The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

This whole thread has me itching to re-read E.L. Doctorow's World's Fair, which I read so long ago that I've completely forgotten the plot. I'm sure it's still on a bookshelf around here, somewhere. If books were liquid, I'd have drowned years ago.

Your post inspired me to pick up a copy to read. Which I did and thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for the recommendation.

My comments on the book here: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/what-are-you-reading.10557/page-416#post-2616628

 

[Farace]

Your post inspired me to pick up a copy to read. Which I did and thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for the recommendation.

My comments on the book here: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/what-are-you-reading.10557/page-416#post-2616628

I still need to look for my copy. I got sidetracked onto a Hammett and Chandler kick. I read five novels and a novella by Hammett and just finished The Big Sleep by Chandler and will start The Long Goodbye today or tomorrow. I had realized that I'd never read any of the lit on which film noir was based, and we've got a really well stocked used bookstore nearby, so I sort of fell into a groove . . .

 

[Fading Fast]

I still need to look for my copy. I got sidetracked onto a Hammett and Chandler kick. I read five novels and a novella by Hammett and just finished The Big Sleep by Chandler and will start The Long Goodbye today or tomorrow. I had realized that I'd never read any of the lit on which film noir was based, and we've got a really well stocked used bookstore nearby, so I sort of fell into a groove . . .

I love the books "behind" film noir. Also, the best part about reading "The Big Sleep" for me was that I finally was able to follow the story after not really getting it from the movie.

Another "noir" author that I enjoy and that you might want to add to your list is James M. Cain who wrote several stories like "Double Indemnity," "Mildred Pierce" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" that were turned into movies.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Finnish authorities say they've shot down a total of nineteen Soviet planes, sunk a Soviet submarine chaser, and damaged a second Soviet warship in fighting off the coast of Hanko. Meanwhile, civilian refugees arriving in Norway state that the Finns have retaken the Arctic port of Petsamo, and there are also reports that women and children from the village of Olkinoura, armed with pitchforks, shovels, and shotguns, killed three Russian fliers who had bailed out over their town. These reports come as Finnish forces have withdrawn from five border villages north of Leningrad to rear fortifications along the Mannerheim line.

The Soviet Union today recognized the rebel Finnish government established at Terijoki under Premier Otto Kuusinen. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov also denied reports that Russian planes are bombing civilian targets in Finland, insisting that air attacks are being made on airfields and other military targets.

President Roosevelt today called the attention of American airplane manufacturers to the official Government policy condemning the unprovoked bombing of civilians. The President cancelled plans to attend the Army-Navy football game today and will spend the day in conference with Secretary of State Cordell Hull.

Over 104,000 fans are expected today in Philadelphia for the Army-Navy game kicking off at 1pm. Last-minute tickets are selling this morning on the street for prices as high as $25 the pair.

Despite this morning's rain, Mayor LaGuardia gave the official benediction as the first plane arrived at the new LaGuardia Field just after 12 noon. Two thousand people braved the weather to watch the ceremonies and see the Mayor accept kisses from two airline stewardesses. The first airplanes left the new airport at 1:21 pm.

District Attorney-Elect William O'Dwyer is ready to start his clean sweep of the Kings County prosecutor's office. A letter addressed to outgoing DA William Gehogan advises that the new administration will dismiss all but two of the department's present staff.

Nine hundred Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria arrived in New York today aboard the Holland-American liner Rotterdam. The captain reported that the ship avoided two mines in the North Sea during its voyage.

The president of the Municipal Civil Service Commission today defended an internal spy system that encourages workers to report misconduct on the part of their co-workers. Paul J. Kern says the system, which gives increased ratings to employees who inform on their colleagues, has proven an effective means of "safeguarding the rights and interests of the people of our city."

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt today had sharp words for Dies Committee inquisitor J. B. Matthews, scoring the investigator for questioning a witness as if he were a "prisoner, considered guilty, being tried at the bar." Mrs. Roosevelts comments came in today's release of her syndicated newspaper column "My Day."

