The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

There were two Harold Teen pictures, a 1928 silent starring Arthur "Dagwood" Lake as Harold, and then the 1934 talkie with Hal LeRoy. The latter is a really fun little picture with a couple of excellent songs, and LeRoy, who was possibly the greatest eccentric dancer on Broadway in the 30s, is - haircut aside - just perfect as Harold. It was intended to be the first of a series, but for whatever reason they never carried on with it. I haven't seen the silent, but those who have say it's even closer to the actual strip.

Both the 1928 and 1934 pictures had location footage shot at the actual Covina High School in Covina, California -- which was the origin of "Covina" as the name of Harold's home town. The comic-strip Covina is definitely not in California -- it's somewhere in Illinois -- but that's but a small point of order.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Jack has all the symptoms of a man who hasn't entirely sold himself on the idea. For any thinking woman, that's a great big yellow traffic light.

 

[Fading Fast]

Jack has all the symptoms of a man who hasn't entirely sold himself on the idea. For any thinking woman, that's a great big yellow traffic light.

Interestingly, the movies in the '30s were full of stories about wealthy women marrying poor men or men of modest means who wanted the women to live on their salary. You don't see much of that today for good and obvious reasons, but it was a normal 1930s movie story. I recently wrote about the book and movie "B.F.'s Daughter" (comments here: #8469) that was about just such an arrangement and the movie "Kept Husbands" from 1931 was nothing more than that story. And those are only two of many. If I was Jack, I'd be worried. If I was Joy, I'd be worried. If I was Joy's Dad, I'd be worried (and I'd be on a diet).

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Yes you are right the trailer is from the 1934 film.

Here is the information I got from IMDb about the Harold Teen 1928 film:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018976/

I typed and scrolled my way on over to youtube and typed in the title from IMDb and that is what popped up.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Both the 1928 and 1934 pictures had location footage shot at the actual Covina High School in Covina, California -- which was the origin of "Covina" as the name of Harold's home town. The comic-strip Covina is definitely not in California -- it's somewhere in Illinois -- but that's but a small point of order.

Could Covina possibly be a mashup of Colona (Illinois)? Carl Ed (who drew the Harold Teen strip) was from Moline, and Colona is a short distance east of Quad City Rock Island via what was the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (The Rock Island Line) Railroad.

Then again, perhaps I'm obsessing way too much on this sort of thing...

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Boy. Joy doesn't waste any time, does she? I think she must've had the whole wedding on standby.

The "talking jukebox" was a popular gimmick around Chicago in the early forties -- it was basically a sort of closed-circuit radio setup feeding a live disk-jockey show to speakers in bars and restaurants. Listeners could make requests with a payphone-like arrangement attached to the speaker, and the live host would play the record, usually with some sort of dedication announcement. The hosts were usually women with trained "come hither" type voices for the sex-appeal angle. It was unpopular with the musician's union, and broadcasters weren't too keen on it either -- probably the only time the AFM and the NAB ever agreed on anything.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Could Covina possibly be a mashup of Colona (Illinois)? Carl Ed (who drew the Harold Teen strip) was from Moline, and Colona is a short distance east of Quad City Rock Island via what was the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (The Rock Island Line) Railroad.

Then again, perhaps I'm obsessing way too much on this sort of thing...

Quite possibly -- when Harold left home earlier this year, it was specified that New York was "seven hundred miles from home," which would square with someplace in that general area. "Covina" doesn't show up as the actual name of the town until the 1928 movie came out, but the climate in the strip is very clearly not California.

A lot of Ed's real-life neighborhood showed up in the strip -- both Pop from the Sugar Bowl, and Harold's New York hamburger-vendor Vic were based on real acquintances.

 

[Fading Fast]

She was a huge star in the early '30s (pre-codes in particular), but boy had her star faded by 1940 - it's a tough business:

It's so silly that it's almost a good ad:

If memory serves, Joy took her dress off (in a flash) to "protect her head" when her plane was crashing. I think we are getting a better sense of Joy and her relationship to wearing clothes in this strip. And yes, there's seems to be no long engagement here. The honest thing about this money issue is that if Joy is going to live on Jack's income, she basically has to leave her entire old life behind.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The English city of Coventry has been wiped out by Nazi bombs, with at least a thousand casualties reported and damage rivaling that of an earthquake. Five hundred bombers struck the ancient industrial city in wave after wave over a span of ten hours overnight, blasting factories, homes, and shops to rubble. The attack was characterized as a "revenge raid" for British attacks on German cities.

