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The Era -- Day By Day

LizzieMaine

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Nazi bombers celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday yesterday by destroying two British ships in the Romsdals Fjord in Central Norway. A 15,000-ton transport ship and a cruiser were blown up by a squadron of bombers as they were in the act of landing troops. Britain denies the reports, stating that their efforts at landing men along the Norwegian coast have proceeded without a single loss.

Rescue workers pried last night into the tons of twisted wreckage that were once the Lake Shore Limited, New York Central passenger train destroyed in a 60-mile-an-hour derailment near Little Falls early Saturday while en route to Chicago. The official death toll in the accident now stands at 25, but there remain concerns that more of the at least 100 passengers injured in the wreck will add to that toll. Searchers also believe there are likely to be additional bodies buried in the wreckage that have not yet been found. Twenty-one of the dead have been positively identified, but the remaining four were so badly mangled in the crash that identification has not yet been possible.

Murder-For-Hire gunman Harry "Happy" Malone disguised himself as a woman as he carried out an errand of death against two members of the Plasterer's Union last year. So reveals District Attorney William O'Dwyer in announcing new findings in the murders of the union members, who had fought back against criminal infiltration of the labor organization. Forty-six-year old Caesar Lattaro and 40-year-old Antonio Siciliano were shot to death on February 6, 1939 in a basement apartment at 1977 Bergen Street, after Malone and two confederates, also dressed as women, gained entry to the residence. A pet bulldog belonging to the two victims was also slain. The clothing worn by Malone is reported to have belonged to 26-year-old Mrs. Gertrude Gellino of Woodhaven, described as "the one woman who knew everything about the operations of the murder syndicate," and in whose home the killings were said to have been plotted. Mrs. Gellino is currently in custody as a material witness in the 1935 murder of John "Spider" Murtha.

Five men and $42,000 in counterfeit $10 bills were seized by Federal agents early yesterday in a raid on a Park Slope apartment. The raid at 167 5th Avenue followed a lengthy investigation by Federal authorities and local police of a counterfeiting operation which sold the bogus notes in Rochester at 22 cents on the dollar. The five suspects are being held on $25,000 bail each. Much of the fake money seized was found hidden in the upholstery of a chair.

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_.jpg


Football Dodgers owner Dan Topping is a drinker subject to violent rages, according to testimony by his estranged wife, former actress Arline Judge in a divorce hearing underway this week in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The suit, brought after a housemaid informed Miss Judge that her husband was seen kissing a young woman who was their guest at a resort in Palm Springs, California, alleges that Topping, in an alcohol-fueled rage, smashed into a locked bedroom after the incident, destroyed a bed, and threw other furniture about the room. Miss Judge also charges that Topping attempted to physically assault her during the incident, only to be restrained by her mother. The two were married on April 9, 1937 following Miss Judge's divorce from her previous husband, screen director Wesley Ruggles.

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(1).jpg

(They've got all those musicians, and now somebody to wave the stick.)

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(2).jpg

(Thank you for not showing him just after the meal.)

Defenders of Bertrand Russell are "betrayers" guilty of "a new level of depravity," according to the president of St. John University. Speaking before the annual convocation of his school's faculty, the Very Rev. Edward J. Walsh denounced the movement of teachers and professors arguing on Russell's behalf on the ground of academic freedom as "wiping out by one fell swoop everything we ever held about the dignity and sacred character of the teacher."

The sale or possession of fireworks by members of the public will be illegal in the State of New York as of August 1st under a bill signed yesterday by Governor Herbert H. Lehman. The new law, long advocated by police and fire departments as a matter of public safety, makes an exception only for supervised public displays overseen by trained persons. The ban extends from common firecrackers and salutes to sky rockets and Roman candles. The sale of fireworks within the New York City limits has long been prohibited, but dealers in Nassau County have long cultivated the metropolitan market. They will be allowed to dispose of their stock for this year's Fourth of July celebration, the last to be allowed in the old noisy style.

Passover begins at sundown tomorrow, and Jewish homemakers are busy purging their kitchens of all leaven in preparation for the Seder meal. Passover food baskets are being distributed to needy families thruout Brooklyn by the Nonpariel Social and Athletic Club of 1926 Prospect Avenue, with 1940 marking the 21st year that the club has engaged in this drive.

Rosalind Russell and Spencer Tracy present their version of "Ninotchka," on the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre, tonight at 7:30 pm on WABC. Or tune in here:


The Dodgers and Giants are hoping the weather will let them get in today's scheduled game at Ebbets Field, with yesterday's washout putting a damper on the expected Saturday crowds. The poor weather that has plagued all of baseball in recent weeks is hitting clubs hard in the pocketbooks, with Dodger president Larry MacPhail noting that the club earned only $12,000 from the one pre-season game of three planned against the Yankees, a series which under ordinary circumstances would have enriched the Brooklyn coffers by $45,000, and the impact of rain against the current series with the Giants could be even more severe. MacPhail says the Opening Day contest brought in $25,000, but he was banking on at least $100,000 from the entire three-game series.

If the game comes off today, Luke Hamlin will start for the Flock, coming off a glittering 20-win season in 1939 and hoping to continue along the same lines in 1940. Tomorrow, Casey Stengel brings his Boston Bees to Flatbush for the first of a three-game set. Durocher is high on the Bees' new second baseman, Sibby Sisti, predicting that the young infielder is going to be "a real good ballplayer."

