The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

(What about the kid who sneaks into the vestry before the service and helps herself to as many of the little glasses of grape juice as she can drink? Oh wait, that was me.)

Good Methodist lass, you. We Catholic school kids always went for the brass ring of sacramental wine... if the padre hadn't grown up engaging in the same shenanigans himself and wasn't savvy enough to keep the stuff under lock and key.

They'd have the stuff in gallon glass jugs, so it was hardly the equivalent of a Chateau Margaux '63 Estate, but when you're 12 years old, your palate isn't particular.

To this day I can't walk past a display of Welch's in the grocery store without feeling guilty.

We also used bulkie rolls (the New England equivalent of a soft kaiser roll) to represent the B. of C, which still gives me an odd sense when I'm eating a ham and cheese sandwich.

 

[Fading Fast]

The sight of Chops "trucking" in panel six is terrifying. I hope he doesn't try to grab the DL and do some aerials.

That was odd, simply odd. Also, note the gratuitous soft porn of Raven in her bra. That said, it's not like she took off her dress while flying an airplane, leaving her in her underwear, strapped to the seat with a large control stick held between her legs and with one hand touching the tip of the stick, but still.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Uh-huh.
View attachment 272037
It really is amazing the amount of soft porn that was in comic strips in the '30s and '40s.

Very true!

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

This rug company is still going strong here in Chicago.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Great Rooms For Rent ad. I see a few on the list I'd rent ASAP. Being a bachelorette and having lived at these home like hotels it really was a very convenient place to live.

I did not have to worry about housekeeping which was an issue, due to the fact that I work full-time and I also like to socialize and travel too.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And since they didn't seem to include the comic section in the Sunday Tribune, here for those who are no doubt waiting enthusiastically is today's "Smilin' Jack"...

Let's see Pat Ryan do THAT.

 

[Fading Fast]

The '41 Packard is definitely bigger than several of the NYC apartments I've lived in.

Never thought of Ben-Gay for a cold.

And since they didn't seem to include the comic section in the Sunday Tribune, here for those who are no doubt waiting enthusiastically is today's "Smilin' Jack"...

View attachment 272350 Let's see Pat Ryan do THAT.

Thank you for posting this Lizzie. There's a lot that's so good here it's crazy. I will note that her hair should be flatter from the water, but I get that he's going for a look. Have to learn more about the strip to see where its storytelling complexity fits vis-a-vis our regular Eagle strips, but so far, it's done some good action-adventure stuff and the names are fantastic.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Jack" is a hard strip to describe. It owes a lot to the aviation-adventure-movie craze of the thirties, combined with freakish "Dick Tracy"-style villians. And there's a good bit of off-center humor involved as well -- if you get a "Sparky Watts" hint from it, it's because Boody Rogers, who draws Sparky, was Zack Mosley's assistant until he broke off on his own.

Jack himself is kind of a stuck-on-himself cocky flyboy -- he and Dude Hennick in the same room would be quite a thing to see. His pal Downwind Jaxon is even more of a dawg than Jack is -- and his gimmick is that he is so handsome all women immediately throw themselves at his feet. Mr. Mosely found himself unable to draw a sufficiently handsome face to go with this trait, so he came up with the idea of never actually showing his face at all. Joy and Dixie are the primary women in the strip, although many others will come and go depending on plot demands. And then there's "Fat Stuff," who's the comedy-relief Hawaiian-stereotype mechanic who's so fat the buttons are always popping off his shirt.

The villians, as hinted, tend to be grotesque to look at, and are usually international spies of some kind. "The Eye" of the present storyline is an Axel-like mastermind heading a gang of fifth columnists, one of whom was our friend Miss Fahrenheit here, who gave up politics once she got a look at Downwind.

