The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

...

A former "high official" in the office of former Queens borough president George U. Harvey is the target of a Federal investigation by U. S. Attorney Harold M. Kennedy, who charges that the man received large sums of money in connection with the Queens paving contract racket. An application was made today by Mr. Kennedy's office for permission to inspect the minutes of the September 1940 Amen Grand Jury for evidence concerning the decision to use "a certain type of paving brick" in the construction of the new General Court Building in Jamaica in 1939. It is alleged by Mr. Kennedy that the decision to use this type of brick was the result of bribes paid to the staff member in then-Borough President Harvey's office.
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"Sir, this is odd, while I was inspecting the files for the Queens paving contract, I found this receipt for 'antique Belgian paving stones.' I wonder what those were for?"

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Mrs. Anna H. Paton, aged 77, "frilled her hair with ribbons, perfumed herself, and acted like a young girl" when expecting a visit from "her lover," the Reverend Dr. Henry Darlington, a maid testified today at the trial instituted by three relatives seeking to break the will of the late Irvington-on-Hudson resident. Josephine Haw, chambermaid in the Paton home since 1938, further testified that Dr. Darlington was a regular visitor, appearing at the Paton home nearly every day for lunch, tea, or dinner, and that she had seen the clergyman and her employer sitting close together on a sofa, with "his arm draped around her in a friendly manner." Miss Haw further added that the late Mrs. Paton "loved the men in general. She hated the women. She was a man's woman."
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Enough about the tea and sofa, you're a chambermaid, let's get down to brass tacks, what did you see going on in the bed chamber?

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("T' Dykeh?" grumbles Joe. "I hate t' Dykeh. Awlways smells like kerosene." "Ahhh," sighs Sally, "at's f'mmat spray t'ey use t'kill t'bedbugs outa t'seats. Mildred Hummick downa block, she's a ushehrette. She says e'vy night t'ey sprays t'jernt. We c'd go upta t'Albee, it don' smell." "Awlaway downtown t'see a movie 'bout a Yankee?" sneers Joe. "Arouna corneh, 'at's OK. But I got me principles.")
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They'd be a heck of a radio show, but I could also see them as a comicstrip. With Sparky gone, there's probably a slot available.

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("You sure you can't get a B card?")
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Since it's not clear, I prefer to think the dialogue is being spoken by the girl.

...

(Really? I don't remember you at all. Maybe we've all got amnesia.)
....

I don't have any idea how we got here either, but I do know comicstrip porn when I see it. Also, boy was the Gable mustache a think in the early '40s or what?

And in the Daily News...

"LaGuaridan Solution" is a phrase? Of course it is.
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The Zipper Girl, reading Page Four, thinks to herself, I wonder how I could get in touch with Dr. Granieri, he must have office hours or, better, a home address.

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"The relationship was not sexual, was it?" Well, somebody had to ask.
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And an audible sigh of relief went up from the courtroom.

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Maybe they know your husband.
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"...awarded the order of the crossed baby rattles."

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I dunno, Standard's train wreck record is pretty impressive. And it's just a rock crusher slowed down!
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Crashing a train full of passengers so that you can sell a recording of the sound is deeply psychotic. Jesus, couldn't you crash a freight train instead?

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Shoulda thought of this years ago.

You can really feel the casual attitude 1940s America had toward domestic violence by the amount we see of it in these strips.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Sally gazes at Joe, bent down on the kitchen floor as he urges Leonora not to bite Stella the Cat's tail, and sighs with relief.)

A motion was introduced today in the House of Commons charging the Churchill government with direct responsibility for the "disaster of Tobruk." Laid down by W. J. Brown, Independent, and Alec S. Cunningham-Reid, Conservative, the motion urged a complete reorganization of Mr. Churchill's government, citing the Prime Minister's own policy, in defending his ministers from attack, of arguing that the government as a whole is responsible for the prosecution of the war.

The Dies Committee today accused twenty "Communist front organizations," five newspapers, and two magazines of trying to discredit Congress. Acting as chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the absence of regular chairman Martin Dies (D-Texas), Representative Joe Starnes (D-Alabama) denounced The New Republic, Champion, Soviet Russia Today, New Masses, and the weekly newsmagazine Time as Communist-influenced, along with PM and the Daily Worker, both newspapers based in New York. Most of the criticism of "front organzations" was directed at the Union for Democratic Action, which recently collaborated with the editors of The New Republic in the preparation of an article entitled "A Congress to Win the War." Rep. Starnes charged that the organizations and publications cited as being under the influence "of a group of men who have had long training and experience in the ideology of Karl Marx."

In Camden, New Jersey, a carnival snake-handler and his assistant died today from bites from a rattlesnake which they incorrectly believed had had its venom glands removed. Seventy-year-old John Meyers and his 49-year-old assistant Lewis G. Ringer, veterans of the sideshow circuit, were bitten during a benefit performance for the Gloucester Heights Volunteer Fire Department in nearby Gloucester, New Jersey, after selecting the snake from a cage containing four other snakes which had been de-venomed. The two men were taken to a Camden hospital where they died this morning. It could not be determined why an un-altered snake was in the cage.

(Don't you people know the importance of firm naval support?)

Police today are continuing their search for disbarred lawyer Richard A. Knight, accused of sending "annoying letters" to attorneys. Knight, who two years ago startled Metropolitan Opera patrons by doing headstands and handsprings in the lobby during intermissions, telephoned a news service in Atlantic City and told a reporter that come into New York screaming like Madeline Webb" if he is apprehended and extradited back to the city.

(Just stay off Surf Avenue!)

(We've got no gas, so we've gotta do something to keep busy!)

