The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

The more I think about it the more I want to see a Terry/Annie crossover. This sort of thing wasn't done in 1940, but the current creative team for Dick Tracy has done several crossovers with defunct News-Tribune strips in recent years -- Annie and her cast have become semi-regulars there, and Tracy even helped them run down Axel when he resurfaced a few years back:

It's also been established that Harold Teen and his friends exist in the current Tracy universe -- still looking and acting like 30s hepcats in the 21st Century:

There have even been brief appearances by an elderly Skeezix Wallet and his even more ancient Uncle Walt. So a Terryverse crossover is long, long overdue. Oh how I'd like to see today's Tracy get a visit from Cheery Blaze, with Annie and company not far behind.

I'm with you as my first choice for a crossover would be T&TP and LOA. Both have well-written complex stories and characters that see the gray in life and play in and highlight it. I think Mary Worth and Dick Tracy together could also be interesting except that MW is written at a higher level than DT.

 

[LizzieMaine]

British troops have landed at several points along the Norwegian coast to press forward the attack against Nazi occupation forces, according to reports from London, but those reports are disputed by Berlin, which states that no British troops have landed at any Norwegian point occupied by Germany. Stockholm reports that British troops have landed under the protection of naval shellfire at Narvik, and that German forces are fleeing inland from the port city toward the mountains.

When the freighter City Of Flint was at the center of an international incident last fall, and was impounded by a German prize crew at a Norwegian port, one of the crew members met and hit it off with a Norwegian girl. Today that girl arrived in Brooklyn aboard the last passenger liner to depart Norway before the Nazi invasion -- to marry the boy.

Three Brooklyn Democrats have been named Delegates-At-Large to attend this summer's Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Kings County Democratic Leader Frank Kelly, New York National Committeewoman Mrs. William H. Good, and Attorney General John J. Bennett Jr. have been selected by the Democratic State Committee to carry forward a platform including the following points: continuation of Postmaster General James A. Farley as Democratic State Chairman, adoption of a resolution endorsing President Roosevelt, Governor Lehman, and Postmaster General Farley, but without mention of the third-term question or of Mr. Farley's own Presidential aspiration, and approval of a slate of sixteen delegates at large and sixteen alternates previously selected by party leaders.

The racing season opens today at Jamacia Park, but with a difference -- which spectators and bettors will notice immediately in the form of the large totalizer board now installed alongside the track. Today marks the beginning of pari-mutuel wagering at New York tracks, as approved by voters in a referendum last fall, and the official start of betting marked a surging rush on the windows as they opened for the first time at exactly 1:30 pm. About 12,000 spectators braved the cold weather for the opening day of racing, and more than $25,000 was bet on the first race by fifteen minutes before the post.

The Yankees beat the Dodgers 5 to 2 before 12,000 shivering fans at Ebbets Field yesterday, but while they won the game they lost Joe DiMaggio, with the slugging center fielder expected to be sidelined for at least two weeks after injuring his knee while sliding into second base in the ninth inning. DiMaggio was able to walk off the field, but was later determined to have injured the cartilage in his knee. The injury means the Yankees will open the season minus two of their regulars, with second baseman Joe Gordon unlikely to play due to a charley horse. Yankee manager Joe McCarthy was astonished at the size of the crowd, saying that Brooklyn is the only place in the world where 12,000 people would come out in sub-freezing weather to watch a baseball game. Those fans took the loss in stride, with the dominant mood being "See you in October!"

The Dodgers are working out this morning at Ebbets Field before boarding an afternoon train to Boston, where they open tomorrow against the Bees. Whit Wyatt will open for Brooklyn against Sailor Bill Posedel for Boston. Leo Durocher says he will take the field in person at shortstop.

Denis Healy was back on the witness stand today as the trial of sixteen Christian Front members on seditious conspiracy charges resumed in Brooklyn Federal Court, and testified that machine-gun ammunition stockpiled by the plotters was given to them by a National Guard officer, and identified that officer as Captain George Barker of the 101st Cavalry. Healy also testified that he contributed funds issued to him by the FBI as his share of the money used to purchase additional ammunition for the group.

An eighteen-year-old Bedford-Stuyvesant youth who was shot in the back by a police officer is fighting for his life today at Governeur Hospital. Hyman Hellman of 234 Pulaski Street received blood transfusions last night after he was shot by Detective Francis Ward of the 2nd Division. According to Ward, he and his partner, Detective George Brennan, had demanded that the youth submit to a frisking, and he refused to do so, pushing Ward to the sidewalk and fleeing down Rivington Street. Ward pursued, and shot the boy in the back after he refused an order to halt. Hellman had no police record. There are no indications that charges will be brought against Ward.