The owner of a fur shop at 59 Bond Street in Manhattan faces a $25,000 lawsuit for false arrest after an incident involving a $20 bet spun out of control. Furrier William Grossman was drawn into the affair after an argument between Rubin Saltzman and Louis Rosen of Brooklyn over whether Rosen had said "something mean" about Saltzman to Grossman. Satlzman bet Rosen $20 that the remark was made, and the two men handed their money to a third man, Harry Yugend, and the three then traveled to Grossman's shop, where Grossman refused to get involved -- and called police to remove the three men from his store. Saltzman then sued Grossman for false arrest. Hearing the case yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, Justice Edward Reigelmann wanted to know what happened with the money. "It was returned," declared the bettors. Justice Reigelmann reserved judgement on the case.

Three "socialites" in Warrenton, Virginia face charges after they tarred and feathered the grandson of a former Russian Ambassador to the United States. Brothers Ian and Colin Montgomery and and Alexander Calvert were fined a total of $500 for "constiuting a mob" and committing assault on the person of "Count" Igor Cassini, who writes a gossip column for a Washington newspaper. The attack occured on a country road outside Warrenton last June 25th.

The head of the Milk Consumers' Protective Committee wants to know why city milk stations are distributing milk to the poor at 9 cents a quart, when the current price war among milk distributors has store prices down to as low as 6 cents a quart. Miss Asho Ingersoll today said there's no excuse for the city milk stations raising the price from 8 cents to 9 under current conditions. "If there are lower prices," she said, "then people on relief are entitled to them."

The pastor of the German Evangelical Church on Schermerhorn Street has turned to crossword puzzles and motion pictures to spur lagging Sunday School attendance. Dr. Herbert H. Peters says the puzzles and the movies, dealing with religious topics, give more to the pupils than simply listening to lessons. The Sunday School's superintendent even uses comics in classes if a lesson can be drawn from them.

(Only 18 shopping days till Christmas!)

Gossip columnist Clifford Evans reports that all Woodside is complaining about hangers-on loitering outside the library and harassing women passing by. The loiterers run when the cops appear, but return as soon as the gendarmes are gone.

It appears that the San Francisco World's Fair won't reopen in 1940. The president of the fair corporation this week announced that he has asked that the affairs of the organization be liquidated, with a $1.65 million dollar fundraising drive for next year's operations having fallen short of the goal.

Harold Parrott reports that Dodger pitcher Hugh Casey is having a great off-season -- not only is he bowling well, but he's a crack car salesman for the Henry Caplan Company on Bedford Avenue. So far this season Hughie's sold five cars, and would have sold even more if the Chrysler strike hadn't tightened up the supply. Casey plans to stick with the car-selling job right up until spring training.

Yankee general manager Ed Barrow will propose a new system for intentional walks at the Winter Meetings in Cincinnati. Barrow believes time and wear on pitchers can be saved by allowing the pitcher to simply state that a walk will be given, and allowing the umpire to motion the batter to his base, without the need for actually throwing four intentional balls.

Former Football Dodgers coach Potsy Clark thinks the Giants will beat out the Redskins for the NFL Eastern Division title when they clash tomorrow at the Polo Grounds. The game will be shown on television over W2XBS tomorrow at 2 pm.

The Indoor Baseball Dodgers won't play two tonight in Philadelphia after all, with the Indoor Phillies having dropped out of the National Indoor Baseball League. League officials are conferring today in Cleveland about whether to move the franchise to another city, or revise the schedule.

A two-league pro basketball doubleheader tonight at Arcadia Hall pits the Brooklyn Basketball Dodgers (sigh) against the Akron Firestones in a National Pro League contest, and the Brooklyn Jewels of the American Basketball League against the Jersey Reds.

The New York Rangers face the New York Americans at the Garden tonight, with the game broadcast over WHN at 9:30 pm.

George Bungle has a nightmare...

(You have to admit that it does make a logical target.)

Meanwhile, sinister chessmaster Mary Worth has carefully manipulated the pieces into position and enjoys watching it play out...