Meanwhile, British bombers struck with full fury against Berlin last night, giving the Nazi capital its worst pasting of the war, demolishing railroad stations and igniting fires visible from thirty miles away. British planes also hit Hamburg, Bremen, and a total of twenty-six German-occupied aerodromes and ports extending from Naarvik, Norway to Lorient, France.

Indignant Bay Ridge residents are planning mass demonstrations against the proposed construction of a $17,000,000 sewage disposal plant at the foot of 69th Street near Owl's Head park. With the support of Borough President John Cashmore and a wide range of civic, business, and community organization, opponents of the project plan to march on City Hall and to file litigation to block construction of the facility. Borough President Cashmore endorsed the campaign against the plant by stating that "it is inconceivable to me that the city could select a site of this nature for the installation of a sewage treatment works, which must necessarily have a detrimental affect on property values," and called on the Board of Estimate to place a month's moratorium on further progress of the project until further research into alternate sites can be completed.

The pastor of the Clinton Avenue Community Church today praised the eight Union Theological Seminary divinity students sentenced this week to prison for refusing to register for the military draft. One of those students, 26-year-old William Lovell, serves as associate pastor for the church, and the Rev. Dr. Frederick K. Stamm stated today that "if any one of our sons should be brought home from the war with their arms or legs blown off, or eyes ripped from their sockets, or mind reeling and body walking on its heels, then some of us may know what Bill Lovell is resisting now." Lovell's mother, Mrs. Florence E. Lovell, a professor of religion at Vassar College, commended her son for his stand, declaring that she and her husband "have been pacifists for years. His actions were the direct result of our teachings."

A Queens Democrat in the House of Representatives is demanding a Federal investigation of Communist influence among tenants of New York City housing projects. Rep. William B. Barry called for the probe after being questioned "along Communist lines" during a recent gathering of tenants at the Queensbridge Houses. "It was obvious to anyone present at the meeting," charged Rep. Barry, "that the majority of the tenants in the auditorium that night were Communists or 'fellow travelers.'"

Donations are pouring in on behalf of "Brownie," a cocker spaniel dog from Sunset Park who has been sentenced to die by the Board of Health for biting three persons. Mrs. Pauline Fucelli and her daughter Ruth of 417 40th Street have won a three week reprieve for Brownie pending an appeal of the death sentence. More than $600 has been raised this week, and dog lovers from as far away as Ohio have contacted Mrs. Fucelli offering refuge to the dog. Brownie's death sentence was upheld in Apellate Court earlier this week, and Mrs. Fucelli does not deny that Brownie bit three persons. But she declares that he did so in his the course of his duties as a watchdog.

(Over on Ditmas Avenue, Bob the Spitz pushes the telephone over to Mrs. Helen Browne and looks up at her with his big brown eyes.)

(Two more weeks and we find out what this is all about.)

(Seriously? It isn't even Thanksgiving yet! This Christmas business is getting out of hand.)

A 32-year-old Midwood man faces two counts of petty larceny after he was arrested for shoplifting women's hoisery from two Flatbush shops. Harry Sargoy of East 18th Street is being held on $1000 bail after police nabbed him in a lingerie store at 860 Utica Avenue with $20 worth of ladies' stockings in his possession. He was found to have stolen $80 worth of stockings the same day from a shop at 3024 Church Avenue. Police from the Snyder Avenue precinct had been alerted to the nature of the thefts by similar complaints recently from area storekeepers.

(Okey then, let's get to it! 95 cents at the Vanderveer, a nice little spot in the heart of Flatbush, is the best offer of the day, but it's still a bit rich. Do better please.)