A gangland operative thought to have been a burlap-bag victim of the Murder For Hire Gang turned up alive today in Kings County Superior Court, where he was ordered held as a material witness in District Attorney William O'Dwyer's ongoing investigation. Sol "Shulon" Bernstein was believed to have been rubbed out in Chicago because he knew too much about recent Murder For Hire activities, specifically the slaying of gangster Morris Diamond last May 25th, but investigators located him and brought him in after Assistant DA Burton Turkus determined that a decapitated body found in a sack in Chicago was not Bernstein.

The Board of Higher Education tonight will decide whether to appeal the court ruling removing Bertrand Russell from a faculty position at City College. It is expected the appeal will be approved by the same 11 to 7 margin that approved Russell's initial appointment.

(If you wanted Coca-Cola at home, this was the only way to get it -- in 6 ounce bottles. There were no King Size bottles, no quart bottles, no half-gallon bottles, no cans. Coke president Robert Woodruff believed that Coca-Cola in the 6 ounce bottle was a perfect product in a perfect package, and no alternatives were required or permitted. And he wasn't even real happy about calling it "Coke.")

V. E. writes to Helen Worth looking for help budgeting a family income of $125 a month. Helen suggests $45 for rent, $35 for food, $10 for clothing, $14 for "advancement," $11 for operating expenses, and $10 for savings. If you're spending $10 a week on food, she declares, you're spending too much.

Washington columnist Ray Tucker says it's pretty much a cinch that the 1940 Presidential race will pit Thomas E. Dewey against Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Dewey's momentum now such that the party establishment's "Stop Dewey" drive is likely to fall short. Dewey now has 200 delegates in the bag, and conservative rival Robert A. Taft is not within striking distance.

("Office Boys," youths in their early teens who quit school to go to work, were still a thing in 1940.)

A twenty-seven-year-old theatrical and literary agent killed herself with gas in her one-room Manhattan apartment last night. Mrs. Yolande Evans, advisor and intimate of Broadway and Hollywood stars, was said to have been "heartbroken" when her husband abandoned her over the weekend. Police are searching for that husband, 49-year-old Harry Evans, a loan company executive, who was last seen on Saturday carrying a large amount of luggage out of the Lexington Avenue building where he and Mrs. Evans lived.

Larry MacPhail would still like to bring Joe Medwick to Brooklyn -- but he isn't about to give up Peewee Reese to do it. The Dodger president revealed today that the Cardinals have let it be known they'd consider a Medwick-for-Reese swap, but no matter how badly he'd like to see the Duck swimming at Ebbets Field, MacPhail says Reese, the prize rookie of 1940, is off limits.

MacPhail also put the kibosh on the Dizzy Dean rumors, stating that he has spoken to the Cubs about the colorful, sore-armed hurler, but he says they'll talk only if the deal is Dean for Reese and Pete Coscarart, and he's not about to go along with that.

With the Phillies unwilling to give up fireballing Kirby Higbe, MacPhail has sounded out the Bees about Bill Posedel, but with Jim Tobin having just injured his knee, the Bostons can't afford to let Posedel go.

Gloria Jean, Robert Cummings, and C. Aubrey Smith star in "The Under Pup" on the Lux Radio Theatre, tonight at 9 on WABC.

(If I'm not mistaken, Sugarfoot actually seems to be enjoying this.)

("Foolish child! As if you could ever conceal anything from MARY WORTH!")

(Is Irwin the Chief's brother-in-law or somethng? Does the Chief owe him money? Does Irwin have compromising photographs of the Chief's basement pleasure dungeon? Because otherwise I'm at a loss to explain how Irwin ever became a "secret operative.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

All trails lead to Brooklyn.

In other words, that turkey dinner deal the other day didn't sell.

*snif*

"And besides, I never got my suitcase!"

You mean you didn't think to drop a shoe? Jeez, kid, you're an amateur at this.

No. Slack. At. All.

Uncle Walt isn't swelling up with pride. He's always that way. Incidentially, the setting here is the source of the strip's name -- "Gasoline Alley" was a row of sheds along a dirt path behind Walt's house where all the neighborhood men would gather to work on their cars. Before Skeezix turned up on his doorstep in 1921, Walt was a carefree bachelor who lived only to adjust his carburetor. His pal Avery here is the neighborhood tightwad, who drives a 1913-model car and thinks electric starters are for pantywaists.

If you value your privacy don't live in a boardinghouse.

Wait, Portwine wears pajamas *to sleep in?* I figured to go to bed he'd put on a full dress suit.

 

[David Conwill]

Harold Teen and his friends exist in the current Tracy universe -- still looking and acting like 30s hepcats in the 21st Century

I wonder what their handles are here on the Fedora Lounge?

 

[David Conwill]

Avery here is the neighborhood tightwad, who drives a 1913-model car and thinks electric starters are for pantywaists.