And let's just savor this image of Dook, who's just shot Dan Dunn down (dan-dunn-down! Only comic with its own music score!) in cold blood -- and doesn't yet know that Irwin has a bloodhound on his trail!

(I don't know why Irwin doesn't just bring in the Face Eating Dog from the last story -- but on the other hand, would you want to eat *that* face? Ew.)

 

[Fading Fast]

...The owner of a fur shop at 59 Bond Street in Manhattan faces a $25,000 lawsuit for false arrest after an incident involving a $20 bet spun out of control. Furrier William Grossman was drawn into the affair after an argument between Rubin Saltzman and Louis Rosen of Brooklyn over whether Rosen had said "something mean" about Saltzman to Grossman. Satlzman bet Rosen $20 that the remark was made, and the two men handed their money to a third man, Harry Yugend, and the three then traveled to Grossman's shop, where Grossman refused to get involved -- and called police to remove the three men from his store. Saltzman then sued Grossman for false arrest. Hearing the case yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, Justice Edward Reigelmann wanted to know what happened with the money. "It was returned," declared the bettors. Justice Reigelmann reserved judgement on the case....

Based on what we know, why did Justice Reigelmann not just give all three a serious dressing down - threaten them all with contempt and a fine if they ever show up in his courtroom again over this nonsense - and then toss the case out?

...Three "socialites" in Warrenton, Virginia face charges after they tarred and feathered the grandson of a former Russian Ambassador to the United States. Brothers Ian and Colin Montgomery and and Alexander Calvert were fined a total of $500 for "constiuting a mob" and committing assault on the person of "Count" Igor Cassini, who writes a gossip column for a Washington newspaper. The attack occured on a country road outside Warrenton last June 25th....

So a nonsensical arrest over an argument about an insult in words is worth potentially $25,000, but tarring and feathering someone (a truly violent and physically dangerous act) is worth a fine of only $500?

...The head of the Milk Consumers' Protective Committee wants to know why city milk stations are distributing milk to the poor at 9 cents a quart, when the current price war among milk distributors has store prices down to as low as 6 cents a quart. Miss Asho Ingersoll today said there's no excuse for the city milk stations raising the price from 8 cents to 9 under current conditions. "If there are lower prices," she said, "then people on relief are entitled to them."....

Sadly this type of corruption still goes on as it will be the milk company, the gov't employees overseeing the program or the charity running the program for the gov't that will be found to be getting kickbacks, making illegal profits or harvesting some other ill-gotten gains. Scandals in gov't programs for the needy involving all three entities - companies, gov't employees and social workers/charities - occur with some regularity in NYC.

...A two-league pro basketball doubleheader tonight at Arcadia Hall pits the Brooklyn Basketball Dodgers (sigh) against the Akron Firestones in a National Pro League contest, and the Brooklyn Jewels of the American Basketball League against the Jersey Reds....

Another "Dodgers" sport team, %^$#&*!

...Meanwhile, sinister chessmaster Mary Worth has carefully manipulated the pieces into position and enjoys watching it play out...

.

1. Really dude, you're carrying the shoe around to various cobblers?
2. Can I run the "Dragnet" music again?

 

[LizzieMaine]

That case in Justice Riegelmann's court works best when you imagine it as a comedy sketch starring Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris. I don't often laugh out loud reading the paper, but I did when I came across this one.

I now want to look up Igor Cassini's column and find out what he could possibly have said to outrage the sense of Southern honor of the Montgomery boys and Mr. Calvert to lead up to such an action. Most gossip columns written by deposed Russian counts tend toward the vapid and the frivolous, so I can't imagine what they had against him.

I expect at any moment to encounter news of the Brooklyn Roller Derby Dodgers, the Brooklyn Handball Dodgers, the Brooklyn Chess Dodgers, and the Brooklyn Contract Bridge Dodgers. (Seriously though, all these "Dodger" teams do demonstrate just how important and deeply connected to the borough the real Dodgers were, and what a crime against a city of 3,000,000 people it was when W. F. O. hijacked not just the franchise but also its name and its history to the West Coast.)