Parks Commissioner Robert Moses writes in to criticize recent complaints that water is being wasted in public drinking fountains which run continuously. "Park fountains are usually at the ends of long stretches of pipe which have no other uses," he notes, "and if these fountains were operated with manual valves, water in the pipe would become stagnant and unpalatable. This condition would arouse other and more serious complaints than we those we now receive on account of continuous flow." He also points out that manual-valve fountains are especially vulnerable to vandalism by "young hoodlums, who in the absence of adequate police and park protection, take great delight in destroying such equipment."

(To succeed in business you must adapt.)

(The concept of "Karma" is not well known in the west in 1942, but I think Mr. Marius Russo now has some idea of what it's all about.)

"Mrs. Miniver" continues its record-setting pace at Radio City Music Hall this week. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer attraction has been seen by 410,627 persons in the 18 days ending yesterday. No other picture in the Music Hall's ten year history has played to capacity houses for so long a period.

(Even worse, she works for the Board of Health.)

("Paddy-whack?" Ah, but what's an ethnic slur when you're in love.)

(Now is that nice? These guys come over to help rearrange your furniture, and you call them names??)

("Woo! Woo!" The part of Irwin Higgs will be played today by Hugh Herbert.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News....

"Very Social Sybarites." Oh my.

Ew.

"We have ways to make sure no one holds any out. You see that rug rolled up in the corner?"

"Haw!"

"This is especially true in the infantry. Where we're sending you."

Somehow I don't think Pat or Dude or Blaze or the DL is coming thru that door. Or even April.

"A vending machine? It came from a vending machine! Damn encroaching technology!"

Patriotism has many motives.

"I could even tell you exactly how much money Harold Teen makes! But I know you wouldn't be interested in that!"

Kayo will grow up to be a very wealthy man.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

In Camden, New Jersey, a carnival snake-handler and his assistant died today from bites from a rattlesnake which they incorrectly believed had had its venom glands removed. Seventy-year-old John Meyers and his 49-year-old assistant Lewis G. Ringer, veterans of the sideshow circuit, were bitten during a benefit performance for the Gloucester Heights Volunteer Fire Department in nearby Gloucester, New Jersey, after selecting the snake from a cage containing four other snakes which had been de-venomed. The two men were taken to a Camden hospital where they died this morning. It could not be determined why an un-altered snake was in the cage.
...

Jesus. It's similar to the handling of a prop gun, which we've seen, even today and all too frequently, doesn't receive the proper attention it should.

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"Mrs. Miniver" continues its record-setting pace at Radio City Music Hall this week. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer attraction has been seen by 410,627 persons in the 18 days ending yesterday. No other picture in the Music Hall's ten year history has played to capacity houses for so long a period.
...

...

("Paddy-whack?" Ah, but what's an ethnic slur when you're in love.)
...

Having grown up in the '70s in a neighborhood where several ethnicities had intermarried, that kind of joking was quite common where a husband or wife of one ethnicity would make fun of his/her spouse's ethnicity, even using ethnic insults in a playful way. I saw it in NYC marriages in the '80s and '90s too, but today, everyone is too afraid to make that kind of joke.

...

("Woo! Woo!" The part of Irwin Higgs will be played today by Hugh Herbert.)

Good call, it's a very Hugh Herbert line. He could make a pretty good Irwin.

And in the Daily News....

"Very Social Sybarites." Oh my.
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RELEASE THE NAMES! RELEASE THE NAMES! RELEASE THE NAMES!

How stupid not to just pay the furniture dealers and keep your very profitable business running.

Heidi Fleiss was nothing new - she too had a list.

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"We have ways to make sure no one holds any out. You see that rug rolled up in the corner?"
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Who's the owner of the bonds / who collects after the war when they mature?

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Somehow I don't think Pat or Dude or Blaze or the DL is coming thru that door. Or even April.
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We know what will happen to Normandie in the next few panels if something/someone doesn't break in on the storyline quickly. Caniff does love the last-second rescue.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("HAH!" hahs Joe. "Two X cawds!! Ott'ney t'be X-O-X-O cawds?" "Hah!" hahs Sally in return. "Sen'nat one inta Colonna too!")

The War Production Board today announced plans to "progressively take" over 1,000,000 tons of copper now in civilian hands if the metal is needed for the armaments programs. Non-essential civilian goods made of copper would be required to be turned in under the plans, with WPB chairman Donald L. Nelson indicating that brass name plates would be the first items to be seized. Ornamental brasswork, fences, and statuary would also be liable to seizure should armaments manufacturers require the metal for war production.

Mounted police armed with sabers guarded the German embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina today, as public pressure for a diplomatic break with the Nazi government in the wake of the sinking by a U-Boat of the Argentine freighter Rio Tecero this week. Angry mobs seethed outside the embassy, and police attempting to keep order were stoned by the crowd in an attempt to get at the building.

The Board of Education today is considering a plan by new Superintendent of Schools Dr. John E. Wade to force the retirement of forty teachers who have been in school service more than 35 years in order to save the jobs of 125 teachers otherwise scheduled for dismissal on August 1st. Dr. Wade pointed out to the board that the salaries of the forty older teachers named in his report exceed those of the 125 younger teachers slated for dismissal. He further noted that the retirements would cause no hardship for those forty teachers, since they are all entitled to collect city pensions. The proposal comes as protests of the proposed firings continued today, with a group of 200 teachers "vigorously protested" the staff cuts before the Board. The Board moved to hold the matter in abeyance until a special meeting next Wednesday.

(All right, everybody settle down before somebody gets hurt.)