What if the Big Three of screen horror got together to foment an evil scheme -- and the only one who can stop them is -- Kay Kyser? That's the premise behind "You'll Find Out!," now showing in midtown at the Roxy. Herbert Cohn went over to take a look, and found that Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorree make for a sincerely sinister combination, bringing some real chills to this unlikely horror-comedy, and Mr. Kyser, radio's "Ol' Perfessor" of the Kollege of Musical Knowledge, makes for an amiable hero, aided and abetted by his radio sidekicks Ginny Simms, Harry Babbitt, Sully Mason, and Ish Kabibble, with the rest of his popular orchestra furnishing tuneful support. There's enough horror to keep you on the edge of your seat, and enough laughs and tunes -- especially a fine selection called "You've Got Me This Way" -- to break the tension. Dennis O'Keefe and Helen Parrish are along as well to furnish romantic interest and keep the plot, such at is, on the move. Kyser and his gang are also on hand in person for the Roxy stage show, furnishing a tabloid edition of their radio quiz game.

("Peaches, Queen of the Shimmy" has been out trouping for a very long time. Cheer up toots -- at least you're not still working that chili palace in Cincinnati.)

(Ah, for the innocent days when you could make a joke about carrying a cased rifle to a convention.)

Columbia University will inherit a genuine lock of hair from the head of Napoleon, in a will filed this week in Probate Court. Mrs. Ethel D. Earle of 100 S. Oxford Street, who died November 1st, included the unusual bequest among several items left to the University. Other articles include manuscripts, diaries, and a long black gown belonging to her husband, the late Professor Mortimer Lamson Earle, who taught philosophy at Columbia prior to his death in 1905.

The trade winds continue to gust around Montague Street, with rumors rampant that the Dodgers are about to conclude a swap with the Chicago Cubs. As the story goes, Brooklyn will send pitcher Luke Hamlin and catcher Babe Phelps to the Windy City in exchange for rookie catcher Clyde McCullough, outfielder Augie Galan, and pitcher Jake Mooty. Mooty is notorious as the man who threw the pitch that hit Pee Wee Reese in the head at Wrigley Field last summer, sending the rookie shortstop to the hospital. Galan hit .230 in 68 games for the Cubs last summer, down from a .304 mark as a regular in 1939, and McCullough is said to be a promising talent, hitting .325 at Buffalo in the International League in 1940, but failed to impress much in a late-season stint with the big club.

The man known as the "Barnum of the Bushes" has turned down an offer to take over as Dodger farm director. Joe Engel, general manager of the Chattanooga Lookouts, declined a $15,000 offer from Larry MacPhail to head up Brooklyn minor league operations. Engel is to the Southern Association what MacPhail is to the National League, a master of promotions and crowd-pleasing antics who once paraded his club onto the field on the backs of an elephant train, traded a shortstop for a live turkey, signed a girl to a pitching contract, and gave away an entire house, complete with a car in the garage, between games of a doubleheader.

(Unlikely? Not really. After all, Clark Kent was declared 4-F because he accidentally used his x-ray vision to read the wrong eye chart. Superheroes had a hard time with the draft.)

(The Bungles have been married for 35 years, more or less. Over that time, how often has Jo had occasion to say "Oh George, that sounds so dippy?")

(Oh my! He's a MURAL PAINTER! Well, no wonder he's a crook.)

("THIS ISN'T MY JOB DAN! I'M THE COMEDY RELIEF!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Married Love" was banned in the United States until 1931. In 1940, you can order it from the Sears catalog. Loosen up, Captain -- ahhh -- "Harten."

What, no Fats Waller? Bunch of ickies.

Sara Ann isn't quite a sensation -- she's an agreeable radio singer, but nothing particularly spectacular. But when you're pushing a 50 cent dinner, and you can't afford Ethel Merman anymore, you gotta take what's out there.

Aw, stick a rag in it, Myrna.

Pssst -- on most bikes in 1940, the serial number is on the rear fork or on the bottom of the crank bracket.

Wait, what? That happened quick.

Wahh--wah--wahhhhhhhhh

All those "traveling salesman" jokes? They're the bunk.

Well, he's not wrong.

