The Era -- Day By Day

[MissNathalieVintage]

Here is part 3 of the draft story.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Another equally fine place to dine at, sadly closed. The pine room looks more like someone's home dining room.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

As a daily tea drinker this tea ad made me laugh.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Saw an ad on where to dine, Ricketts Restaurant is the place. I looked it up and sadly it is no
longer open but looks like a great place to socialize at.

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Clark & Diversey. High rent area, these days.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Chicken In The Rough" was an early franchise-restaurant type of deal, serving disjointed picnic-style fried chicken in baskets, to be eaten without utensils, or "in the rough." The concept would be licensed to existing restaurants, who would kick back a percentage on every chicken sold. They were quite popular in the midwest into the 1950s, until Colonel Sanders used basically the same type of licensing concept to corner the market for KFC.

If the logo on the sign looks confusing, it's a rooster playing golf in the tall grass -- "Chicken In The Rough."

 

[Stanley Doble]

There was a Chicken In The Rough restaurant just outside of town on the main highway in the fifties, it closed in the early sixties when the new Interstate opened up. The Interstate service centers featured Scott's Chicken Villa, the Canadian Kentucky Fried Chicken started by the Colonel after he sold out and left the US.

 

[Fading Fast]

...If the logo on the sign looks confusing, it's a rooster playing golf in the tall grass -- "Chicken In The Rough."

That's really good.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Supporters of President Roosevelt cracked the whip over insurgent elements in the Democratic Party in Brooklyn primary voting yesterday, with Samuel J. Leibowitz, veteran borough criminal attorney and choice of the party regulars defeating Municipal Justice George Joyce for the County Court judgeship nomination by a margin of more than 50,000 votes out of 170,000 cast. In the closely-observed race for the Democratic nomination in the 5th Assembly District, New Deal supporter James J. Heffernan soundly defeated incumbent Rep. Marcellus H. Evans, anti-conscription Democrat, by 4019 votes. At the same time, however, Rep. Evans also ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for the 5th A. D. seat, and will appear on the GOP line on the November ballot. In eight other assembly districts, Democratic regulars prevailed over opposition candidates for their party's nomination.

British fighter pilots and ground gunners met Germany's aerial armada again today, and turned back the full power of one of the fiercest air assaults of the war so far. The British Press Association reports that the attackers were "beaten off in a terrific engagement over the Thames Estuary," as Londoners sought refuge in air-raid shelters from the fifth alarm of the day. Up to 6 pm British time, there had been a total of six air raid alarms, establishing a new single-day record.

A verdict may be reached before sundown today in the murder trial of Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss and Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein for the 1939 "Murder For Hire" slaying of Brownsville bookmaker Irving "Puggy" Feinstein. The attorney for the defense began his summation immediately after the luncheon break today, with the prosecution having summed up its case in about half an hour before the break.

Several hundred persons on their way to work this morning were thrown into near-panic at the 125th Street-St. Nicholas Avenue station of the Independent Subway in Manhattan when a real estate operator pulled a gun and opened fire on a business rival. 64-year-old Joseph Grieco of 401 W. 127th Street was arrested at the scene after firing five shots at his former partner, 50-year-old John Sinaldi of the same address. Sinaldi was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he is recovering from a bullet wound to the abdomen. Police say Grieco and Sinaldi recently dissolved their partnership and began arguing as they stood together on the station platform this morning. The argument escalated, causing Grieco to draw his revolver and open fire. The sounds of the shots reverberated thru the vaulted ceiling of the busy station and down to the lower level platform, causing great confusion among the morning rush crowd. Police radio cars responded to the scene and were able to restore order.

Anti-Semitic orator Joseph McWilliams has been committed to the psychiatric division of Bellevue Hospital for ten days after being brought into Harlem Court last night on a disorderly conduct charge after being soundly defeated in the Congressional primaries for Manhattan's 18th District. McWilliams, self-proclaimed head of the "American Destiny Party" and the "Christian Mobilizers," and a prominent figure in local anti-Semitic circles, was arrested following a complaint from Samuel Nellman of Manhattan that he was "pushed around" by McWilliams at a street meeting in which derogatory comments were made about Jews.