(Betcha Didn't Know Department: The Civilian Defense logo, which will become one of the most ubiquitous graphics of the 20th Century, was designed by Charles Coiner of the N. W. Ayer advertising agency -- the same artist who created another ubiquitous graphic of the Era, the Blue Eagle of the National Recovery Administration.)

(That we have no permanent record whatsoever of Gypsy Rose Lee and Bobby Clark -- he of the loud mouth, the baggy coats, and the painted-on glasses -- performing on the same stage is a great, great loss to students of American theatrical culture.)

("Have you considered Camp Upton?")

A movement to draft Wendell Willkie as the Republican candidate for Governor in the fall election is being rejected by Brooklyn's GOP regulars, even though they supported Mr. Willkie during his unsuccessful 1940 Presidential run. A survey of leading Brooklyn Republicans finds solid support instead for Manhattan District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey, with about fourteen of the twenty-three Republican clubs in the borough having already declared for Dewey.

(A five-of-nine Series, with each game played in a different city? WELL, AT LEAST THEY WON'T BE PLAYING AT THE POLO GROUNDS!)

(SIBYL DAR-DA-NELL-A! Now all we need is for Oakdale to burst thru the door yelling FATHER!)

(C'mon, kid, chauffeurs wear uniforms too.)

(Well, fine, but if this is how it's gonna go, you should at least put on an apron or a butcher's coat or something.)

("Ya mean we're gonna CROAK him? Gallopin' goldfish, Dan! Marsh was never like this!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

TOMMY!! We've missed ya! Hey, ever consider going to seminary?

What Mr. George R. Euell needs is a good dose of castor oil.

It's a hard time to be living in a speed trap.

Well, if you want cringing, Tony's the one you want.

Annoy Your Way To Victory!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww.

"Thank GOODNESS! Oh, and too bad about all these other chumps."

Dammit, King, Skeez is just a kid. I'm not ready for this.

Moon is really Helen Worth CONFIRMED.

I bet they make a wrong turn and come up in a drug store.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

(That we have no permanent record whatsoever of Gypsy Rose Lee and Bobby Clark -- he of the loud mouth, the baggy coats, and the painted-on glasses -- performing on the same stage is a great, great loss to students of American theatrical culture.)
....

What insane editor made the decision not to send a photographer out with Mr. Pollock, especially since there were "fetching, though diminutive, costumes" involved. I'm holding out hope for Page Four.

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(A five-of-nine Series, with each game played in a different city? WELL, AT LEAST THEY WON'T BE PLAYING AT THE POLO GROUNDS!)
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You can't get much more 1940s sport in America than Whirlaway challenging Seabiscuit's career-earnings record.

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(SIBYL DAR-DA-NELL-A! Now all we need is for Oakdale to burst thru the door yelling FATHER!)
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Great call, Lizzie.

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(C'mon, kid, chauffeurs wear uniforms too.)
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This is such a stock '30s/'40s storyline.

A rich person, for some reason, masquerades as a member of the working class and, then, falls in love with a society man/woman who thinks he/she is marrying down. In another version, a member of the working class, even though he/she swore to only "marry up" for money or position, falls in love with the masquerading worker.

When the person, rich or poor, reconciles themselves to marrying "just a common worker," because they are willing to marry for love alone, the big surprise comes when the "ersatz*" worker is revealed to really be a rich society person. Thus, the fiancé gets what he/she wanted all along, a rich society person whom they truly love.

Of course, because they would have married the person when they thought he/she was "just" a worker, their character and motives are not impugned. There are many movies in the '30s and '40s that riff on this basic story structure.


* In my head, I can hear Sally reading this line.

And in the Daily News...


TOMMY!! We've missed ya! Hey, ever consider going to seminary?
...

Yes, there's something comforting about seeing Tommy back on Page Four. Most surprisingly, I find I'm siding with him as the only thing Ms. McGowan seems completely divorced from is reality.

...

"Thank GOODNESS! Oh, and too bad about all these other chumps."
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He's got it completely backwards as, had Tracy been killed, nobody else would be around who has as brilliant an investigative mind as Tracy to solve the crime.

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I bet they make a wrong turn and come up in a drug store.

In "Larceny, Inc." they hit a water main.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("I don't know, Boss," sighs poor put-upon John MacDonald to his triumphant employer. "Do you really think it's a good idea? I mean, marchin' up and down Sullivan Place yellin' TICKETS IN THE MARBLE ROTUNDA ONLY! TICKETS IN THE MARBLE ROTUNDA ONLY! It's a public spectacle!" "Nonsense, boy!" roars Leland Stanford MacPhail. "These parasites must be put in their place! Hand me that shotgun." "Oh, Boss, not the shotgun. They still haven't fixed the ceiling in the office." "Nonsense, boy! That shotgun was defective! I have a new shotgun! From Davega! No, I tell you, these parasites will know what it is to do battle with Leland Stanford MacPhail! I now march forward! You may wish to make space on that wall. Next to the moose head, if you please!")

The Axis today revealed for the first time that patriotic Filipinos who refused to toe the Japanese mark in their occupied homeland have been executed, suggesting that the invaders may be resorting to Nazi-like methods in quelling local resistance. The German news agency Transocean in a dispatch from Tokio stated that eight Filipinos were shot on June 23rd at Manila on a charge of distributing anti-Japanese pamphlets. The charge was additionally grave, noted the report, because the incident is said to have occured on the birthday of the Japanese emperor.

