The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Hedy repents at leisure.

But Buggsy doesn't!

(Nowadays, they'd be calling Willkie a "RINO," which would make for a funnier cartoon.)

WHAT COULD GO WRONG

Awright, Sam. Enough with the Son Of Man stuff. What's your real game?

Hand crushed in a vise, face slashed with an Evil Monkey's Paw, Tracy can't get a break. "GOOD!" says Chief Brandon, as he browses a luggage display at Sears.

At least he already had the vaudeville-hoofer suit to go with it.

"Police tonight say there is no trace of Andrew Gump, nephew of industrialist Benjamin Gump and prominent local blowhard, who vanished from his home earlier in the day. The missing man's wife told detectives he raced thru the wall of his suburban home, leaving a hole precisely replicating his shape to mark the spot where he fled."

Better get up another collection, Pop. We'll need another rescue mission soon.

That's a symptom of certain types of migraine -- your head doesn't hurt unless you move it. I get them all the time, and I don't even go to wild drinking parties in cheap hotel rooms. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Fading Fast]

...Brooklyn police are tracking two hijackers who seized a truck in Bedford-Stuyvesant carrying an estimated $16,000 worth of furs. The two armed men leaped onto the running boards of a truck owned by the firm of Starovin and Mishkowitz near the corner of Sumner and Vernon Avenues, and took control of the vehicle, blindfolding the driver and his helper and forcing them into the back. After stopping at what was probably a warehouse to unload the cargo of furs, the hijackers drove the truck to Park Slope and abandoned it at the corner of 8th Avenue and Berkeley Place. Warning the driver and his helper not to remove their blindfold for ten minutes, the hijackers then fled. The furs were reportedly insured....

Warners Brothers almost doesn't even need a script writer for this one: just assign Cagney, O'Brien and Sheridan and start filming.

...
(Hey, do the Pipdyke girls wear rubber bands on their wrists? Keep an eye out!)...

In the '80s, when I first moved to NYC, Williamsburg (now super cool) was known as one of the worst "drug infested" areas in the city. You would see drugs being sold and used openly in broad daylight there and the streets were, truly, littered with drug paraphernalia.

The hat story all but makes no sense.

The Dempsey story should show up later on Page 4 of the News.

..Enjoy a big day out at the Fair a week from tomorrow on the Eagle, with a big "Newspaper Day" combination ticket offer. Present this ad with fifty cents at the main gate and enjoy admission to the Perisphere, Gardens On Parade, Mrs. Thorne's Miniature Rooms, the Pastorama, and the Town of Tomorrow. Ride and show concessions covered by the ticket will include the Centipede, the Comet, the Crimson Tower, the Cyclone roller coaster, the Dancing Campus, Forbidden Tibet, Frank Buck's Jungleland, Gay New Orleans, the Live Monster Show, the Giant Ferris Wheels, Living Magazine Covers, the Magic Carpet, Nature's Mistakes, the Palace of Wonders, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, the Snapper, the Scroll of Life, the Whip, Winter Wonderland, and Zoological Wonders of the World....

They had me at "Live Monster Show." Of course, I'm imagining seeing this guy:

... (Self-aware? What's that mean?)...

That's it exactly Lizzie, the lack of awareness is unbelievable. Kudus to Tuthill for carrying, basically, one joke so well throughout this entire storyline and, especially, through today's four panels. Also, George's and Jo's body English and facial expressions are pitch perfect to the moment.

...
(Poor Irwin. Here's hoping the chasm is tapered, and he ends up just wedging into it like a big fat cork.)

Wonderful imagery Lizzie, I LOL.

... Hedy repents at leisure....

If they had thrown in a good heist story (with a plump blonde*, say), it would have been the perfect Page 4 day.


*We never did hear if they caught her and her gang, did we?

... Hand crushed in a vise, face slashed with an Evil Monkey's Paw, Tracy can't get a break. "GOOD!" says Chief Brandon, as he browses a luggage display at Sears....

