)

The sinking of the British battleship Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser Repulse today shocked American naval officials, as they awaited further news of what is described as "a serious setback" to the United States fleet at Hawaii. While there was no official comment on the sinkings, authorities did not hide their concern, calling it an example of the "bad news" President Roosevelt warned the public to expect in his radio address last night.

(An outstanding address, tempered with a realistic view of the situation. "Fear itself" is no longer the only enemy.)

(Yeah, and by the way, C. W., just why do you spend so much time hanging around high schools? Ya creep!)

("AN' GET RIDDA T'EM RATS INNA BASEMEN'!" yells Sally.)

(Billy Werber will live to be 100, and will write two invaluable books about 1930s-40s baseball. "Circling The Bases" and "Memories of a Ballplayer" are fascinating reading. And respect to Hank Greenberg, heading back to the Army five days after leaving it. He knew exactly what he was fighting for.)

The proposed relocation of the St. Louis Browns to Los Angeles next season was unanimously rejected yesterday by the American League. Team President Donald L. Barnes stated that he felt obligated to present the matter at the league's annual meeting in Chicago, despite the war situation, and it was believed that the plan was rejected largely due to fear of an enemy attack on the West Coast. League President William Harridge stated that the sense of the league was such that no formal vote needed to be taken to turn down the proposal.

(Now is that nice???)

(Out in Hollywood, Mr. H. Bogart wonders about the possibility of a Bungle movie series. "I like this guy's style!")

(Yes, by all means, a heart-to-heart talk. Preferably while holding a still-dripping heart in your fist.)

(It's always the way. You get your plans all made and you run into some officious by-the-book little drip who spoils the whole thing.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The crew down in the composing room who have to handle the extra-large headline type are getting pretty tired about now.

("Solly's on his way ta Newport News," says Joe. "I seen 'im off downa bus station. Imagine Solly, inna Navy. He can't even swim. Fell innat vat one time, an' awmost drownt. I ask ya." "Gawd help Japan," muses Sally. "You heah f'm Sperry's yet?" "Um, yeah," says Joe. "I was gonna tell ya lateh, make it a s'prise -- but -- well, ya lookin' at a Junyeh Machinist Trainee. I staht nex' Monday. T'oity bucks a week! But -- it's onna night shift. Out t' t'at new plant t'ey got, out ta Lon' Guylan'. Gonna mean a lotta train' ridin'. But -- t'oity bucks a week." "We c'd move ta Flatbush onnat," Sally replies. "Live oveh neah Ma, make takin' care 'a t'baby easieh. I'm jus' sayin'...")

And speaking of moving, if the Neighbors have been permanently dispossessed from Page Four, I hope they can find a better neighborhood than this.

I dunno, kid, my own experience with morphine is such that eating bacon and eggs just after coming out of it is -- ah -- not a good idea.

Hope the Mole has a good insurance policy.

Neigh. Just "neigh."

Take notes, Joe.

Say, April, have you considered wiring your brother yourself? Just an idea.

And, we suggest, a new coat.

"Son of a..." is pretty easy to make out, but that last word's got me baffled.

 

[Fading Fast]

View attachment 386427 (Things are not going well. Things are not going well at all.)...

Heck, we know how this turns out, yet still, reading this makes me nervous. The loss of those two battleships is big.

... View attachment 386428
(In 1941, the phrase "concentration camp" meant any official facility, of any nation, intended for the detention of groups of people who were being "concentrated" in a specific place. Although Germany's camps were already well known to exist at this time, the phrase wouldn't become solely and exclusively identified with those camps until later in the war.)...

Even before reading your comment, I was thinking that "concentration camp" is just one of several words and symbols the Nazi basically took over and ruined for common use even to this day.

... View attachment 386439
(Billy Werber will live to be 100, and will write two invaluable books about 1930s-40s baseball. "Circling The Bases" and "Memories of a Ballplayer" are fascinating reading. And respect to Hank Greenberg, heading back to the Army five days after leaving it. He knew exactly what he was fighting for.)...

I get the propaganda of "The Greatest Generation," but guys like Greenberg remind me it wasn't all propaganda.

Lizzie, which one of Werner's book would you recommend to read first, I'm guessing, "Memories of a Ballplayer?"

...The proposed relocation of the St. Louis Browns to Los Angeles next season was unanimously rejected yesterday by the American League. Team President Donald L. Barnes stated that he felt obligated to present the matter at the league's annual meeting in Chicago, despite the war situation, and it was believed that the plan was rejected largely due to fear of an enemy attack on the West Coast. League President William Harridge stated that the sense of the league was such that no formal vote needed to be taken to turn down the proposal....

Lizzie already noted this the other day, but seeing it again, you have to marvel at the incredibly bad timing the Browns had with this idea. You couldn't make this up - this is about as bad luck on timing as you could get.

...
(Out in Hollywood, Mr. H. Bogart wonders about the possibility of a Bungle movie series. "I like this guy's style!")...

If Bogie won't do it, maybe Raft would. Heck, Bogie's career took off when he got several parts Raft turned down; maybe taking a Bogie rejected role would work the same for Raft now that his career is struggling.

...
(Yes, by all means, a heart-to-heart talk. Preferably while holding a still-dripping heart in your fist.)...