General Douglas MacArthur's planes, in one of the heaviest air assaults yet launced in the southwest Pacific, struck the first blow today in a fight for control of those southern skies. Operating over a 2000-mile front, American and Australian airmen raided Dill in Timor Island of the northwest invasion zone, and Rabaul in New Britain Island of the northeast zone. They spread ruin thru the target areas, smashing airdromes, grounded planes, barracks, and supply dumps, and started fires the pilots could see from 60 miles away as they flew homeward.

Chinese forces have killed 2000 Japanese attacking positions on the slopes of the Taihang Mountains as they fight desperately to throw them out of the suburbs of the important air base city of Lishui. The report in a Chinese military communique also acknowledged that the highway town of Kinki, 80 miles southwest of Nanchang, has been lost.

A lively fight is expected when Mayor LaGuardia conducts a public hearing on a bill just passed by the City Council that would end abuses in the sale of live poultry. The bill was proposed after attorney Charles H. Birdsall, counsel for the Department of Markets, charged that New York City has become a known dumping ground for inferior poultry due to weak regulation of the business, and that customers are being cheated by the use of irregular scales. The bill requires the use of official weighmasters employed by the city on a civil-service basis. The opening of the city's new $500,000 Live Poultry Terminal in Long Island City is being held in abeyance pending a final decision on the bill, and a coalition of eighteen poultrymen is promising to keep the Terminal from ever opening by refusing to lease space there if it passes.

(Hey now, none of that here. Take it to a nightclub!)

("Fishin'?" marvels Joe. "In Flatbush?" "See," nods Sally. "One moeh reason t'buy a house out t'eah someday. Ya c'n go fishin' right in Prospec' Pawk Lake." "Or in ya ma's celleh when it rains." "Go ta woik, wise guy, ya gonna miss ya train.")

(Red Skelton makes a lot of movies, and I swear I can't tell most of them apart.)

Arch political enemies Rev. Edward Lodge Curran and Communist City Councilman Peter Cacchione have one thing in common: both hold X cards. Dr. Curran, head of the International Catholic Truth Society and former east coast representative for Father Coughlin, was issued the unlimited gasoline ration for the performance of his religious duties, while Councilman Cacchione received an X for use in "official duties."

Ninety percent of service stations and garages in the city have no gasoline to sell, and it is expected that the coming weekend will be the driest ever experienced for motorists. It is indicated that residents needing fuel for their weekend activities will have to travel outside the metropolitan area to get it.

("Supplemental pay.")

(Phelps is hitting, what, .350 something? And he doesn't make the All Star Team? I bet he'd so like to get together with Leo again!)

(Oh, Georgie!)

(Yeah, well, the Governor is still a prissy jerk. Be sure tell him so, kid.)

("Naw, I think there's been enough massive brain trauma for one day.")

(Marlene is really enjoying this role.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Ah, Page Four. An embarassment of riches.

Oh, and don't forget the ten drums of gasoline in the pantry.

He *owns* this bucket shop -- er, bank.

If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the recording studio. The air conditioner's broken.

Get ready for a big let-down.

As she casually rebuilds a differential.

A gum seller? Paging Dick Tracy.

Beezie's an idiot, but at least he's a happy idiot.

"I've been married to Sandhurst for five years. Don't think I can't stand up to torture."

 

[Fading Fast]

...

(Hey now, none of that here. Take it to a nightclub!)
...

I think I got it, but this is an oddly confusing story. Hopefully, Page Four will have a clearer take.

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(Red Skelton makes a lot of movies, and I swear I can't tell most of them apart.)
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Powell is on absolute fire in this number from "Ship Ahoy."

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(Oh, Georgie!)
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All that matters now is Jo. I'm scared.

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(Yeah, well, the Governor is still a prissy jerk. Be sure tell him so, kid.)
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"But, don't ever forget...he'd be just as fine a man if he was only a coachman."

"What? Oh, yeah, sure, of course, it, uh, makes no difference to me. Perhaps, you should start addressing me as 'Lady Stratford Burke' now....and, old lady, put a little deference in your voice when you say my name."

And in the Daily News...


Ah, Page Four. An embarassment of riches.
...

"Why are you so fat?"

"Where's my car? I want to get in it, turn on my siren and flash my 'Mayor' sign."

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"I've been married to Sandhurst for five years. Don't think I can't stand up to torture."

Okay, Caniff, enough fooling around, send in the cavalry.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("How'm I gonna joina Civil Patrol whateveh," huffs Joe, "when I'm woikin'a ovehnight shift out'n Long Islan'? I should maybe p'trol t' train? I ask ya!" "I wen' down an' tried t' sign up f't'at Patrol t'ing," hmphs Sally, "anney said 'g'wan home an' noiss ya baby.' I ASK YA!")

About 35 percent of Brooklyn's bus stops are to be eliminated as of 12:01 AM on Monday when the new city program to save gasoline and rubber by extending the distance between stops goes into effect. According to Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, most of the buses in the city will stop every fourth block instead of every second block as at present. Only on Manhattan crosstown lines, certain residential service routes in Brooklyn and Queens, and where transit lines intersect will existing stops remain in service. Most of the lines operating where blocks are 600 to 800 feet long will remain unaffected, but on lines where the regular 200 foot blocks are traversed, the distance between stops will increase from about 500 to about 1000 feet, or four blocks. Commissioner Valentine states that about 40 percent of stops citywide will be eliminated with a consequent savings in gasoline and rubber. All stops will be clearly marked by the appropriate signs.

(Dixie is the most popular Dodger, and no Dodger ever worked harder at being the most popular Dodger. Except with Leo, who can't stand him, and the feeling is mutual.)

