The Era -- Day By Day

[Harp]

^^^Leona and Raven together are quite inspiring.
I will definitely check in tomorrow.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[Fading Fast]

At 5'9" in a time when the average person was much shorter than today, blonde Ms. Muir must have cut quite a figure. And while it ended in divorce, at least this marriage lasted for 20 years.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I imagine there is absolutely no chance whatsoever that any examples of those silk-with-latex stockings have survived, unless they were vacuum-packed in the pitch dark in an acid-free box.

Jean Muir will have distinction in 1950 of being the first person officially blacklisted from broadcasting when General Foods fires her from the TV version of "The Aldrich Family" because she was "too controversial" to play Henry Aldrich's mother. The publishers of "Red Channels" found her support of civil rights and the NAACP in particular to be a sign of Communist sympathies. God forbid the nation's Jell-O eaters should hear of that.

I'm surprised to see a Ballantine ad in Chicago -- they were an East Coast beer, and I didn't realize they were getting distribution that far west in 1940. But I'm not sure I get the appeal of their spokesmodel here -- unless they're specifically going for the "60 year old insurance salesman" market.

I think we've seen that dress Joy is wearing somewhere before. Didn't Slap-Happy have something similar?

Leona likes that tilted-disc hat, but she wants it in leopard skin.

 

[Haversack]

Mr. Gould is working really hard to get an endorsement deal from Lifebuoy.

And he obviously kept after Lifebuoy as is evidenced by his later character, B.O. Plenty

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Roosevelt Administration today authorized the government of Great Britain to negotiate new war materiel contracts at once -- possibly totaling $3,000,000,000 -- and has simultaneously announced plans to consider establishing a "high command" to oversee the US defense program. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau stated that no actual contracts will be signed until Congress has passed the President's proposed "lease-lending" plan. The Secretary did disclose, however, that the British have already contracted for 60 new merchant ships, which will be built and delivered on cash-and-carry terms.

Borough President John Cashmore today announced that the new Brooklyn Public Library at Prospect Place will open to the public on February 1st, after months of delays. It is reported that the Borough President appeared at a meeting of library trustees Tuesday night in a state of high agitation, and "read them the riot act" in an address described variously as "stern," "belligerent, " or inspiring." Chief Librarian Milton J. Ferguson spoke with the Borough president after the meeting and stated afterward that he "was unable to detect any evidence of official wrath" on the part of Mr. Cashmore.

Five Brooklyn College instructors may be jailed for their refusal to appear before closed one-on-one interrogations over their political sympathies conducted by the Rapp-Coudert Committee. Attorney Paul Windel, representing the Committee, today obtained a show-cause order demanding that the five appear before the panel on December 26th to show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court and jailed until they agree to be questioned. The five instructors, all of whom were named by Assistant Professor Bernard Grabiner as members of "a Communist Party unit" at the College, are Dr. Howard Seslam, assistant professor of philosophy, Dr. Harry Slochower, assistant professor of German, Dr. Frederick Ewen, assistant professor of English, Murray Young, instructor of English, and Maurice Ogur, tutor in chemistry.

Meanwhile, anti-Communist candidates swept the student elections at Brooklyn College yesterday, with the slate backed by the anti-radical Kingsmen-Fusion Party increasing its margin of control of the Student Council by two seats. The Kingsmen-Fusion Party had the official support of College President Harry Gideonse and his administration, which has made an effort over the past year to ban the activities of the allegedly-Communist-backed American Student Union, whose candidates fared poorly in the election.

The Long Island religious cult occupying the former Cornelius Vanderbilt estate in Oakdale is under investigation by Assistant Attorney General John Bennett, after an Elmhurst woman filed suit to seek recovery of a $2525 loan she had made to the cult's leader. Several other former members of the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians have made complaints to the Attorney General's office about possible violations by the cult of the Martin Act regulating the sale of stocks and securitiies. The sect is also under fire from Mrs. Catherine Gauntt of Manhattan, mother of "Baby Jean," the eighteen-month-old girl raised by the cult over the past year before being returned to her mother's custody this week. Mrs. Gauntt is demanding to know what happened to a $50,000 ring ostentatiously presented to Baby Jean when she was "adopted" by the cult last year, and indicated that she plans to file suit to recover any property belonging to her daughter that may still be held by the organization.

