The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

You can also, if you have sufficient funds, own Fat Freddie's actual hat --

Size 7 3/8 if you're curious. Even his head...

 

[Fading Fast]

...Even his head...

 

[Fading Fast]

Imagine a paper selling close to two million copies a day. And that isn't even the peak. The News was still right up around that level when I was reading it regularly in the 70s, but when the drop came, it came fast. They barely hit ten percent of that now.

We had the story back in the winter, I think, about "Bundles Mary" from Flatbush, who had the same kind of poverty/hidden wealth deal going. An awful lot of untreated mental illness in 1940, but probably also a lot of elderly women who'd rather live like that than be shoved into some "Home for the Aged," which in 1940 had all the joy of a prison hospital.

Blaze is absolutely perfect for a third base coach. I bet without his whiskers he'd look exactly like Don Zimmer. Tracy would be good for first base coach, since all he'd have to do is stand around waving his arms. And I nominate Bill Biff for the fan who always writes in to the paper to complain that it's time to fire the manager because this bunch of bums just can't win the big ones, and Singh-Singh for the crazy fan who sits in the cheap seats, screams incoherently, eats twelve hot dogs, and always spills beer on me.

To my astonishment, Fat Freddie's gravestone reads merely "Frederick Landis Fitzsimmons, 1901-1979." And even more so, the bowling alley he'll soon open on Empire Boulevard, just a spitball from Ebbets Field, fails to feature his spectacular nickname:

View attachment 243879 Clearly he has much to learn about the value of building a personal brand.

It would have been too good to be true if he had named his bowling alley Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons Lanes. Or even better, if that was on his gravestone. Sometimes the best thing to do is just own it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The unpredictable race for the Republican presidential nomination took another startling turn today in Philadelphia, when the Republican National Convention chairman and keynote speaker, Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota, declared himself for Wendell Willkie. Immediately after Stassen's statement, more than half of New York State's 92 delegates, who arrived at the convention pledged to Thomas E. Dewey, called on Willkie for what was described as "a friendly visit" arranged by Mayor Rolland V. Marvin of Syracuse, a prominent Willkie supporter.

Meanwhile a proposed anti-war plank in the party platform generated heated debate on the convention floor, with C. Wayland Brooks, Republican senatorial nominee from Illinois demanding the inclusion of isolationist language in the document, especially the phrase "we insist that not one drop of the blood of American youth be spilled on foreign soil for the purpose of interfering in any European or Asiatic conflict." Arguments over the phrase grew so angry that platform drafting committee chairman George Wharton Pepper left the room, declaring that he was "through." It was only thru the intervention of former vice president Charles V. Dawes that an agreement was finally reached to drop the phrase.

British landing parties today stabbed into the Continental coastline front behind which Germany is preparing for "the Battle of Britain," in sorties described as "a new phase of aggressive action." There were several German casualities in the raids, and it is stated that the British raiders returned home with "much useful information." The attacks were believed to mark the start of a far-ranging guerilla campaign against German coastal positions.

A mass exodus from a a mile-long stretch of 3rd Avenue was underway today with resentful fugitives from Parks Commissioner Robert Moses' plan for an $11,000,000 approach to the proposed Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in headlong flight. With an eviction order requiring all persons to vacate the affected properties by next Monday, a few citizens are determined to stand their ground in their cold-water flats in a ghostly neighborhood of now-abandoned homes, shops, bars, and other establishments emptied out in preparation for mass demoltion along the east side of 3rd Avenue between 18th and 38th Streets. More than a thousand persons, most of them long-time residents, have been dispossessed by the order. The neighborhood will be replaced by a broad express highway connecting the South Brooklyn end of the East River tube with the Belt Parkway at Owl's Head Par.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John H. McCooey has taken under advisement the latest turn in the legal battle to save the life of Bob the Dog. An affadavit from Mrs. Jennie Carbone of 901 Ditmas Avenue read in court today stated that she saw the biting incident on March 6, 1939 held to be the third to involve Bob, and declared that the dog involved in that incident was not Bob, but another Spitz who looks like him. Attorney George Dyson Friou, representing Bob and his owner, Mrs. Helen Ditmas of 809 Ditmas Avenue, is also challenging the legality of the Sanitation Department's three-bites-and-you're-out policy.

The Packard Motor Car Company may receive a government contract to build nine thousand aircraft engines, after Henry Ford refused to fulfill the contract. The Ford Motor Company had originally received the order, but the company founder cancelled it because six thousand of the engines were to go to Great Britain. Ford declared that he will build engines for the United States, but not for Britain or any other nation.

(Your paper may be a little late tomorrow.)

The college girls in the Class of 1940 aren't what you think they are, say the authors of "She's Off To College," a new study of the modern young woman. Dr. Guilelma Fell Aslop and Mary F. McBride of Brooklyn studied today's collegiate scene, and argue that the image of the "swaggering lipsticked type who could give mother a few pointers on sex, with a code of personal behavior that would give mother and dad the heebie-jeebies" is largely a creation of "smart novelists." The two authors say they found the average college girl they interviewed to be on the shy side -- but not at all delicate. "She can't be fragile," the authors stress. "There's no time for it."

"Naomi," 37-year-old mother of two writes to Helen Worth for advice on what to do about her cheating husband, who's involved with a divorcee and refuses to give her up. "He is the type who should never marry, he constantly talks about maintaining his individuality." Helen tells her to stick it out until the kids are older, and in the meantime to avoid "tears, scoldings, and angry reproaches." What do the readers think?

(The birth pangs of modern suburbia.)

Why aren't the Dodgers winning at home? That's the question everyone is asking around Ebbets Field, and the answer has a lot to do with unsteady pitching, says Harold Parrott. Take Luke Hamlin, for example. The prodigal boy returned home for last night's game against the Cubs, Durocher sent him out there, and he got slapped out of the box in the sixth inning. Hugh Casey, who was the next big thing in 1939, got the same treatment and left in the 12th. And then came Newell Kimball, who was pasted for five runs in the top of the thirteenth, and that was that.

The loss leaves the Flock with a record of 2-8 in its last ten home games, and the home crowds are getting surly. Joe Medwick, hitting only .250 in a Brooklyn uniform, heard the voice of the bird for the first time as he arrived here as he took his outfield position after grounding into a double play to squash a Dodger rally in the 10th. A firecracker-thrower and a bottle-hurler were ejected from the park before the night was over.

("Buncha bums," says Joe. "That Medwick, that big stiff. He shoulda stayed in bed. An' *your* boy, one for six. What kinda night you call that?" "It was late!" growls Sally. "Whattaya want from him?" "Needs ta cut down on th' nightclubbin'," retorts Joe. "Ya don' hit th' coive ball from th' Columbus Club Roof.")