I wonder if Ted, deep down, is a shoe fetishist, and what he really wants is just to get the other shoe to go with the one he has.

 

[Farace]

I love the books "behind" film noir. Also, the best part about reading "The Big Sleep" for me was that I finally was able to follow the story after not really getting it from the movie.

Another "noir" author that I enjoy and that you might want to add to your list is James M. Cain who wrote several stories like "Double Indemnity," "Mildred Pierce" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" that were turned into movies.

Cain has been recommended to me by several people, so it's on my mental list. I still need to find (or maybe replace) my copy of World's Fair and I really need to get to reading a friend's book, How Fires End by Marco Rafalá, that came out last month and has been getting great reviews. It's staring at me from across the room saying, "well?"

 

[vitanola]

So a nonsensical arrest over an argument about an insult in words is worth potentially $25,000, but tarring and feathering someone (a truly violent and physically dangerous act) is worth a fine of only $500?

Ian and Colin Montgomery were scions of one of Warrenton’s First Families, and major landowners to boot. Ian eventually became the most prominent real estate agent and speculator in Farquier County. The Calvert boy appears to have been the child of one of the Calverts of Calvert School (Baltimore) fame. A branch was opened in Warrenton around 1920. It exists today as Highland Acsdemy. All three boys were allumni of Calvert and later UVA.

 

[tonyb]

...

"Self Service" in the grocery sense in 1939 means a store where you go in and pick everything off the shelves yourself, as opposed to going into a store and walking up to the counter and giving your list to Mr. Drucker and letting him pick the order for you. A&P was in the forefront of the "self service" movement in New York, rolling it out as a cost-reduction measure during the recession of the early 1920s, and by 1939 only a few of the old-fashioned non-self-service A&P's were left in backwater neighborhoods around the city. They'd be gone completely before much longer, as the company committed to the new "supermarket" format on the heels of "King Kullen," "Big Bear," and other warehouse-type grocery outlets that popped up around New York and New Jersey during the 1930s.

About 20 years ago I did a feature on a quite elderly fellow whose claim to local fame was his ownership of the first “supermarket” in the district, a structure he built when he was a young man and which was still standing, and still a food store and still something of a local landmark when my story on him ran (although that store was nowhere near so “super” as those built in later decades).

The old guy told of significant resistance to self-service meats. Shoppers readily took to the convenience of “one-stop” shopping, he said, but not having a butcher always on site took some getting used to.

I’ve been told that the store building is no more — torn down to make way for a condo structure. It’s a very safe bet that the old grocer has gone the way of his store.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Finnish authorities state that Soviet forces are being swept back in the Arctic, but are gaining ground along the southern border. Helsinki confirms that Finnish forces have been withdrawn from five border villages, with compliance required before dawn today.

Among the towns evacuated is Terijoki, seat of a newly-formed rebel government which has already been recognized by Russia. The Soviet government today signed an agreement with that Terijoki government transferring disputed territories to Soviet control in exchange for two peninsulas on the Arctic coast.

Meanwhile, reports from Norway indicate a massing of Norwegian troops in their northern territories. Reservists have been called up to patrol the northern border.

Fascist student demonstrations marched thruout Italy today denouncing the Soviet invasion of Finland, and pledging support for the Helsinki government. As Premier Benito Mussolini met with Fascist Party officials in Rome, Foreign Minister Ciano talked for half an hour with the Finnish ambassador. The Finnish envoy, Eero Jarenfelt, appeared on Mussolini's balcony to acknowledge the cheering crowds, and gave the Fascist salute.

President Roosevelt continued to emphasize his call for a "moral embargo" on nations that bomb civilian targets, but mentioned no specific nations. However, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, after a meeting with the US ambassador to Finland, specifically accused Russia of "indiscriminate bombing" within three blocks of the American Legation.