Rain washed out all but two games on the major league slate yesterday. In St. Louis, the Cubs beat the Cardinals 4 to 2 in the only National League contest played, while in the American League the Browns beat the White Sox 11 to 1 at Chicago.

Old Timer W. E. L. remembers the weekly five-cent shows put on by the Greenpoint Temperance Club back in the '80s that helped to "keep the boys away from strong drink."

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(3).jpg

(King Haakon of Norway makes the cover of Trend this week. He's tall, at least.)

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(4).jpg

(1940 is a good year to be a reader.)

Jack Benny brings his radio gang to the screen in "Buck Benny Rides Again!," opening Wednesday at the New York Paramount.

Carole Landis plays a prehistoric heroine in Hal Roach's adventure thriller "One Million B. C.," opening Friday at the Roxy.

At the Patio, it's Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray in "Remember The Night," with co-feature "The Man From Dakota."

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(5).jpg
(Somewhere in China, Singh-Singh reads "Red Ryder" and laughs uproariously at the moustaches.)

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(Years ahead of his time.)

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("Thirty six hours without sleep? Not to worry, Irwin -- pass the Dexedrine!")

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(8).jpg
(A dynamite salesman? It shoulda been an exploding cigar! Ha! Ha! Ha!)
 

LizzieMaine

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Daily_News_Sun__Apr_21__1940_.jpg

Just another day, with a whole lot of "ew" in it.

Daily_News_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(1).jpg

I think we have a unanimous vote.

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The only "clubwomen" I've ever met are some of our theatre customers, but if they're any indication, things have not changed much since Mr. Hill drew this page.

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AAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

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If we're about to see Chester head down a dark and terrifying spiral into complete megalomania, then I for one am fully on board.

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Kayo and Kitty robbing the gum machine in panel one is a delightful throwaway gag. But in the footer strip, Kitty should be fleeing the railroad bulls for her life.

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Cholera? That's even worse.

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I'm so deprived of baseball right now that I'm actually excited about this storyline. Following a team made up of four teenagers and two old men might actually be more rewarding than the Red Sox.

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Ahhhh. I still think this Bolo guy was sent by Axel, but we shall see. And Maw Green should stop stealing jokes from Joe Penner.

Daily_News_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(9).jpg
And as a Sunday bonus, meet one of the Boys' more inspired creations -- MR. COFFEE NERVES! I can see him turning up as a future enemy for Dick Tracy.
 
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Nazi bombers celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday yesterday by destroying two British ships in the Romsdals Fjord in Central Norway. A 15,000-ton transport ship and a cruiser were blown up by a squadron of bombers as they were in the act of landing troops. Britain denies the reports, stating that their efforts at landing men along the Norwegian coast have proceeded without a single loss....

Fake News has been with us a long time - somebody is lying.


...Murder-For-Hire gunman Harry "Happy" Malone disguised himself as a woman as he carried out an errand of death against two members of the Plasterer's Union last year. So reveals District Attorney William O'Dwyer in announcing new findings in the murders of the union members, who had fought back against criminal infiltration of the labor organization. Forty-six-year old Caesar Lattaro and 40-year-old Antonio Siciliano were shot to death on February 6, 1939 in a basement apartment at 1977 Bergen Street, after Malone and two confederates, also dressed as women, gained entry to the residence. A pet bulldog belonging to the two victims was also slain. The clothing worn by Malone is reported to have belonged to 26-year-old Mrs. Gertrude Gellino of Woodhaven, described as "the one woman who knew everything about the operations of the murder syndicate," and in whose home the killings were said to have been plotted. Mrs. Gellino is currently in custody as a material witness in the 1935 murder of John "Spider" Murtha....

Another freakin' dog as collateral damage. One gangster killing another is whatever, but come on guys, leave the dogs alone. Also, tweak the facts (and crossdressing) and you have some of the plot of "Some Like it Hot."


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(1).jpg
(They've got all those musicians, and now somebody to wave the stick.)...

I think they are torturing the term "private lessons."


...Rosalind Russell and Spencer Tracy present their version of "Ninotchka," on the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre, tonight at 7:30 pm on WABC. Or tune in here:

...

My standard Rosalind Russell comment, she should have had a bigger career but somehow didn't get the right pictures most of the time ("His Girl Friday" the screaming exception).


...The Dodgers and Giants are hoping the weather will let them get in today's scheduled game at Ebbets Field, with yesterday's washout putting a damper on the expected Saturday crowds. The poor weather that has plagued all of baseball in recent weeks is hitting clubs hard in the pocketbooks, with Dodger president Larry MacPhail noting that the club earned only $12,000 from the one pre-season game of three planned against the Yankees, a series which under ordinary circumstances would have enriched the Brooklyn coffers by $45,000, and the impact of rain against the current series with the Giants could be even more severe. MacPhail says the Opening Day contest brought in $25,000, but he was banking on at least $100,000 from the entire three-game series....

Just hang in there baseball, TV revenue is coming and it will be so big you, amazingly, won't care that much about attendance anymore.


... View attachment 229492
(King Haakon of Norway makes the cover of Trend this week. He's tall, at least.)...

It took two world wars, but it finally all but ended that king stuff.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(4).jpg
(1940 is a good year to be a reader.)...

Yes it was. "Kitty Foyle" might be worth a read as you could feel the movie production code twisting the story when they put it on screen.


...Carole Landis plays a prehistoric heroine in Hal Roach's adventure thriller "One Million B. C.," opening Friday at the Roxy.

At the Patio, it's Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray in "Remember The Night," with co-feature "The Man From Dakota."...