While members of draft boards to be organized under the new conscription law will work as volunteers without pay, each board will require three full-time paid clerks, creating eight hundred new jobs expected to last at least five years "with good pay." The vacancies will be filled from Civil Service Commission lists, and are expected to pay better than ordinary civil-service jobs. It is expected that local draft boards will be organized and in operation within a week. Each board, to be made up of five "prominent" persons from each neighborhood served, will include one doctor, and one member designated to serve as an appeal agent for men seeking exemption from service as conscientious objectors.

More than two months have passed since the explosion of a suitcase bomb outside the British Pavilion at the World's Fair killed two police detectives and wounded five others, and today one of those five is celebrating his thirty-seventh birthday. Detective William J. Federer of Jackson Heights is still a patient at Flushing Hospital, but his wounds are healing as he prepares to go home next week, having beaten the odds by surviving the blast. Federer was four feet away from the suitcase when the bomb detonated, killing Detectives William J. Lynch and Ferdinand Socha, and sending Federer flying thru the air. Federer was the most critically injured of the five wounded detectives, and it was feared that if he survived he would never walk again. "I fooled them," says Federer, noting that he's made good progress on crutches, and expects to soon be able to walk unaided. Federer has followed the news closely during his hospitalization, and says that what happened to him "is nothing compared to what the English are getting."

(Let's see H&H top THAT deal!)

If you like to walk, Flatbush is a great place to live. Of all the communities that make up the borough of Brooklyn, you'll find the greatest concentration of dedicated pedestrians in Flatbush, where Flatbush Avenue offers a delightful promenade for shoppers, with lighthearted strollers parading along between Church Avenue and Cortelyou Road every night -- peeking at window displays, exchanging comments, and exploring possibilities. With nearly 600,000 people calling Flatbush home, that means a lot of opportunity for local merchants, who are known for their eye-catching displays and their friendly attitude. And many Flatbush side streets are like elongated gardens, with single-family homes displaying flowers, shrubbery and grassy lawns.

(Selfie-stick, 1940 style.)

Reader Verne Gray writes in to criticize the Board of Education's proposed plan to reduce the proportion of female to male teachers in the city's public schools, arguing that it would be "wicked" to qualified women teachers to award jobs to less-qualified men simply on the basis of their sex.

("OH YEH?" says Frankie Germano. "SEZ WHO!")

("Hey," says Sally. "You bring home th' Eagle? It ain' onna table." "Uh, they was sol' out downa station." says Joe. "Well, go downa cannystore an' get one," Sally replies. "I wanna readdaboudda game." "They los'," says Joe, nervous beads of sweat erupting on his forehead. "'At's allyaneeda know.")

The Dodgers' 5-0 loss to the Cardinals yesterday, turning on Pete Coscarart's bobbling of a six-hop infield grounder off the bat of Pepper Martin, a miscue that allowed three runs to score, means that Brooklyn's pennant hopes are about to be written off in finality. The mathematics of the season have been reduced to thus: If the Dodgers lose to the Cardinals today, the Reds will clinch the pennant.

New third baseman Don Russ, just up from Montreal, has been called away from the club on a family emergency. His absence, coupled with the suspension of Leo Durocher, and season-ending injuries to Cookie Lavagetto and Pee Wee Reese, means the Dodgers play today's game with no reserve infielders at all. Camilli, Coscarart, Hudson, and Reiser are it.

("Yeah, they're very shark like! Look, see -- fifteen rows in each jaw!")

(Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick....)

(Well, I dunno as I'd put too much stock in a "political analyst" who keeps a decanter full of booze right there on his desk...)

(WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Out in Hollywood, Phil Harris digs around in his pockets for Alice Faye's phone number. He knows he's got it somewhere.

And soon QUARANTINED signs tacked to front doors will become a thing of the past.

Y'know, anonymous DNC editor, you *could* have tried to find a less-supercilious photo of Senator Norris. Or are you a secret Democrat For Willkie working undercover?

There were several families on my block who didn't have phones, and we kids could make good money "running messages." In other words, Sam, stop muscling in on Annie's racket!