My grandmother used to have an array of fancy glass decanters on a little table in the living room, but being a strict grape-juice Methodist she kept them filled with colored water. Willie would have been very disappointed.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Donations are pouring in on behalf of "Brownie," a cocker spaniel dog from Sunset Park who has been sentenced to die by the Board of Health for biting three persons. Mrs. Pauline Fucelli and her daughter Ruth of 417 40th Street have won a three week reprieve for Brownie pending an appeal of the death sentence. More than $600 has been raised this week, and dog lovers from as far away as Ohio have contacted Mrs. Fucelli offering refuge to the dog. Brownie's death sentence was upheld in Apellate Court earlier this week, and Mrs. Fucelli does not deny that Brownie bit three persons. But she declares that he did so in his the course of his duties as a watchdog.

(Over on Ditmas Avenue, Bob the Spitz pushes the telephone over to Mrs. Helen Browne and looks up at her with his big brown eyes.)...

You go Bob.

...
(Okey then, let's get to it! 95 cents at the Vanderveer, a nice little spot in the heart of Flatbush, is the best offer of the day, but it's still a bit rich. Do better please.)...

I'm guessing the Brooklyn arrivistes, wives clad in their Loeser furs, go to the Garden City Hotel.

Until something better comes along, I'm staying with Horn and Hardart, but have to admit, HoJo's looks pretty appealing if a bit pricey.

...
("Peaches, Queen of the Shimmy" has been out trouping for a very long time. Cheer up toots -- at least you're not still working that chili palace in Cincinnati.)...

And in the same paper with the Thanksgiving family-dinner adverts.

Any chance Peaches is Joy Beaverduck's stage name? It's not as if a lot of encouragement is needed to get Joy to take her clothes off. She'd hardly be the first young society woman who had an itch for the seedier side of life.

.... (Oh my! He's a MURAL PAINTER! Well, no wonder he's a crook.)...

This is still gonna take some careful unwinding for Slim to be proven innocent.

... ("THIS ISN'T MY JOB DAN! I'M THE COMEDY RELIEF!")

Considering his entire secret base has just been carpet bombed, thus, all his planes have nowhere to land, the general seems not to be that busy. You'd think he'd be pretty engaged with trying to salvage something of his air force.

... "Married Love" was banned in the United States until 1931. In 1940, you can order it from the Sears catalog. Loosen up, Captain -- ahhh -- "Harten."....

What, a marriage between a Hollywood star and "Marquis" didn't work out - who'd a thunk it? And Miss Bennett will marry Gilbert Roland - whom she presently has no plans to marry - in April of '41.

...
Sara Ann isn't quite a sensation -- she's an agreeable radio singer, but nothing particularly spectacular. But when you're pushing a 50 cent dinner, and you can't afford Ethel Merman anymore, you gotta take what's out there.....

The text in these is horrible and inconsistent from ad to ad, so there's no positive "branding." Even the descriptions of the meals is off-putting. Childs truly has some of the worst marketing I've even seen. It's not even bad in a kitschy way; it's just bad.

... Wait, what? That happened quick.....

No kidding, but she did do, er, um, uh, er, "things" with Dude. And kudos to Pat, amidst all the life-threatening stuff going on, he noticed the pin and fired off a spot-on bon mot. You know Raven's cheeks would be crimson if there was a panel five today.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Well, he's not wrong.

Doesn't our hero emerge from the US Navy after serving in the Second World War, only to return home and hang out with that very same "so childish" lot? When hindsight is 20/20 these gags take on an ironic humor of their own, I'd argue.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yeah, I think that will be the "shark jumping" moment for the strip. They fool around a bit after the war with the idea of Harold and the gang going to college on the GI Bill -- everybody but Shadow ends up serving in uniform -- but that kind of falls away over the course of the late forties, in favor of the same old soda-shop antics. "Teen humor" comics were all the rage in the postwar era, and I can see why Ed or his editors would have wanted to keep that angle, but it's unfortunate that it had to come at the cost of losing years of interesting character development.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One German merchant vessel is in flames off the coast of Tampico, Mexico and three others are fleeing back to port after an attempt to run the British blockade ended in a rout at the guns of a waiting British warship. The vessels had been bottled up at Tampico by the British, and were reported to be heavily laden with food and other cargo.