For the day, Landis was quite provocatively dressed (or undressed) in "One Million B.C."
261d760865495d8639b8161ae2192fbf.jpg

"Remember the Night" is one of my favorite less-well-known Christmas movies, in part, because Stanwyck is just that good.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(6).jpg (Years ahead of his time.)...

And it's quite possible that the electric hairdryer was lined with asbestos.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(7).jpg ("Thirty six hours without sleep? Not to worry, Irwin -- pass the Dexedrine!")...

Effectively, tweaked a bit, Dunn just described the Knickenbein radar system the Germans used to bomb England at night.


Daily_News_Sun__Apr_21__1940_.jpg
Just another day, with a whole lot of "ew" in it....

Re Miss Nugent (snarkily described as "pretty, plumb and 41"), I love when the wife says to the husband go to the police when the husband is being blackmailed by his lover. It happens in real life and movies from time to time. Sure, the wife and husband have to figure their issues out, but there's something upstanding or cool in the wife who wants the blackmailer arrested. It completely undermines the behavior the blackmailer was counting on.


.. Daily_News_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(3).jpg AAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!....

I get it, it's Sunday and they have to recap, but being told what happened in the past six days is awful. Also, based on our recent experience with dogs and the mob, I doubt any company would issue a life insurance policy on Trohs' friend there.


... Daily_News_Sun__Apr_21__1940_(8).jpg Ahhhh. I still think this Bolo guy was sent by Axel, but we shall see. And Maw Green should stop stealing jokes from Joe Penner.....

Alex is underestimating Nick. Also, Katerina is a sociopath.
 

LizzieMaine

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"Trohs" = "Short," as our good Mr. Gould is up to his old games again. And "Doolb," while we're at it, is "Blood." I'm surprised Tracy's name isn't "Daehtaf." And you will all recall that I did predict a "midget" antagonist would be forthcoming, but I'm impressed he's here so soon, given that this strip had to have been drawn at least six weeks ago. The only possible conclusion is that Mr. Gould somehow arranged for that "Midget Vice Ring" story to break when it did just to ensure that this coming sequence would be timely.

The dogs need to start fighting back. This is getting to be a very distressing pattern.

Harry_Maione.jpg

I'm sure that Mr. Malone's female impersonation was very effective. I guess he'd kind of resemble Lena Frosch, young Abe's mother --

0ac6a75a56f07205bb038a0ae307b4bf.jpg


There have been a lot of scary people in LOA over the years, but Katerina ranks pretty high on the list.
 

LizzieMaine

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It was originally sold as a health-food type of product, and became extremely popular with Mormons as an alternative to such prohibited indulgences as coffee and tea. So much so, in fact, that when it was finally discontinued in the early 2000s, a group of Mormons bought the formula and the trademark and tried to re-introduce it as a boutique item. I imagine, though, that it still tasted like toasted pencil shavings.

I always associate Postum not with Mormons but with "Lum and Abner," whom it sponsored for several years with commercials that made it sound far better than it actually was.
 
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It was originally sold as a health-food type of product, and became extremely popular with Mormons as an alternative to such prohibited indulgences as coffee and tea. So much so, in fact, that when it was finally discontinued in the early 2000s, a group of Mormons bought the formula and the trademark and tried to re-introduce it as a boutique item. I imagine, though, that it still tasted like toasted pencil shavings.

I always associate Postum not with Mormons but with "Lum and Abner," whom it sponsored for several years with commercials that made it sound far better than it actually was.

As always, you're a font of information - thank you. The health-origins of Postum make sense as does the Mormon connection. Since my mother is neither (she is a pretty healthy eater, but not a "health food" person at all), I don't know how she came to it unless it was a cheaper alternative to coffee as her family was very poor (but they did drink coffee).

I'd ask her, and might get the right answer, or if (sadly and many of us are experiencing this with our older relatives) it's a confused day for her, God only knows what answer I'll get. Also, I've found it's dangerous to introduce new topics of conversation as I then, sometimes, can't stop the flow of words. Hence, I'll judge the "day" and see if I can get any color from her the next time we speak.
 

LizzieMaine

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The first American military casualty of the European war is Captain Robert M. Losey, Assistant US Military Attache based at Stockholm, who died in a German bombing raid yesterday in Dombas, Norway.

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The State Department reports that Capt. Losey had gone into Norway to assist in the removal of American citizens from the war zone. He is a member of a family well-known in Brooklyn -- his mother, the late Mrs. Nellie Moore Losey, formerly operated a convalescent home on Glenwood Avenue, and his two aunts, Miss Lillian Losey of Clarendon Road, and Mrs. H. Moore of 830 New York Avenue, still reside in the borough. His widow, Mrs. Kay Banta Losey, lives in Hollywood, California with their family. "It's war," stated Mrs. Losey upon learning of her husband's death, "and I guess you can expect anything."

The attorney for accused Murder-for-Hire gunman Frank "The Dasher" Abbandando claims his client was beaten during his interrogation in the office of District Attorney William O'Dwyer. Attorney Alfred L. Rosner also claims that material witness Joseph Liberto, who O'Dwyer claimed had to be held in custody due to death threats, was in fact hospitalized to receive blood transfusions when these threats were made. Rosner also charges the District Attorney has made false statements to the press, and stated that he would provide proof of this if O'Dwyer puts him on the stand. District Attorney O'Dwyer, when presented with Rosner's accusations, replied "we'll try this case in court."