The boy violinist whose solo on Fred Allen's radio program four years ago triggered the famous "Benny-Allen Feud" has been presented with a $1000 scholarship by the two radio comedians. Jack Benny made a guest appearance on Allen's program over WABC last night, along with Canin, who is now fourteen years old, to join with his alleged rival to make the presentation. Stuart, whose rendition of "The Bee" back in 1936 caused Mr. Allen to wonder on the air if Mr. Benny could have played such a selection at the age of ten, is now a sophomore at Far Rockaway high school, and hopes to use the money to further his musical education.

(Stuart Canin is still alive and well and in retirement from a long and productive career in classical music. He has fond memories of his association with Mr. Benny and Mr. Allen, who were genuinely interested in the progress of his career.)

Mayor LaGuardia is adopting a "see me in 1942" attitude over the possibility of his running next year for a third term, despite the circulation of a letter apparently bearing his signature indicating his dissatisfaction with the Fusion Party because it supported Wendell Willkie in this year's Presidential election. In the letter, the Mayor accuses the Fusion movement of "scuttling good government efforts" by its shift to Willkie, and stated that by so doing he feels that Fusion leaders have made it impossible for him to run for Mayor again. The Mayor also stated in the letter that he will make a definite announcement of his future political plans in July. His term as Mayor will expire on December 31, 1941.

Brooklyn College President Dr. Harry Gideonse says the United States is as much to blame as Adolf Hitler himself for the present state of the world. Speaking before a meeting of the Student Christian Association at the Flatbush Presbyterian Church, Dr. Gideonse declared that the United States' failure to join the League of Nations, borne out of a misguided "nostalgia for a return to normalcy" after the World War contributed much to the present crisis, and warned that unless we want yet another war in 1960, the US must commit to taking the lead in enforcing "international law."

(Irradiated food is all the rage in 1940. Use this to wash down your Bohack beef.)

(Or, just go to the A&P, where everything is kept in a nice dark warehouse.)

The Eagle Editorialist comes down in favor of the songwriters' position in the ASCAP vs. NBC/CBS standoff, declaring that "it's pretty hard to deny the songwriter is getting a raw deal" under the present setup. Sooner or later a settlement will come, but the EE warns that it had better happen soon before both sides end up losing.

Reader J. Charles Totten writes in to say that while he doesn't believe there are very many Communists at Brooklyn College, something needs to be done about convicting them the way that fellow in Oklahoma was convicted. He says he personally participated in an investigation of the campus several years ago and determined that there were four Communists on the faculty and forty enrolled as students. He doesn't believe that Dr. Selsam is a Communist, but from the disruptive tone of his recent criticism of Dr. Gideonse, he also deserves to have "a firm stand" taken against him.

(Little known fact: the Army invented the phrase "One Size Fits All.")

("Hey!" yell the Americans. "We thought WE were their arch rivals! Just wait'll the next time we see 'em, the blood is gonna flow!")

There is a new "all time great pitcher" on the list of "all time great pitchers," and his name is Rapid Robert William Andrew Feller. So says Tommy Holmes, in analyzing the career to date of the fireballing Cleveland hurler, who started 1940 by throwing a no-hitter on Opening Day, and kept up the pace all season, despite the crybaby drama unfolding around him in the Indians' clubhouse -- in which he himself may or may not have played a leading role, depending on who you ask. His performance in the American League since his debut as a skinny seventeen-year-old in 1936 clearly places him on the same plane as Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and Grover Cleveland Alexander in the pantheon of pitching immortals, whose statistics were all comparable at an equivalent point in their careers -- and Feller may well surpass them all before he's done.

In semi-pro basketball, the Davegas beat the Hebrew Association for the Deaf by a score of 43-28. It was the Davega squad's eighth straight victory this season.

The pictorialization of the Jack Benny-Fred Allen feud now showing at the Times Square Paramount is amusing, but "Love Thy Neighbor" doesn't give you that much more than you get on the radio. The plot revolves around studio shenanigans in which Benny lures the Merry Macs singing group away from Allen's program, leading Allen to plot revenge by sabotaging Benny's romance with Mary Martin -- a plot which ends, rather implausibly, in a frantic speedboat chase. Miss Martin entertains with her strip-teasy "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" number, and Eddie Anderson as the gravel-voiced "Rochester" has a few good bits, as does hefty Mary Kelly, a bit player on the Benny broadcast who is an unexpected comic treat as Mary Martin's chambermaid. The accompanying stage show featuring Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra, with vocalists Jo Stafford and Frank Sinatra, is marvelous.

