The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

Alas, the Daily News seems to have given up its investigation of Mademoiselle X in favor of other, hotter stories. For example:


It's nice to see that Prince Frederic, Handsomest Man in All Europe, isn't wanting for work....

I thought the exact same thing reading the article. All these "fictional" stories of the Era in movies, books, comics, etc., that might seem a bit odd to us today, come from the headlines of the day, just like so many of our TV, movies, etc., do.

... "Do not attempt to match this superior one at her own game, Mister Ryan, for you shall surely writhe at my feet before another sun sets."....

Do you think the glasses are part of an attempt to make her look unattractive? If so, man was that a "meme" of the era. It plays a big part in one of the most striking casual sex scene in the Era's movies - when Bogie seduces Dorothy Malone (or, really, she seduces him) in the bookshop in "The Big Sleep:"

Check out what happens beginning at 2:24, but it's better to watch the scene from the start.

 

[LizzieMaine]

An optometrist's trade association went to great lengths to break that stereotype with advertising and the introduction of "chic" eyeglass frames starting in the early forties. This was the reason the so-called "harlequin glasses" appeared on the scene and became a minor fad in the postwar era.

As with the case Cousin Sue, I get really tired of the "take off your specs and be glamourous" trope -- if she needed the glasses before she's still going to need them after. Being a sexpot doesn't change your visual acuity. In real life, when Miss Malone took her glasses off, she'd be squinting desperately to make out the blur of Bogart's face.

 

[Fading Fast]

...In real life, when Miss Malone took her glasses off, she'd be squinting desperately to make out the blur of Bogart's face.

That might have actually helped her in that situation.

 

[David Conwill]

Isn't "blind sexpot" basically a description of Marilyn Monroe's character in How to Marry a Millionaire? Personally, I've always liked a gal in glasses.

 

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

President Roosevelt's 1940 budget calls for nearly $2,250,000,000 in total defense spending, with an accompanying tax increase of $460,000,000, and drastic cuts in public works, relief, and farm spending. The $8,500,000,000 total budget package would reduce the Federal deficit to an estimated $1,716,000,000 for the coming fiscal year, down from $3,930,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30th. The increase in defense funding includes both direct spending on the military and on military construction projects such as airplanes and battleships, as well as quasi-military and semi-defense projects.

Attorney General Frank Murphy is President Roosevelt's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the recent death of Associate Justice Pierce Butler. Murphy came to public notice as the Governor of Michigan during the "sit down strike" crisis of 1936-37, in which he successfully mediated a series of plant-occupying incidents by the United Auto Workers against General Motors which led to the recognition of the union by the automaker. Murphy's confirmation for the court seat will mean that only 77-year-old Associate Justice James McReynolds, an outspoken Roosevelt foe, remains of the so-called "nine old men" who opposed New Deal measures during the mid-1930s. The President also appointed Solicitor General Robert H. Jackson to fill Murphy's seat as Attorney General. (Justice McReynolds, we may recall, is the man who refers to the President as "that crippled son of a bitch in the White House." Ah, civility.)

A report to be released by Assistant Attorney General John H. Amen will conclude that the Kings County probation system is "inefficient, but not corrupt." The full text of the report, to be made public today by Governor Lehman, will, according to a well-informed source, criticize court officers and probation officials as "grossly lax," and caps a twelve-month investigation of local probation procedures by the Amen Office.

District Attorney William O'Dwyer declined comment today on reports that he has requested the retirement or transfer of the chief of Brooklyn detectives. Inspector Michael F. McDermott played a key role in the Amen investigation, and it is rumored that neither Mayor LaGuardia nor the new District Attorney like him. Mr. O'Dwyer will only say "how could the Mayor not like him?" when questioned on the point by reporters. Last January, Mr. O'Dwyer, then serving as a county judge, accused McDermott of "snooping into my business."

A Finnish division on the northern front has advanced to within five miles of the Soviet border, according to reports from the Associated Press. Finnish ski troops are said to have penetrated the Russian lines at several points along the front near Lake Kinata.