 

[LizzieMaine]

President Roosevelt will draw the first number in the Selective Service lottery at 12 noon on Sunday October 29th, beginning the process that will determine the order in which 16,000,000 men between the ages of 21 and 35 will be classified and considered for induction into the Army. The President will select the first capsule from the same goldfish bowl used during the World War draft in 1917, from among approximately 7,000 identical capsules containing numbers corresponding to the highest number of men registered with any local board. Once the President has drawn the first number, the process will continue until the bowl is empty. It is anticipated that the procedure will require about twelve hours to complete. Numbers will be publicly posted so that each man may know his number, and all men corresponding to the first number drawn will be first to receive notification of where to report for classification. Approximately 800,000 men are expected to be conscripted between November 18th and June 5, 1941.

More than $500,000 will go toward the launch of two vitally-important civic improvements in Brooklyn under the city's 1940-41 capital budget, according to Borough President John Cashmore. The funds will go toward the constructed of a much-needed new Supreme Court Building, and toward the long-awaited, much-delayed completion of the central public library. The bulk of the funds will go toward the latter project, which has been unable to open even though the primary construction is finished, due to lack of necessary furnishings.

A total of 8000 new jobs will come to Long Island under the terms of a $60,000,000 order for naval pursuit planes placed by the Government with the Republic Aviation Corporation of Farmingdale. The jobs will be open to every "able-bodied decent appearing citizen" of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, with the firm promising to train every applicant for four to twelve weeks to determine their suitability for continued employment.

President Roosevelt will make one of his five major campaign addresses in Brooklyn, with the President announcing that he will appear at the Academy of Music on October 30th. Kings County Democratic leader Frank V. Kelly was summoned to the White House today to discuss arrangements for the visit. Meanwhile, the President has declined an invitation by Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie to share the stage for a formal debate when Willkie appears in Baltimore on October 30th. The Democratic National Committee attempted to engage a hall for an appearance by the President in that city on that date, only to find that the only suitable facility had already been engaged by the Republicans.

Great Britain will "rule the air" within a year, according to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The British leader made his prediction in a speech addressed to the people of France, promising that the Royal Air Force will wrest air superiority from Germany. "Now, in 1940 as ever, we have command of the seas," declared Mr. Churchill. "In 1941, we shall have command of the air." He further pledged that "we shall never stop, never weary, never give in."

(Already? Where DOES the time go?)

Brooklyn's Yiddish Art Theatre under the direction of Maurice Schwartz began its fall season with a stirring drama by Polish dramatist Aaron Zeitlin. "Esterke" is a lush 14th Century drama of romance, prejudice and palace intrigue, set against the backdrop of the Black Plague.

With the World's Fair now in its last week, Mayor LaGuardia has declared a city-wide "Holiday of Joy" for this Friday, calling on civic leaders and business owners to allow their employees the day off for one last chance to see the spectacular Flushing exposition. Two million copies of the Mayor's proclamation will be distributed in hotels, restaurants, bus and subway stations, and railroad waiting rooms, and anyone presenting a copy at the Fair gates on Friday will be admitted for only twenty-five cents.

"Constance," who is in her forties, writes to Helen Worth wondering what she should do about her gentleman friend. It seems that he's a drinker, and he's often seen around having had too much to drink. But he's always sober when they go out for a date. Her friends tell her she's shouldn't be seen with him because of his habits. What should she do? Helen says "you're not a jeunne-fille, and your own age permits a certain tolerance."

The Eagle Editorialist, observing maneuvers in the Balkans, suggests that the Soviet Union has gotten itself behind the eight-ball in its non-aggression pact with Germany, with all the little buffer states between the two great powers now under German control, and a German army "experienced in winter fighting" now bunched at the tip end of Norway from which it might make a strike into Russia. "It will be interesting to see whether they can extricate themselves."

(Nah, he's just showing his gratitude to the coal-industry PAC.)

The Football Dodgers have dropped to third place in the National Football League Eastern Division -- behind the surging Giants -- but their performance yesterday in Chicago was nothing shameful. The Grid Flock lost to the Bears 16-7, but they weren't outfought -- they were outmanned, standing up under the Chicago battering-ram for three periods without a breathing spell and with key men in the line injured, before the Bears pushed thru a powerful thrust in the fourth quarter to win the game.