A three-to-one vote of the Mexican Supreme Court today supported the expropriation of foeign-owned Mexican oil lands valued at $400,000,000. The ruling denied the right of appeal to American and other oil corporations affected by the seizure.

Inclement weather caused lengthy delays today at the new LaGuardia Field, with air traffic stalled for hours by fog and rain.

More than 102,000 fans in Philadelphia saw an upset victory for the Midshipmen, as Navy blanked Army 10-0. In New York, Fordham surprised NYU with a come-from-behind 18-7 victory. And Stanford, which hadn't had a win all year, shocked Dartmouth with a 14-3 win.

A 19-year-old youth faces a variety of charges after he was arrested following a botched robbery at a tuxedo rental shop in Brownsville. Paul Soldano of 606 Ashford Street was cornered by police behind a tenement house icebox after fleeing the scene of an attempted holdup at the shop of Harry Weintraub at 61 Varet Street. Weintraub told police Soldano had entered the store with a drawn pistol and demanded "your money or your life," and when Weintraub protested that he had no money, Soldano demanded the shopkeeper remove his pants. At that moment, Weintraub's 19-year-old son entered the store, and when the gunman was distracted, Weintraub struck him. In the struggle, the gun fired twice, and Weintraub was knocked unconscious. The son, Morris Weintraub, chased Soldano into the street, and was joined in the pursuit by three friends who had been waiting outside. Soldano fired again, shooting a hole in 18-year-old Paul Bernstein's hat, and wounding Bernstein in the hand. Soldano then ran into the tenement at 46 Seigel Street, where police found him hiding in an apartment kitchen. He will be charged with assault, robbery, felonious assault, and violation of the Sullivan Law.

A twelve-year-old boy from Woodmere marched into Manhattan Police Headquarters today and asked if he could have an old police horse. The sergeant on duty told young Martin Greenmere that there's a long list of similar requests but he'd be glad to add the boy's name to that list. Young Martin told the sergeant he'd be writing to Commissioner Valentine to try and push the matter along, because he doesn't want to wait a hundred years to get a horse.

Magistrate Nicholas Pinto had an unusual defendant in his court yesterday -- himself. Presiding over Gates Avenue Traffic Court, Magistrate Pinto fined himself two dollars for parking in a restricted area. The Magistrate had illegally parked his car opposite Borough Hall during a campaign appearance in October and was ticketed by a patrolman from the Poplar St. precinct. The Magistrate asked himself how he pleaded, responded by pleading guilty, and immediately paid his fine to the court clerk.

Mayor LaGuardia denounced the publisher of a Long Island newspaper as a "contemptible liar" after the paper published allegations that school funds had been diverted for the construction of LaGuardia Field. Publisher Samuel I. Newhouse of the Long Island Daily Press refused to back down on the claim, and suggested the Mayor is obviously under strain from opening the World's Greatest Airport, and ought to consult his doctor. The Mayor, in an open letter responding to Newhouse's statements, condemned the publisher as an "exploiter of labor," who pays "Newhouse wages" to his staff, as opposed to the "American wages" to be earned by the 3000 people and their families employed by the airport. LaGuardia also stated that last year, Newhouse came to his office and "got on his knees" to beg that the Mayor order police "to beat up his reporters" in order to break up a wage dispute. The Mayor also recalled Newhouse begging for a cut in school spending because it was running up his own expenses, and added that if Newhouse denies making that statement, they Mayor will "shove it right down his throat." Newhouse responded by offering a $5000 reward to anyone who can prove that he pays "starvation wages."

ABRAHAM & STRAUS' BASEMENT -- SEWING MACHINES! WAREHOUSE CLEARANCE! SAVE UP TO 50 PER CENT! MONDAY 9:30 AM SHARP!

Reports from Germany state that over 2,000,000 Polish Jews are to be transferred to "reservations" set up in Eastern Poland by Nazi authorities, with the relocation to be administered under the personal supervision of SS head Heinrich Himmler. The movement is to be completed by April 1, 1940. Those relocated may take with them no more than 300 marks in cash, and only such possessions as will fit in a large suitcase, especially bedding, cooking utensils, and "tools useful in building barracks and primitive homes."