Early film comedienne Flora Finch is reported ill with blood poisoning in Los Angeles following an arm infection. Miss Finch was well known in the early 1910s for her series of motion picture comedies made with comedian John Bunny, who died in 1915.

A Brooklyn Democrat in the State Assembly is expected to propose the repeal of the city's proportional representation voting system. The bill to be presented by Assemblyman Bernard J. Moran will reopen the spectacular 1938 battle over the original legislation, and will be offered over the strong opposition of Mayor LaGuardia.

A man considered one of the leading legal minds in the country today stood before a judge in Manhattan General Sessions Court as a confessed forger. John Reynolds Robinson, former law clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justices William Howard Taft and Charles Evans Hughes admitted to passing worthless checks at the Plaza Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria. Robison drew a sentence of two and a half years in prison, but sentence was suspended by Judge John J. Freschi on the promise that Robinson abstain from intoxicating liquor for the rest of his life.

A 52-year-old prisoner hung himself with his own necktie in the Raymond Street Jail early today. William Kuhn of 275 Van Buren Street was found dead in his cell before his scheduled appearance today in Brooklyn Felony Court on felonious assault charges. Kuhn has been held at the jail since December 17th, and was briefly taken to Rikers Island Hospital for observation after guards noted incidents of melancholia and "strange behavior."

Two Manhattan men were found guilty of subway jostling after they were caught going thru the pockets of a sleeping fellow passenger on the IRT. Markos Hondras and William Mulford were discovered by a conductor to be robbing Stanley Bernhardt of 273 Gates Avenue while Bernhardt napped on a train at the Fulton Street and Ralph Avenue station early Tuesday morning.

The Brooklyn Eagle will be purchased out of bankruptcy by a corporation headed by current publisher Frank D. Schroth for the sum of $350,000. The purchase does not include real estate, which was recently purchased out of foreclosure by the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, mortgagee, for $900,000. A total of $4,000,000 in claims by creditors remain against the bankruptcy.

Paper cartons? Pffft, they're the bunk.

Armour Smoked Hams 20 cents a pound at your self-service A&P Super Market!

Transparent plastic furniture is all the rage with those who can afford the fad. The pieces, made from a material that looks like glass, are "sky high in cost," with a bed recently displayed in Manhattan carrying a $1200 price tag. Transparent plastic chairs retail as high as $225 each, but it is expected that the costs will eventually come down.

Seven young women aged 17 to 20 who neither smoke nor drink write to Helen Worth for advice on where they can go for fun. Helen warns that dance halls are no place for unescorted women of any age, so why not join clubs? Bowling, horseback riding, card playing, swimming -- all can be enjoyed in a club environment.

"Joe and Ethel Turp Call On The President" is a pleasant filming of Damon Runyon's "typical Brooklyn family" characters by MGM, says Herbert Cohn, with William Gargan and Ann Sothern enjoyable in the lead roles, with Lewis Stone making a fine President. Herb says the Turps probably come from "somewhere down in Greenpernt." (In Bensonhurst, Sally looks over to Joe and says "Huh! Greenpernt! Who wants to see a pitcha about somebuddy from Greenpernt. My ma, she's from Greenpernt. Sez they're all bums." And Joe pulls his feet out of the oven and replies "Nah, it ain't just Greenpernt, there's bums everywhere. Looka them people up to the Rainbow Room." And Sally says "Yeah, ya right. Just a buncha bums."

Nearly half the 275 participants in the National Youth Association's Radio Workshop are from Brooklyn, hoping for big time success in broadcasting. One of the most notable is 19-year-old Cecilia Evans, recently tapped for a prominent role in the popular CBS serial "The Goldbergs." The Workshop, in addition to acting and technical classes, also operates its own swing band, heard regularly over WNYC.

The Rangers go for a record sixteenth consecutive win tonight when they face the Americans at Madison Square Garden.