Your first assignment -- make some soap.

Tomorrow: two dead guards.

Tilda seems to have a thing for falling in love with married men.

No draw, straight commission.

It's pretty hard to be even more distracting than a blackface caricature, but Mamie's outfit here comes close. Wait'll Moon finds out she's wearing his pants.

You are tampering with forces here, son, that you cannot possibly begin to understand.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Let's see H&H top THAT deal!)...

Your move Davega.

...Reader Verne Gray writes in to criticize the Board of Education's proposed plan to reduce the proportion of female to male teachers in the city's public schools, arguing that it would be "wicked" to qualified women teachers to award jobs to less-qualified men simply on the basis of their sex....

It would be wicked.

...
("Hey," says Sally. "You bring home th' Eagle? It ain' onna table." "Uh, they was sol' out downa station." says Joe. "Well, go downa cannystore an' get one," Sally replies. "I wanna readdaboudda game." "They los'," says Joe, nervous beads of sweat erupting on his forehead. "'At's allyaneeda know.")...

... ("Yeah, they're very shark like! Look, see -- fifteen rows in each jaw!")...

Gotta love the shark figurine on the desk and shark plaque on the wall - this guy understands branding.

... (Well, I dunno as I'd put too much stock in a "political analyst" who keeps a decanter full of booze right there on his desk...)...

Did anyone in the news business back then not drink? And are you sure that isn't just a pawn to a really big chess set?

... (WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?)

Even wolf is thinking this is a bad idea. That said, being a comic strip, I see a couple of harrowing days spent looking for another exit which will, eventually, be found.

 

[Fading Fast]

... Out in Hollywood, Phil Harris digs around in his pockets for Alice Faye's phone number. He knows he's got it somewhere.....

The "sealed room" dead body story reads like the first ten minutes of a film noir movie. When finally made into a film in the late '40s, we'll see Farley Granger dead in the "sealed room" in the opening shot, then, as the movie goes back in time, we'll see what happened to a very alive Granger to leave him in that state. I'm thinking Ava Gardner or Lauren Bacall as the music student / potential femme fatale.

...
Your first assignment -- make some soap.....

... Tomorrow: two dead guards.....

Yup.

... No draw, straight commission.....

Tech-nick-nee, he's trying to increase sales not output; you need the increased sales first or the increased output just becomes unwanted inventory. Perhaps this is why the son is struggling to successively run the business.

Also, Wilmer, even in the Depression, getting a traveling salesman job was not that hard; being successful at it is a different story.

...
You are tampering with forces here, son, that you cannot possibly begin to understand.

It isn't the family member who gets booted when the canoodling eventually come out. As you note, he's in way over his head. That said, this plus the Senga incident should start to make Harold wise to the ways of the world. That, or he's just stupid.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There are lines to be read between the phrases "lavishly appointed bachelor flat" and "25-year-old dilettante musician" if one wishes to read them. I suspect that there is much more going on in the case of the unfortunate Montfort -- Montfort, yet -- than meets the eye.

If you put Harold and Skeezix together in a locked room, Skeezix would be the one who figures out how to escape. Harold is a good-hearted lad, but he's never been particularly bright. It's a fact that spending your entire adolescence sucking down soda can have a negative effect on mental capacity.

Wumple either wants to get rid of Wilmer and is being machiavellian about it, or he's just trolling him, just like he trolls everyone else. The latter would explain a great deal about the functioning of this office. If you've ever read "A Confederacy of Dunces," Wumple & Co. is beginning to look a lot like Levy Pants.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Rat killing drive today.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Very nice of the U.S. Red Cross for giving needy Britain aid. And I really like this Stevens hat ad. And its good to know Jewel supermarkets are still up and running. Here is a wikapedia link on the history of Jewel Food Stores: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel_(supermarket)

 

[Fading Fast]

Very nice of the U.S. Red Cross for giving needy Britain aid. And I really like this Stevens hat ad. And its good to know Jewel supermarkets are still up and running. Here is a wikapedia link on the history of Jewel Food Stores: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel_(supermarket)


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Interesting little tidbit about Switzerland putting "Hitler's newspaper" back on its newsstands. My quick-and-dirty guess is the Swiss gov't is trying to appease Germany as its army advances, but there's probably a more complex story there as there usually is.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Interesting too how the Tribune is only now catching up to the Scalise story, which has already come and gone in New York. We think in terms of "national news" today, but papers in the Era were far more provincial.