I thought we had reached an agreement on this.

That says, if he keeps harping on it, I'll buy him a darn piece of luggage from Sears just to shut him up.

... "Police tonight say there is no trace of Andrew Gump, nephew of industrialist Benjamin Gump and prominent local blowhard, who vanished from his home earlier in the day. The missing man's wife told detectives he raced thru the wall of his suburban home, leaving a hole precisely replicating his shape to mark the spot where he fled."...

... Better get up another collection, Pop. We'll need another rescue mission soon....

Having Harold covertly bond with the father is the interesting angle in this one. It will be fun to see where it goes. It's much better than the crazy author story, but not yet at Senga level.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That pennant clincher in Cleveland was apparently quite the afternoon. Tiger fans flooded the park and threw hundreds of baby bottles on the field, draped diapers over the Cleveland dugout, and pushed a baby carriage back and forth across the dugout roof. Cleveland fans retaliated by knocking catcher Birdie Tebbets of the Tigers out cold by dropping an entire crate of green tomatoes from the upper deck onto his head. Questioned after the game, the tomato-droppers apologized for injuring Tebbets, saying they were aiming instead for Tiger ace Schoolboy Rowe, who was seated next to Tebbets on the bullpen bench. "20,000 women were in the park for a Ladies Day promotion, and it was from their section that most of the fruit was thrown."

Up at the Reformatory, Frankie Germano reads that story and mutters "An' they call US crazy..."

Floyd Giebell never appeared in the Major Leagues again.

The Plump Blonde disappeared into history and was never heard from again, or at least we have yet to encounter her again. But she's out there -- somewhere.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Informed Nazi sources stated tonight that a "sphere of influence" has been assigned to the Soviet Union under the terms of the pact forming the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, but Russia itself has not been informed of what, exactly, that territory includes, nor has there been any comment or response from Moscow to the claim. The most significant territorial question to be resolved would be that drawing the border between Russian and Japanese territory, but it is anticipated that Japan will "clear up any misunderstanding" with Russia over disputed borders. There was no mention of the Soviet government's continuing practice of supplying arms to China to be used against Japan, and it is anticipated that this will be "overlooked."

Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie yesterday promised a "New World of economic security and safety for the American people," and further pledged to build the United States into an "impregnable democracy," as he brought his campaign to New York with a speech at the Republican State Convention in Yonkers. While promising to continue every "liberal advance to protect labor, the farmer, and American enterprise," the candidate warned that the "debts and doles of the New Deal" cannot continue. "The time has come," he declared, "when the government must cease giving to the people. The time has come for the people to give to the government."

Aroused by a reign of terror which has kept wives and daughters indoors after dark for fear of "molestation by morons and degenerates," residents of the Red Hook housing project last night drew up plans to petition Mayor LaGuardia and Commissioner Valentine for increased police protection in their neighborhood. At least one family living in the project has made plans to move after a daughter was criminally attacked, while the widow of a man who committed suicide last week declared that he did so out of the strain of living in constant fear of attack by hoodlums.

Long Island U and Brooklyn College ushered in the annual reign of King Football yesterday with the Blackbirds defeating the Kingsmen at Brooklyn College Stadium by a score of 6-0.

German authorities are offering Swedish fishermen a reward equivalent to fifty cents for every dead body of a German sailor or airman recovered and returned with the uniform intact. Fishermen say that they have been forced to abandon the herring-fishing waters off the southern Swedish because there are so many bodies floating there that they interfere with their nets.

In cold, clammy, dingy hovels thousands of London's East Enders huddle for shelter during pounding attacks by German air raiders. Insufficient air raid shelters in the teeming, impoverished district find residents taking refuge in warehouses and storage depots, and even underneath the "nightmare arches" in an effort to escape the steady rain of bombs. Many residents have fallen ill with "tube throat," an infection resulting from the foul, filthy conditions experienced in the shelters, which are rarely cleaned and never disinfected. But outside the shelters, the streets stand in shattered, roofless ruins where no human being could possibly live.