Last night's game nearly hit the 1 AM curfew, but the clubs will have little chance to catch up on their rest, with a day game this afternoon.

The Dodgers have started opening all of their home games by playing Kate Smith's Victor recording of "God Bless America." But in a possible indication of her personal loyalties, Miss Smith invited the entire Reds team to attend a recent broadcast as her guests of honor.

("Black Friday" is a weird, weird picture -- but not as weird as its marketing approach. Glamour Boys indeed.)

(STOMP HIM NOW)

(John, you priceless sap. Why isn't Leona running for Governor?)

(Every comics fan knows about the bondage-domination themes in "Wonder Woman," but few realize that "Dan Dunn" blazed the way.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I hope that if Lowell Limpus is planning a career as a war correspondent, he'll consider changing his name.

A new layout doesn't make it any more exciting. Bring back Chef Oscar Levant.

Ah, summertime, with the potato bushes all in bloom....

John is suicidal, and Jill is a dope not to see it. It's written all over this storyline.

Bim is a man of faith. In the eight years he's known Mamma she's never once listened to reason, but still he believes.

"It stands for -- ah -- Paul --- Reynaud. Yes, that's it. I'm very concerned about the situation in France."

Skeezix, in two weeks you're going home to see Nina. Remember Nina? You two were very serious? Nina Clock. You went to high school with her, remember? Her father just paid you a visit? N-I-N-A, Nina. Ahh, the hell with it.

Of course it'll have to be the most mature, responsible one of you. Let's see -- Beezie, Shadow, Lilacs, Poison, and Goofy. Hmm. Pop, you sure *you* don't want to go yourself?

Can't ever get enough of "Sad Walrus Face" Plushie.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John H. McCooey has taken under advisement the latest turn in the legal battle to save the life of Bob the Dog. An affadavit from Mrs. Jennie Carbone of 901 Ditmas Avenue read in court today stated that she saw the biting incident on March 6, 1939 held to be the third to involve Bob, and declared that the dog involved in that incident was not Bob, but another Spitz who looks like him. Attorney George Dyson Friou, representing Bob and his owner, Mrs. Helen Ditmas of 809 Ditmas Avenue, is also challenging the legality of the Sanitation Department's three-bites-and-you're-out policy....

I'm all for whatever saves Bob, but it is stunning how long this case has been going on for and how high it's reached (and how much time and effort by some, I'm guessing, highly paid people has been devoted to it). It shows that, in 1940, many got the value of, not only Bob, but the principal behind saving him.

...
(Your paper may be a little late tomorrow.)...

Not unlike the, um, productivity of an office the day after the office Christmas party.

Kidding aside, though, that's great, glad they are doing it.

...
("Black Friday" is a weird, weird picture -- but not as weird as its marketing approach. Glamour Boys indeed.)...

"Waterloo Bridge" is an outstanding movie. Leigh gives a performance - as a woman truly up against it - that's right up there with her famous "Gone With the Wind" performance.

This young lady can act, Ms. Leigh in "Waterloo Bridge."

... (John, you priceless sap. Why isn't Leona running for Governor?)..

So, what we've learned is that John is only against cheating, spying and dirty politics when it's not to his advantage.

... (Every comics fan knows about the bondage-domination themes in "Wonder Woman," but few realize that "Dan Dunn" blazed the way.)

"Umm, Irwin, I don't want to complain, but now would be a good time to step on it." Dan Dunn

... View attachment 243976 I hope that if Lowell Limpus is planning a career as a war correspondent, he'll consider changing his name....

...
A new layout doesn't make it any more exciting. Bring back Chef Oscar Levant.....

That is terrible copy. The opening line sounds like Childs is all but yelling angrily at its customers. Childs needs to start over with a new ad agency or new in-house staff. Don Draper isn't there yet, but heck, give Sterling Cooper a shot.

...
Ah, summertime, with the potato bushes all in bloom........

The engineer jumped right past the question and started solving it as a problem. We all are who we are.

Oh, and nice hat Ms. D'Andrea

... Bim is a man of faith. In the eight years he's known Mamma she's never once listened to reason, but still he believes....

"She Buzzard," Mamma is the exact opposite person of whom she wants people to think she is.

... "It stands for -- ah -- Paul --- Reynaud. Yes, that's it. I'm very concerned about the situation in France."....

Wasp-waist Raven in panel 3.

... Skeezix, in two weeks you're going home to see Nina. Remember Nina? You two were very serious? Nina Clock. You went to high school with her, remember? Her father just paid you a visit? N-I-N-A, Nina. Ahh, the hell with it....

Nina Clock is an outstanding comic strip name. I'm looking forward to really meeting her.

Also, what the heck is Snipe's game? First she pushes Skeezix to Tula and, now that he's broke, she's getting interested? Good for her if it's genuine, but I'm skeptical.

And panel three is that moment, that moment when you notice, if it's a subtle and nice one, a women's perfume or, even, shampoo. It's a moment that can stay with you long after it's over.

 

[LizzieMaine]

With ten candidates seeking the nomination, the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia will conduct its first presidential ballot this afteroon at 4:30 pm, after a morning session that suggested the three leading candidates are maintaining their positions. There was increasing speculation among delegates this morning that Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, the most conservative of the leading candidates, was building momentum, but it was acknowledged that there has been no change in the relative positioning of the three top candidates. Taft supporters expressed the belief that they have succeeded in their effort to stop Wendell L. Willkie of Indiana, and predicted that a key bloc of fifty to sixty Pennsylvania delegates will shift to Taft.

There is also talk of a boom for former President Herbert Hoover, centering around California's delegation, which is said to be ready to support Hoover if it appears that he has a chance to win the nomination, but if not, Taft operatives are convinced that the former President can convince those delegates to move to their candidate, stating that Mr. Hoover is "friendly" to their candidate's views. A group of New York delegates is also said to be viewing Hoover's possible candidacy with interest. Meanwhile, Mr. Hoover himself is said to be putting himself forward as "the leader of a leaderless herd," and it is stated that key party operatives are seeking his counsel and his guidance as the race develops.

The Soviet Union is demanding that Rumania return the province of Bessarabia to Russian control. That territory, historically a part of Russia until 1918, heads a list of concessions sought by the Soviet government from the Rumanian government. Also sought are portions of the Province of Bucovina, formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and control of the Black Sea naval port of Constanta. The concessions, if granted, would give the Soviets control of key German supply routes. In Germany, press reports express official "disinterest" in the Soviet demands, but in other developments affecting Rumania, there are indications that Adolf Hitler has assured Hungary that its demands for the return of Transylvania from Rumanian control will be met.