"Should the Dies Committee be Discontinued?" is the topic for America's Town Meeting Of The Air, at 10pm on WJZ.

Actually, given Mr. Oakdale's past MO, I would not at all be surprised to discover that it was he himself on the phone, using a lame fake voice. I'm also surprised that Jo has not yet suggested this.

Of course you know. You ordered the torpedo yourself.

Golly, Dan! That's great! You sound just like Parkyakarkus! Do the Mad Russian next!

 

[Fading Fast]

...A report to be released by Assistant Attorney General John H. Amen will conclude that the Kings County probation system is "inefficient, but not corrupt." The full text of the report, to be made public today by Governor Lehman, will, according to a well-informed source, criticize court officers and probation officials as "grossly lax," and caps a twelve-month investigation of local probation procedures by the Amen Office.....

Hmm, I'm suspicious.

...A man considered one of the leading legal minds in the country today stood before a judge in Manhattan General Sessions Court as a confessed forger. John Reynolds Robinson, former law clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justices William Howard Taft and Charles Evans Hughes admitted to passing worthless checks at the Plaza Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria. Robison drew a sentence of two and a half years in prison, but sentence was suspended by Judge John J. Freschi on the promise that Robinson abstain from intoxicating liquor for the rest of his life....

One, you can still visit both sites of his crime as both hotels are still in business (the Waldorf will reopen soon after an extensive renovation).

Two, who is responsible for ensuring that he honors the terms of his suspended sentence?

...The Brooklyn Eagle will be purchased out of bankruptcy by a corporation headed by current publisher Frank D. Schroth for the sum of $350,000. The purchase does not include real estate, which was recently purchased out of foreclosure by the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, mortgagee, for $900,000. A total of $4,000,000 in claims by creditors remain against the bankruptcy....

Wait, what? "Our" Brooklyn Eagle has been going through bankruptcy the entire time we've been reading it?

..."Joe and Ethel Turp Call On The President" is a pleasant filming of Damon Runyon's "typical Brooklyn family" characters by MGM, says Herbert Cohn, with William Gargan and Ann Sothern enjoyable in the lead roles, with Lewis Stone making a fine President. Herb says the Turps probably come from "somewhere down in Greenpernt." (In Bensonhurst, Sally looks over to Joe and says "Huh! Greenpernt! Who wants to see a pitcha about somebuddy from Greenpernt. My ma, she's from Greenpernt. Sez they're all bums." And Joe pulls his feet out of the oven and replies "Nah, it ain't just Greenpernt, there's bums everywhere. Looka them people up to the Rainbow Room." And Sally says "Yeah, ya right. Just a buncha bums."....

... Actually, given Mr. Oakdale's past MO, I would not at all be surprised to discover that it was he himself on the phone, using a lame fake voice. I'm also surprised that Jo has not yet suggested this.

Of course you know. You ordered the torpedo yourself....

I don't care, I'm looking forward to meeting Oakdale.

Either what you said or the Stockpools looked for a ship with a high likelihood of being torpedoed.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Great, now I've got *that* jingle stuck in my head. "Rheingold is my beer, the dry beer -- think of Rheingold when ev-er you buy beer..."

Thanks for sharing!

"Doris Blake" is in fact a stout, balding middle-aged man from Elmhurst who got his feet stepped on this morning while riding in on the IND, and is still sore about it.

Hey, Tracy took off his hat and coat. He doesn't always do that before jumping in the river.

Pat Ryan, Smooth Irish Devil.

"The stereotype of the hard, stoic, unemotional male is a common trope in 1940s popular culture."

 

[Fading Fast]

...
View attachment 203721
Great, now I've got *that* jingle stuck in my head. "Rheingold is my beer, the dry beer -- think of Rheingold when ev-er you buy beer..."...

Is it worse than having the "One Beer to have..." one stuck in your head?

...
Thanks for sharing!....

And somebody paid money to put that in there.