One worker died and another miraculously escaped death during a sewer cave-in today in the Navy Yard district. 55-year-old Joseph Cavanaugh of 25 Wyckoff Street was killed when a 12-foot-deep sewer excavation pit collapsed at the intersection of Park Avenue and Taaffe Place, burying him alive in rain-soaked dirt and gravel. A fellow worker, 45-year-old Patrick Guckin of 279 Smith Street, who was working on a scaffold four feet down in the pit, managed to climb to safety and summoned help, but Cavanaugh died before rescuers could free him. The Rev. Salvatore Evola of St. Lucy's R. C. Church at 802 Kent Street climbed down into the pit to administer Last Rites to the dying man.

Police are searching for three shabbily-dressed men who held up the Bushwick Republican Club on Saturday night, robbing 25 members of a total of $300. Club president Frederick Stoebner of 256 Woodbine Street says the three men, wearing light coats, unpressed suits, and hats with the brims snapped down over their eyes, approach him and displayed a .45 automatic. They forced their way into the hall and "went to work" on the members who were seated at tables or standing around. They then lined the members up against a wall and told them to stay there for ten minutes. They attempted to destroy the telephone on the way out, but failed to do so, allowing the victims of the robbery to summon the police.

An outraged lawyer is suing the Dodgers for $20,000 in damages over an incident last summer in which he was ejected from Ebbets Field during a tense Dodger-Giant game. Milton Sparaga, "an avid baseball fan," attended the game last July 8th and found that instead of the seat specified on his ticket, he was shunted to another seat with a less-satisfying view. When he protested, he claims that two park policemen punched him, escorted him out of the park, and dragged him to the police station, where he spent three hours in a cell before bail was posted. Charges of disorderly conducted against Sparaga were dismissed, and the attorney then filed suit against the two park officers, Morton Schwartz and Harry Smith, and the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club Inc. for assault and false arrest and imprisonment. Sparaga's legal counsel sought permission today to question the two officers before the case comes to trial.

Anti-Semitism is a form of subversion, according to an FBI agent who monitored the plans of the Christian Front by wiretap during the framing of their alleged plot against the government. G-Man Peter J. Wacks responded under cross-examination by defense counsel Leo J. Healy that he believes that anti-Semitic beliefs are "un-American" and "subversive" in their nature, but acknowledged that as he was monitoring their conversations he never actually heard them say explicitly that they were "plotting against the government."

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The only woman working as an airplane mechanic at Floyd Bennett Field is an old hand at flying, having taken her first flight when she was eleven years old. Nineteen-year-old Miss Suzanne Goutal Leone of Flatbush paid for that first flight out of her ice-cream money, and says she's been fascinated by planes ever since. At fourteen she convinced an official of the East Coast Flying Service to "putter around the machine shop," and soon became an expert on aviation engines. She works at the field nights, following her shift as a technician at the Sperry Gyroscope Company, and gained her own pilots' license last summer. She has also experimented with parachute jumping, but gave it up last year after breaking her ankle.

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(George Case, one of those really fine 1940s ballplayers who's totally forgotten today, died of emphysema.)

"Grateful" writes to Helen Worth saying that her stepfather's bad disposition and narrow-minded views are interfering with her relationship with her boyfriend. She declares that she's 22, and has every right to see whomever she wants, and that Stepdad has no right whatsoever to interfere -- especially not behind her back, as she has recently learned that he has done. Helen advises that Grateful talk to her mother and lay it out plain to her -- and to see whomever she pleases without bringing him home to meet Stepdad. "You owe your mother honesty and fair dealing," says Helen, "but beyond that you need not go."

Raymond Massey recreates his famous stage and film role in "Abe Lincoln in Illinois," supported by Fay Bainter and Otto Kruger on tonight's Lux Radio Theatre, 9 PM on WABC.

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(Guess we now know where Willie Mullins and Cousin Sugarfoot buy their duds.)

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With today's game against the Bees rained out, along with two-thirds of the Giants series, the Dodgers are hoping to get at least two games this week with Casey Stengel's buzzing Beantowners. The Boston club is studded with veterans who played in Brooklyn during Casey's tenure here as manager, including catcher Al Lopez, third baseman Tony Cuccinello, first baseman Buddy Hassett, pitcher Bill Posedel, and bench coach Johnny Cooney.

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(Stop and Frisk? Don't even try.)

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(It's a legitimate question.)

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("Aw, this program's no good. See'f you can get 'Amos 'n' Andy.'")
 

LizzieMaine

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And in the Daily News...

Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_.jpg

This has got to be the first time George Jessel, Hank Greenberg, and Clarinetist Arcusio "Gus" Bivona have been mentioned in the same story.

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"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

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Yeah, but it's been cold and rainy for the past two weeks. Are people really yearning just now for a "cool lunch?"

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Nick Gatt don't need no Director of Communications.

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Tracy, you meathead. You're getting Dan Dunned here.

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And Mazie takes over for Tootsie The Elephant as Queen Troll of 1940.

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Well now. I never knew the old boy had it in him.

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Good thing Wilmer will never be in a position of authority where he would be in a position to....oh wait.

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Willie could show you how to hitch on trains, Moon. You probably wouldn't get killed much.

Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(9).jpg
Look for a bunch of new "What Are You Wearing Today" posts from Lounge member HTeen39.
 