Germany is reported to be massing an invasion fleet along the channel coast of France, in preparation for a full-scale assault on Great Britain. It is reported that Italy has dispatched an expeditionary force by way of France, Belgium, and Holland to join with Germany in an attack on the British south coast. In response, the British government has increased its orders for armaments and supplies from the United States, with Minister of Supply Herbert Morrison telling the House of Commons that "it is better to have too much than to risk having too little."

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are no longer landowners in Brooklyn, with their property at 541 Clinton Street having been auctioned off in foreclosure to the Dime Savings Bank. The Bank was the only bidder in the auction this morning at the Real Estate Exchange, 189 Montague Street, although Mrs. Sadie O'Brien, appearing at the auction on behalf of the bank's attorney Albert Hutton, did look around the room for a German envoy before placing the bid. The four-story store and apartment building was deeded to Hitler and Stalin in January of this year by the previous owners, the 541 Clinton Street Corporation, as a means of avoiding foreclosure for non-payment of taxes.

A civil trial will be held to determine whether former police lieutenant Cuthbert J. Behan will lose his pension following his removal from the force. Behan was acquitted in civil court on charges of theft of bail documents from the Bergen Street police station connected to the Amen Office probe of the borough bail-bond racket, but was subsequently removed from the force by Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine following a departmental trial. That removal order included the revocation of Behan's $2000-per-year pension, but he has appealed that ruling and demanded the matter be decided in court. Supreme Court Justice Ernest Hammer today issued a ruling calling for a trial.

Helen Keller observed her sixtieth birthday today by declaring a "day of mourning for the world." The famous blind and deaf author and lecturer was quoted by her secretary as saying "the world today is in such a state I cannot be gay by any manner of means. My only consolation is that I am able to continue my work in service to others and inspire them to further accomplishment."

Fifteen hundred doll collectors from every state in the union converge today at the Sachs Auditorium, 505 8th Avenue, in Manhattan for their annual convention under the sponsorship of the American Hobby Federation. The convention brings together hundreds of rare and exotic dolls from all over the world, with Brooklyn collectors well represented. Among the exhibits is the only Currier and Ives paper doll known to survive, owned by Miss Marion J. Terry of 12 Remsen Street. Miss Terry's mother cut out the doll in 1865, and dressed it in a scrap of tulle cut from her own wedding gown.

(The more things change....)

The first woman employed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has died at her Brooklyn home at the age of 86. Miss Carrie Foster was hired by the Metropolitan at the age of twenty-four, and eventually rose to a position supervising all of the women employed by the company. She retired in 1929, after a fifty-two year career with the firm.

The Dodgers are hoping a road trip against the league's doormats will pull them out of their current slump, with Boston and Philadelphia next on the agenda for ten of the next thirteen games. The other three games will pit Brooklyn against the Giants, who are likely to be just as shaky about that series as the Flock. The Bees close out the current Brooklyn homestand on Friday, and then the two teams travel back to Boston for another set. From there it's on to Philadelphia, back to New York for the Giants series, and then out west for Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. The Dodgers are looking forward to leaving Ebbets Field behind, considering their poor performance so far in the present homestand, compared to losing only five road games all season.

Van Lingle Mungo may or may not ever pitch again. The sore-armed righthander has gone on the voluntarily retired list to undergo shoulder surgery, and experts say there is only a 50 to 1 chance that he'll ever again take the mound.

The Bay Parkways will clash with the Brooklyn Royal Giants in a doubleheader Sunday at Erasmus Field. The Royal Giants, oldest Negro club in the East, feature the outstanding "fancy Dan" first baseman Dave "Showboat" Thomas.

(Double features? Who needs 'em?)

(NOOOOOO! Not the farmer and the clown! Anything but them!!)

(Sugar and the elephant = Sisyphus and the rock.)

(What old times? You haven't even known each other six months.)

(OK, so I was joking the other day about the bondage stuff. But now....)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Of all the slimy characters who made up the American radical-right fringe in 1940, Joe McWilliams was one of the slimiest. Winchell sneered at him as "the soapbox fuehrer," but he was really just a cheap, violent, racist thug surrounded by a personal cadre of cheap, violent, racist thugs looking for an excuse to beat up anyone who looked Jewish.

There's always something to do in New York.

Two or three Collinses will make you forget about everything else, too. Fun fact: Maywood, New Jersey is the home of the only factory in the US authorized to decocainize coca leaf, most of which was sold to the Coca-Cola Company as a flavoring ingredient.

NICK'S BOAT! NICK'S BOAT!

"For example, I am manipulating you, right now. But because I am Chinese and approach you in pretended deference, and you are Caucasian, you assume that you deal with me from a position of inherent superiority and you thus lower your guard and reveal your weakness. See how that works?"

No bars on the windows??

PUNCH HIM NOW

Plushie's gotta tip the scales at, what, 250 or so? Moon's been working out.

If this storyline doesn't end with Jerome riding a dog being chased by Mama in a stolen auto transport chased by Tracy on a commandeered rodeo pony, I'm going to be sadly, sadly disappointed.

Pop really needs to rethink his business plan.

 

[Fading Fast]

With ten candidates seeking the nomination, the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia will conduct its first presidential ballot this afteroon at 4:30 pm, after a morning session that suggested the three leading candidates are maintaining their positions. There was increasing speculation among delegates this morning that Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, the most conservative of the leading candidates, was building momentum, but it was acknowledged that there has been no change in the relative positioning of the three top candidates. Taft supporters expressed the belief that they have succeeded in their effort to stop Wendell L. Willkie of Indiana, and predicted that a key bloc of fifty to sixty Pennsylvania delegates will shift to Taft.

View attachment 244155

There is also talk of a boom for former President Herbert Hoover, centering around California's delegation, which is said to be ready to support Hoover if it appears that he has a chance to win the nomination, but if not, Taft operatives are convinced that the former President can convince those delegates to move to their candidate, stating that Mr. Hoover is "friendly" to their candidate's views. A group of New York delegates is also said to be viewing Hoover's possible candidacy with interest. Meanwhile, Mr. Hoover himself is said to be putting himself forward as "the leader of a leaderless herd," and it is stated that key party operatives are seeking his counsel and his guidance as the race develops....

If this has put you in the mood for political-convention machinations, yes, there is a good movie on them: 1964's "The Best Man" (comments here #26577). It's a well-done movie showing the ugly back-door dealing that takes place at conventions:

...Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are no longer landowners in Brooklyn, with their property at 541 Clinton Street having been auctioned off in foreclosure to the Dime Savings Bank. The Bank was the only bidder in the auction this morning at the Real Estate Exchange, 189 Montague Street, although Mrs. Sadie O'Brien, appearing at the auction on behalf of the bank's attorney Albert Hutton, did look around the room for a German envoy before placing the bid. The four-story store and apartment building was deeded to Hitler and Stalin in January of this year by the previous owners, the 541 Clinton Street Corporation, as a means of avoiding foreclosure for non-payment of taxes....