Avery and I have that in common and DON'T get me started on those automatic transmissions!

 

[Fading Fast]

...When the freighter City Of Flint was at the center of an international incident last fall, and was impounded by a German prize crew at a Norwegian port, one of the crew members met and hit it off with a Norwegian girl. Today that girl arrived in Brooklyn aboard the last passenger liner to depart Norway before the Nazi invasion -- to marry the boy.

...

Ah. Good story; nice looking couple.

...An eighteen-year-old Bedford-Stuyvesant youth who was shot in the back by a police officer is fighting for his life today at Governeur Hospital. Hyman Hellman of 234 Pulaski Street received blood transfusions last night after he was shot by Detective Francis Ward of the 2nd Division. According to Ward, he and his partner, Detective George Brennan, had demanded that the youth submit to a frisking, and he refused to do so, pushing Ward to the sidewalk and fleeing down Rivington Street. Ward pursued, and shot the boy in the back after he refused an order to halt. Hellman had no police record. There are no indications that charges will be brought against Ward....

The followup reporting on this one will be interesting to follow. Today, the protests would already be in motion.

...A gangland operative thought to have been a burlap-bag victim of the Murder For Hire Gang turned up alive today in Kings County Superior Court, where he was ordered held as a material witness in District Attorney William O'Dwyer's ongoing investigation. Sol "Shulon" Bernstein was believed to have been rubbed out in Chicago because he knew too much about recent Murder For Hire activities, specifically the slaying of gangster Morris Diamond last May 25th, but investigators located him and brought him in after Assistant DA Burton Turkus determined that a decapitated body found in a sack in Chicago was not Bernstein....

Don't they mean Morris "The Cut" Diamond or some such sobriquet?

...V. E. writes to Helen Worth looking for help budgeting a family income of $125 a month. Helen suggests $45 for rent, $35 for food, $10 for clothing, $14 for "advancement," $11 for operating expenses, and $10 for savings. If you're spending $10 a week on food, she declares, you're spending too much....

$125 in 1940 = ~$2300 in 2020 and $10 =~$184. Assuming a family of four, it would be an incredible challenge to feed them on $184/week in NYC. But as we've noted before, these "inflation calculators" hardly capture all the nuances and variables involved in comparing dollars and costs in 1940 to dollars and costs in 2020.

...
("Office Boys," youths in their early teens who quit school to go to work, were still a thing in 1940.)...

Even when I started in business in NYC in the '80s, NYC offices still had a decent number of roles for boys (and girls) like that and some even built careers and wound up in senior positions. But that is all dead now. The two things that mainly killed it were the cult of the college degree and automation (the Internet, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, email, etc.), the latter also killed the secretarial pool.

...Gloria Jean, Robert Cummings, and C. Aubrey Smith star in "The Under Pup" on the Lux Radio Theatre, tonight at 9 on WABC....

C. Aubrey Smith must have been in 500 movies in the 30s and 40s. Be it an officer, father or grandfather, he was at his best playing a kindly authority figure.

He would probably be a top five in a 1930s game of six degrees of separation.

... (If I'm not mistaken, Sugarfoot actually seems to be enjoying this.)...

Agreed, he seems like a stir-the-pot kinda a guy just happy to see what happens even when what happens doesn't work in his favor. You don't wear that suit because you want to advance; you wear it to create noise.

... ("Foolish child! As if you could ever conceal anything from MARY WORTH!")...

But kudos to her - maybe not a smart decision - but she's got grit.

... View attachment 227871 In other words, that turkey dinner deal the other day didn't sell.....

It seemed an odd time of year when they promoted that dinner in the first place.

.. *snif*....

Where's Nick? It's a wasted day right now in LOA's world without Nick. Also, Nick would connect the dot to the coated tongue.

... "And besides, I never got my suitcase!"....

How funny would it be if the suitcase really was angering him.

... No. Slack. At. All.....

Panel four - I usually grumble when there's no background (I paid my nickel [or whatever] and I want full illustrations), but their faces are all that is needed to say it all.

...[ Uncle Walt isn't swelling up with pride. He's always that way. Incidentially, the setting here is the source of the strip's name -- "Gasoline Alley" was a row of sheds along a dirt path behind Walt's house where all the neighborhood men would gather to work on their cars. Before Skeezix turned up on his doorstep in 1921, Walt was a carefree bachelor who lived only to adjust his carburetor. His pal Avery here is the neighborhood tightwad, who drives a 1913-model car and thinks electric starters are for pantywaists.....

When I lived in Jersey City, New Jersey in the '80s, there was a long strip of pavement abutting a large empty lot where, on Saturday, the local men would gather and work on their cars, trick them out, etc. You had to be careful about where you wondered in Jersey City in the '80s, but you couldn't have been safer being around that area on Saturday (not so much the rest of the week).