A doubling of consumer sugar rations by the Office of Price Administration is expected within the next two weeks, it was announced today by the sugar committee of the Port of New York. The Committee, which represents every part of the city's sugar industry, has been urging an increase in the ration as the only solution to the problem of reducing refined sugar stocks claimed to be glutting warehouses across the nation. The increase would bring the allotment to one pound per person per week, or two pounds for each two-week stamp in the ration book. The glutting of warehouses was attributed to decreases in deliveries which have caused some refineries to shut down. In Edgewater, New Jersey, the National Sugar Refining Company shut down its plant which had been operating on a two-day-a-week schedule, and will consolidate all refining activities to its Long Island City works, which will operate on a four-day-a-week schedule, on alternate weeks.

(In the rear of the assembled ranks, a nervous soldier whispers to the man next to him. "Don' worry kid," replies Pvt. Solomon J. Pincus of Bensonhurst, USA. "All ya gotta do ya meet t'Queen is coitsey. Ya know, like ya dippin' ya gal doin' t' Big Apple, on'y by yaself." "You sure about that? Because none a' them other guys is doin' it." "It's a special honeh," declares Solly. "Trus' me, kid, she'll be impressed.")

Fifty-five filling stations in the metropolitan area, including nine in Brooklyn and Long Island, have had their gasoline supplies revoked by the Office of Price Administration for periods ranging from 15 to 30 days for violating rationing regulations, in most cases for selling fuel to customers not presenting the required ration card. Meanwhile, the owner of a Midwood gasoline station and his attendant were paroled for hearing on July 10th on disorderly conduct charges following a fracas yesterday at the 2247 Nostrand Avenue station. Station owner Khoren Keshishian and his employee Lawrence Brooks were brought before Magistrate Francis Giaccione on a complaint by David S. Roseman of 1641 E. 31st Street that the two men had hit him after refusing to sell him gas.

(Hey, Mr. Lichty. A word with you, please, about the "Good Neighbor Policy...")

The Eagle Editorialist relates with pride the story of a young Army recruit stationed at a camp out in California who, when presented with a gorgeous view of a sunny, rolling landscape, sighed and replied "It's the middle of nuthin'. In Brooklyn, we have people."

(Vaughan is "flue-ridden?" Well, keep your head out of the chimney then.)

(In spite of his zany stage persona, Bobby Clark is one of the world's leading scholarly authorities on the history of comedy, with a specialization in the Restoration era. Here, he lectures Miss Lee on the works of Edward Ravenscroft, as Miss Lee prepares to take strong issue with his interpretation of the role of Wiseacre in "The London Cuckolds.")

(Well, if it's marriage you want, Sibyl gets a quantity discount at City Hall.)

(Hey, it's tornado season!)

("Is that ME?" No, it's Li'l Abner!)

("Yessir, soon as you show me a warrant. Sir? Why are you looking at me like that?")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

He *is* looking a bit chubby, at that.

"The Bashful Backscratcher from Berkeley." What a great title for a Preston Sturges movie.

Welllllll played.

And she AIN'T bluffing!

There's no telling how far a sound effects technician will go! TRUST ME, I KNOW!

Yeah, but just to be safe you ought to square it with Morgenthau first.

You just never think, when you wake up in the morning and have your breakfast and crack open your paper that THIS will be the day you see Uncle Bim in his underwear having -- um -- regrets.

Well, good for him, but he'll still be peeling a lot of potatoes.

Which reminds me, they never did find who set off that bomb at the World's Fair.

"That has to be it! How else could she resist my Ronald Reagan shoulders?"

 

[Fading Fast]

...

The Eagle Editorialist relates with pride the story of a young Army recruit stationed at a camp out in California who, when presented with a gorgeous view of a sunny, rolling landscape, sighed and replied "It's the middle of nuthin'. In Brooklyn, we have people."
...

If we didn't know that Solly was already overseas, we'd have to wonder if he was stationed in California.

...

(In spite of his zany stage persona, Bobby Clark is one of the world's leading scholarly authorities on the history of comedy, with a specialization in the Restoration era. Here, he lectures Miss Lee on the works of Edward Ravenscroft, as Miss Lee prepares to take strong issue with his interpretation of the role of Wiseacre in "The London Cuckolds.")
...

Even though I was hoping for a picture of them in their "fetching, though diminutive, costumes," any pic of them is nice to have.

...

(Well, if it's marriage you want, Sibyl gets a quantity discount at City Hall.)
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I bet George didn't know until now that he and Jo lived in the "Garden of Love." How nice for them.

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(Hey, it's tornado season!)
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It would take Mary half a day at most to deal with the Wicked Witch of the West and the Wizard and she wouldn't have to schlep along a yellow brick road to do it.

And in the Daily News...

He *is* looking a bit chubby, at that.
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Is the Reverend Darlington a con artist and scammer? Yes. Did Ms. Paton know what she was doing? Yes. What galls her family is that Darlington outplayed them (and of course, got the money).

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"The Bashful Backscratcher from Berkeley." What a great title for a Preston Sturges movie.
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And that's just the nine that we know about.

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There's no telling how far a sound effects technician will go! TRUST ME, I KNOW!
...

Jeez, in the old movies, they're usually harmless-looking guys who flex a sheet of metal to make it sound like thunder or shut a piano lid to create a sound like a door closing.

...

Which reminds me, they never did find who set off that bomb at the World's Fair....

Despite what we've seen in 1940s movies, plenty of crimes went unsolved like the World's Fair bomb. For example, we had the bank robbery in Jersey and the newlywed found dead in the grease pit, to mention only a few. Of course, sometimes, even when a crime is solved, like in the case of the "missing" antique Belgian paving stones, no one is punished.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Here's a promotional still of Mr. Clark and Miss Lee in costume for one of their numbers in "Star and Garter." As you can assume from Miss Lee's outfit, it's fairly early in the number.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Isn't it, I dunno, counterproductive to drive around on your rationed gas trying to find a place to buy more rationed gas when you know there isn't any rationed gas to buy? Cars make people crazy.)