This will also make it easier for Hitler and Stalin to file their tax returns as ownership of foreign property, and any related income or expenses, always complicates a return.

...A civil trial will be held to determine whether former police lieutenant Cuthbert J. Behan will lose his pension following his removal from the force. Behan was acquitted in civil court on charges of theft of bail documents from the Bergen Street police station connected to the Amen Office probe of the borough bail-bond racket, but was subsequently removed from the force by Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine following a departmental trial. That removal order included the revocation of Behan's $2000-per-year pension, but he has appealed that ruling and demanded the matter be decided in court. Supreme Court Justice Ernest Hammer today issued a ruling calling for a trial....

The Eagle is cleaning off its desk with these last two stories. My guess is Behan will win his pension.

...The Bay Parkways will clash with the Brooklyn Royal Giants in a doubleheader Sunday at Erasmus Field. The Royal Giants, oldest Negro club in the East, feature the outstanding "fancy Dan" first baseman Dave "Showboat" Thomas....

Sitting in front of his locker reading the Eagle, Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons could be heard mumbling, "Sure, others get 'Fancy' or 'Showboat' and I get stuck with 'Fat'" (said as he discretely runs his hand over his stomach).

...
(Double features? Who needs 'em?)...

Unfortunately, the code makes the movie more silly than fun. But agreed, I'd go for all the other stuff showing anyway. The U.S. Navy, Information Please, Donald Duck and live organ music, why not?

... (NOOOOOO! Not the farmer and the clown! Anything but them!!)...

Tech-nic-nee, I doubt it really was a "night off," as I bet the papers were all still delivered.

... (OK, so I was joking the other day about the bondage stuff. But now....)

No kidding, that looks like a scene out of "Pulp Fiction." (And Re "Mary Worth," seriously, "Old Times," come on.)

... NICK'S BOAT! NICK'S BOAT!....

It would be a perfect Nick move. And you are quite correct, John is melting down.

... No bars on the windows??....

You just don't walk out of the hospital with his injuries.

... PUNCH HIM NOW....

Better still, if Nick comes back, Skeezix might want to cross-over to LOA's world to ask Nick to do him a favor. Nick would want something in return, but it would be reasonable and, then, you'd be done as Nick has a word in his crazy world.

...
If this storyline doesn't end with Jerome riding a dog being chased by Mama in a stolen auto transport chased by Tracy on a commandeered rodeo pony, I'm going to be sadly, sadly disappointed.....

 

[LizzieMaine]

The jinks at this particular political conclave seem to be quite a bit higher than they ever get today. They don't call it a "party" for nothing.

And I have to point out how utterly gorgeous today's "Annie" is -- the use of light, dark, and crosshatching gives you a real illusion of glowing moonlight, even in a fuzzy scan. Today a great work of art, tomorrow it's used to wrap fish. Sic transit gloria mundi.

I don't know why there isn't a furious internet cult celebrating the epic daily bizarreness that is "Dan Dunn." I knew of the strip before starting this project, but I'd never really taken the time to get to know it. Day after day after day Mr. Marsh gives us a work that is more gloriously insane than even "Mark Trail."

The way things are going right now, I'm expecting the Bushwicks and the Bay Parkways and the rest of the semipro clubs to start drawing better than the Dodgers. I'll give the Eagle a lot of credit for giving them the coverage they do -- especially when the Negro League teams come to town. The News, for all its huge circulation and its impressive sports section, never gives much notice to this important facet of 1940 baseball.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Republican Party today hitched its 1940 wagon to Wendell L. Willkie for President and Charles L. McNary of Oregon for Vice President, following a convention session extending into the early morning hours. The final ballot nominating Willkie came at 1:02 AM following the sudden collapse of Thomas E. Dewey's campaign, and the refusal of Dewey delegates to shift to Sen. Robert A. Taft, moving instead to the Willkie camp. When Sen. Arthur Vandenberg released his delegates shortly after 12:30 AM, the numerical momentum finally swung decisively to the dark-horse utility executive who began 1940 as a political unknown.

The new nominee met the press this morning under blazing kleig lights in the ballroom of Philadelphia's Hotel Warwick, announcing he will resign from his job as president of the Commonwealth and Southern Corporation as soon as possible, perhaps as early as Monday.
Willkie outlined a campaign which, he stated, will focus on "national unity, national defense, and rehabilitation of the national economy." He called for a ban on Republican campaign contributions in excess of $5000, and stated that he will formally accept the nomination in ceremonies to be held at his old home town of Elwood, Indiana later this summer.

President Roosevelt today encouraged Willkie to meet with him any time such a conference can be arranged for a discussion of foreign policy. The invitation came as Brooklyn Republican leader John R. Crews declared that the President is "afraid of Willkie," and that consequently, he does not expect that Mr. Roosevelt will go ahead with a quest for a third term. "He's too dynamic for Mr. Roosevelt to cope with," stated Crews. "He'll scare the president out of running for a third term."

German legation officials today dismissed as "a British trick" the bloodless acquisition by the Soviet Union of a large swath of Rumanian territory that gives the Russians control of key German supply routes. The German officials claimed that the British are manipulating events to cause Germany to focus its military attention on another front, but they also acknowledge that the Nazi Government advised King Carol of Rumania to agree to the Soviet demands, stating that Germany will "definitely settle things later." There was, however, every indication that the Soviet advance into Bessarabia and Bucovnia took Germany entirely by surprise, with German industrialists and officials in those territories making a hasty flight out just ahead of the Red Army. Those German nationals are now refugees in the Rumanian capital of Bucharest.

School bells rang, school doors flung open, and over a million children surged into the streets this afternoon for the start of summer vacation. At P. S. 8 in Brooklyn Heights, when the bell rang at 3 PM there was massed whoop of excitement as the pupils made their rush for freedom. One little girl told the Eagle she is looking forward to spending the summer listening to daytime serials on the radio, after which she will head outside to play tag, ringolevio, and kick-the-can, all of them games strictly prohibited on school grounds due to fear of injuries.

Five of the twenty-one original members of the first Amen Grand Jury investigating official corruption in Brooklyn have asked to be discharged from further service. The five, who have served on the panel since November 18, 1938, seek the release on the grounds that their businesses have been affected by the war in Europe, and demand their full attention. Ten members had originally sought discharge, but five have since reconsidered and will continue to serve on the panel.

If you're looking to sample a world of exotic culinary adventure, why not have dinner at the Iraq Pavillion at the World's Fair? The pavilion's Baghdad Restaurant serves a wide variety of Middle Eastern dishes that are completely unlike anything familiar to most Americans. Lamb is the most common ingredient in Iraqi cuisine, and ground lamb is the main ingredient of broiled Kafta, a sausage-shaped treat served with fresh okra doused in a meaty tomato sauce, stuffed grapevine leaves, string beans, and rice. And be careful what you have to drink -- Iraqi liquor is double-distilled, and very high proof.