...
"Doris Blake" is in fact a stout, balding middle-aged man from Elmhurst who got his feet stepped on this morning while riding in on the IND, and is still sore about it....

Pretty good analysis of who's doing wrong and who's getting hurt though.

... Pat Ryan, Smooth Irish Devil....

"I have always admired women with real brains...a rare quality!"

Not getting away with saying that cr*p today.

But again, incredible illustrations.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, Frank Schroth bought it out of bankruptcy to ensure that Brooklyn had at least one home-owned daily paper -- it had been hit hard by the Depression, which put two other local dailies out of business, and it would have closed in 1938 had not he convinced the bankruptcy trustees to let him keep it going. It'll go bankrupt again in 1955, will close for five years, will be revived in 1960, will close again in 1963, and will remain dormant until it's revived in reduced form in the mid-90s.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And the all-time best version ever of the Rheingold jingle ---

 

[Fading Fast]

And the all-time best version ever of the Rheingold jingle ---

Holy smokes, pre-CGI, that took some work to pull off. Also an echo of the scene from "The Hucksters" with Greenstreet pounding the table about "Beautee Soap."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Three Kings County judges lashed back sharply at Assistant Attorney General John T. Amen, after he singled them out by name for hard criticism in his report on the county probation system. Judges Franklin Taylor and Peter Brancato were accused of a total of 59 violations of the penal code, while Judge John J. Fitzgerald was charged with "complacency." Taylor and Brancato bitterly denied the charges in a verbal statement following the release of the report, with Judge Taylor accusing Amen of exactly the same violation of the law in his recent handling of the Juffre case. Judge Fitzgerald, meanwhile, scoffed at Amen's assessment of his ability and character, pointing to his personal reputation for being "hard boiled" among the county's probation officers.

The torrid but forbidden society love affair between youthful playboy George "Romeo" Lowther and the daughter of a former Parks Commissioner, Eileen "Juliet" Herrick climaxed today with an airborne elopement and the marriage of the couple in a White Mountains resort at North Conway, New Hampshire. The couple left New York by airplane early this morning, and were wed shortly before 11:30 am in the living room of a Congregational pastor. The bride's father had sought for more than three months to break up the romance, and upon learning the news, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Herrick wept and told reporters "It's all over now." Mr. Herrick had reported Eileen missing when she failed to return from walking her dog early yesterday. The newlyweds intend to return to New York after a brief honeymoon.

(Sitting in his lonely meat locker, Harold Teen reads this article and wonders where he could get an airplane.)

Parks Commissioner Robert Moses has thrown his support to the latest proposal for a revised Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel project. Moses had bitterly opposed the tunnel idea when it stood as an alternative to his preferred Brooklyn Battery Bridge, but with the Bridge project scuttled by the War Department, and revisions made in the tunnel plan, the Parks Commissioner now joins with Mayor LaGuardia in endorsing the underground option. Cost of the tunnel is expected to run between $74,000,000 and $84,000,000.)

A 25-year-old waitress at a Child's Restaurant near Borough Hall today foiled a thief who was rifling the employees' locker room. Alice Markert had gone to the locker room shortly after noon today, when she spotted 46-year-old Bernard Goldman of Philidelphia going thru the lockers and shouted for the manager. The thief made a run for it, and was pursued by 18-year-old Thomas Parsaplis, a box lunch delivery boy, who tackled the robber at the corner of Court and Montague Streets.

A Queens housewife who had gone to her neighbor's house to use the telephone is hospitalized today after an explosion hurled her thru the wall. 55 year old Lillian Miller had gone to the house at 150-44 Grand Central Parkway about 11:30 AM, and as she was making her call, a terrific explosion tore out the front wall of the house and blew her into the street. Police say the explosion occured in the attached house at 150-46 Grand Central Parkway, where renovators accidentally detonated an accumulation of gas. The 150-46 side of the building was reduced to a skeleton, but Mrs. Miller was, miraculously, only slightly injured. The workers who detonated the explosion were, also miraculously, not hurt at all.