Five hundred Nazi bombers rained death and destruction down on every part of London last night in the worst German raid of the war, with planes roaring over the city sometimes at the rate of one a minute, and sometimes in formations of up to eighty individual planes. Hotels, hospitals, stores, theatres, convents, and apartment buildings were among the targets hit, and it was feared that casualties will be high.

Film stars Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine are accused today of ignoring their father's pleas for help after anti-English sentiment in Japan destroyed his law practice in Tokyo. Seventy-year-old William De Havilland, a gaunt Britisher, has repeatedly sought financial aid from his wealthy Hollywood daughters, but has had no response to his letters. De Havilland arrived in Hollywood today after crossing the Pacific aboard a Japanese liner, and told reporters he believed his daughters have cut him off because he married a Japanese woman over their objections, and stated that he plans to continue on to South America, where he believes that he and his wife can "live cheaply."

As tensions build between the city and the Transit Workers Union, a slowdown is being held out as a possible weapon by union president Michael Quill. En route to the CIO convention in Atlantic City, Mr. Quill emphasized that no strike action will be considered until that convention is over, but he suggested that "nothing on God's Green Earth could prevent a conductor from moving just a bit slower in opening the doors of a car." Meanwhile, union rank and file members met in their hall at 98 Flatbush Avenue last night to condemn efforts by the Board of Transportation to "weaken the union" in current contract talks, and passed a resolution accusing the Board members of raising their own salaries at the expense of transit workers.

Children born out of wedlock may be claimed as dependents by men under the Selective Service Law, it was announced today by Col. Arthur McDermott, director of draft operations in the city. Unborn children and divorced wives receiving alimony may also be claimed.

King George visited the devastated industrial city of Coventry today after a horrific Nazi bombing raid laid waste to the city. The King toured the ruins of the city with a grave expression on his face, smiling only to acknowledge the cheers of Coventry residents picking thru the rubble of their homes, and met with city officials to discuss emergency relief efforts.

Famous Negro singer Paul Robeson is suing a San Francisco restaurant for $22,500 in damages, charging that he and his party were turned away from the establishment because of racial discrimination. Robeson and a group including John Pittman, foreign editor of the San Francisco People's World, Lawrence Brown, Robeson' s accompanist, and Revels Clayton, an official of the Maritime Union of the Pacific, all Negroes, were refused admission to Vanessi's Restaurant last Tuesday night because, according to the proprietor, the establishment was "full." Several white plaintiffs have joined the suit as well, claiming that they were turned away because they were part of Robeson's group. They include theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, who had just shared the stage with Robeson at a concert, and pianists Eugene Helmer and and Merle Pittman.

The legalization of dog meat as food for humans in Germany will lead to illness, according to Dr. Charles F. Pabst of the Kings County Medical Society. Dr. Pabst notes that dog meat, even when inspected for wholesomeness, is very difficult to digest, and will lead to problems for persons who already have digestive issues.

("Scram!" says Father John to M. C. Bufalo. "I'm workin' this side of the street!")

An elephant formerly exhibited at the World's Fair went on an rampage early this morning in the quiet Long Island town of Massapequa, rousing residents by thrashing and trumpeting as she tossed small trees, buildings, and benches about. The three-ton elephant, named Jenny, was being taken to the Long Island Jungle Camp, formerly owned by Frank Buck, where she and three other former Fair elephants will be exhibited next spring. Police from the Nassau County Sheriff's Department and the town of Amityville raced to the scene of the rampage, but Jenny's handlers were able to settle her down without further incident.

(And by "Harvey Harding" don't you mean "Henny Youngman?")

(The "women are obsessed with hats" stereotype was to 1940 as the "women are obsessed with shoes" stereotype was to 2000.)

(The name "Bruiser" for a football player brings to mind a certain image, but that image is certainly not that of a guy who looks like my brother-in-law.)