Celebutante Brenda Frazier was seen recently sampling the delights of the Marine Roof at the Bossert Hotel, while Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore and Dodger president Larry MacPhail looked on from an adjoining table.

("Petey betta notta been there," grumbles Sally. "He needs his sleep." "I'm sure his wife thinks so too," mutters Joe.)

(Never order a steak at a seafood restaurant, and never get the lobster at a steak house.)

(The Art of Compromise.)

The Dodgers face Casey Stengel's stumbling Boston Bees today at Ebbets Field, opening up a four-game series to close out the present homestand, and are hoping for a respite from their current slump. Brooklyn last played Boston in April, sweeping three games, and hasn't faced the Beantowners since. The Bees are floundering in seventh place, and the Dodgers are struggling in the early summer doldrums in hopes of picking up ground in the tight National League race by fattening up against second-division clubs.

The Flock beat the Cubs 5-4 yesterday in a game they could easily have lost, after Tex Carelton got off to a rough start. But the Dodgers rallied on a two run double by Pete Coscarart, and Petey pulled off further heroics with a deft stop of a hardhit line drive off the bat of Bill "Swish" Nicholson that could easily have gone for extra bases, and with a slick double-steal along with Dolph Camilli in the eighth.

Yesterday's game was marked by a bit of a delay in the ninth inning, when Cookie Lavagetto's biggest fan Jack Pierce lost control of his balloons and allowed them to drift out onto the field en masse.

Joe Medwick will finally get to wear his familiar number 7 for the Dodgers. Ducky has been stuck with uniform number 77 since joining the Dodgers, since coach Chuck Dressen, who is superstitious, reneged on an agreement to give up number 7. Further discussions between the two have resolved the impasse, with Dressen agreeing to take 77 in exchange.

There have been no takers for a fifty-percent interest in the Dodgers, following an attempt by the Brooklyn Trust Company to auction off the shares controlled by Miss Ada Ebbets, sister of the late team president. The 5500 shares left to Miss Ebbets fifteen years ago are valued by the bank, trustee for the Ebbets estate, at $833,486. Miss Ebbets, who lives in Florida on an $1800 income paid by the estate, came north to sell her shares after hearing of the sellout crowds at Ebbets Field and the large salaries paid to the Dodger players, but was told by the bank that, since the Ebbets shares represent only a half interest in the team, no one is interested in buying them. The remaining fifty percent of the club is divided among the heirs of Ebbets' two partners, the late Edward and Stephen McKeever. Despite the improvement in the performance of the club, Dodger stock has not paid a dividend in seven years.

Brooklyn bandleader Bobby Day may play Hawaiian-style music, and he may even look Hawaiian himself, but the twenty-four year old master of the electric swing guitar was born and raised on 39th Street. Day says he figured he could get ahead faster by looking like his listeners expected him to look, so he grew his hair long and tinted his skin with a sunlamp to give himself a Pacific Islander appearance. He adds that his Hawaiian friends have taught him to enjoy Hawaiian food, especially a raw-fish dish that tastes like sardines.

(Panel two -- Savor The Moment.)

(And the First Annual John Tecum Award for Ineffectual Dopeyness goes to...)

(Yeah, like it's the first time you've seen it...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

A page you won't find in Thomas E. Dewey's scrapbook.

Hey, why not sign up Dewey for one of these celebrity ads? I'm sure he could use the work. And the broiled mackerel with lemon butter sauce sounds pretty good, actually.

Elsie Mae! Radio's most versatile female dialectician not named Minnie Pious! Why don't you have your own show??

Meanwhile, on land, hardened eyes squint thru a telescope. "They approach! Prepare the customary welcome!"

Tsk! Such language!

Look at Baby -- she's having serious second thoughts. "Hee eez crazeee man!"

So we know it's Hu Shee -- unless it's the DL posing as Hu Shee. Either way, everything is going according to plan.

Nice friend you've got there, Snipe. And the use of the window mullions in front of the word balloons is brilliant.

It's obviously Shadow. He's so short because he's held down by the sheer weight of his mooching.

Poor, poor Plushie.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Never order a steak at a seafood restaurant, and never get the lobster at a steak house.)...

Priced well-above Childs. I'm thinking this would be a Sally and Joe anniversary night out, or is it too expensive for them?

...The Flock beat the Cubs 5-4 yesterday in a game they could easily have lost, after Tex Carelton got off to a rough start. But the Dodgers rallied on a two run double by Pete Coscarart, and Petey pulled off further heroics with a deft stop of a hardhit line drive off the bat of Bill "Swish" Nicholson that could easily have gone for extra bases, and with a slick double-steal along with Dolph Camilli in the eighth....

The double-steal is one of baseball's gems.

... (And the First Annual John Tecum Award for Ineffectual Dopeyness goes to...)...

You can really see the roots of Warhol's Pop Art in today's "Mary Worth."

... (Yeah, like it's the first time you've seen it...)

What you said about "Dan Dunn" yesterday really resonated with me as I think I was taking it too literally. Seen more as opera, it makes sense.

... Hey, why not sign up Dewey for one of these celebrity ads? I'm sure he could use the work. And the broiled mackerel with lemon butter sauce sounds pretty good, actually.....

Those naughty Boys and their advertising illustrations. Also, how much are the Childs' accountants hoping a lot of people will order the Vegetable Dinner?

...
Elsie Mae! Radio's most versatile female dialectician not named Minnie Pious! Why don't you have your own show??...

As you've explained Lizzie, never an ill word about the Fair shall be read in the Eagle (or any of the major papers). I believe the score today is 5-0 in favor of the Fair.

...
Look at Baby -- she's having serious second thoughts. "Hee eez crazeee man!"....

Neither one of those two should be allowed to make decisions for themselves.

... Nice friend you've got there, Snipe. And the use of the window mullions in front of the word balloons is brilliant.....

Yes, the words behind the mullions is awesome - well done Mr. King. "Verminous with money," I get it, but come on.

...[ It's obviously Shadow. He's so short because he's held down by the sheer weight of his mooching.....

Did we know Harold was in New York? I don't remember any specific New York references or landmarks. Had I known, I'd have looked for him to warn him about Senga.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I remember vague mentions early on that Harold was "in the East" and "seven hundred miles from home," and we know he's in a big city with a waterfront. The "Covina" he comes from is not the actual California town of that name, but is supposed to be a little town not far from Chicago, so seven hundred miles would be about right for New York. Or Newark. With Harold's luck he might have ended up in Newark. Or even Bayonne.