The former Lady Sylvia Ashley, widow of Douglas Fairbanks will inherit $1,000,000 from the late actor's estate. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. will receive a $600,000 bequest.

Elliot Roosevelt has withdrawn from the proposed fifth national radio network. The son of the President today resigned his position as president and board member of the Transcontinental Broadcasting System.

Senate Republicans are said to be marshaling opposition to President Roosevelt's proposed 1940 budget, declaring against the proposed tax increase to fund defense spending. Fourteen of the Senate's twenty-three Republicans have endorsed the idea of a "budgetary study" before further action is proposed.

The Nazi press is accusing the Allied Powers of using the Russo-Finnish War as an excuse for establishing a military presence in Scandanavia, and calls on "neutral states" to "oppose English power politics." Items in Nazi papers also suggest that Germany will soon warn neutral members of the League of Nations that League membership is inconsistent with a neutral stand, since, the reports argue, "The League is dominated by Britain and France."

A district superintendant of the Department of Sanitation and his brother are charged with stealing a Brooklyn woman's purse containing $1800 worth of property. 39-year-old Victor Rayfield of 263 Eastern Parkway, and his 46-year-old brother Harold, who lives in Chicago, are accused of stealing a purse belonging to Mrs. Anna Costa of 318 S. 4th Street, while meeting with her in a room at the St. George Hotel to discuss a business proposition. The bag reportedly contained a wristwatch worth $1100, three rings, negotiable papers, and $45 in cash.

CLEARANCE! 200 LOVELY SLENDERIZING DRESSES -- ALL $8 --AT LANE BRYANT!

Steps should be taken to prevent movies and radio comedians from making jokes at the expense of the legal profession, according to a Brooklyn jurist speaking before a meeting of the Brooklyn Trial Lawyers Association. Municipal Court Justice Roger J. Brock called for the formation of a committee of legal organizations to put pressure on the movie and radio industries to halt the jests, which he says are "harming the profession."

Members of the Iceberg Atheltic Club celebrating the new year by plunging into the icy waters at Coney Island Beach. The thermometer read 20 degrees as club members enjoyed their 22nd annual winter outing.

LUXURY CHAIR VALUES -- NOW AT LOESER'S! $79.95 grade marked down to $39.95, with fabrics meant for chairs costing much more!

A lonely nervous person writes to Helen Worth for advice on how to recuperate from a nervous breakdown. Helen calls for rest, sunshine, good food, and congenial people. Maybe try roller skating.

WEDDINGS! BANQUETS! CARD PARTIES! COMMUNION BREAKFASTS! Eddie At THE MIDWOOD RESTAURANT is your congenial host!

Herbert Cohn very much enjoyed "Another Thin Man," now showing at Loew's Metropolitan, with Nick Charles more domestic but still a wisecracker in the latest William Powell-Myrna Loy outing.

Now at the Patio, Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda in "Drums Along The Mohawk," with co-feature "Too Busy To Work," featuring the Jones Family.

Silent-film comedienne Flora Finch died today in Hollywood, taking with her to the grave the secret of her age. Miss Finch, beloved co-star of the late John Bunny in Flatbush-made film comedies that entertained audiences nearly thirty years ago, and later head of her own production company, never revealed either her date or place of birth, but was believed to be somewhere between sixty and eighty. Miss Finch lived alone and never married, and when asked her age always replied "Over 18." Miss Finch remained active in films in small roles, filming a bit part in "I Take This Woman" just last week.

Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus has been assigned to head up the prosecution in the murder case against Ernest Kehler, accused in the beating death of German consular secretary Dr. Walter Engelberg. Turkus will be removed from all other cases so that he might devote all his time to preparation for the Kehler trial. No trial date has yet been set.

The New York Rangers won their sixteenth straight game last night, beating the Americans 5-2. The blazing Blueshirts next face the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks.