Leo Durocher confirms from George Raft's Beverly Hills chateau that newspapermen knew about the Kirby Higbe deal before he did. Leo acknowledges that he knew the deal was on the fire before he disappeared into the woods of Utah last month, but reporters hanging around Larry MacPhail's office got the official confirmation of the trade before he did. Lippy thinks Larry held back telling him because he was afraid of how Leo would react to the loss of Vito Tamulis, a man who did much to keep up clubhouse spirits on the team last summer. MacPhail acknowledges that he regretted having to give up "Tammy," but Gerry Nugent wanted him and if he didn't agree there would have been no deal. Larry says he didn't want a repeat of the debacle of a few years back when Nugent was selling off Bucky Walters, and the Dodger office fumbled the chance to get him.

Brownsville pug Al "Bummy" Davis is done as a professional boxer so far as the State Athletic Commission is concerned. The paragon of character last night at Madison Square Garden pounded Fritzie Zivic below the belt nine times, leading the referee to stop the fight and award it to Zivic on a TKO. Boxing commissioners subsequently declared that Bummy will never step into the ring in the State of New York again, or anywhere else if they can help it. Davis has been in trouble both in and out of the ring over the course of his career, including an incident earlier this year where he was arrested on assault charges after beating up a Brownsville storekeeper.

Major Edward Bowes' Thursday night Amateur Hour carries the highest production cost in radio, drawing down $20,000 to $25,000 of a certain automaker's money each week, most of which goes into the Major's ample hip pocket. Bing Crosby's Thursday night Music Hall for the well-known cheese makers costs about $14,000 per week -- out of which Bing must pay his cast and his guest stars. Likewise the money must be spread around on the Kate Smith Hour, at $13,000 a week from the giant food firm, and that of Fred Allen at $12,000 to $13,000 a week courtesy of a certain oil company. Amos and Andy, once radio's top moneymakers, now divide a mere $6000 a week of the soup company's cash, and unlike the others, they do five programs a week.

("ROLB KNOBLY GOLD FISH GOLD FISH GOLD FISH." Either Boody is passing coded messages to fifth columnists, or these are tips on the races. Is Gold Fish running today at Pimlico?)

(So how's it feel to be on the receiving end?)

(After all, among her many talents Mary knows how to pick a lock with a hair pin.)

("Step outside for a second, Irwin, and see who that is at the door.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

If "J. Cheever Cowdin" sounds like the inspiration for a Groucho Marx character, it's because it was. And "quiet elopement" and "Ethel Merman" don't really seem to go together...

If there's a pastrami sandwich on the lunch menu for 45 cents, I am in.

It's a long winter and Bob has nothing better to do.

"No, let's leave him like this. He's making more sense than he has in years."

Haven't dealt much with narcissistic sociopaths, have ya Peg?

"Patsy? No, my name's Junior."

Whew, I thought we were verging into Bungle territory.

Two kids holding off an Invader battalion? The Invader hasn't got a chance.

Hey, maybe this *is* my grandmother.

Well, it beats going back to the butcher shop.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Film stars Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine are accused today of ignoring their father's pleas for help after anti-English sentiment in Japan destroyed his law practice in Tokyo. Seventy-year-old William De Havilland, a gaunt Britisher, has repeatedly sought financial aid from his wealthy Hollywood daughters, but has had no response to his letters. De Havilland arrived in Hollywood today after crossing the Pacific aboard a Japanese liner, and told reporters he believed his daughters have cut him off because he married a Japanese woman over their objections, and stated that he plans to continue on to South America, where he believes that he and his wife can "live cheaply."...

Well now, that's a bit of a different type of Hollywood scandal. Attention Page Four and our comic strip writers.

...The legalization of dog meat as food for humans in Germany will lead to illness, according to Dr. Charles F. Pabst of the Kings County Medical Society. Dr. Pabst notes that dog meat, even when inspected for wholesomeness, is very difficult to digest, and will lead to problems for persons who already have digestive issues....

Over to you Bob (the Spitz).

... View attachment 280928
(And by "Harvey Harding" don't you mean "Henny Youngman?")...

No kidding.

... View attachment 280930
(The "women are obsessed with hats" stereotype was to 1940 as the "women are obsessed with shoes" stereotype was to 2000.)...