All that said, I look forward to seeing Shadow, who is even more of a rattle-brained hepcat than his "buzzom pal" Harold, trying to find one guy in the seven-million-person haystack that is New York. Maybe he should see if he can get Dan Dunn to help.

I don't see how, realistically, anyone could have hoped the Fair could run till 1943. With only a very few exceptions, all the buildings were made of plaster, gypsum board, and flimsy steel skeletons made to be strictly temporary. Recall that pieces were actually falling off the Trylon near the end of last season, so it's hard to imagine the upkeep required to keep it standing another four years.

(That said, the wooden pilings originally installed to hold up the Perisphere are still in place as the underground foundation for the Unisphere, so at least some of it was built to last.)

 

[Fading Fast]

I remember vague mentions early on that Harold was "in the East" and "seven hundred miles from home," and we know he's in a big city with a waterfront. The "Covina" he comes from is not the actual California town of that name, but is supposed to be a little town not far from Chicago, so seven hundred miles would be about right for New York. Or Newark. With Harold's luck he might have ended up in Newark. Or even Bayonne.

All that said, I look forward to seeing Shadow, who is even more of a rattle-brained hepcat than his "buzzom pal" Harold, trying to find one guy in the seven-million-person haystack that is New York. Maybe he should see if he can get Dan Dunn to help.

I don't see how, realistically, anyone could have hoped the Fair could run till 1943. With only a very few exceptions, all the buildings were made of plaster, gypsum board, and flimsy steel skeletons made to be strictly temporary. Recall that pieces were actually falling off the Trylon near the end of last season, so it's hard to imagine the upkeep required to keep it standing another four years.

(That said, the wooden pilings originally installed to hold up the Perisphere are still in place as the underground foundation for the Unisphere, so at least some of it was built to last.)

It could've been Philly too. That said, I wish Harold anywhere but Bayonne. My grandfather lived in Bayonne. In the '70s, when I was growing up, we'd visit: I wouldn't wish that town even on Senga. Maybe it's changed since as so many things have come back or been spiffed up, but from everything I know, it was awful.

That said, there were some streets in Bayonne that you could tell were nice "in their day," but certainly by the '70s that day had past. I know I mentioned this before, but my grandfather lived in a run down apartment building (the place was a dump), but it did have one somewhat famous tenant - the boxer Chuck Wepner. I met him one day with my grandfather and my remaining impression is of a really big man with a really big hand the swallowed mine when we shook.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo, governor-general of Libya and a founder of Italian Fascism was killed today in an air battle over North Africa, according to a communique from Rome. The 44-year-old black-bearded aviator who marched beside Benito Mussolini to take control of Italy eighteen years ago, and became a popular celebrity during a goodwill flight to America in 1933, crashed with four other members of his air crew over Tobruk while under heavy attack by British planes.

A short, quiet man with a pointed Van Dyke beard, Balbo was one of the original leaders in the growth of the Fascist Party, and was one of the most popular leaders in Italy as Air Minister before Mussolini assigned him to a low-profile position in Libya. In addition to his political activities and his spectacular career as an aviator, Balbo had formerly published "Corriere Padano," a Fascist newspaper with a wide influence in Italy.

The Foreign Minister of Japan has put the world on notice that the Japanese Government regards all of East Asia and the South Seas as part of a broad sphere of influence with Japan at its center. Minister Hachiro Arita, in declaring this new policy governing Japanese diplomacy, was vague on details of how Japan intends to enforce its influence on the region, but his statement is interpreted as a clear sign that Japan will resist any "interference" by outside nations within that sphere. The Netherlands East Indies are included within the specified zone.

There are reports that the Red Army has penetrated beyond the borders of Bessarabia into "old Rumania" itself, but there are also reports from Bucharest that Soviet troops may have "overstepped the boundary" of territory ceded to Russia this week by King Carol "in error," but difficult communications and general confusion in that country have made details uncertain. The reports come as news is received from Moscow that 2,000,000 Soviet troops are being mobilized for immediate duty. Meanwhile, Germany and Italy are said to be focusing their attention on maintaining the neutrality of Hungary and Bulgaria, with the promise that their territorial goals in Rumania will be consolidated at a later date.

Twenty-nine persons were killed last night in German air raids on the Channel Islands, as aerial attacks on Britain intensify in preparation for an expected invasion of the British Isles. The German DNB news agency reported that British raids on German territory continue, and that two British airmen were killed and two taken prisoner when anti-aircraft guns brought down an RAF bomber over Schelswig-Holstein on Wednesday.

The new $35,000,000 Belt Parkway, a 35-mile highway that will allow thru traffic an easy route around the perimeters of Brooklyn and Queens, was dedicated this morning in ceremonies presided over by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. A crowd of five thousand persons, many of them motorists planning to join the official motorcade making the first official run along the new route, listened to speeches by Commissioner Moses, Brooklyn borough president John Cashmore and other dignitaries, and music provided by the Department of Sanitation Band. In his remarks, Commissioner Moses praised the late borough president Raymond Ingersoll for his leadership in seeing the Belt Parkway project thru the planning process and into the final stages of its construction.

A politician said to have significant connections to official corruption in Brooklyn was indicted today by the special Amen Grand Jury on charges of perjury and forgery. Fifty-year-old Joseph Sergi was released on $5000 bail pending trial. The indictment charges Sergi, a former director of the City Democratic Club and a former real estate partner of Murder-For-Hire Gang figure Albert Anastasio, with forging his brother's name in bail bond cases, and of representing himself in bail bond cases as the owner of properties actually belonging to his brother and sister. Sergi is married to the widow of John "Silk Stocking" Giustra, Manhattan mobster who was murdered in 1931.

The five defendants not acquitted in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy trial will learn next Wednesday whether they will be retried. Assistant U.S. Attorney John O. Rogge says the five will appear in Brooklyn Federal Court where a determination will be made on the fate of the men. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Christian Front leader John P. Cassidy, one of the nine defendants found not guilty of all charges in the case, was hailed by his followers at a rally last night in Prospect Hall. While not mentioning Father Charles E. Coughlin by name, Cassidy proclaimed that he and his fellow defendants "had no one to champion our cause until from out of the west came that golden voice declaring 'I take my stand with the Christian Front." About five hundred persons attended the rally.

Television technicians attending the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia found the delegates well-behaved, except for constant shouts of "turn 'em down!" whenever the technicians cranked up the blazing lights required for television camera pickup. The lights also caused problems for radio commentators reporting from the scene, with CBS's Elmer Davis and Mutual's Fulton Lewis Jr. conspicuously donning sunglasses to protect their eyes from the relentless beams. Newsreel men also complained, not about the lighting, but about the prominent "NBC" and "CBS" insignias appearing on the parabolic microphones placed around the convention floor, and finally succeeded in having them removed.