The New York Giants will train this spring in Florida instead of their usual base of Louisiana, and 36-year-old Carl Hubbell hopes the Florida climate will be easy on his arm. Hubbell, who underwent arm surgery in 1938 that compromised his ability to throw his famous screwball in 1939 hopes to be back at full capacity in 1940.

A 12-round heavyweight bout between Max Baer and Two-Ton Tony Galento is scheduled for March 22nd at Madison Square Garden, as a benefit for Finnish war relief.

Talented ten-year-old Brooklyn coloratura Beverly Sills will appear for the second time on the Major Bowes' Family program this coming Sunday morning at 11:30 over WABC. Young Miss Sills appeared on the Family program last November, following a successful performance on Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour, and is believed to be the first performer to appear on both of the Major's radio features. On the strentgh of her appearances with the Major, Miss Sills has also been signed to an acting contract for the daytime CBS serial "Our Gal Sunday."

Josephine, my dear -- don't you know by now when you're being trolled?

Good, good, no loose ends. Well played, Stockpools.

Dan is disguised as vorkinkmen. Is good. Better hide those dainty, well-groomed hands, though, they'll give you away fast.

 

[3fingers]

Steps should be taken to prevent movies and radio comedians from making jokes at the expense of the legal profession, according to a Brooklyn jurist speaking before a meeting of the Brooklyn Trial Lawyers Association.

An attorney acquaintance of mine has always been greatly offended by this type of thing even though he admits that certain elements in his profession have contributed to the ongoing popularity of these jokes.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And from the Daily News, more on the Samowitz shooting.

(True fact -- my great-grandparents also entered the US illegally from Canada, and over the fifty years they lived here were never threatened with deportation. Of course, their names didn't end in a vowel.)

"That Guy" has ever been with us.

Nertz to you, bud -- I love that song. "I want tha waitah -- with the watah -- I want the waitah with the watah for mah daughtah...."

Oh sure, now you guys show up.

Yeah, well, when Cheery finds out this is just a hokey scam, Pat's life won't be worth a nickel.

Meanwhile, here's a gal who could give Miss Blaze a run for her money. The veiled lady is "The Mongoose," a foreign agent who has decided that the way to cripple America's defenses is to kill all flying instructors -- and Smilin' Jack has just opened his own flying school, ha ha ha. To accomplish this goal she has gathered the crew of henchmen you see here, and one of them has betrayed her. He will soon meet his fate, probably by being thrown into a propellor or something equally demented. Where "Terry" goes for subtlety and innuendo, "Jack" likes its storylines rough.

Harold Teen, manic depressive.

 

[Fading Fast]

...The torrid but forbidden society love affair between youthful playboy George "Romeo" Lowther and the daughter of a former Parks Commissioner, Eileen "Juliet" Herrick climaxed today with an airborne elopement and the marriage of the couple in a White Mountains resort at North Conway, New Hampshire. The couple left New York by airplane early this morning, and were wed shortly before 11:30 am in the living room of a Congregational pastor. The bride's father had sought for more than three months to break up the romance, and upon learning the news, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Herrick wept and told reporters "It's all over now." Mr. Herrick had reported Eileen missing when she failed to return from walking her dog early yesterday. The newlyweds intend to return to New York after a brief honeymoon.

View attachment 203903
(Sitting in his lonely meat locker, Harold Teen reads this article and wonders where he could get an airplane.)....

While not following it point by point, so many of the movies of the '30s and '40s, like "It Happened One Night," "Walking on Air," "Libeled Lady" and "The Bride Came C.O.D." had variations of this scenario in their plots.

...A Queens housewife who had gone to her neighbor's house to use the telephone is hospitalized today after an explosion hurled her thru the wall. 55 year old Lillian Miller had gone to the house at 150-44 Grand Central Parkway about 11:30 AM, and as she was making her call, a terrific explosion tore out the front wall of the house and blew her into the street. Police say the explosion occured in the attached house at 150-46 Grand Central Parkway, where renovators accidentally detonated an accumulation of gas. The 150-46 side of the building was reduced to a skeleton, but Mrs. Miller was, miraculously, only slightly injured. The workers who detonated the explosion were, also miraculously, not hurt at all....