Jitterbugs know how to "cut a rug," but they don't know how to dance. That's the verdict of Miss Vera Dreiser, whose ballroom-dance class is a popular course out at Queens College in Flushing. Miss Dreiser says her students come to class thinking they know a thing or two about dancing, but even with all their energy and their Lindy-hopping experience, they still don't know how to do a basic fox trot. "They give every dance the basic color of the Lindy," she complains, as she tries to break them of such habits. "If you play a slow number," she says, "they don't know what to do."

Dan Dunn and Red Ryder and all the rest of your Brooklyn Eagle funny-paper favorites will march in a Comic Strip Parade as part of Newspaper Day at the World's Fair on October 5th. All children who arrive at the Fair gates dressed as a comic strip character will be admitted free to the grounds.

("Hey!" says Joe. "I'll go as George Bungle and you go as Jo!" "You ain't got the nose for it," says Sally." "I'll go as Bill Biff, then, an' you go as --- ah -- you go as..." "I go as who?" "You go as Leona, yeah. You go as Leona.")

Old Timer vaudevillian Joe "Ask Me More" Brady writes from Flatbush with more reminiscences of his colleagues from those long-lost days before the war. He knew W. C. Fields when the great man was a cartoonist. He knew Fred Allen when his name was Sullivan. He knew Joe E. Brown when he did a trampoline act. He knew female impersonator Karyl Norman when he was billed as "The Creole Fashion Plate," and he knew singer Helena Mora when she was billed as "The Female Baritone."

The Eagle Editorialist endorses the recent call for industrialists engaged in defense work to build air raid shelters for their workers. Some might think this is being overly cautious, but there's no denying that the globe is getting smaller, the Atlantic is not the protection people think it is, and half-way preparedness is as ineffective as "moderate honesty."

(If you're planning to do obeisance before King Football, you'd better be dressed for the occasion...)

The Dodgers won't sweep the Phillies at Shibe Park this year, with the Phils finally taking one from the Flock on their home grounds, by a score of 5-1. Ike Pearson toyed with the Brooklyns, holding them to six hits, and frustrating Dolph Camilli, who really wants to reach the 100-runs-batted-in threshold this season. He goes into today's final game of 1940 still four short of his goal. The win was the Phillies fiftieth of the season, which doesn't sound like much until you realize it's the first time in years that the team has done even that well.

And so it is that the Dodgers close out a season filled with might-have-beens with Lee Grissom going to the mound this afternoon against Johnny Podganny. Joe Medwick will sit the game out, satisfied to preserve his .301 batting mark for the year.

There is reason to believe that the Dodgers could get hard-throwing Kirby Higbe, but the Phils won't give him up without a price. Owner Gerry Nugent, a man of constant financial sorrows, is not likely to let the hurler go for anything less than $150,000 -- and MacPhail is hardly likely to dish out that kind of money for one player.

The Football Dodgers will play twice this week. Today they play at Forbes Field against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Friday they open their home season under the lights at Ebbets Field against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Football Flock is 0-1 this year, having opened their season with a loss in Washington.

And Trend reminds you, in case you didn't know, that college football season is here. Columbia coach Lou Little, one of the best in the business, is ready to go.

Strip-tease queen Margie Hart has donated 5000 autographed photos of herself to the the lads of the New York National Guard, mobilized for National Defense duty. The photos will be issued only to unmarried men.

The Perfect Fool is back on Broadway this week, with Ed Wynn opening at the Broadhurst in an all-new revue, "Boys and Girls Together." He's the same old Wynn you knew ten or twenty or thirty years ago, with his jokes and antics and puns. Oh, the puns. Ed pulled off what's generally considered the most outrageous pun ever heard on the New York stage back in 1933, when he let loose with the story of a little girl sad because her mother ate her bag of gumdrops. Her father asked her why she was so sad, and she rubbed the tears from her eyes and declared "Mahatma Gandhi."