("T'at Allen," says Joe. "He ain'gottachance on tellavision wit'at panna his. I seen happia faces on iodine bot'ls." "An'nat kid Sinatra," adds Sally, "Dorsey ottapay'im more, so hec'n eat sumpin' onceinnawhile. Toin'im sideways an' he dissapeahs!")

(Pity. Shoes really do make the outfit.)

(An interesting twist would be for George to finally realize that he lives, in fact, in a cartoon universe, and he becomes a sales agent for Acme Safes & Anvils Inc. just in time to make a killing selling stuff to some coyote out in Arizona.)

(Oh, don't worry so much, you know he'll find a way to screw it up.)

("And besides," thinks Dan, "while he's in there stuffing his gob at the Pilot's Lounge, I'll have plenty of time to saw the wing struts, cut the rudder cable, and siphon the gas tank.")

 

[Harp]

^^^Now the ways I see it, Leona's a hot-to-trot cat in heat and that Raven ain't no slouch either
neither, yes siree Bob, our boy ol Slim Jim's gotit made in the shade. Our boy ain't behind no Eight
ball, lessin his pickle is fickle or sumptin. All our boy needs do is chalk that cue stick and give
it a shove in the right direction, one right after another and corner pocket this pronto I says.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News....

Test the milk.

THAT'S AN ORDER.

I mean, it really is a kind gesture, and I know they mean well -- but how do you think a kid feels when her friends all get presents from Santa Claus, and hers are delivered by the garbage man?

Well I'll be. It sure pays to have friends in low places.

There was an actual case of a loaded cigar blowing some guy's lower jaw off. Maybe that guy was Andy.

That girlie calendar is obviously Wilmer's. RIGHT, SKEEZIX?

A rubdown from kindly old Dr. Ping. Just what Terry wanted.

You did wash that tree down first, right?

Ronald Reagan takes a look at panel two and gets on the phone to his agent. "Sid, baby, listen -- find out if Warners still holds the option on a "Harold Teen" series. I'm tellin' ya, I'd be perfect!"

I often wonder who exactly has legal custody of Kayo. Moon -- his brother -- is off gallivanting on the road somewhere, Willie and Mamie -- his uncle and aunt -- are off staging their own road company of "The Man Who Came To Dinner," and the Plushbottoms -- who are no blood relation to him -- always seem like they could hardly be bothered. So I guess the question is, why doesn't the kid just sign the report card himself?

 

[Fading Fast]

...Borough President John Cashmore today announced that the new Brooklyn Public Library at Prospect Place will open to the public on February 1st, after months of delays. It is reported that the Borough President appeared at a meeting of library trustees Tuesday night in a state of high agitation, and "read them the riot act" in an address described variously as "stern," "belligerent, " or inspiring." Chief Librarian Milton J. Ferguson spoke with the Borough president after the meeting and stated afterward that he "was unable to detect any evidence of official wrath" on the part of Mr. Cashmore....

When last we left this story, wasn't the reason the library hadn't opened because the budget wasn't there to finish the work? I don't see how "reading the riot act" to the library trustees solved that issue.

...
(Irradiated food is all the rage in 1940. Use this to wash down your Bohack beef.)...

Much like a glass of OJ, a glass of tomato juice held a prominent place in the GE. Both my grandmother and Dad - very GE people - drank it regularly. OJ has faded, but it held on later than tomato juice did.

...In semi-pro basketball, the Davegas beat the Hebrew Association for the Deaf by a score of 43-28. It was the Davega squad's eighth straight victory this season....

Is this the team of the Davega store that we know and love?

...("T'at Allen," says Joe. "He ain'gottachance on tellavision wit'at panna his. I seen happia faces on iodine bot'ls." "An'nat kid Sinatra," adds Sally, "Dorsey ottapay'im more, so hec'n eat sumpin' onceinnawhile. Toin'im sideways an' he dissapeahs!")...

"Toin'im sideways an' he dissapeahs!"

As some people get older, they look like computer-generated aged versions of themselves, but not Sinatra. Growing up in the '70s, I remember struggling to reconcile the puffy Sinatra of that era with the angular and skinny kid of his early movies. And those two versions of Sinatra were only twenty years apart at that time.

... (Pity. Shoes really do make the outfit.)...

Kudos to Rogers, he found a hole in the censoring norms of the time and he's driving a Mack truck right through it.

.. (An interesting twist would be for George to finally realize that he lives, in fact, in a cartoon universe, and he becomes a sales agent for Acme Safes & Anvils Inc. just in time to make a killing selling stuff to some coyote out in Arizona.)...

Not as well developed as yours, but I've had a similar thought the past few days that this storyline has an echo of "The Road Runner" to it.