If it had happened today, meth lab would have been one of my guesses as to the cause.

...A district superintendant of the Department of Sanitation and his brother are charged with stealing a Brooklyn woman's purse containing $1800 worth of property. 39-year-old Victor Rayfield of 263 Eastern Parkway, and his 46-year-old brother Harold, who lives in Chicago, are accused of stealing a purse belonging to Mrs. Anna Costa of 318 S. 4th Street, while meeting with her in a room at the St. George Hotel to discuss a business proposition. The bag reportedly contained a wristwatch worth $1100, three rings, negotiable papers, and $45 in cash.....

That watch is worth about $20,000 in 2020 dollars - holy smokes!

...Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus has been assigned to head up the prosecution in the murder case against Ernest Kehler, accused in the beating death of German consular secretary Dr. Walter Engelberg. Turkus will be removed from all other cases so that he might devote all his time to preparation for the Kehler trial. No trial date has yet been set....

Once they captured Kehler, a lot of the air went out of this story. The press needs to gin up a new angle on it.

...
Josephine, my dear -- don't you know by now when you're being trolled?


Good, good, no loose ends. Well played, Stockpools.

Dan is disguised as vorkinkmen. Is good. Better hide those dainty, well-groomed hands, though, they'll give you away fast.

Josephine, sometimes it's justified to simply abandon your family when you discover they are a bunch of idiots.

Sure, the Stockpools might be hiding out or they might just have decided that being dead beats being Leona's parents.

If Dan's sleuthing doesn't improve, he might just need those clothes for his next job.

An attorney acquaintance of mine has always been greatly offended by this type of thing even though he admits that certain elements in his profession have contributed to the ongoing popularity of these jokes.

Most fields probably feel that way. My field, finance, is almost always represented on TV or in movies as populated with crooks or, at minimum, insanely greedy people who would sell their mothers for a buck. And, yes, those people exist, but the vast majority of finance people simply try to make an honest living helping clients. Laugh at me all you want, but I've been in it for over 30 years and that's exactly what I've seen.

...
Oh sure, now you guys show up.

Yeah, well, when Cheery finds out this is just a hokey scam, Pat's life won't be worth a nickel.


Meanwhile, here's a gal who could give Miss Blaze a run for her money. The veiled lady is "The Mongoose," a foreign agent who has decided that the way to cripple America's defenses is to kill all flying instructors -- and Smilin' Jack has just opened his own flying school, ha ha ha. To accomplish this goal she has gathered the crew of henchmen you see here, and one of them has betrayed her. He will soon meet his fate, probably by being thrown into a propellor or something equally demented. Where "Terry" goes for subtlety and innuendo, "Jack" likes its storylines rough.....

Kudos to the "new guys" in Tracy for not just jumping in the water to be the hero, but actually doing something that helped. Although, it looks like someone might have to go in now to find him.

I'm really hoping Pat has a real plan behind what he's doing.

Re "Smilin' Jack," as you've noted, these comics were not written for kids.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Lowthers will be divorced in 1946 and Eileen will die by her own hand a few years later. Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Lowthers will be divorced in 1946 and Eileen will die by her own hand a few years later. Be careful what you wish for.

So, sadly, their lives went from being a screwball comedy to a film noir.

 

[3fingers]

but the vast majority of finance people simply try to make an honest living helping clients. Laugh at me all you want, but I've been in it for over 30 years and that's exactly what I've seen.

Now see, you've completely ruined my mental image of you in a green visor, sleeve garters and slightly beady eyed.

 

[Fading Fast]

Now see, you've completely ruined my mental image of you in a green visor, sleeve garters and slightly beady eyed.

In truth, each night, we just go into the vault, take whatever money we need and go home.