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...An outraged lawyer is suing the Dodgers for $20,000 in damages over an incident last summer in which he was ejected from Ebbets Field during a tense Dodger-Giant game. Milton Sparaga, "an avid baseball fan," attended the game last July 8th and found that instead of the seat specified on his ticket, he was shunted to another seat with a less-satisfying view. When he protested, he claims that two park policemen punched him, escorted him out of the park, and dragged him to the police station, where he spent three hours in a cell before bail was posted. Charges of disorderly conducted against Sparaga were dismissed, and the attorney then filed suit against the two park officers, Morton Schwartz and Harry Smith, and the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club Inc. for assault and false arrest and imprisonment. Sparaga's legal counsel sought permission today to question the two officers before the case comes to trial....

This will be an interesting one to follow.


... View attachment 229720
The only woman working as an airplane mechanic at Floyd Bennett Field is an old hand at flying, having taken her first flight when she was eleven years old. Nineteen-year-old Miss Suzanne Goutal Leone of Flatbush paid for that first flight out of her ice-cream money, and says she's been fascinated by planes ever since. At fourteen she convinced an official of the East Coast Flying Service to "putter around the machine shop," and soon became an expert on aviation engines. She works at the field nights, following her shift as a technician at the Sperry Gyroscope Company, and gained her own pilots' license last summer. She has also experimented with parachute jumping, but gave it up last year after breaking her ankle....

Very cool, but only slightly ahead of her time; once America enters the war, there'll be plenty of women mechanics.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(2).jpg
(George Case, one of those really fine 1940s ballplayers who's totally forgotten today, died of emphysema.)...

For fans of "Mad Men:"

"Slower Burning" = "It's Toasted"

It's all the same nonsense.


... View attachment 229723
(Guess we now know where Willie Mullins and Cousin Sugarfoot buy their duds.)...

:) Had the exact same thought.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(6).jpg (It's a legitimate question.)...

Yes it is. Also, to heck with the chivalry, I'd want Leona fighting with me - she's probably got more grit than pin-up boy there. Prep school ⇨ Ivy league college ⇨ Ivy league law school ⇨ to well-connected-family gets you a career-building assistant-DA job does not a street fighter make.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(7).jpg ("Aw, this program's no good. See'f you can get 'Amos 'n' Andy.'")

With the Blitz only months away, it is really incredible that Dan Dunn has basically described one of the advanced technologies (knickebein) that would prove crucial to Germany's ability to bomb England at night.


... Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_.jpg
This has got to be the first time George Jessel, Hank Greenberg, and Clarinetist Arcusio "Gus" Bivona have been mentioned in the same story.....

Seriously.

Also, not just from this article, but from ones we regularly read in these Day-by-Days, you can still "feel" that it was kinda acceptable for a woman to openly judge a man by his ability to support her (quite fair considering how women's opportunities for work were hindered), but not completely; whereas, today, most won't say it (even though it still goes on). Just an interesting change in the outward representation of marriage then versus now.


... Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(2).jpg
Yeah, but it's been cold and rainy for the past two weeks. Are people really yearning just now for a "cool lunch?"....

Have you noticed how much Childs loves its muffins. Every meal is "something, something, something with our fresh (some kind of) muffin."


... Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(3).jpg Nick Gatt don't need no Director of Communications....

Nick plays this game very well.


.... View attachment 229735 Tracy, you meathead. You're getting Dan Dunned here.....

:)


... Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(5)-3.jpg And Mazie takes over for Tootsie The Elephant as Queen Troll of 1940.....

Yes, and how many times will Mama be rude to Mazie until she learns it only costs her more in the end?


... Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(6).jpg Well now. I never knew the old boy had it in him.....

Maybe he earned that nickname in his youth.


... Daily_News_Mon__Apr_22__1940_(9).jpg Look for a bunch of new "What Are You Wearing Today" posts from Lounge member HTeen39.

I'm sure it was faster back in '40, but from rough manuscript to print takes a lot - a whole lot - longer than is implied here. Today, that book wouldn't be out until next year.
 

LizzieMaine

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Ebbets Field did have a reputation in the 1930s for thuggish ushers, who would sweep your seat off and then stand there with their hands out. If you didn't come across with a tip, they could get real surly real fast, and "incidents" like this one were not uncommon. MacPhail promised to get rid of these characters when he took over, but he never really finished the job -- and things didn't really take a permanent change until Branch Rickey was in charge, and then only after a park policeman was sued, along with Durocher, for breaking a heckling fan's jaw with brass knuckles. It was a gentler time.

Norman Marsh can expect to get a visit from the G-Men sometime in the near future. Obviously he knows a lot of things he probably shouldn't know.

The chicken and the turkey might be warmed over, but the muffins must be worth it.
 

David Conwill

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You guys are killin' me. I was a Postum drinker for a while maybe 7 or 8 years ago in an attempt to stop drinking so much caffeine, which I thought was causing my migraines. Turns out it was practicing law that was causing my migraines. I do retain a certain affinity for that roasted grain beverage taste, but I haven't bought it in a long while just because I don't ever encounter it and prefer coffee anyway.
 

LizzieMaine

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The sale of the world champion New York Yankees baseball club is nearer to completion than at any time since the death of owner Col. Jacob Ruppert in January 1939. The Eagle has learned exclusively that a partnership formed by Postmaster General James A. Farley and former Governor of Ohio, Presidential candidate, and current newspaper publisher James Cox have submitted a new bid which may be acted upon by the Ruppert estate this week. The extensive Yankee holdings, including the team itself, the capacious Yankee Stadium land and structure in the Bronx, and assorted minor league holdings, is valued, according to various estimates, between $4,000,000 and $9,000,000. The three executors of the Ruppert estate are expected to meet this week to discuss the Farley-Cox offer, but no specific dollar figure has been mentioned. The Ruppert brewery would not be included in any purchase of the ball club.