(Say it out loud, very slowly, and think about it for a few minutes.)

Movie sound men don't like Eugene Pallette very much. Not because he isn't a nice guy or anything, but because his sub-basement frog voice blows out the ribbons in their microphones.

(Now just a damn minute. There are three horses in the first panel. Only two come out of the water. If I don't find out and quick what happened to the third horse, I'm calling the SPCA.)

(I hear that the Germans like to drop parachutists into England disguised as nuns. So why aren't we seeing Max here dangling from a parachute disguised as a nun? This is a real missed opportunity.)

(Don't be so hasty, Mary. A ferocious pit bull is just what you need to get rid of that tramp. LICK 'EM, BOY!)

(More comic-strip physics here. There's no way Wolf can pull that much weight. What Dan really needs is that extra horse from "Red Ryder.")

(The worst part of it is that radio broke down and was put out in the alley for the junkman years ago.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Sure, New York has its share of the corrupt and the violent and the weird in 1940, but so does the rest of the country.

Sure, campaign hyperbole and all -- but in an age when Mr. Churchill is speaking of blood and toil and tears and sweat, somehow Mr. Willkie's speech lacks the necessary "greatest utterances ever made by man" panache.

Kids today.

Well, a rocket engine requires liquid oxygen to operate, so maybe she's not so stark mad after all.

Mystery Lady is Little Billy's mother -- and Holy Sam is his real papa. CALLING IT NOW. And hey, I'd pay cash money for Maw Green to be the Bungles' newest neighbor.

My gawd, I'm a year older than Emmy Schmaltz.

Sometimes a big hunk of wood is just a big hunk of wood.

Lilacs here is Harold's cousin, and it's clear that certain things run in the family.

Walt's really just a big kid at heart. A really big, big, big kid.

Why suuuuuuuuuuuure, trust this guy right down to the ground!

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Here are the headlines for the last three days.

 

[Fading Fast]

Informed Nazi sources stated tonight that a "sphere of influence" has been assigned to the Soviet Union under the terms of the pact forming the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, but Russia itself has not been informed of what, exactly, that territory includes, nor has there been any comment or response from Moscow to the claim. The most significant territorial question to be resolved would be that drawing the border between Russian and Japanese territory, but it is anticipated that Japan will "clear up any misunderstanding" with Russia over disputed borders. There was no mention of the Soviet government's continuing practice of supplying arms to China to be used against Japan, and it is anticipated that this will be "overlooked."...

"Japan will 'clear up any misunderstanding' with Russia over disputed borders."

Can't see anything going wrong there.

... "The time has come," he declared, "when the government must cease giving to the people. The time has come for the people to give to the government."...

A bit of an awkwardly phrased foreshadowing of the famous JFK line, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

...Aroused by a reign of terror which has kept wives and daughters indoors after dark for fear of "molestation by morons and degenerates," residents of the Red Hook housing project last night drew up plans to petition Mayor LaGuardia and Commissioner Valentine for increased police protection in their neighborhood. At least one family living in the project has made plans to move after a daughter was criminally attacked, while the widow of a man who committed suicide last week declared that he did so out of the strain of living in constant fear of attack by hoodlums....

Sadly, despite good intentions, housing projects, at least in NYC, did not get better. They were insanely - think Mad Max Thunderdome - bad in the '70s and '80s, but to this day, they are still large crime and drug problems. It is amazing how you can feel the danger increase as you walk closer to a project even if you have no idea that one is near - the "tone" and "vibe" on the street just changes in an ominous way.

...Dan Dunn and Red Ryder and all the rest of your Brooklyn Eagle funny-paper favorites will march in a Comic Strip Parade as part of Newspaper Day at the World's Fair on October 5th. All children who arrive at the Fair gates dressed as a comic strip character will be admitted free to the grounds

("Hey!" says Joe. "I'll go as George Bungle and you go as Jo!" "You ain't got the nose for it," says Sally." "I'll go as Bill Biff, then, an' you go as --- ah -- you go as..." "I go as who?" "You go as Leona, yeah. You go as Leona.")....