Oh dear Lord, Lizzie, we'll have to go back to twice-a-week meetings. Here, let me give you a pass for Tuesday in addition to Friday.

I'd want to see the contract first, but selling some nowhere local paper to write for Hollywood sounds like a pretty darn good career move to me.

... View attachment 386444 ...
("Solly's on his way ta Newport News," says Joe. "I seen 'im off downa bus station. Imagine Solly, inna Navy. He can't even swim. Fell innat vat one time, an' awmost drownt. I ask ya." "Gawd help Japan," muses Sally. "You heah f'm Sperry's yet?" "Um, yeah," says Joe. "I was gonna tell ya lateh, make it a s'prise -- but -- well, ya lookin' at a Junyeh Machinist Trainee. I staht nex' Monday. T'oity bucks a week! But -- it's onna night shift. Out t' t'at new plant t'ey got, out ta Lon' Guylan'. Gonna mean a lotta train' ridin'. But -- t'oity bucks a week." "We c'd move ta Flatbush onnat," Sally replies. "Live oveh neah Ma, make takin' care 'a t'baby easieh. I'm jus' sayin'...")....

"Imagine Solly, inna Navy. He can't even swim. Fell innat vat one time, an' awmost drownt."

LOL, you couldn't write a more apt death for Solly than drowning in a pickle vat at work. It's like a Seinfeld episode where you couldn't help laughing at the funeral.

... And speaking of moving, if the Neighbors have been permanently dispossessed from Page Four, I hope they can find a better neighborhood than this.....

Whoduh thunk a page like that even existed in the Daily News. I thought Page Four was as low as it got. I do like "The Neighbors," though, so I hope they at least stay in the paper.

...
I dunno, kid, my own experience with morphine is such that eating bacon and eggs just after coming out of it is -- ah -- not a good idea.....

I've been given morphine in hospitals twice in my life and, both times, it made me violently nauseous and it didn't numb the pain. I have a feeling I'd never make it as a drug addict if that's how my body responds to opioids.

... And, we suggest, a new coat.....

Why does his coat match the chairs?

If he wants to hide in that coat, just run over to Dan Dunn or Mary Worth as you can't swing a dead cat in those strips without hitting a loud overcoat or suit.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Memories" is a more "curated" book, written in cooperation with the Society for American Baseball Research, and has a more historically-focused feel. It was written very late in Werber's life, at a time when he was the oldest living major-leaguer, and he's very conscious of wanting to get as much as he can down for the record. "Bases" is more of a casual storytelling session, a guy with a colorful life going over the highlights.

Werber was at one point considered the fastest man in the game, one of those give-no-quarter type of players who people even at the time thought had gone out with Ty Cobb. He was a real sparkplug for the Reds pennant teams in '39 and '40, and if Larry was looking to move Cookie and get a new third baseman for a year or so, he could've done a lot worse. I'm sure he'll make the Giant-Dodger games next year that much more interesting.

Don Barnes was a tragic figure. He really tried to make a go of the Browns, like the guy who buys a beat-up wreck of a car and tries to polish it up and make it look and run the best he can. He actually has the nucleus of a decent team in 1941, and he would have made a fortune with it in Los Angeles. And If he had, there's a pretty good chance the Dodgers would still be in Brooklyn.

I hope we get postcards from Solly now and then. I suspect he'll have a lot of fun in the Navy.

Doris Blake is a bitter 46-year-old man from Elmhurst who hates his job, hates his wife, hates his kids, and hates the cold meat loaf sandwich he had at H&H for lunch.

 

[Harp]

[QUOTE="Fading Fast, post: 2875741, member: 26387"Welome back my friend - you've been missed. Hope all is well.[/QUOTE]

Enroute home Thursday evening November 4th I stepped out a Chicago Transit Authority subway car
at LaSalle and had an ischemic stroke. Spent ten days inpatient Northwestern then three weeks Marinjoy
Rehab since right side paralyzed but cognitive brain still good. Now at mt sister's for an expected six month recover.
Can't complain. Thanks guys, glad to be back.

 

[Fading Fast]

[QUOTE="Fading Fast, post: 2875741, member: 26387"Welome back my friend - you've been missed. Hope all is well.

Enroute home Thursday evening November 4th I stepped out a Chicago Transit Authority subway car
at LaSalle and had an ischemic stroke. Spent ten days inpatient Northwestern then three weeks Marinjoy
Rehab since right side paralyzed but cognitive brain still good. Now at mt sister's for an expected six month recover.
Can't complain. Thanks guys, glad to be back.[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry that happened, but glad the prognosis looks good.

The best for a speedy recovery.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Likewise. We hope to provide an entertaining distraction or two.

 

[ChiTownScion]

[QUOTE="Fading Fast, post: 2875741, member: 26387"Welome back my friend - you've been missed. Hope all is well.

Enroute home Thursday evening November 4th I stepped out a Chicago Transit Authority subway car
at LaSalle and had an ischemic stroke. Spent ten days inpatient Northwestern then three weeks Marinjoy
Rehab since right side paralyzed but cognitive brain still good. Now at mt sister's for an expected six month recover.
Can't complain. Thanks guys, glad to be back.[/QUOTE]

Hang in there. All the best, get well soon, and Merry Christmas.