Two violent naval battles are raging today in the Skaagerak, involving both surface and air forces. Swedish newspaper reports from the west coast of Sweden report that at least ten destroyers were seen roaring past the battle zone with all guns blazing. The reports state that the attack began with an attack on a transport ship, and that "many planes" were involved.

Other reports received via the United Press state that Allied planes bombed the airport at the occupied Norwegian capital city of Oslo for more than two and a half hours in the first direct Allied strike against German positions in that city.

Police dug up the yard behind a three-story house at 318 Union Street today but did not find what they sought: the remains of Longshoremen's Union activist Peter Panto. District Attorney William O'Dwyer received an anonymous telephone tip advising him that Panto's body lay in that yard, and the owner of the property, stevedore Carmello Barbera allowed them to dig up the property this morning. The telephone company traced the call to a pay phone in a Hanover Place drugstore, and the clerk in that store professed no memory of the caller. Panto, a crusader against an attempted mob effort to infiltrate the union, has not been seen since July 14, 1939, and authorities presume he is dead.

Meanwhile, the District Attorney's office claims to have located a burial ground used by the Murder For Hire gang in Nassau County, with O'Dwyer stating that at least six bodies of gang victims are buried on a six-acre farm on the west side of Seaman's Neck Road in Seaford. The property is owned by known mobster Michael "Big Mike" Allegalo, whom the District Attorney described as the Murder For Hire gang's "sexton." The farm figured in a number of liquor raids during Prohibition. Police in Nassau County have not commented on O'Dwyer's claim, and there has yet been no digging on the property, with Inspector Harold R. King of the Nassau police noting that Allegalo also owns property in Suffolk which may hold interest for investigators.

A former New York subway worker claimed before the Dies Committee today that the Transport Workers Union is "Communist-dominated," and that it could paralyze the city at will with a strike. Thomas Humphrey O'Shea also claimed that the Union maintains a rifle club for its members, a club that meets regularly for "target practice."

Magistrate Charles Solomon need not pay $60 a week alimony to his wife, Mrs. Laura Solomon, pending the resolution of the couple's separation suit. A ruling today in Brooklyn Supreme Court also determined that Mrs. Solomon's offer to reconcile with her husband "was not made in good faith."

The sun might make an appearance today over Brooklyn, and temperatures may reach a high of 51 -- a welcome respite from the long spell of cold, wet weather that has blighted springtime so far.

Motion pictures shown today in Brooklyn Federal Court showed alleged military training activities being practiced by defendants in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy case. The films, taken by FBI agents last October 22nd at a Christian Front camp at Narrowsburg, New York, showed men running, dropping, and crawling on the ground while firing rifles. The film was offered in evidence by FBI Special Agent Joseph Holmes. Further testimony was offered today by FBI Agent Julius Lopez, who described a Front meeting at Erasmus Hall High School last Sepetember 7th in which defendant William Gerald Bishop stated to the audience that, concerning "the menace of Communism," "we shall have to take things into our own hands, and if we have to resort to force, violence, and the use of arms, we are prepared to take that course." Lopez further testified that defendant Frank Malone gave the Hitler salute from the platform at that meeting.

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_.jpg

("Carmichael" is the polar bear who lives in Mr. Benny's basement, and once ate the man who came to read the gas meter. I'm disappointed he won't be appearing in the stage show. This is, however, a really fun movie -- the closest a film ever came to capturing the "Jack Benny" radio character.)

"Anxious Tenant" writes to Helen Worth with a bizarre problem. It seems she sent her daughter down to the landlord to pay her rent, and shortly after the landlord appeared at the door and handed her husband a receipt marked "Paid In Full thru June 1st." She asked him if he made a mistake, and he laughed and said "forget it," leaving them with the receipt. Anxious and her husband then spent the April rent money to do some work fixing up the house -- painting the kitchen, staining the floor, and fixing up the basement. But then the landlord showed up again demanding payment of the April rent. She still has the "paid thru June 1st" receipt, and she can't figure out if she's been the victim of a practical joke or what. Helen is inclined to say that she accepted that receipt in good faith and acted accordingly. What do the readers think? ("She needs to have a talk with her daughter," says Sally. "That's what *I* think." And Joe is about to say "Huh?" when he gets the angle and slowly nods his head.)

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(1).jpg

(The Spa Experience, 1940 style.)

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(2).jpg

Yet another soggy day yesterday washed out the Dodgers-Bees game at Ebbets Field, but with improved conditions in the forecast for today hopes are high that they'll get the game in.

Meanwhile, backup first baseman Bert Haas is wondering exactly what he has to do to get a break, after the Dodgers optioned him out to Montreal in the International League. Haas drew a lot of notice filling in for Camilli during Big Dolph's holdout during spring traning, but there seems now to be no place for him on the Brooklyn bench. Haas has an outstanding record in five years of minor league ball, and last year hit .365 for the Nashville club, good enough for the Southern Association batting crown. This trip to Montreal exhausts the Dodgers' options on Haas, and next year they'll either have to keep him on the major league roster, trade him, or put him on waivers. Whatever happens, the young first sacker is hoping to finally get his chance to show what he can do.

Clifford Evans has nothing to say about gangland today, but he does tell us that a G-man visited a Long Island machine factory -- one of the largest in the nation -- to grill the manager about how many members of the plant workforce were US citizens and how many were not, and how much of the plant could be taken over by the Government on 24 hours notice.