"But I'm Pat Ryan from 'Terry and the Pirates' and this lady [glaring angrily at 'Pat'] is Raven Sherman. It took us a lot of time to put these costumes together."

"Sir, I'm sorry, as I've told you before, the promotion is only for kids; you and your friend will have to pay to get in."

"Pat would never stand for this!"

"Sir?"

"Never mind, [dejectedly] how much is it?"

...Old Timer vaudevillian Joe "Ask Me More" Brady writes from Flatbush with more reminiscences of his colleagues from those long-lost days before the war. He knew W. C. Fields when the great man was a cartoonist. He knew Fred Allen when his name was Sullivan. He knew Joe E. Brown when he did a trampoline act. He knew female impersonator Karyl Norman when he was billed as "The Creole Fashion Plate," and he knew singer Helena Mora when she was billed as "The Female Baritone."...

The "I knew him/her when" line by anyone but Oscar Levant has been ruined for me ever since Levant delivered the haymaker of all haymakers "I knew him/her when" line about Doris Day.

...The Eagle Editorialist endorses the recent call for industrialists engaged in defense work to build air raid shelters for their workers. Some might think this is being overly cautious, but there's no denying that the globe is getting smaller, the Atlantic is not the protection people think it is, and half-way preparedness is as ineffective as "moderate honesty."...

And, yes, there is (kinda, sorta) a movie, "Millions Like Us," about this where an English airplane-parts factory has built an ad-hoc cinderblock shelter on site for its workers. It's a good WWII propaganda movie (comments here: #27412). And here's a pic of the factory's shelter:

...And so it is that the Dodgers close out a season filled with might-have-beens...

Theresa Wright, how do you feel about the Dodger's season, once filled with so much hope and promise, being over?

... View attachment 265615
Strip-tease queen Margie Hart has donated 5000 autographed photos of herself to the the lads of the New York National Guard, mobilized for National Defense duty. The photos will be issued only to unmarried men....

Never heard of Ms. Hart before, but I now understand her career choice:

...The Perfect Fool is back on Broadway this week, with Ed Wynn opening at the Broadhurst in an all-new revue, "Boys and Girls Together." He's the same old Wynn you knew ten or twenty or thirty years ago, with his jokes and antics and puns. Oh, the puns. Ed pulled off what's generally considered the most outrageous pun ever heard on the New York stage back in 1933, when he let loose with the story of a little girl sad because her mother ate her bag of gumdrops. Her father asked her why she was so sad, and she rubbed the tears from her eyes and declared "Mahatma Gandhi."

(Say it out loud, very slowly, and think about it for a few minutes.)...

In 2020, that might still be the best pun ever.

...Movie sound men don't like Eugene Pallette very much. Not because he isn't a nice guy or anything, but because his sub-basement frog voice blows out the ribbons in their microphones....

"Do you like this noise better? 'Frog voice' screw 'em." EP

... View attachment 265619 (More comic-strip physics here. There's no way Wolf can pull that much weight. What Dan really needs is that extra horse from "Red Ryder.")...

Yes, but it's even worse, as Wolf is using all four legs to hold on to Dan, so it's only his tail that is supporting all three of them. Unless he was hit with a burst of Sparky's cosmic rays, that is not going to work.

... Sure, New York has its share of the corrupt and the violent and the weird in 1940, but so does the rest of the country....

Princess Baba (awesome name) might have had more success in Hollywood if Myrna Loy hadn't already monopolized her look.
\

...[ Well, a rocket engine requires liquid oxygen to operate, so maybe she's not so stark mad after all....

As you noted elsewhere, some questionable physics pop up in comic-strip land, but for a second, I thought Gould was going to rif on the Hedy Lamarr story.