Note also the cartoon attacking "Eastern War Hysteria." The midwest was the focal point of the Islolationist movement in 1940, with the Tribune's publisher, Col. McCormick, one of its most prominent leaders, along with General Robert Wood, president of Sears and founder of the "America First" movement. One of the tropes of this movement was to claim that "East Coast elites" were leading the US into the European War to suit their own political purposes, which is what the cartoon is referring to.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Interesting little tidbit about Switzerland putting "Hitler's newspaper" back on its newsstands. My quick-and-dirty guess is the Swiss gov't is trying to appease Germany as its army advances, but there's probably a more complex story there as there usually is.

Yes, this is very interesting since the swiss were said to be neutral during WWII. And did not have anything to do with the war. Makes one wonder since they were on high alert when it came to defending their air space and boarders.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A mysterious new type of bomb nicknamed "the Comet" pounded the British capital today, as German planes continued their attacks on London in series of isolated lightning raids. Massive destruction in the workers' district of Bermondsey was originally believed to have been the result of a crashed Nazi plane, but subsequent investigation determined that the explosions resulted from this new German bomb. Official statements indicated that ninety persons were killed and 350 injured in last night's raids.

The case against accused Murder For Hire killers Harry "PIttsburgh Phil" Strauss and Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein is expected to go to the jury this afternoon, following a ninety-minute charge to the jury by Kings County Judge John J. Fitzgerald. Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus concluded his summation before the luncheon break today by demanding conviction on first degree murder charges for what he described as "the organized contract murder" of bookmaker Irving "Puggy" Feinstein.

A total of twenty-four men and women were indicted today by a Brooklyn Federal Grand Jury for their roles in a massive bootlegging ring based in Queens and on Long Island which defrauded the Government out of an estimated $2,000,000 in liquor taxes. The ring is accused of operating a series of five unregistered stills with capacities of up to 1500 gallons daily each. The suspects are not yet in custody but are expected to be arrested and brought in for arraignment some time next week.

A sixteen-year-old mathematical wizard from Bensonhurst will be the only girl attending the School of Technology of City College this year, following her early graduation from New Utrecht High School. Miss Frances Cott intends to study chemical engineering, putting to work the skill in mathematics that earned her a starring place on the New Utrecht Math Team last year. Frances, who when she's not studying enjoys collecting stamps and listening to records by Beethoven, Bach, and Benny Goodman, is not the first girl to attend the School of Technology -- three others have preceded her -- but will be the sole representative of her sex among a thousand male students, and her family is sure that she will be "very good for the college."

(So if you want cream, you have to buy it separately, is that it? Darn clever, these milk companies.)

The New York Times, which endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt for President in 1932 and 1936 has endorsed Wendell Willkie -- "from an independently Democratic perspective" -- in the 1940 election. In its edtiorial of endorsement, the Times declared the Republican nominee"a practical liberal" who is "better equipped" to build a strong National Defense program, and declared its opposition to the breaking of the third-term tradition.

This week's vaudeville bill at the Flatbush Theatre presents Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra, with vocalists Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly, along with song-and-dance team Chuck and Chuckles, comedian-impersonator Marc Ballero, and selected short film subjects. Don't forget, all seats for "Early Bird Matinee" shows (before 1pm) are just 20 cents!

(An 11 AM show? No wonder vaudeville's dying, the talent has no chance to sleep.)

At the Patio, don't miss Charles Boyer and Bette Davis in "All This And Heaven Too," paired with Leon Errol in "Pop Always Pays.

(Miss Leigh can't believe she's doing this, but hey, the money's good.)