A recent winner on Jimmie Walker's Opportunity Hour over WHN has joined the famous "Radio Rogues" troupe, now appearing on Broadway in "Hellzapoppin'." Comedian Larry Storch is said by the Rogues to be an excellent mimic, and will receive extensive training on how to use that skill while working with the group.

If you think you're going to get tickets for Jack Benny's broadcast from Radio City next Sunday, think again. There are absolutely no tickets left for anyone, not even if you're married to the sponsor's daughter.

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(3).jpg
(The "'em" that he thinks he's "got" are the D. T.'s -- although in this neighborhood, who can tell?)

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(4).jpg
(Clever idea, John -- but oooweee, I wouldn't want to be the one who has to clean up afterward.)

The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(5).jpg
(Mr. Marsh clearly knows a great deal about flying. Pity he doesn't do an aviation strip instead of a cop story.)
 

LizzieMaine

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And in the Daily News...

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_.jpg

You may recall that Judge Taylor is the whimsical jurist who is given to writing little poems about his cases. So here's a starter for him: "The D A took a rubber hose -- Applied it to Liberto's nose..."

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(1).jpg

A genuine laugh-out-loud here. My mother would have done this if she could have gotten away with it.

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(2).jpg

Yeah, he's "fresh" all right.

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(3).jpg
A pre-teen girl chained to the wall and flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails. "Hey kids! Comics!"

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(4).jpg
"Crude caricature of a man?" At least he's got a chin.

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(5).jpg
Everybody's a wise guy.

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(6).jpg
Please -- Please! -- go straight to the train station and don't look back.

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(7).jpg

I'll be very surprised if we come out of this storyline without at least one fatality. The only question is who.

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(8).jpg
Y'know, there's days when I'm convinced Mr. Gould is trolling us. This is one of those days.

Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(9).jpg
I can't stand revolving doors.
 
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is valued, according to various estimates, between $4,000,000 and $9,000,000. The three executors of the Ruppert estate are expected to meet this week to discuss the Farley-Cox offer, but no specific dollar figure has been mentioned. The Ruppert brewery would not be included in any purchase of the ball club....

To be sure, it's not a simple "a dollar is worth X in 1940 and Y in 2020" analysis as a lot goes into owning a MLB team (add-on investment capital when needed) and having the liquidity to hold on in the lean years can be hard. But if one was able to that, that is one off-the-charts investment return as, according to Forbes, the Yankees are worth $4.6 billion today.


...Police dug up the yard behind a three-story house at 318 Union Street today but did not find what they sought: the remains of Longshoremen's Union activist Peter Panto. District Attorney William O'Dwyer received an anonymous telephone tip advising him that Panto's body lay in that yard, and the owner of the property, stevedore Carmello Barbera allowed them to dig up the property this morning. The telephone company traced the call to a pay phone in a Hanover Place drugstore, and the clerk in that store professed no memory of the caller. Panto, a crusader against an attempted mob effort to infiltrate the union, has not been seen since July 14, 1939, and authorities presume he is dead....

Somebody's trolling O'Dwyer. I wonder if Tootsie can dial a phone with her trunk?


...Meanwhile, the District Attorney's office claims to have located a burial ground used by the Murder For Hire gang in Nassau County, with O'Dwyer stating that at least six bodies of gang victims are buried on a six-acre farm on the west side of Seaman's Neck Road in Seaford. The property is owned by known mobster Michael "Big Mike" Allegalo, whom the District Attorney described as the Murder For Hire gang's "sexton." The farm figured in a number of liquor raids during Prohibition. Police in Nassau County have not commented on O'Dwyer's claim, and there has yet been no digging on the property, with Inspector Harold R. King of the Nassau police noting that Allegalo also owns property in Suffolk which may hold interest for investigators....

Seems more promising than the 318 Union Street tip, but still, I bet O'Dwyer is just a touch gun-shy about digging up anything after what just happened.


...Motion pictures shown today in Brooklyn Federal Court showed alleged military training activities being practiced by defendants in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy case. The films, taken by FBI agents last October 22nd at a Christian Front camp at Narrowsburg, New York, showed men running, dropping, and crawling on the ground while firing rifles. The film was offered in evidence by FBI Special Agent Joseph Holmes. Further testimony was offered today by FBI Agent Julius Lopez, who described a Front meeting at Erasmus Hall High School last Sepetember 7th in which defendant William Gerald Bishop stated to the audience that, concerning "the menace of Communism," "we shall have to take things into our own hands, and if we have to resort to force, violence, and the use of arms, we are prepared to take that course." Lopez further testified that defendant Frank Malone gave the Hitler salute from the platform at that meeting....

I'd bet those films show a near Keystone-Cop quality to the military skills of this group: nothing they have done seems well thought out, detailed, impressive or professional. Any chance those films survived and are stored somewhere (gathering dust)?


..."Anxious Tenant" writes to Helen Worth with a bizarre problem. It seems she sent her daughter down to the landlord to pay her rent, and shortly after the landlord appeared at the door and handed her husband a receipt marked "Paid In Full thru June 1st." She asked him if he made a mistake, and he laughed and said "forget it," leaving them with the receipt. Anxious and her husband then spent the April rent money to do some work fixing up the house -- painting the kitchen, staining the floor, and fixing up the basement. But then the landlord showed up again demanding payment of the April rent. She still has the "paid thru June 1st" receipt, and she can't figure out if she's been the victim of a practical joke or what. Helen is inclined to say that she accepted that receipt in good faith and acted accordingly. What do the readers think? ("She needs to have a talk with her daughter," says Sally. "That's what *I* think." And Joe is about to say "Huh?" when he gets the angle and slowly nods his head.)...