(The boys in the Bald-Headed Row...)

Joe Medwick knocked in what turned out to be the winning run in yesterday's rain-shortened victory over the Bees at Ebbets Field, but the ringing of his bat was drowned out by the ringing in his ears. Ducky is still not entirely recovered from his beaning by Bob Bowman earlier this month, and manager Durocher admits that Medwick is still missing something at the plate. The outfielder and his manager reported to Jewish Hospital on Thursday for an examination, and the doctor declared that Medwick's full recovery will be gradual. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' other beaning victim, Pee Wee Reese, waited nearly three weeks to return to action, and he's been sharp as a whistle ever since, having hit in seven consecutive games since his return.

When the Dodgers head to Boston next week, a special New Haven Rail Road train will carry 500 Brooklyn fans to populate the Bee Hive. Round-trip fee for the excursion is $3.50, including a $1.10 grandstand ticket for next Sunday's doubleheader. A refreshment car will travel with the train.

One-armed marvel Pete Gray has rejoined the Bay Parkways, for whom he shined as Most Valuable Player in 1939. The young Pennsylvanian is considered the most remarkable athlete in the history of sports, excelling at a difficult game in spite of his handicap. Fast on his feet, Gray is a brilliant fielder, and a fearsome batter who topped .400 for the Parkways last season. The twenty-four-year old lost his right arm when he was run over by a coal truck at the age of six.

(Wherever the real Tootsie is, I hope she's having a good time.)

(Look, just rig up some fake photos. Why make this complicated?)

(And after a three month trial, the Hoods will be found not guilty and the Head Hood will give a big speech at Prospect Hall.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Attention, Pat Ryan, Terry Lee, Raven Sherman, and April Kane. Don't make any long-term plans.

#metoo1940

I don't see how this boat can stay afloat under the weight of so much foreshadowing.

And slowly the chess pieces are moved into position...

Back home, Nina can't sleep, and stares out her window into the night, wondering, wondering...

Y'know, Jones, trying to elope without a marriage license is exactly how all of Harold Teen's troubles started. Just about a year ago, in fact. Think about it.

Ooooweeee, Ryan. Who sold you that outfit, Moon Mullins?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you "The Greatest Generation."

Plushie may be a sad walrus, but he's a DIGNIFIED sad walrus.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Twenty-nine persons were killed last night in German air raids on the Channel Islands, as aerial attacks on Britain intensify in preparation for an expected invasion of the British Isles. The German DNB news agency reported that British raids on German territory continue, and that two British airmen were killed and two taken prisoner when anti-aircraft guns brought down an RAF bomber over Schelswig-Holstein on Wednesday....

Yes, there is a good mini-series on the Channel Island's occupation during WWII called "Island at War."

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401019/

...A politician said to have significant connections to official corruption in Brooklyn was indicted today by the special Amen Grand Jury on charges of perjury and forgery. Fifty-year-old Joseph Sergi was released on $5000 bail pending trial. The indictment charges Sergi, a former director of the City Democratic Club and a former real estate partner of Murder-For-Hire Gang figure Albert Anastasio, with forging his brother's name in bail bond cases, and of representing himself in bail bond cases as the owner of properties actually belonging to his brother and sister. Sergi is married to the widow of John "Silk Stocking" Giustra, Manhattan mobster who was murdered in 1931....

Amen's trying to get some of the spotlight back from O'Dwyer who's been running circles around him of late.

...
(The boys in the Bald-Headed Row...)...

Didn't notice it till I read your comment, but Litchy clearly has some sorta axe to grind with bald men. For what it's worth, Litchy, based on this photo, seems to have had a full head of hair himself:

...oe Medwick knocked in what turned out to be the winning run in yesterday's rain-shortened victory over the Bees at Ebbets Field, but the ringing of his bat was drowned out by the ringing in his ears. Ducky is still not entirely recovered from his beaning by Bob Bowman earlier this month, and manager Durocher admits that Medwick is still missing something at the plate. The outfielder and his manager reported to Jewish Hospital on Thursday for an examination, and the doctor declared that Medwick's full recovery will be gradual. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' other beaning victim, Pee Wee Reese, waited nearly three weeks to return to action, and he's been sharp as a whistle ever since, having hit in seven consecutive games since his return....

I know you said it's the whole "macho" thing, but the evidence of the benefit of resting more after a concussion seems to be staring the Dodgers in the face.

... (Look, just rig up some fake photos. Why make this complicated?)...

We could do without those metaphors for what they are trying to accomplish. And, yes, KISS, this is an easy one to do, don't make it hard.

... (And after a three month trial, the Hoods will be found not guilty and the Head Hood will give a big speech at Prospect Hall.)

That juxtaposition wasn't lost on me either. It's one of the reasons why fiction is so much more satisfying than messy real life.

...
Attention, Pat Ryan, Terry Lee, Raven Sherman, and April Kane. Don't make any long-term plans.....

Once again, we see how lucrative a jewel-thief career was back in the GE. Also, 169 E 80th (below) protests being call "pretentious" as it believes it is understated and well within the norm of other townhouses (which it is).

... I don't see how this boat can stay afloat under the weight of so much foreshadowing.....

No kidding, every gun is hung loudly and clumsily.

Also, I have to admit it, I start reading LOA everyday hoping for any sign that Nick is still alive.

... Back home, Nina can't sleep, and stares out her window into the night, wondering, wondering......

The immediate unanswered question is what is Sally Snipe's game?

The best meta-plot twist at this point would be if Nina has already moved on to someone impressive, someone who will make Skeezix jealous, while we all think she's pining away for him.

... Ooooweeee, Ryan. Who sold you that outfit, Moon Mullins?....

I had a similar thought, did the dark-men's-shirt industry make a product-placement deal with Caniff?

Also, Raven looks better in her slacks and soccer jersey, IMHO.

... View attachment 244523 Plushie may be a sad walrus, but he's a DIGNIFIED sad walrus.

I know it was presented as a soda-drinking contest, but Ed basically wrote it as a beer-drinking contest with the last man not passed out the winner. Where there's a will, there's a way to get passed the censors and conventions.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think it's rather endearing that Mr. Lichty looks kinda like a character he himself would draw. But all his "old bald businessmen" seem to be drawn to look like one particular old bald businessman who probably beat him at golf once and he never got over it.

I've been trying to figure Snipe since she first showed up. She's clearly older than Skeezix, I'd put her close to thirty, and she seems to be someone who's been round the bend a few times. She seems to genuinely like the kid, and looks out for him around the office, but she's also the one who set him up with Tula -- knowing he had a girl back home, and knowing how Tula operates. And now this. I ask ya.