... Wait, Portwine wears pajamas *to sleep in?* I figured to go to bed he'd put on a full dress suit.

The silhouetted figure in the tent is well done.

 

[Haversack]

Fading Fast wrote in regard to C. Aubrey Smith: "He would probably be a top five in a 1930s game of six degrees of separation."

I can do that in two or less, (depending on how the count is made). My grandfather was one of the founders of the Santa Barbara Cricket Club back in the '20s and played 'Round-the-Corner' Smith's Hollywood team many times. In one our old family albums there's a photo of Smith in his blazer with my father, (who was all of nine years old or so at the time). Smith was a professional athlete before taking to the stage and screen.

 

[vitanola]

Avery and I have that in common and DON'T get me started on those automatic transmissions!

That makes three of us.

 

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

The official German news agency DNB claims today that British bombers struck the city of Navanger on the western coast of Norway, destroying several private homes and killing an undisclosed number of Norwegian civilians. The reports come as German newspapers and unofficial Berlin sources threaten retaliation bombings "twice as strong" on British cities if British bombers hit open German territory. Stavanger is considered such territory since its occupation by Nazi troops.

Meanwhile, German sources also claim that a British cruiser and a British amphibious airplane have been destroyed by German bombres off the Norwegian coast, with British sources refusing comment on those reports.

German authorities say Norwegian King Haakon VII has one last chance to retain his throne. With the monarch now "held captive" with his advisors, Germany insists that he recognize the German-installed occupation government at Oslo, but there are also conflicting reports from the Berlin radio that the King and his government have fled Norway to seek refuge in Sweden.

The sixteen defendants in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy trial heard lectures on topics including occultism, numerology, pantheism, and the psychopathology of the human mind as part of their training, according to chief prosecution witness Denis Healy. Continuing his testimony today in Brooklyn Federal Court, Healy stated that defendant William Gerald Bishop was himself one of the lecturers. Healy also acknowledged for the first time that his wife, Mrs. Ann Healy, was also on the FBI payroll as part of the Bureau's efforts to infiltrate the Front. Mrs. Healy is expected to testify later in the trial.

The 1940 National League campaign opens for the Dodgers in Boston today, as the Flock meets the Bees. As he had stated, Manager Leo Durocher is the opening day shortstop for Brooklyn, with rookie sensation Peewee Reese kicking of the season on the bench, where he will be expected to watch and learn. Whitlow Wyatt will appear in a regular-season game for the first time since his season-ending knee injury last August, and all eyes will be on his maneuverability on the mound, with the light-hitting Bees expected to put his bunt-fielding ability to the test.

In other Opening Day games, the Giants inaugurate their season at the Polo Grounds against the Phillies, with Mayor LaGuardia on hand to throw out the ceremonial first ball. Veteran Carl Hubbell will start for the Giants against hard-throwing Kirby Higbe for the Phils. At Shibe Park in Philadelphia, meanwhile, the Yankees open their season against the Athletics, with Red Ruffing starting for the Yanks against Chubby Dean for the A's.

One Yankee who is not in Philadelphia today is Lou Gehrig, who is "up to his arms" in work in his Manhattan office, having fully devoted himself to his duties as a Parole Commissioner. Gehrig, missing his first Opening Day in fifteen years, says he probably won't go to the ballpark much this year, but does hope to slip in quietly later in the season to sit in the stands "like any other fan." He says the applause and cheering he'd be bound to get if he made a public appearance makes him uncomfortable, and he would prefer to avoid it.

A crackdown on nude entertainment at the World's Fair is predicted in the wake of a Brooklyn Appellate Court decision upholding the conviction of fan dancer Miss Joan Vicker on obscenity charges stemming from a performance at the "NTG's Congress of Beauty" exhibit last year. Miss Vicker was fined $25 for the performance, and her manager, David Bell, drew a fine of $100 for arranging the act. The court dismissed Miss Vicker's argument that her dance was "pure art" after she demonstrated her routine before Judges Burlingame, Lindau, and Hackenburg, who concluded after careful consideration of the dance that the performance was "obscene and lewd."

(The very definition of "Ahead Of Its Time.")

Mayor LaGuardia hints he may have a settlement brewing in the dispute between the World's Fair Corporation and theatrical unions which have thrown the Fair's live-show schedule for 1940 into doubt. The Mayor says the unions have been "very conciliatory" over the course of the negotiations, and he is pressuring Fair president Harvey D. Gibson to become likewise, stressing to him that "prolonged negotiations would not be conducive to the best interests of anyone concerned."