Thousands of U. S. Marines have landed at a South Pacific port after weeks of travel in a blacked out convoy, Marine Corps southern headquarters announced tonight. Not a man was lost in the crossing, it was stated, and not an enemy submarine was sighted. Landed with the Leathernecks at the unnamed port were Higgins boats, also called "Eurekas," and it was stated that where there are Higgins boats, there are also "alligators and crocodiles," alligators being amphibian tanks, and crocodiles being tank lighters, used by Marines in storming enemy beachheads and establishing a bridgehead.

A nine-state police alarm went out last night for Jack Parisi, reputed triggerman for the Murder-for-Money Gang, following an announcement by Assistant District Attorney Burton B. Turkus that a grand jury has returned an indictment against Parisi for first degree murder in connection with the slaying of Morris "Moishe" Diamond, who was shot to death in Brooklyn on May 25, 1939. Parisi has also been wanted in the Bronx for questioning in connection with the death of Irving Penn, music publisher, who was shot and killed by a gunman who reportedly mistook him for gangland figure Philip Orlosky.

Air Raid Wardens in the city will at long last received their promised helmets. Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine announced yesterday that 84,000 steel helmets issued by the Federal government for wardens' use have already been distributed to police precincts, and will be issued to wardens on Wednesday.

(That Annie gets around.)

Five hundred girls will, for the first time, be included in the annual baseball outing sponsored each summer by District Tax Supervisor David F. Soden for local orphans at Ebbets Field. Since 1930, Mr. Soden has hosted two thousand orphans from borough childrens' homes for a trip to the ballpark, and the increased interest in the Dodgers by "the fair sex" encouraged him this year to invite girls to attend, an idea strongly endorsed by Dodger President Larry MacPhail, who in 1938 introduced "Ladies' Day" at Ebbets Field. The orphans will be a loud and enthusiastic presence at Tuesday's game between the Dodgers and the Boston Braves, and before the contest will be treated to candy, crackers, cookies, ice cream, and other refreshments by Mrs. James Mulvey, daughter of the late Dodger co-owner Stephen W. McKeever, and Dodger stars Pee Wee Reese and Pete Reiser will sign balls for every orphan attending. Another innovation for this year's outing will be the inclusion of men and women in wheelchairs from the Jewish Sanitarium and Hospital for Chronic Diseases, E. 49th Street and Rutland Road. Jurors Commissioner John J. Flannery, known to the orphans as "Uncle John," will assist Mr. Soden in the administration of the event.

Reader J. T. Edwards writes in to complain that, "in spite of our government calling for old rubber," he saw, while riding on the Broadway Elevated, a pile of "fully a dozen" discarded tires lying in a vacant lot at Broadway and Rodney Street. "Can't something be done about this?"

Brooklyn's Sylvia Marlowe, America's greatest authority on the harpsichord, may play an instrument that reached its greatest popularity in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries -- but the way she plays it is strictly up to date. Miss Marlowe's swing stylings on the harpsichord have been heard at the Rainbow Room, at the Museum of Modern Art, and in her own radio program, "Lavender and Old Lace." Miss Marlowe, a graduate of Brooklyn's Manual High, studied piano in France under the famous Nina Boulanger, and there became interested in the harpsichord. "Jazz is highly suited to the harpsichord," she explained in an interview at her 69 Columbia Heights apartment. "I was the first, perhaps the only one to bring a harpsichord into a nightclub," she continued, admitting that she enjoys jolting people who "take themselves too seriously."

(Hey Whirly, why aren't you in the Army? And note the Johnny Mize item -- ballplayers in 1942 receive no royalties whatsoever from bubble-gum cards, and any manufacturer who wants to put them out does so without any consideration to those whose pictures they sell. The ballplayers are supposed to be flattered by the attention, but you can't deposit flattery at the bank.)

Tommy Holmes notes that even though the upcoming All Star Game will be played at the Polo Grounds instead of Ebbets Field, as originally assigned, in order to ensure a bigger gate to benefit the Army Navy Relief Fund, it's still Brooklyn's game -- with seven Dodgers named to the squad, and Leo Durocher managing the National League team, there's certain to be a distinct Flatbush flavor to the proceedings. The winner of the game next Monday night will go on to meet Mickey Cochrane's Service All-Star team in Cleveland the following evening.

(Either this is a very old photo, or Leo's wearing a rug. And I'm sorry, but I really didn't need to have my image of Mr. Medwick spoiled by the thought of him going around puffing on a long cigarette holder. He's Ducky, not the Penguin.)

"Former Old 14th Warder" writes in to the Old Timers' page to recall the old days at P. S. 38 back in the late '70s, when all the kids knew that if they all brought apples for the teacher, the teacher would get sick of apples, and hand them out to the class as an after-school treat.

Irving Berlin himself, composer of the new service show "This Is The Army," opening next week at the Broadway Theatre, will be the only civilian in the cast of 300. Mr. Berlin, togged out in 1917 doughboy regalia, will sing "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning," hit song of his First World War camp show, "Yip Yip Yaphank."

Erich Von Stroheim takes over the role of the murderous Jonathan Brewster, originated by Boris Karloff, in "Arsenic And Old Lace" as of Monday night's performance at the Fulton Theatre. Von Stroheim has been touring with the show in the role for the past year and tomorrow's performance will mark his first appearance on the New York stage after a lenghty and eventful career in Hollywood. Mr. Von Stroheim took the part on the touring version of the hit play to break out of the typecast monocle-wearing villain roles that have followed him thruout his time on the screen. He spent several years in France where he played a wide range of roles in films, including the famous "Grand Illusion," before returning to America with the outbreak of the war.