Yup, my mind went where everyone else's did too, but still, it's a weird story. Hope there's some followup to this one.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(1).jpg
(The Spa Experience, 1940 style.)...

It's stunning, but modern surgical facelifts date back to, easily, the 1920s, with early "experimental" ones going back a few more decades. And, of course, Hollywood, then and now, was at the forefront.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(3).jpg (The "'em" that he thinks he's "got" are the D. T.'s -- although in this neighborhood, who can tell?)...

Bim Nolan, the D. T.'s Ward Nurse from "The Lost Weekend" pshaws the large animal trope:

The chilling and sinister moment at Bellevue, when Bim Nolan explains the DTs:

Bim: There’ll happen to be a little floor show later on around here. It might get on your nerves… Ever have the DT’s?… You will, brother… After all, you’re just a freshman. Wait’ll you’re a sophomore. That’s when you start seeing the little animals. You know that stuff about pink elephants? That’s the bunk. It’s little animals! Little tiny turkeys in straw hats. Midget monkeys coming through the keyholes. See that guy over there? With him it’s beetles. Come the night, he sees beetles crawling all over him. Has to be dark though. It’s like the doctor was just telling me: delirium is a disease of the night. Good night. (source: https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/classic-40s-movie-the-lost-weekend-b497026ca932)


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(4).jpg (Clever idea, John -- but oooweee, I wouldn't want to be the one who has to clean up afterward.)...)

Seriously doubt John could run through it with just his arm over his face. And enough cheering from the sidelines, I'm expecting Miss Stockpool to get in the game. Heck, Raven would already be sitting on top of Bonetti firing off a snarky comment to Pat about his being no help.


... The_Brooklyn_Daily_Eagle_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(5).jpg (Mr. Marsh clearly knows a great deal about flying. Pity he doesn't do an aviation strip instead of a cop story.)

"Gallopin' Goldfish!!" Now we know where 1960's TV's Robin got his inspiration.


... View attachment 229977
You may recall that Judge Taylor is the whimsical jurist who is given to writing little poems about his cases. So here's a starter for him: "The D A took a rubber hose -- Applied it to the Dasher's nose..."....

:)

This is another thread that will be interesting to see where it goes as, if true, there should be some evidence, but also, a lot of effort to cover it up.


... Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(3)-2.jpg A pre-teen girl chained to the wall and flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails. "Hey kids! Comics!"...

I think we've firmly established that LOA, T&TP and many others are far from kid friendly (Senga, Tula?), so who was the audience in the '30s and '40s? Were kids reading them since they were "comics;" were adults also reading the adult-oriented ones; did parent try to keep their kids from reading the adult-oriented ones? I know my dad read them as a kid in the '30s, but that is a sample size of one.


... Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(7).jpg
I'll be very surprised if we come out of this storyline without at least one fatality. The only question is who....

If Cheery's still around kicking somewhere, I vote her off the island. That said, I could see either April (the romantic-young-innocent death) or Raven (the "tough-as-nails gal confessing her love for Pat on her deathbed" thing) going. Pat seems too central and I think Blaze is right about his alcohol-soaked-blood immunity - guys like that don't die that way.


... Daily_News_Tue__Apr_23__1940_(8).jpg Y'know, there's days when I'm convinced Mr. Gould is trolling us. This is one of those days...

Agreed, I became convinced in the last panel. That or he was drunk when he wrote this one.
 

LizzieMaine

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There was an interesting dynamic going on in early 1940 -- comic books were suddenly exploding in popularity on the wings of the Superman craze, and there was plenty of criticism of them by concerned-parents groups, academics, schoolteachers, and religious activists, all of whom considered them a dangerous blight upon the future of kid-dom. But newspaper comics were for the most part universally popular -- it was as common for Grandma or Grandpa to read the Sunday funnies to the kiddies as for them to read Hans Christian Andersen to them. Newspaper comics: wholesome, family-oriented, popular. Comic books: filthy, degenerate, trashy.

That said, though, there were two newspaper strips that attracted the majority of what complaints newspaper strips received: "Little Orphan Annie" and "Dick Tracy," both for their baroque violence. "Terry" interestingly enough rarely seemed to attract this kind of criticism, despite being the most "adult" strip in print. As long as he kept his violence mostly implied rather than shown, the opposite of what Gray and Gould were doing, the concerned-parent crowd was happy -- of course completely overlooking the strong sexual subtext that ran thruout the strip. Of course, we've seen plenty of sexual innuendo in other strips we follow here, but Caniff stood alone for the consistency and the sophistication of such themes in his material, and it's surprising the professional prudes didn't make an issue of it.

The "Annie" radio show was also quite notorious, by the way -- as soon as it went on the air in 1931 it drew attacks from parents and teachers that it was "overstimulating" children, even though it never half approached the level of violence depicted in the strip. "Tracy" and "Terry" also had radio shows contemporaneous with Annie, but they never attracted half the attention, maybe because the parent groups were upset that the focus of "Annie" was a little girl who "had no business getting involved in such things."

I imagine that what really antagonizes the mob about Mr. O'Dwyer is his swagger -- he's almost as self-confident as Pat Ryan, even when he's wrong.

Those films are likely buried in the National Archives somewhere. They were probably 16mm, so they were shot on safety stock and are probably still projectable if anyone was to unearth them. They'd make very interesting viewing, I'm sure.
 

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