... Mystery Lady is Little Billy's mother -- and Holy Sam is his real papa. CALLING IT NOW. And hey, I'd pay cash money for Maw Green to be the Bungles' newest neighbor....

Agree on the mother call. Not sure on Sam yet as only the fancy Peter La Plata could have given Billy that head of curls. And, yes, Maw would be the perfect Bungles' neighbor.

... Sometimes a big hunk of wood is just a big hunk of wood....

Caniff's on fire. He keeps upping the drama as the rescue boat is stolen just when they need it and the villagers want to kill the women for bringing the wrath of God down upon them. Meanwhile, Dude is just pounding away. Now that Gray has seen the light, no one is even close to Caniff in comic-strip land.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There were *bottles* in that basket of tomatoes the Indians fans dropped out of the upper deck? Well, that explains a lot.

 

[Fading Fast]

Here are the headlines for the last three days. View attachment 265643 View attachment 265644 View attachment 265645

Based on what I saw of Time Square in the '70s, the 1940s "Vice Cleanup" effort did not stick.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ Very neat to see the promotional efforts for the movie "Knute Rockne All American."

 

[LizzieMaine]

A Berlin conference among the foreign minsters of Germany and Italy, the Spanish Minister of Government, and the chief of the high command of the German military may mean that Spain has agreed to allow German troops to invade Gibraltar from Spanish territory. The authoritative Italian Fascist editor Virginio Gayda stated today in the Rome newspaper Il Giornale d'Italia that the conference has "unified the plans of the three friendly powers."

Mayor LaGuardia has promised swift and decisive action to end the "terror reign" of sex attacks in the Red Hook housing project, after one attack and two attempted attacks there over the weekend. Last Friday a young woman visitor to a resident of the Lorraine Street project was raped in an elevator by an intruder brandishing a knife. Later that night a man matching the description of the rapist chased another young woman up three flights of stairs. The following night an intruder who appeared to be the same man was chased by private police over the roof and down another stairway. The man in each case is described as heavy-set and swarthy, about 33 years of age, and wearing a sweater or windbreaker. Speaking today from his Summer City Hall in Queens, the Mayor promised to "get busy on it right away. That's a terrible situation." Mrs. Frank Vaneti of 85 Lorriane Street, whom the victim of Friday night's assault was visiting, told the Eagle today that her family is moving out of the project today, and that it is common knowledge among residents that it is unsafe to use the basement laundries because of the danger of assaults. One resident of the project killed herself last week, leaving behind a note warning her husband to move out as soon as possible.

Courtroom machinations that caused a witness in a Brooklyn abortion trial to recant her testimony came to light today in the courtroom of Judge Franklin Taylor, when it was learned that the recantation was given due to an alleged promise of marriage from the man convicted on the abortion charge. Four days ago, 19-year-old Miss Anna Porcaro of 56 N. Elliot Place submitted a letter to Judge Taylor seeking to withdraw her testimony in the case against Thomas LaRussa of 6725 10th Avenue and Mrs. Louise Mostramarino of 915 40th Street, who were convicted on abortion charges last Wednesday. Miss Porcaro was subsequently held on contempt-of-court charges after shouting "I'll kill somebody for this!" during the trial, and when questioned at the Raymond Street Jail, she admitted to a probation officer that she withdrew her charges only because Mrs. Mostramarino promised her that LaRussa would marry her if she did so.

The State has rested its case against the 32-year-old longshoreman accused in the brutal murder of 19-year-old Frieda Olsen after offering into evidence the third of three confessions made by defendant Peter Salemi to the vicious torture-slaying on Dyker Beach. The final witness presented by the state was the owner of a gasoline station who testified that he sold Salemi three cents worth of gasoline in a tin can the night of the murder, which, according to Salemi's confession, was used to set the still-living Miss Olsen on fire.