The Board of Higher Education voted 11 to 6 last night to appeal the removal of Bertrand Russell from the City College faculty, but Mayor LaGuardia isn't convinced that an appeal effort will succeed. The Mayor says the City cannot by law provide legal counsel to the Board in such a case, and is doubtful it can hire satisfactory representation on its own. He also points out that "the whole question is academic," since funding for the professorship in question has already been dropped from the budget.

A new era in horse racing dawned yesterday at the Jamacia track as New York's first day of pari-mutuel wagering brought in over $821,000 in bets. The state's cut of the total comes to $40,000, as over 22,000 racing fans bet enthusiastically thruout the day's events.

(Starting Off On The Wrong Foot, 1940 style)

It's time to get the "morons, potential murderers, and road hogs" off the road, according to Magistrate Charles Solomon, who is kicking off his own personal crusade to toughen up the state's drivers' licensing requirements. Solomon, who presides over Brooklyn Traffic Court, spoke before a gathering of motor vehicle examiners and inspectors during a weekly instruction period at the Motor Vehicle Bureau, calling for much stricter licensing standards designed to weed out drivers who likely to cause accidents. "You can't put a pig in an automobile," declared the Magistrate, "and expect him to act like a human being."

Clifford Evans says City Records Commissioner Hymie Schorenstein is fed up with the bad reputation the Murder-for-Hire investigation is giving to his native Brownsville. Back in Brooklyn following a vacation trip to Florida, Schorenstein says everywhere he went people gave him the razz about Brownsville, but he says that gangsters aside, the only real thing Brownsvillians are guilty of is being poor.

Ray Milland joins John Kieran, Franklin P. Adams, Oscar Levant, and moderator Clifton Fadiman on tonight's "Information Please," 8:30 pm on WJZ.

Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart open tomorrow at the Brooklyn Paramount in "It All Came True," paired with John Payne and Gloria Dickson in "King of the Lumberjacks." (There are no plans for Miss Sheridan to appear in person in Brooklyn, so please leave your handcuffs at home.)

("GEORGE! GET DOWN HERE! THAT BOLD ELEPHANT IS STUCK IN THE COAL BIN!")

(The defense counsel majored in "Flamboyant Gestures.")

(It takes a very confident assassin to let his victim ride right up there in the front seat.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Kids Today.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

What, Warren William again? Better send for Skeezix.

Tracy's really into initialed cufflinks. Maybe when his birthday comes around the Chief can not get him some.

All right, all right, you've made your point.

Sorry kid, we pay on publication, not on acceptance.

Wait, isn't this the same building where Harold lives? Hey, have you met that gal down the hall?

Nigel Bruce? Never heard of him.

Harold's a goof, but he does have snazzy taste in shoes.

And another Leo O'Mealia bonus, here comes baseball!

 

[Fading Fast]

...The 1940 National League campaign opens for the Dodgers in Boston today, as the Flock meets the Bees. As he had stated, Manager Leo Durocher is the opening day shortstop for Brooklyn, with rookie sensation Peewee Reese kicking of the season on the bench, where he will be expected to watch and learn. Whitlow Wyatt will appear in a regular-season game for the first time since his season-ending knee injury last August, and all eyes will be on his maneuverability on the mound, with the light-hitting Bees expected to put his bunt-fielding ability to the test....

One has to at least question if Durocher is really making the best decision for the team or is just doing what he wants.

Also, it's as good a time as any to aver that the next MLB expansion team should use the name "Bees."

...A crackdown on nude entertainment at the World's Fair is predicted in the wake of a Brooklyn Appellate Court decision upholding the conviction of fan dancer Miss Joan Vicker on obscenity charges stemming from a performance at the "NTG's Congress of Beauty" exhibit last year. Miss Vicker was fined $25 for the performance, and her manager, David Bell, drew a fine of $100 for arranging the act. The court dismissed Miss Vicker's argument that her dance was "pure art" after she demonstrated her routine before Judges Burlingame, Lindau, and Hackenburg, who concluded after careful consideration of the dance that the performance was "obscene and lewd."...

Mayor LaGuardia hints he may have a settlement brewing in the dispute between the World's Fair Corporation and theatrical unions which have thrown the Fair's live-show schedule for 1940 into doubt. The Mayor says the unions have been "very conciliatory" over the course of the negotiations, and he is pressuring Fair president Harvey D. Gibson to become likewise, stressing to him that "prolonged negotiations would not be conducive to the best interests of anyone concerned."...

Okay Lizzie, no nudity and (maybe) no live shows, what do Sally and Joe have to say about this as 1940's World's Fair is shaping up to be a disappointment versus '39's version?

... View attachment 228074
A new era in horse racing dawned yesterday at the Jamacia track as New York's first day of pari-mutuel wagering brought in over $821,000 in bets. The state's cut of the total comes to $40,000, as over 22,000 racing fans bet enthusiastically thruout the day's events....