Police have assigned extra details to the downtown Brooklyn shopping district to discourage pickpockets, with ten additional detectives assigned to the "dip squad" for the duration of the Christmas season.

A survey of Brooklyn schoolchildren conducted by the WPA finds that the borough's young people have no use for war. Only one boy of 4000 surveyed indicated any interest in becoming a soldier, and only one indicated a preference for movies and books dealing with militaristic themes. The most popular future occupations chosen by boys are those of doctor and newspaper reporters, with girls most often aspiring to be nurses, teachers, or secretaries. Some also expressed a preference for such occupations as chemist, musician, songwriter, actress, haberdasher, policewoman, air hostess, tap dancer, prize fighter, and janitor. The kids also cited "Gang Busters" as their favorite radio program, with "The Lone Ranger" second, Baby Snooks third, and "The Shadow" fourth. President and Mrs. Roosevelt are the most popular man and woman named, except in Flatbush, where Benny Goodman reigns as the most popular man. No child surveyed showed any interest in growing up to be President.

Brooklyn's only female truck driver asks no quarter and gives none. Husky Ruth Doyle, wearing a mens' work shirt and tie with a heavy tweed skirt and canvas cap, pilots her ten ton truck with the best of them. Miss Doyle tells the Eagle's Violet Brown about the time she got cussed out by another driver at the ferry slip on 125th Street, and she made him swallow his words by pointing out that she's a lady. Miss Brown used to play semi-pro baseball for the Bloomer Girls, and after that she was a plumber's helper, but she likes her current job best of all. "If I'da been born a boy," she says, "i'da taken to the road long ago."

"There'll Always Be An England..."

Fronting the Trend section this week, meet French Premier Edouard Daladier -- son of a baker who forsook his ovens to become Le Boeuf Sauvage de la Carpentras.

Mr. Dies is taking down names.

At the Patio this week, "The Real Glory" and "Honeymoon in Bali." I could go for a South-Seas picture with all this weather.

60,000 are expected at the Polo Grounds as the Giants and Redskins decide the NFL Eastern Division title.

The Winter Meetings open tomorrow in Cincinnati, and Cardinal GM Branch Rickey has arrived in town promising that he has no plans to trade Joe Medwick. This week.

"They called us country folk then," remembers Susi Q, of the Old Days in Flatbush, when dogs and cats roamed the streets of dirt, and farmhouses and cornfields dotted the landscape.

Red Ryder falls off Mankiller the Wild Horse when the saddle cinch breaks, but he jumps right up on again and rides him bareback. Yee-haw!

I can't tell you how much I identify with this right now.

Jane Arden is on a new story, interviewing "General Vodnick, who escaped the purge in Eurania," just as a package containing a ticking bomb arrives. I used to hate when that would happen.

Mary Worth has had enough of Bill Biff practicing his mail order ventriloquism course, and throws him out of the house. Hilarity ensues.

And at last, as Dook lurks in the woods, THE FACE EATING DOG shows up! SIC EM BOY!

 

[Fading Fast]

... when Weintraub protested that he had no money, Soldano demanded the shopkeeper remove his pants. ...

What!?

...Magistrate Nicholas Pinto had an unusual defendant in his court yesterday -- himself. Presiding over Gates Avenue Traffic Court, Magistrate Pinto fined himself two dollars for parking in a restricted area. The Magistrate had illegally parked his car opposite Borough Hall during a campaign appearance in October and was ticketed by a patrolman from the Poplar St. precinct. The Magistrate asked himself how he pleaded, responded by pleading guilty, and immediately paid his fine to the court clerk....

Kinda implied in this story is that a court appearance was mandatory for a $2 (~$37 today) parking ticket - isn't that odd? Or was the judge just having some fun?