(116 to 7? Hey Mr. Schroth, you better get down to the linotype room, one of your operators is drunk again.)

Bensonhurst's own Merrill Miller will sing for his supper this Sunday on the Metropolitan Opera Auditions program. The eighteen-year-old night-school graduate of New Utrecht High School who spends his days selling shoes to pay for voice lessons will sing his all for a chance at a Met contract. ("Hey!" says Joe. "I know t'at kid! He sol' me t'em shoes las' yeah -- you know, th' ones wit' one foot too big an' to'tha too small?" "You haddemshoesonna wrong feet," says Sally." "Whattaya mean?" protests Joe. "I ain' got no udda feet.")

(I'll be glad when the election is over.)

(Isn't it time for the fish to yell "SHUT UP AWREADY!")

(There, now that wasn't so hard. You could have said so weeks ago, and had this all wrapped up by now.)

("If you're ever challenged by a guard, just rear up and state your name with an air of authority and watch the doors swing open. The guard has never heard of you, but will never admit it." -- Today's helpful hint from "Dan Dunn's Guide To Not Getting Shot.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"At the Dillon family mansion in Topeka, a woman said that Dillon pere did not wish to discuss the matter." Well where's the fun in that?

Why do all these talking-pie characters come across like Wilmer trying to be a traveling salesman?

Political parties taking utterly contradictory positions based on the expediency of the moment? Why who ever heard of such a thing?

At least it's nice to know where you stand.

It can't be. Peter La Jackass has wavy black gigolo hair. St. Peg has straight-but-pincurled black hair. Little Billy has a red Annie-frizz. GENETICS JUST DON"T ALLOW IT.

Dear Mr. Gould. You can't draw planes for beans. Ha ha ha. Your friend, Norman Marsh.

"Oh is that all? It'll do the knob-headed fool some good. How about a drink?"

On his way up to the office this morning, Wumple noticed a pitchman selling junky kitchen tools from a suitcase on the sidewalk. "This is perfect," he thought. "JUST WHAT I NEED FOR MY MOST EPIC TROLL YET."

Kid, what part of "go straight home" don't you understand?

When passive resistance is your only weapon.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

With the World's Fair now in its last week, Mayor LaGuardia has declared a city-wide "Holiday of Joy" for this Friday, calling on civic leaders and business owners to allow their employees the day off for one last chance to see the spectacular Flushing exposition. Two million copies of the Mayor's proclamation will be distributed in hotels, restaurants, bus and subway stations, and railroad waiting rooms, and anyone presenting a copy at the Fair gates on Friday will be admitted for only twenty-five cents....

That first line about Peace and Freedom, with the state of the world as it was in 1940, had to be almost demoralizing to the Eagle's readers.

..."Constance," who is in her forties, writes to Helen Worth wondering what she should do about her gentleman friend. It seems that he's a drinker, and he's often seen around having had too much to drink. But he's always sober when they go out for a date. Her friends tell her she's shouldn't be seen with him because of his habits. What should she do? Helen says "you're not a jeunne-fille, and your own age permits a certain tolerance."...

Helen didn't tiptoe around that one, did she?

...The Eagle Editorialist, observing maneuvers in the Balkans, suggests that the Soviet Union has gotten itself behind the eight-ball in its non-aggression pact with Germany, with all the little buffer states between the two great powers now under German control, and a German army "experienced in winter fighting" now bunched at the tip end of Norway from which it might make a strike into Russia. "It will be interesting to see whether they can extricate themselves."...

Prescient.

... View attachment 272422
(116 to 7? Hey Mr. Schroth, you better get down to the linotype room, one of your operators is drunk again.)...

I think we now know what Constance's beau does for a living.

...
(I'll be glad when the election is over.)...

I am not commenting on the Senator's name.