In support of this, you see the hat cliche in movies from the era all the time. In movies like "Mrs. Miniver" or "The Bishop's Wife," a woman fawning over a hat she wants to buy - and then complaining if her husband doesn't notice it - happens all the time and, as in "The Bishop's Wife," can be a meaningful part of the plot.

Loretta Young pining for the pretty little lid in the store window in "The Bishop's Wife"


Greer Garson modeling her new lid for husband Walter Pidgeon in "Mrs. Miniver."

... (After all, among her many talents Mary knows how to pick a lock with a hair pin.)...

You could see the double problem coming in this one: how to open the box and, then, once the bonds are produced (assuming they are there), how to unravel the story to prove Slim's innocence. Good on "Dale" for creating a nuanced but complex problem.

... ("Step outside for a second, Irwin, and see who that is at the door.")

America isn't even in the war yet, but tanks keep popping up in our comic strips.

...[ If "J. Cheever Cowdin" sounds like the inspiration for a Groucho Marx character, it's because it was. And "quiet elopement" and "Ethel Merman" don't really seem to go together......

Re seventeen years of spurning: Well, technically, it seems we have blown away the old Page Four record of five years of no sex within a marriage, but it sound like this husband and wife team were having plenty of sex, just not with each other.

Re Ethel Merman: Sadly, she'll go on to have a total of four marriages and four divorces plus an affair with famed Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley. It's always a bit sad to read about these early marriages when we already know they will fail.

...
If there's a pastrami sandwich on the lunch menu for 45 cents, I am in.....

And there's a lesson here for Childs as well: sometimes simple and straightforward advertising is all you need to do.

We'll see which ones survive Covid, but pre the pandemic, there were still a good number of these old Kosher delis (and
"Kosher-style" delis) scattered around the city.

... Haven't dealt much with narcissistic sociopaths, have ya Peg?...

Sadly, they exist and Myrna is spot on.

... Whew, I thought we were verging into Bungle territory.....

I know he can only imply it, but these two hanging out like this has to lead to sex - that's the entire point of their relationship. It's actually one of the few times where sex really can be just about sex as neither one should expect or want more from the relationship. Now, off to someplace where you two can order a few drinks and then back to Ms. Snipe's apartment - chop, chop.

... Two kids holding off an Invader battalion? The Invader hasn't got a chance....

It's good to see Terry growing up - forming his own plan - now that he doesn't have Pat around to lead.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Asserting that Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia are cooperating to stall United States preparedness, Representative Martin Dies (D-Texas) today advocated a program of "exposure" to ward off sabotage of national defense industries. The chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities declared that the "orthodox method" of fighting saboteurs by apprehending them after their crimes have been committed has failed in Europe, and called for his committee to be given funding and authority to to "deal with potential saboteurs" before they can commit acts of destruction. Rep. Dies specifically called on Congress to give the Committee greater power to compel testimony from those reluctant to appear before it, and stated that an appropriation of $1,000,000 would be sufficient to examine 300,000 persons "connected to subversive activities."

A furious Greek offensive today is reported to be steadily driving the Italians back from the Yugoslav frontier to the Ionian Sea. All along the coast the Greek navy is reported to be shelling the fleeing Fascists behind their lines. An official communique from Greek military headquarters anticipates the complete collapse of the Italian lines "within a matter of hours."

District Attorney William O'Dwyer is pledging a new crusade against not just crime, but against the causes of crime. In announcing a new campaign against juvenile crime in the borough, the District Attorney declared his goal is not mere crime prevention, "but the removal of crime by the analysis of its causes and the removal of those causes." Mr. O'Dwyer traces the beginning of this campaign to the formation of Brooklyn's first Adolescent Court in 1933, but indicates that, with the Money-for-Murder investigation now in a relatively calm phase, the opportunity has arisen to give the issue his full attention. The District Attorney plans to begin the campaign in the 73rd and 75th Precincts, which cover most of Brownsville, and that emphasis will be placed on learning who "young hoodlums on the corner" are, where they came from, and what made them do as they do, rather than simply bringing them in and locking them up. And if "a youth on the corner" is found not to be a hoodlum, Mr. O'Dwyer stressed that everything possible will be done to help him avoid becoming one.

(Is it a dollar's-worth of dancing or seventy-five-cents-worth of turkey?)