...Mayor LaGuardia denounced the publisher of a Long Island newspaper as a "contemptible liar" after the paper published allegations that school funds had been diverted for the construction of LaGuardia Field. Publisher Samuel I. Newhouse of the Long Island Daily Press refused to back down on the claim, and suggested the Mayor is obviously under strain from opening the World's Greatest Airport, and ought to consult his doctor. The Mayor, in an open letter responding to Newhouse's statements, condemned the publisher as an "exploiter of labor," who pays "Newhouse wages" to his staff, as opposed to the "American wages" to be earned by the 3000 people and their families employed by the airport. LaGuardia also stated that last year, Newhouse came to his office and "got on his knees" to beg that the Mayor order police "to beat up his reporters" in order to break up a wage dispute. The Mayor also recalled Newhouse begging for a cut in school spending because it was running up his own expenses, and added that if Newhouse denies making that statement, they Mayor will "shove it right down his throat." Newhouse responded by offering a $5000 reward to anyone who can prove that he pays "starvation wages."....

Even for NYC, this day seems particularly crazy.

...air hostess...

One for our "Terms Which Are Disappearing" thread.

...

I can't tell you how much I identify with this right now....

Foreshadowing the popularity of blooper shows.

...Mary Worth has had enough of Bill Biff practicing his mail order ventriloquism course, and throws him out of the house. Hilarity ensues.

View attachment 198983 ...

But what happened to the Cinderella storyline?

 

[LizzieMaine]

They'll get back to Cinderella tomorrow. The Sunday strip was usually reserved for low-key antics. I imagine that Bill's ventriloquism practice really got on Leona's nerves, especially if he had "HEY LET ME OUT OF HERE" coming out one of her shoeboxes.

I suspect Magistrate Pinto was trying to emphasize he's just a regular guy like Joe Punchclock, who pays his tickets and keeps his nose clean. It'll play well at the next election.

i imagine Mr. Soldano wanted to search Mr. Weintraub's pants for a hidden bankroll -- but on the other hand, anything can happen in Brooklyn.

Somebody needs to tell Mr. Newhouse to pull in his neck, or he'll end up smashed in the gutter like a pinball machine. Don't Mess With The Little Flower.

 

[David Conwill]

Interestingly, Mr. Newhouse eventually bought the Staten Island Advance which was the foundation for Advance Publications. Advance, in turn, owns American City Business Journals (among others, including Conde Nast, Discovery Channel, and a big chunk of Reddit), which owns my employer Hemmings Motor News. Small world!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Do they still pay -- ah -- "Newhouse Wages?" I could use that $5000 reward!

 

[Fading Fast]

Do they still pay -- ah -- "Newhouse Wages?" I could use that $5000 reward!

~$92,000 in 2019 dollars - just saying.

 

[David Conwill]

Let's say I'm not bringing in 5,000 1939 dollars per year.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Meanwhile, in the Daily News, Dick Tracy finally gets out of the well while Stooge Viller -- ah -- reconnects with his family.

In society? Maybe Binnie can hang out with Leona. I'm sure she'd like to know about spring-top salt shakers full of strychnine.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ There's some pretty heavy stuff in there - the young girl ready to commit suicide, hello! As you say, Golden Era cartoons, ah, a gentler time.

Also, really, the police force doesn't buy the watch for Tracy? It's $740 in 2019 dollars.

 

[LizzieMaine]

1930s "Dick Tracy" is some of the roughest, most cold-blooded stuff you'll find in any media of the time. People are gunned down, knifed, beaten, strangled, whipped, skinned alive, dragged behind cars by their ankles, set on fire, left to freeze to death, attacked by face-eating dogs (oh, wait, that's Dan Dunn), and otherwise mutilated on a regular basis.

I can remember when our local paper dropped Tracy in the mid-70s because the strip was "too violent," but it was something from the Weekly Reader compared to how it was in the 30s.

And those who think Little Orphan Annie was an upbuilding, wholesome strip about a perky and inspiring little girl -- boy, do they have another think coming.

 

[David Conwill]

lso, really, the police force doesn't buy the watch for Tracy? It's $740 in 2019 dollars.

I assume his replacement will have the built-in two-way radio!