The brilliance of parimutuel wagering - its simple, elegant solution - is wonderful and basically destroyed the old model of pick-your-bookie hucksterism. But of course, the house gets a take (vig, cut, percentage) - as the infrastructure has to be paid for - however, what's happened over years is the government has taken over racetracks (at least in New York) and, thus, the State is now, effectively, the house / a bookie.

And, naturally, the house take has gone up from (implied in the numbers in the Eagle) ~5% in '40 to today's 10%-17% take (very hard to find a clear answer to the question, for obviously reasons). So, effectively, the state not only became a bookie, but it became a monopolistic and rapacious one. To be sure, if the government wasn't profiting from it, it would be loudly and piously denouncing this take as "unconscionable," as "a tax on the poor." Ditto, lotteries today versus the "numbers" racket of the '30/'40s.

...Clifford Evans says City Records Commissioner Hymie Schorenstein is fed up with the bad reputation the Murder-for-Hire investigation is giving to his native Brownsville. Back in Brooklyn following a vacation trip to Florida, Schorenstein says everywhere he went people gave him the razz about Brownsville, but he says that gangsters aside, the only real thing Brownsvillians are guilty of is being poor....

What happened, wasn't Cliff going to tell us who Mr. Big is?

... (It takes a very confident assassin to let his victim ride right up there in the front seat.)

Irwin's got his limitations, but he's shown us that he would never let that front-seat opportunity go to waste. Inconsistencies like this hurt the verisimilitude of the strip.

...
Kids Today....

My father's solution was to not spoil the kid in the first place. It was quite effective as our home was very calm despite its limited resources - complaining was all but not allowed / appreciating what you have (food, clothing, shelter) was emphasized.

...
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...

Lizzie, good chance you and I would be in line behind my cinnamon-bun-loving girlfriend. We've gone all over this city hunting out good cinnamon buns. I know it's almost 30 years ago, but I still have a pretty good memory of the H&H I went to in NYC in the '80s.

... Tracy's really into initialed cufflinks. Maybe when his birthday comes around the Chief can not get him some....

You set this one up for me: there will be no gift giving, the best Tracy can hope for is a hostage exchange of one suitcase for one pair of initialized cufflinks.

... All right, all right, you've made your point....

How long was April waiting to use that one? Hmm, let's see, both women want to make Pat happy in bed - just saying what's going on in the plot - how could we solve for this? Kidding aside, it's not as if Caniff isn't working hard on this love-triangle/sexual-tension angle - he knows exactly what he's doing.

A... Wait, isn't this the same building where Harold lives? Hey, have you met that gal down the hall?...

King lets his inner poet rip.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Hey,Sal -- you see where this year th' Fair is goin' informal?" asked Joe. "No high hats, it's all gonna be 'Hello Folks!' This year when we go, y'know what I'm gonna do -- I'm gonna take me shoit off jus' like I do at home heah. Anybody comes up ta me I'm gonna yell HELLO FOLKS! MAKE YASSELF TA HOME!"

And Sally says, "You betta keep ya shoit on. Looka what happened ta this dame. She took her shoit off an' ended up in fronna three judges!"

"They try ta do that ta me, I'm gonna look'm right inna eye an' yell HELLO FOLKS! MAKE YASELF TA HOME!"

"You try that, an' I betcha they take ya down ta Raymond Street, an' look YOU right inna eye an' say MAKE *YASELF* TA HOME!"

As for Mr. Durocher, I think Lippy knows he's done for as a player, and that Reese is the Future. But he wants one last Opening Day to swank around before he packs it in. Plus, MacPhail has made it clear to him that he's paying him to be a PLAYING MANAGER, and if he doesn't want to play, "bench manager" pay starts at $2000 a year less than he's getting.

I suspect that Cliff got a phone call in the middle of the night that caused him to reevaluate publishing what he knows. Either that, or Mr. Schroth got a call and muzzled him. Either way, I don't expect he's going to squawk, which is why he's a local Brooklyn Guy and Winchell is a national figure. Winchell would have had it in print and on the radio a week ago, and he would have dared the mob to come do something about it.

Lookit Pat smirk there, lapping it all up. Who's this guy Errol Flynn?

That Automat cinnamon bun looks just like the kind they served when our school lunch program started here when I was in the second grade. It was on the menu the very first day hot lunch was served, and I thought it was going to be a regular thing. Imagine my disappointment when the next day we got a paper cup half full of green Jell-O.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Hey,Sal -- you see where this year th' Fair is goin' informal?" asked Joe. "No high hats, it's all gonna be 'Hello Folks!' This year when we go, y'know what I'm gonna do -- I'm gonna take me shoit off jus' like I do at home heah. Anybody comes up ta me I'm gonna yell HELLO FOLKS! MAKE YASSELF TA HOME!"