Governor Herbert Lehman today keynoted the Democratic State Convention at the Manhattan Center by declaring that a third term for President Roosevelt would serve as "a beacon of hope to the oppressed peoples thruout the world." The convention will hear tonight from U. S. Senator Robert F. Wagner, and will then nominate the various party candidates for state office.

Five members of Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers pleaded not guilty today to charges of inciting a riot last week at the Triangle Cable and Conduit Company in Glendale. Police patrolmen and detectives crowded into the Queens courtroom today, jostling alongside union supporters as Judge Charles S. Colden drastically reduced the $50,000 bail on which the five strikers had been held. Chief union counsel Louis C. Waldman charged that the only purpose of the high bail was an effort by Queens District Attorney Charles Sullivan to "try the case in the newspapers."

("The Revuers," to be seen in "Broadway Revels," are absolutely sublime -- witty, clever musical comedians who are very impressive in their unsponsored radio series over NBC. Putting them on the same bill with Henny Youngman is like putting hollandaise sauce on a potato chip.)

("Oughta be Fat Freddie up there," snorts Joe. "Nah," says Sally. "Smokin' makes ya lose weight.")

The Jewish High Holidays have arrived, and here is a recipe for real old-fashioned "gefuelte fish."

"Remember that most Jewish cooking is done not according to a prescribed rule, but according to custom. In other words, 'the way mother made it.'"

The Eagle Editorialist warns that now is not the time for either capital or labor to put their rights ahead of National Defense. "The man who today denounces any government regulation of his business as an invasion of his freedom might turn his attention to Europe. The French employer and employee both clung tenaciously to their 'rights.' Today they have no rights at all."

(As the Boys smile and say "well done.")

Lee Grissom took a no-hitter into the sixth inning at Shibe Park yesterday until Chuck Klein broke it up, but the Dodgers nevertheless blanked the Phillies 5-0 to nail down the lid on 1940. The Flock was subdued and quiet as they trained home from Philadelphia last night, with no doubt several members of the club pondering the reality that they have played their last game in Dodger flannels. The club has nothing to feel ashamed of, with a solid second-place finish the best by a Brooklyn aggregation since 1924, but there is nevertheless a sense that had the breaks gone in our direction that a pennant might be flying over Ebbets Field.

The Dodgers must improve their pitching to improve their standing in 1941, and all speculation continues to focus on Phillie fireballer Kirby Higbe. President Larry MacPhail has officially rejected Phils owner Gerry Nugent's $150,000 price tag on the righthander. "I just said goodbye," declared Larry upon receiving Nugent's telephone call. "If that's his idea of Higbe's value, we'll never get together." But the Phils are in even more desperate financial straits this year, and the word is that Nugent must sell either Higbe or Hugh Mulcahy in order to keep his club solvent. Philadelphia insiders hint that if Higbe is chosen to go, he will go to Cincinnati -- but the Dodgers do have a chance, possibly at a lesser price, by throwing in some players.

The fate of Cleveland Indians manager Oscar Vitt remains in doubt as the troubled Tribe broke up for the season. Vitt has returned to his home in California with no word on his status for 1941 from owner Alva Bradley, other than a statement that the matter will be decided at a meeting of the club's board of directors in the near future.

Tommy Holmes picks the Reds to beat the Tigers in the coming World Series, which starts the day after tomorrow at Crosley Field, stating that "all the players on Bill McKechnie's club are at their peak." The Tigers, on the other hand, are an aging team, especially up the middle, where keystone combination Dick Bartell and Charlie Gehringer are "on the downgrade."

Football Dodgers coach Jock Sutherland made a triumphant homecoming to Pittsburgh by leading the Toppingmen to a 10-3 victory over the Steelers, building anticipation for their homecoming game at Ebbets Field on Friday. There will be no need for Mr. Topping to send his wife Sonja Heine out to do a roller-skating exhibition to stimulate attendance, the team alone appears hot enough to draw a good crowd.

(Oh, and tell them to say hello to Axel when they get there.)