Why does Shadow have one glove on? He has some odd sartorial habits, including the frequent wearing of earmuffs when earmuffs are not warranted, but I've never noticed this glove thing before. Did Michael Jackson stumble across an old "Harold Teen" collection in his youth and find inspiration?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Funding for the long-discussed Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel has been approved by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Mayor LaGuardia announced yesterday that the RFC has agreed to finance the $80,000,000 tunnel project, and that the agency will allot $57,000,000 to buy bonds issued by the New York City Tunnel Authority. The Mayor revealed the agreement in his remarks at the dedication of the new Belt Parkway at Owl's Head Park, following confirmation in a telegram received from RFC head Jesse H. Jones. With funding now secure, the next step to be completed before construction of the tunnel can begin is for the Board of Estimate to acquire title to the necessary land for the shaft, a step to be completed "as soon as possible."

Yesterday's Belt Parkway ceremonies meant trouble for former Assistant Attorney General Marjorie Cederstrom of 66 68th Street, who was cited for violating an ordinance prohibiting the display of any sign within five hundred feet of Parks Department property. Mrs. Cederstrom arrived at the ceremony carrying a sign expressing her opposition to the construction of a sewage treatment plant at Shore Road and Owl's Head Park, but was intercepted by a policeman who warned her that the Parks Department wouldn't like her sign, which read "WE DON'T WANT SEWAGE WORKS ON SHORE ROAD." As she turned to leave, she was confronted by a Parks Department official who demanded the policeman arrest her. The policeman refused to do so, and after an hour's argument, the official himself issued the citation. Mrs. Cederstrom will appear tomorrow morning in 4th Avenue Magistrate's Court to answer the charge.

Germany and Italy have pledged to provide military and air assistance to Rumania in the event of a full-scale Soviet invasion of the patchwork nation beyond the territories ceded by King Carol. Informants close to both powers state that "firm and broad" assurances have been given that any further penetration by the Soviets "will be stopped."

The Nazi government has pointedly warned the United States to avoid "adopting an inimical attitude toward the New Europe." An article appearing in the authoritative foreign policy magazine "Berlin-Rome-Tokio" with the official endorsement of German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop referred to the upcoming conference of American republics in Panama in emphasizing the corollary of the "America for Americans" position: "Europe for Europeans."

In London today, Scotland Yard arrested the wife of British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Moseley in its continuing roundup of "fifth column" personalities. Lady Moseley is a personal friend of Adolf Hitler, and the older sister of The Honorable Unity Valkyrie-Freeman Mitford, who now lives in seclusion following a suicide attempt last year. Lady Moseley's views are so ardently pro-Nazi that she is known to have trained her children to answer the door with the Hitler salute. Sir Oswald Moseley was arrested earlier this year.

The Dionne Quintuplets will appear in a special three-dimensional motion picture, filmed in Canada to be shown this summer at the Canadian exhibit at the World's Fair. The production is described as being part of the Quints' contribution to the war effort.

A net reduction of one-half cent in the cigarette tax will be of no benefit to Brooklyn smokers, with the average price per pack of gaspers expected to remain at sixteen cents. Retailers will add the half-cent, instead, to their profit margin. The tax structure on cigarettes in the city now stands at 6 1/2 cents per twenty-stick pack for the Federal government, and 2 cents for the State. The former 1 cent city relief tax has been eliminated, but at the same time, the Federal levy rises to 6 1/2 cents from its previous six-cent level.

Old Timer R. P. Weigand, whom they called "Pep" back in the old days at the Good Counsel Gym on Madison Street, has fond memories of the intense basketball rivalry between GC and the New York Institute of Deaf Mutes, whose coach signaled his players with coded waves of a handkerchief from the bench.

Twelve-year-old Teresa Sterne of Borough Park will perform as a featured soloist with the New York Philharmonic Symphony on July 17th. Miss Sterne made her concert debut as featured pianist with the NBC Symphony under the baton of Dr. Frank Black last November, and her performance of the Grieg Concerto was so fine that she was recruited for the Philharmonic performance at Lewisohn Stadium. She is scheduled to perform Tchiakowsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor, although, she admits, her favorite composer is actually Beethoven. Miss Sterne admits she doesn't pay much attention to swing music, observing that the modern mode is "all right for children who don't understand the classics."

The Dodgers won their third straight game yesterday, punching out the Boston Bees 10-4 as Joe Medwick had his first great day in Brooklyn uniform. The Duck unfurled two triples and a single, and knocked in two runs to ignite a seventh-inning Dodger attack. Babe Phelps added his sixth homer of the season, and Dixie Walker rammed a Grand Slam in the eighth to put the game out of reach. The win brings the Dodgers within one percentage point of the league-leading Reds.

The National League race remains so tightly packed however that, with the three top clubs all playing doubleheaders today, any of the teams could stand anywhere from first to third following the conclusion of today's play.

The Football Dodgers are about a month away from the opening of training camp. New coach Jock Sutherland, looking forward to his first season as replacement for the departed Potsy Clark, says that professionals require more pre-season practice than collegiate players, and plans to open his camp shortly after August 1st.

Although there is a veneer of amicability covering the strife between the Cleveland Indians players and their manager Oscar Vitt, it is widely rumored that the player rebellion this month has put Vitt's job on the line, and that if the Tribe fails to win the American League pennant this year, owner Alva Bradley will show his manager the door. With the team's leading players, including Bob Feller, Hal Trosky, Mel Harder, Jeff Heath, and Rollie Helmsley having lined up in open rebellion against Vitt, Bradley is reportedly still "embarrassed" over the incident, and is prepared to take action at season's end unless he is given reason to stay his hand.

TRENDing this week, longtime political maverick and newly appointed Navy Secretary Frank Knox --

If you want to stay on Cary Grant's good side, don't offer him a hot dog. The actor loathes frankfurters after having had to subsist on them for weeks at a time in the days when he was mere Archie Leach, struggling actor trying to eke out a living as a sidewalk barker at Coney Island's Old Mill.

Remember Polly Moran, knockabout film comedienne who once starred in a successful series of pictures teamed with the late Marie Dressler? She's back on the screen after a two-year layoff due to illness. Polly's career peaked during her days with Dressler, but she's been in pictures since 1913, always playing the same type of beaky busybody.

(Next week: Red Ryder rassles a tiger. And you thought all he did was sell BB guns.)

(Fun Fact: Mr. Dewey is the last major presidential candidate to wear any kind of facial hair.)

(HOLD BLACKSTON ASSOCIATE IN BOMB CONSPIRACY. GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE DISAVOWS KNOWLEDGE. AGENTS RAID EXPLOSIVE CACHE.)

(I bet she has a secret underground lair filled with plain pipe racks hung with coats, dresses, and suits as far as the eye can see.)

(OK, it's Sunday again. Whose turn is it to troll Bungle?)