And Sally says, "You betta keep ya shoit on. Looka what happened ta this dame. She took her shoit off an' ended up in fronna three judges!"

"They try ta do that ta me, I'm gonna look'm right inna eye an' yell HELLO FOLKS! MAKE YASELF TA HOME!"

"You try that, an' I betcha they take ya down ta Raymond Street, an' look YOU right inna eye an' say MAKE *YASELF* TA HOME!"

As for Mr. Durocher, I think Lippy knows he's done for as a player, and that Reese is the Future. But he wants one last Opening Day to swank around before he packs it in. Plus, MacPhail has made it clear to him that he's paying him to be a PLAYING MANAGER, and if he doesn't want to play, "bench manager" pay starts at $2000 a year less than he's getting.

I suspect that Cliff got a phone call in the middle of the night that caused him to reevaluate publishing what he knows. Either that, or Mr. Schroth got a call and muzzled him. Either way, I don't expect he's going to squawk, which is why he's a local Brooklyn Guy and Winchell is a national figure. Winchell would have had it in print and on the radio a week ago, and he would have dared the mob to come do something about it.

Lookit Pat smirk there, lapping it all up. Who's this guy Errol Flynn?

That Automat cinnamon bun looks just like the kind they served when our school lunch program started here when I was in the second grade. It was on the menu the very first day hot lunch was served, and I thought it was going to be a regular thing. Imagine my disappointment when the next day we got a paper cup half full of green Jell-O.

"fronna" LOL

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have one of these hanging on my refrigerator. HELLO FOLKS!

 

[Tiki Tom]

Just want to say that I GREATLY appreciate LizzieMaines work on this thread. I’m a bit of a lurker in that I don’t have much to add. But I am learning a lot from it. My thanks to Lizzie and everyone else who contributes.

 

[Fading Fast]

Just want to say that I GREATLY appreciate LizzieMaines work on this thread. I’m a bit of a lurker in that I don’t have much to add. But I am learning a lot from it. My thanks to Lizzie and everyone else who contributes.

What she's taken on and how she's done it is impressive, generous and incredibly enjoyable. I can only echo your applause.

 

[David Conwill]

What they said! I look forward to hearing my daily reports from the Eagle.

 

[3fingers]

The court dismissed Miss Vicker's argument that her dance was "pure art" after she demonstrated her routine before Judges Burlingame, Lindau, and Hackenburg, who concluded after careful consideration of the dance that the performance was "obscene and lewd."

They couldn't define it but they know it when they see it. But only after careful consideration.

 

[LizzieMaine]

An advance guard of Allied troops began the first attempt today to drive a salient into German-occupied southern Norway. A force of several hundred men landed secretly at Andalsnes, 100 miles south of Trondheim. The landings came as Allied troops were reported to be attacking German forces cut off from retreat or reinforcement at Narvik.

A family of nine from Park Slope appeared before the Board of Estimate today to protest low wages paid to municipal workers. Peter Dorsa earns $1550 a year toiling in the city sewers, a wage which must support his wife and seven children, and told the board that he'd be better off on relief -- but he'd prefer to keep his job. The family lives crowded into a small flat at 417 7th Avenue, and were brought before the board by Harry Fienstein of the Federation of Municipal Employees to testify in the latest of a series of public hearings on Mayor LaGuardia's proposed executive budget. Some thirty other sewer workers attended the meeting to show support for the Dorsas and press their demand for pay increases that would raise their wage to a minimum of $1690 per year. The Mayor's budget proposes to pay a $1 a week bonus for workers who, like Dorsa, work underground, but the sewer workers argue that the wage increase should be across the board.

The Kings County Democratic Committee has thrown the full weight of its support behind District Attorney William O'Dwyer's ongoing investigation of the Murder-For-Hire gang. A resolution sponsored by county Democratic leader Frank Kelly characterizes O'Dwyer's crusade as the biggest anti-crime initiative of a generation.

An attempt by the defense to divert testimony in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy trial into an examination of charges by a Jesuit priest that Communists were the real backers of the plot was ruled out of order today in Brooklyn Federal Court. Assistant defense counsel Parnell Callahan, in cross-examination of prosecution witness Denis Healy, asked the witness if he had ever heard that Father Peter Baptiste Duffy S. J. had stated at a Communion breakfast that it was a "Communist plan" to "throw a ring of steel around New York City" and "take command of 52 key positions," but Judge Campbell ruled the entire line of questioning to be immaterial to the case at hand.

A woman attorney who has waited 32 years for admission to the Brooklyn Bar Association proudly took her place today as a member of that body. Sarah Stephenson opened her law practice in Brooklyn in 1906, and in 1908 applied for membership in the Bar Assocation, only to be ignored because women were not permitted to join the organization. That policy continued until this year, but with the reversal of the ban Miss Stephenson's application, which has lain on a shelf all these years, was finally approved. She paid the required dues today, and officially signed the membership roll.