A fundraising campaign is underway to purchase and preserve the Polish Tower at the World's Fair as a permanent part of the future Flushing Meadow Park. The movement followed the city's purchase of the Japanese Pavilion from the Japanese Government for $250,000, and is hoping to raise the estimated $60,000 cost of the tower and its accompanying statue by "selling" the shields that make up the structure to donors for $50 each. The American-Polish Memorial Committee is sponsoring the campaign, and states that 317 shields have been sold so far.

(Don't worry kid, by the time you're grown up you'll have other weapons of mass destruction to get excited about.)

The American Legion in Brooklyn will petition to amend the conscription law to permit the drafting of recently-married men, a response to the wave of pre-conscription marriages reported nationwide in the weeks leading up to the adoption of the peacetime draft. Kings County Legionnaires are asking that steps be taken at the Legion's upcoming national convention to pressure Congress to remove the marriage exemption from any potential draftee who was wed after August 1st 1940. "We must educate the youth of Brooklyn not to avoid the draft," stated Kings County Commissioner John McCabe in urging the Legion to pursue the change.

The Dodgers took a 14-7 walloping at the hands of the Cardinals yesterday, while in Philadelphia, the Reds edged out the Phillies 4 to 3 in thirteen innings. And with that, the 1940 National League pennant race comes to an end with a second consecutive flag due to fly over Crosley Field.

Leo Durocher, under suspension for his role in the fracas at Ebbets Field earlier this week, looked on from the press box with glassy eyes as the Flock stumbled and bumbled thru its last meaningful game of the season, but he was cheered by a fine performance from rookie third baseman Don Ross, just up from Montreal. Ross returned from the club from a family emergency yesterday just in time to get in the game, and impressed Leo with his defensive skill around third. Ross swings a good bat, too, with tutelage from Montreal manager Clyde Sukeforth elevating his International League batting average to .310 before coming up to Brooklyn. Ross thinks he has a good chance to duel Cookie Lavagetto for the regular third-base job next spring, and Durocher admitted he'll be giving the rookie a long look next year. Both Ross and Lavagetto are 25 years old, and Cookie has the edge on big-league experience. But his inconsistent hitting this year may give the slick-swinging newcomer an edge.

With the National League race sewn up, the Reds are watching the tight contest in the American League with great interest. Reds general manager Warren Giles says he'd prefer to see the Tigers take the AL crown, even though Cleveland's enormous seating capacity at Municipal Stadium could offer a stronger gate. Giles reasons that the dissension that has wracked the Tribe this year could stifle fan enthusiasm and keep attendance down, a problem not likely in Detroit, where the fans are known for their zeal.

Although the Dodgers are now out of the running for the pennant, President Larry MacPhail has a series of promotions on tap at Ebbets Field to keep up attendance as the season winds down, starting with Saturday's Old Timers Day. So many old Brooklyn favorites have signed up that they've been divided into two teams -- the Dodgers and the Robins -- and those two squads will play a short game before the 1940 Flock takes over for the day's regular business. Rube Marquard, pitching star of the 1916 pennant winners, will start for the Robins, opposing 1920s-era flamethrower Dazzy Vance. The Clown Prince of Baseball, Al Schacht, will also be on hand to narrate the game with a play-by-play account over the public address system.

If you've never heard the new noise-free, high-fidelity Frequency Modulation system of radio broadcasting, you have your chance in a new exhibit at the General Electric pavilion at the World's Fair. FM broadcasts from W2XOR will be picked up by receivers in the GE "Magic Kitchen" display every day starting at 2:15 and 4:15 pm.

("Seriously, my mother kept telling me to go into insurance, but noooooo....")

(Somebody tell Abe Frosch he's got a two-for-one deal coming soon...)

(Oh, you thought you were gonna get in without any family scandals, John? You didn't know Mary's son and Dennie's dad is a no-account embezzling thug named Slim, who took control of his mother's inheritance from her dead husband, and then kicked her and Dennie -- who was *crippled* at the time -- out into the cold, hard teeth of the Depression so she had to sell apples off a cart until she started shacking up with Bill? You mean she never told you any of this? Huh. Must've slipped her mind.)

(You never thought of that. And, alas, that is why this strip isn't called "Irwin Higgs.")