... "Oh is that all? It'll do the knob-headed fool some good. How about a drink?"....

Underwhelmed so far.

...[ "At the Dillon family mansion in Topeka, a woman said that Dillon pere did not wish to discuss the matter." Well where's the fun in that?....

There are already many movie version of the lawyer-dance-hall-girl marriage, but this could easily spark another. Also, "Kenneth Price Dillion" and "Cravath de Gersdorff, Swaine and Wood," Hollywood could not make up better names.

Just asking, was there no "The Neighbors" published yesterday?

...
Why do all these talking-pie characters come across like Wilmer trying to be a traveling salesman?....

The pie takes umbrage at your comparison and notes he also has a much nicer piece of luggage than Wilmer (and the Captain ). Personally, I'm willing to listen to the pie's pitch; Wilmer wouldn't stand a chance with me.

... At least it's nice to know where you stand....

Ransom Raven - sure
Turn Hu Shee into a concubine - sure
Exile Joe - sure
But Chopstick Joe will lose his big chopstick if he tries anything with the DL
And Pat, where are you?

... It can't be. Peter La Jackass has wavy black gigolo hair. St. Peg has straight-but-pincurled black hair. Little Billy has a red Annie-frizz. GENETICS JUST DON"T ALLOW IT....

Just noting, I mentioned the hair conundrum weeks ago. There has to be a third player out there somewhere. And since the mother usually has reason to know for sure if it's her kid, I'm guessing Peg "introduced" the third player into the story and La Jackass (nice Lizzie) got played. That said, I don't think that's where Gray is going to take this story, but boy would it be fun if he did.

...[ Dear Mr. Gould. You can't draw planes for beans. Ha ha ha. Your friend, Norman Marsh.....

Nice Lizzie, now you got the comics-strip authors trolling each other. By the way, Caniff says his planes are better than either of theirs and, as to story and character development, he's inviting both of them to a class he's giving this Friday.

...[ Kid, what part of "go straight home" don't you understand?....

You're spot on. A young man who seems not to have learned much from his experiences and with a fat bankroll picked one of the last places in the world to go if he intends on keeping that money. This city has an insane number of hustlers - from the street variety to the suit-and-tie-corner-office ones (and every type in between) - that are really, really good at separating the innocent from their money.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's no "Neighbors" Sunday page as such, but George Clark does do a sort of a Sunday-only spinoff called "The Ripples," focusing on one of the families who appear in the weekday panel --

I'm not entirely sure Clark does this feature himself -- the art is a lot looser than the weekday panels, and doesn't have the level of detail you get in those panels. The humor also tends to be a lot broader. Clark may pencil the faces, but I think an assistant is doing the rest of it. It's kind of a throwaway strip in the Sunday News -- it doesn't appear every week, and when it doesn't it's because it got bumped for a half-page ad.

Helen Worth has become my all time favorite sob sister. She's been doing the column since 1912, takes no guff, and says exactly what she means. I get the image of her as this slightly potted middle-aged woman with dyed red hair who drinks warm martinis for breakfast and owns an Irish wolfhound with fleas. As opposed to Doris Blake in the Daily News who's clearly an underpaid bald-headed straphanger from Elmhurst.

I don't think anybody in the present TITP setup has any notion or concept of who the DL really is or what she's capable of. Pat and Terry know, but I don't think even Hu Shee knows the full breadth of what the DL has done, and will do again when situations require. And Raven, for all her hubris, is so outmatched here it's tragic.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

And since they didn't seem to include the comic section in the Sunday Tribune, here for those who are no doubt waiting enthusiastically is today's "Smilin' Jack"...

View attachment 272350 Let's see Pat Ryan do THAT.

Thank you Lizzie for posting! Smilin Jack was not in the Sunday Comic section of the Trib at all which I found to be strange.

 

[LizzieMaine]

He does show up in the News, so I'll be sure to include him in the Sunday posts from now on.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]