A 58-year-old glove importer leaped to his death today from a window a Flatbush apartment house. Harry R. Gore kissed his wife good-bye and said he was going to his office in Manhattan, but instead took the self-service elevator to the sixth floor of the building at 25 Tennis Court, and leaped from a rear window into the courtyard below, where he was pronounced dead at the scene. According to his wife, Mr. Gore had been experiencing business reversals and had suffered from lifelong ill health.

("Hey, Sal! Get this! If I sign up for this, I can be the popular member of our crowd!" "You'd be the even more popular member of our crowd if ya didn't.")

In Escondido, California a motion picture crew has been denied permission to film in the town because the mayor of the community found the script to be morally offensive. Mayor Fred Cooper revoked permission for Columbia Pictures to film scenes involving Ray Milland and Loretta Young in the community because according to the script of the production, the two are portrayed as living together before marriage. Actress Gail Patrick, who also has a role in the picture, was sent to talk with Mayor Cooper and change his mind, pointing out that the Hays Office has approved the production, but he would not be swayed. His wife, an Escondido church worker, is said to have "heavily influenced" his opinion on the matter.

Turning his attention momentarily from the activities of the Murder-For-Hire gang, District Attorney William O'Dwyer promised to investigate whether any Brooklyn hotels have been complicit in the operations of a so-called "Midget Vice Ring" smashed in Manhattan after preying on a number of Brooklyn high school girls. A 48-year old midget, identified as former vaudeville performer Jerry Austin, has been charged with second-degree rape and possession of obscene photographs in connection with the ring, and 59-year-old theatrical agent Jack "Gimpy" Roberts has been charged with impairing the morals of minors and other statutory offenses. It is reported that hotel bellboys acted as go-betweens in carrying out the ring's activities, and an unnamed Brooklyn girl served as their contact within the high school. Mr. Austin performed last year on Broadway in Philip Barry's play "Here Come The Clowns."

Rehearsals have resumed for live shows at the World's Fair after Mayor LaGuardia brokered an agreement between Fair president Harvey D. Gibson and theatrical unions over wages and hours. The shows will operate under a closed-shop contract with the Theatrical Federation of Greater New York, representing Actors Equity Association, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and performers will be paid on a sliding scale of from $40 to $45 a week, with bonuses for extra performances.

Visiting the Fair grounds today was Archduke Otto, self-declared heir to the Throne of Austria, who praised the exposition as "a marvelous place. Here it is peaceful, and no place to discuss politics.:

"George Washington Carver," a film biography of the "great Negro scientist" which had its premiere last night at the RKO Regent in Harlem, is an important picture, according to Herbert Cohn, but not a very good one. Even with a poor script, poor photography, and poor acting, the picture still offers "the most complete and understanding expression of the Negro situation the screen has attempted."

(At least he's got something to do while his knee heals...)

(Ah, for the days when votes were bought one at a time.)

It was a cold, dark afternoon in Boston and only about 3500 people filed into the Beehive for the start of the 1940 National League season, but for the Dodgers spring was in the air -- as the Flock racked up an impressive 5-0 win to kick off the campaign. Durocher's hunches proved sound all the way thru, with Whit Wyatt's knee giving no significant problems as the right-hander went the distance, holding the Bees to five scattered hits. Lippy's decision to play himself at shortstop instead of prize rookie Peewee Reese also proved sound, as he knocked in a run with a double and performed with his usual finesse in the field.

Today's game has been postponed because of even colder, even darker conditions in Boston. Today's game between the Giants and Phils at the Polo Grounds has also been called off.

The biggest story of Opening Day comes from Comiskey Park, where Robert William Andrew Feller of the Indians blazed his way into the history books with the first Opening Day no-hitter in major league history, beating the White Sox 1-0. The only run in the game came in the top of the 4th, when Cleveland catcher Rollie Helmsley plated Jeff Heath with a triple. Rapid Robert says it wasn't the fastest game he ever pitched, and he wasn't pleased with his curve ball. Feller struck out eight batters, but he also walked five over the course of the contest.

Tonight, Fred Allen "Didn't Expect To Meet" custom tailor Stanley Falter -- who designs and sews fine clothing for dogs. Tune in at 9 PM on WEAF.

Incidentially, expect an announcement soon from Mr. Allen's sponsor that the comic's hour-long program will be cut to thirty minutes in the fall, following the industry trend away from full-hour broadcasts.

(It finally dawns on me that the key to understanding Cousin Sugarfoot is to imagine all his lines in the voice of Joe Besser.)

(Advice given in the Ladies' Room is advice you should always take.)

(What's really sick here is the way Dan had so much fun going all the way to the end of the line with this.)