("Well, go get the horse, but never mind the clothes.")

(Frau Scholtz-Klink, once "the most powerful woman in Germany," will survive until 1999, and will remain an unrepentant Nazi for all her days.)

("Dunn thinks he's a detective? Tracy thinks he's a detective? I'll show you who's a detective!")

(Bleek, you're a cold-blooded SOB, you know that? And wherever he has gone, Norman Marsh exhales a sigh of relief that he doesn't have to deal with Irwin any more.)

(Sleep deprivation can be deadly.)

("She was an ac-ro-bat's daugh-ter, she swung by her teeth from a noose! Till one mat-in-ee, her bridge-work gave way -- and she flew thru the air like a goose! Whooooooooooooa!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Well, it's not like there's anything else to do in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Suntans? Bleah. They just make the cat-scratch scars stand out.

"WE'VE ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE! Ha! Ha! Get it?"

Y'know, we've had every circus-movie cliche in the book so far, and yet I'm still sincerely interested in how this is going to play out. Well done, Gus.

For a moment there, I thought that was Emmy herself in bed with "Otho," which would certainly give the situation an interesting twist.

It'd be a hell of a thing if the only one who shows up to rescue Normandie is Smilin' Jack.

Implausible deniability.

Twenty years from now, Josie and Butch will be a world-famous husband-and-wife criminal team.

Y'know, Caniff has a really sick sense of humor.

You better shell out, Mrs. Sleet, if you know what's good for you.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

Five hundred girls will, for the first time, be included in the annual baseball outing sponsored each summer by District Tax Supervisor David F. Soden for local orphans at Ebbets Field. Since 1930, Mr. Soden has hosted two thousand orphans from borough childrens' homes for a trip to the ballpark, and the increased interest in the Dodgers by "the fair sex" encouraged him this year to invite girls to attend, an idea strongly endorsed by Dodger President Larry MacPhail, who in 1938 introduced "Ladies' Day" at Ebbets Field. The orphans will be a loud and enthusiastic presence at Tuesday's game between the Dodgers and the Boston Braves, and before the contest will be treated to candy, crackers, cookies, ice cream, and other refreshments by Mrs. James Mulvey, daughter of the late Dodger co-owner Stephen W. McKeever, and Dodger stars Pee Wee Reese and Pete Reiser will sign balls for every orphan attending. Another innovation for this year's outing will be the inclusion of men and women in wheelchairs from the Jewish Sanitarium and Hospital for Chronic Diseases, E. 49th Street and Rutland Road. Jurors Commissioner John J. Flannery, known to the orphans as "Uncle John," will assist Mr. Soden in the administration of the event.
...

Nice.

...
(Hey Whirly, why aren't you in the Army? And note the Johnny Mize item -- ballplayers in 1942 receive no royalties whatsoever from bubble-gum cards, and any manufacturer who wants to put them out does so without any consideration to those whose pictures they sell. The ballplayers are supposed to be flattered by the attention, but you can't deposit flattery at the bank.)
...

"I tried to enlist in the cavalry, but I was 4F'd with the other thoroughbreds because my legs are too fragile. I offered to do desk work, but the keys on the typewriter are too small for my hoofs. It's all horseism."

It would be hard to find a more-obvious violation of individual rights and private-property ownership than having someone else profit from the sale of your picture without your consent.

"...you can't deposit flattery at the bank." Well said.

...

(Frau Scholtz-Klink, once "the most powerful woman in Germany," will survive until 1999, and will remain an unrepentant Nazi for all her days.)
...

Odd to see Wendell Wilkie's pants referred to has "jeans," as those are not jeans in any way. Plus, the word "jeans" was not as common in the 1940s as it is today, nor was it a generic synonym for all types of pants back then.

And in the Daily News...

Well, it's not like there's anything else to do in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
...

At least the Zipper Girl only married once.

...

It'd be a hell of a thing if the only one who shows up to rescue Normandie is Smilin' Jack.
...

Man would Pat be jealous.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Never a dull moment!)

Thousands of pledges continue to pour into district canvassing offices today as the Greater New York War Bond Pledge Campaign came to a close by far exceeding its quota. The two-week campaign ended last night with the goal of 2,000,000 pledges assured, ranging from ten cents a month by unemployed persons to $100,000 a year. Although the drive ended officially at midnight, there are indications that many volunteers would continue mopping-up operations today and tomorrow in hopes of signing up every prospect. It is expected to be several weeks before the pledges can be totaled up in terms of dollars and cents, but it is believed that the average pledge will be somewhat above the ten-percent of total income quota asked by the Treasury Department.

Gasoline, if you can find it, will cost you 2 1/2 cents per gallon more today, and home-heating fuel oil 2 cents a gallon more. The increase authorized last week by the Office of Price Administration went into effect on the East Coast this morning accompanied by a chorus of protest from many quarters. The Eastern States Gasoline Dealers Conference released a statement today emphasizing that none of the price increase will go to retailers, and agreed with remarks made yesterday by Mayor LaGuardia in his weekly broadcast stating that the increase will go entirely to fuel producers, toward meeting the cost of overland shipments, and will therefore contribute to inflation. The conference, meeting in Asbury Park, New Jersey, also agreed with the Mayor in passing a resolution urging the OPA to immediately extend gasoline rationing to other parts of the country. Another resolution expressed opposition to the planned start of coupon rationing on July 22nd, and calls instead for coupon rationing for suppliers only, with individual dealers allowed to exercise their own judgement instead of being required to provide all motorists the full amount called for per ration unit.