(Last year around Halloween time, George found himself harassed by a ghostly talking mouse, and ended up having a stray cat trapped in his ceiling, getting into a fistfight with a swami, and causing no end of distress to Jo for his low antics. Is this a rerun? Or has Tootsie returned at last, ready for her revenge?)

(B L A C K M A I L!!!!)

(Irwin seems strangely ambivalent about Dan grabbing his butt like that.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Joe E. Brown certainly does seem to get around.

Watch those hands, bub.

A common trope of presidential campaigns is that the candidates really don't have anything to say about what they'll actually do over the next four years, but in this case you can probably justify it by noting that nobody in 1940 knows what they'll actually do over the next four years.

Are you trying to look contemplative, Sam? Or are you worried about your thyroid?

Panel Three: she was always a regular at our opera shows.

This is why Pat likes those loose-cut suits.

Oh, please have Bim and Mamma drop by just now. It'll be glorious.

And this is how, one day many decades from now, Wilmer Bobble will be elected to the US Senate.

Moon and Mush are basically a downmarket Jack Benny and Rochester -- but they were doing it first.

"I recognize you by your silhouette!"

 

[Fading Fast]

...Mayor LaGuardia has promised swift and decisive action to end the "terror reign" of sex attacks in the Red Hook housing project, after one attack and two attempted attacks there over the weekend. Last Friday a young woman visitor to a resident of the Lorraine Street project was raped in an elevator by an intruder brandishing a knife. Later that night a man matching the description of the rapist chased another young woman up three flights of stairs. The following night an intruder who appeared to be the same man was chased by private police over the roof and down another stairway. The man in each case is described as heavy-set and swarthy, about 33 years of age, and wearing a sweater or windbreaker. Speaking today from his Summer City Hall in Queens, the Mayor promised to "get busy on it right away. That's a terrible situation." Mrs. Frank Vaneti of 85 Lorriane Street, whom the victim of Friday night's assault was visiting, told the Eagle today that her family is moving out of the project today, and that it is common knowledge among residents that it is unsafe to use the basement laundries because of the danger of assaults. One resident of the project killed herself last week, leaving behind a note warning her husband to move out as soon as possible....

It is truly stunning that this massive and horrible situation has been going on in NYC housing projects for eighty years as it seems like it started almost immediately after they were first built.

...Courtroom machinations that caused a witness in a Brooklyn abortion trial to recant her testimony came to light today in the courtroom of Judge Franklin Taylor, when it was learned that the recantation was given due to an alleged promise of marriage from the man convicted on the abortion charge. Four days ago, 19-year-old Miss Anna Porcaro of 56 N. Elliot Place submitted a letter to Judge Taylor seeking to withdraw her testimony in the case against Thomas LaRussa of 6725 10th Avenue and Mrs. Louise Mostramarino of 915 40th Street, who were convicted on abortion charges last Wednesday. Miss Porcaro was subsequently held on contempt-of-court charges after shouting "I'll kill somebody for this!" during the trial, and when questioned at the Raymond Street Jail, she admitted to a probation officer that she withdrew her charges only because Mrs. Mostramarino promised her that LaRussa would marry her if she did so....

I think I can unwind what is really going on here, but it's either an example of truly terrible reporting or the norms of the times not allowing the newspaper to really say what is happening.

...[ ("Oughta be Fat Freddie up there," snorts Joe. "Nah," says Sally. "Smokin' makes ya lose weight.")...

Et tu Sally? - FF

...
Watch those hands, bub....

The entire ad looks and reads as if the marketing department was drinking when they came up with this one. No sober person wrote that lyric.

... Oh, please have Bim and Mamma drop by just now. It'll be glorious....

It's pretty much impossible to dial back calling someone's wife his mother to her face. You have to leave and start looking for a new job at that point.

... "I recognize you by your silhouette!"

Who refers to themselves by their first initial and last name, "H. Teen?"

And it only took till Wednesday for this week's first comic-strip soft-porn to pop up.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]