Rumors that Isidore "I Paid Plenty" Juffre will refuse to testify against gangland king Joe Adonis are being discounted by Assistant Attorney General John H. Amen, who declared that Juffre was under protective custody during all his past testimony, and that he will remain so. Three weeks ago a Brooklyn court acquitted hoodlum Sam Gasberg of conspiring with Adonis to kidnap Juffre and the late Isaac Wapinsky, but failed to reach a verdict on whether Gasberg was guilty of torturing the two men. It is believed that Adonis and Gasberg targeted the two because of the belief that Juffre and Gasberg were holding out on proceeds from a swindle in which payments were due Adonis. Adonis himself has yet to be tried in the case.

The British radio is having its laugh at the expense of Italy. Shortwave monitors at NBC in New York heard a British commentator state that "the American navy prefers whiskey, the British navy prefers rum. And the Italian navy prefers port."

It appears that the estate of the late movie cowboy star Tom Mix will amount to only a fraction of what was anticipated. Rumors had stated that Mix had left around $1,000,000 following his death in an auto accident in Arizona last month, but an attorney for the estate now indicates that the sum will not exceed $115,000 -- and likely half that once outstanding claims against the estate are settled.

A 70-year-old barber who's been doing business at the same stand in Fort Greene since 1895 is about to be dispossessed. The three-story frame house at 44 Ashland Place will be demolished to make way for the Fort Greene Housing Project, and barber Frank Scania says he's not sure what he'll do next. The house itself formerly stood at the Brooklyn Navy Yard before being moved to its present location in 1834. Scania says he doesn't know if he'll try to make a go of barbering at a new site, and isn't sure what he'll do with his antiquated chairs and equipment, all which are too old to sell, but it is expected the Housing Authority will allow him some compensation for these items. Scania paid $13 a month rent when he first took space in the building -- and he's still paying the same rent in 1940.

(In Old Timer days, who needed a sign?)

The president of Brooklyn College says students ought to be required to spend time in labor camps as part of their overall education. Dr. Harry Gideonse suggests that the example of the labor camp program in Weimar Germany, and our own Civilian Conservation Corps shows that there is much good in instructing young people in manual labor, preferably "in a part of the country far removed from their natural habitat."

The Iowa Hawkeyes got all the breaks before a shivering crowd of 50,000 at South Bend, handing Notre Dame its first defeat of the season, 7-0. It's the third time Iowa's put the Irish in its place, and each time has marked Notre Dame's first loss of that season. Notre Dame hasn't been horsecollared since their 13-0 loss to Southern California in 1938.

The Football Dodgers and the Cleveland Rams may set up the greatest aerial battle of the year at Ebbets Field this afternoon, with Rams quarterback Parker Hall having set an all-time National Football League record for forward passing last year with 1227 yards. But the Dodgers are no slouches either, with Jock Sutherland's aerial strategy this year giving the Football Flock a total of five backs who have completed touchdown passes over the course of the season -- and Brooklyn leads the league in that department.

(It's worth 100 grand to have him throwing for you, and not at you.)

No-backtalk Cornell coach Carl Snavely fronts Trend this week --

("Huh!" snorts Joe. "Howcum'eydon'put Higsbee on'ere instead? Ain'eet'one'at evr'ybody's tawkin'bout?" "Them newspapaboys prollyfraidhe'llt'rowattum," replies Sally.)

(Broadway in late 1940 is an embarrasment of riches. But the thing here that jumps out at me is the opportunity to see Jose Ferrer capering about in 19th Century drag. No turkey there!)

Tonight on WABC at 7:30, the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre presents Loretta Young, Adolphe Menjou, and Burgess Meredith in "A Star is Born." (Just don't let Menjou and Meredith talk politics, and everybody will get along just fine...)

(The 19th century population of wild mustangs peaked in the 1830s, and declined rapidly after that. In other words, cowboy, don't get your hopes up.)

(Magda and Wally should get together sometime and compare notes.)

(So what's wrong with roast pork for Thanksgiving? And just how much of a force do we have in the Canal Zone anyway??)

(George Bungle, Superspreader.)