(Deeper and deeper it goes.)

("It ain't showin' IN Brooklyn t'ough," grumbles Sally. "Whattabou'tt'at??" "I hope t'ey lett'at Frankie Germano play 'imse'f," adds Joe. )

Reader John Louis McFadden writes in to accuse gasoline station operators of "racketeering," by pretending to be out of gas but secretly holding out a supply for favored customers. He claims to have seen a dealer at a station with "SORRY NO GAS" signs on display speak to a motorist, and then pour gasoline from a hidden five-gallon can into the tank of the car. "This, of course, is discrimination," he declares. "It is disgusting to those of us who want to cooperate and do the right thing. The writer has reached the stage where we are willing to turn our car over to the Government for a $50 defense bond."

(Making the best of the situation!)

A Bay Ridge woman was fined $2 for disorderly conduct after punching a taxicab driver in the face. Thirty-five year old Emily Bunting of 153 77th Street was originally arraigned before Magistrate Frances W. Lehrich in Brooklyn Weekend Court on a charge of simple assault after cabbie William Pechefski charged that she had refused to pay her $2.45 fare after he drove her to Bay Ridge from 14th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. He went to the Fort Hamilton precinct to report the refusal, and while they were arguing, Mrs. Bunting struck the driver. Mrs. Bunting pleaded guilty and agreed to pay Pechefski the $2.45 in exchange for a reduction in the charge.

(Well, I suppose it's better than having McHugh play Hilda. But why not let Jack himself play the part? With Cookie in the service, he must be feeling kind of down this year, and it would cheer him up.)

("Did she ask about me?" Oh, Josephine.)

(Tomorrow: Bill as the Scarecrow, Dennie as the Tin Man, Mary as the Cowardly Lion, and Sunny as Dorothy. And Angel Varden returns as the Wicked Witch, with Slim Worth as the flying monkey, Leona as the Good Witch, and John as the Wizard. IT WRITES ITSELF.)

("Great, but first change out of those clothes and take a shower. It's summer and you've just spent two hours in a garbage can. Use the Lifebuoy, would you?")

(And please welcome, joining us today in the role of Fritz, Mr. Herman Bing.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

When things happen, they happen fast.

And somewhere out in Flushing, a sad, sweaty man in a dented straw hat and wilted shirtsleeves wanders aimlessly yelling "HELLO FOLKS!"

"What's in the bag? Oh, nuthin'...."

"A tetanus shot? Can we at least finish the potato salad first?"

Serves ya right for not returning your empties!

"Or serving as entertainment for my men." "Hey ma, what's the man mean? What's he?"

Good move, kid, not telling the Army your real name's "Allison."

Sweet, generous, MARRIED Uncle Bim.

Well, I was hoping she'd just shoot him, but I guess this'll work too.

"Fortunately his shape made it easy. Try it with Plushie sometime!"

 

[Fading Fast]

...

("It ain't showin' IN Brooklyn t'ough," grumbles Sally. "Whattabou'tt'at??" "I hope t'ey lett'at Frankie Germano play 'imse'f," adds Joe. )
...

If they were truly casting for Frank Germano, Eugene Pallette is darn close in appearance, but my guess is the job would go to Frank McHugh as Hollywood would humor the role up, which would put it right in McHugh's character-actor sweet spot.

Germano...........................................Pallette..............................

...

A Bay Ridge woman was fined $2 for disorderly conduct after punching a taxicab driver in the face. Thirty-five year old Emily Bunting of 153 77th Street was originally arraigned before Magistrate Frances W. Lehrich in Brooklyn Weekend Court on a charge of simple assault after cabbie William Pechefski charged that she had refused to pay her $2.45 fare after he drove her to Bay Ridge from 14th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. He went to the Fort Hamilton precinct to report the refusal, and while they were arguing, Mrs. Bunting struck the driver. Mrs. Bunting pleaded guilty and agreed to pay Pechefski the $2.45 in exchange for a reduction in the charge.
...

It shouldn't be, but it's kinda funny that she only hit him later when they were at the police precinct. That sounds more like a Hollywood script and a role Lombard would have played than a real thing.

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View attachment 435681
(Well, I suppose it's better than having McHugh play Hilda. But why not let Jack himself play the part? With Cookie in the service, he must be feeling kind of down this year, and it would cheer him up.)

...

Heck of a good pic upper right, catches the key moment, plus the hat flying off is fantastic.

Interesting interview with Tom Smith simply because he truly was pretty darn silent. It's funny to have learned about him in the very popular book "Seabiscuit" by Laura Hillenbrand back in 1999 and, now, to have read about him "in real time" for the past few years in these Day by Days.

...

("Did she ask about me?" Oh, Josephine.)
...

Kudos to Tuthill for one heck of a meta-character-revealing line with that one.

...

And somewhere out in Flushing, a sad, sweaty man in a dented straw hat and wilted shirtsleeves wanders aimlessly yelling "HELLO FOLKS!"
...

It seemed at the time that the Fair was exceeding attendance expectations, so it's surprising that it lost money for its investors. I would think there will be a few investors who'll want a closer look at the books.

...

Sweet, generous, MARRIED Uncle Bim.
...

"Shut up, I'm not married when I'm in the club."

"Marriage doesn't work that way, yes you are."

"You bother me kid, here's twenty bucks, now go away."

...

Well, I was hoping she'd just shoot him, but I guess this'll work too.
...

You know he wasn't going to give her a cut anyway.