...
Test the milk...

Well done writing on the path and destiny of the "wild bullet."

.. Well I'll be. It sure pays to have friends in low places....

"Oh, couple of years here, ninety days there mostly - you know how it is." LOL. Gray is so much better writing about gangsters and those in the "grey area," than his recent stuff.

(And shouldn't it have been "good woid" not "good word.")

...
That girlie calendar is obviously Wilmer's. RIGHT, SKEEZIX?...

"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" - 19th century British politician Lord Acton

... A rubdown from kindly old Dr. Ping. Just what Terry wanted....

I had the same thought. In an edited-out preceding panel, Hu Shee is seen running into the room screaming "I'll do it, I'll do it, I SAID I'LL DO IT."

... Ronald Reagan takes a look at panel two and gets on the phone to his agent. "Sid, baby, listen -- find out if Warners still holds the option on a "Harold Teen" series. I'm tellin' ya, I'd be perfect!"...

No kidding.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That is indeed the Davega Stores team -- I wonder if they used a Davega ball in that game, or splurged on a good one? I wonder who else plays in that league -- seems like Loeser's and A&S would be too classy, but maybe Namm's could make a go of it. In any case, I hope the Hebrew Association For The Deaf wins the championship. Childs will probably forfeit all its games and finish last because they always show up expecting to play volleyball.

I did hope this Anvil fellow was one of Nick's boys, but Daddy never dealt with Nick -- that we know of -- so their encounter must pre-date Axel throwing Annie into the sea in 1939.

Snipe has been dreaming of this day for years.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Adriatic Sea is now under British control, following heavy shelling of the vital Italian supply base at Valona, on the coast of Albania, and is now driving Italian positions off the entire Adriatic coast. It was reported this morning that British vessels are sweeping the sea for Italian ships to fight, but are finding none.

Meanwhile, great fires are burning at Bardia, on the coast of Libya, after five days of merciless British naval bombardment. Those reports come as British tanks are said to be sweeping westward in preparation for a new offensive against Italian positions at Tobruk.

A light New England earthquake centered in the mountains of New Hampshire early this morning shook communities on Long Island. The tremor was felt in Brooklyn, Queens, and other parts of the city for a matter of a few seconds, but in New England it is reported that buildings shook and residents were tumbled out of their beds. Many panicked, thinking they had felt an explosion, but actual damage from the quake was trifling, confined mostly to a few cracked windows and broken dishes.

The broad outline of a fifty-year plan for the future development of Brooklyn was unveiled last night before a meeting of four hundred political and civic leaders, real estate developers, engineers, educators, and other interested persons at the Academy of Music. The proposed Master Plan developed by the City Planning Commission presumes that the borough won't grow much larger than its present population -- with a trend toward moving into Queens or the suburbs of Long Island by some current residents, and the former stream of migration from Manhattan into Brooklyn having slowed to a trickle. The main question the borough will face over the next half century, then, is retaining its population while also improving services to that population. The plan notes that present patterns of highway construction are accelerating and facilitating the eastward migration of Brooklyn residents, and that the reduction in population density in the oldest parts of the borough will mean the demolition of many obsolete tenement blocks and their replacement by disconnected, single-family homes. The routing of much of the present street traffic onto the new highways may also lead to the formation of new neighborhoods along the pre-automobile pattern, while industry requiring easy transportation access migrates from mixed neighborhoods to areas accessible to those highways. Looking ahead to the completion of this cycle, the plan suggests that one day even farming on some small scale might make a resurgence in the borough.

("I tol' ya!" chortles Sally. "A big straw hat, big high boots, an' a piecea hay inya mouth!" "What'd ya ol' man evva do wit'tem goats he had?" grumbles Joe.)

(Slap-Happy clips this ad and leaves it where Doc and Sparky can find it.)

Joe's Restaurant at 8 Nevins Street will reopen sometime early next week after suffering mostly water damage from the four alarm fire that ripped thru the Johnston Building at 542 Fulton Street early Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the kitchens and wine cellar at Joe's, which were undamaged, are supplying customers at the Tap Room Restaurant, 12 Nevins Street, with the usual fares. The Roman Gardens Restaurant, on the second floor of 12 Nevins suffered more serious damage in the fire, and will not reopen immediately. All three restaurants are owned and managed by Joseph J. Sartori.

The Jewish celebration of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights will share December 25th with Christmas this year, with the eight-day observation beginning at sunset Tuesday.

Pronouncing that present methods of law enforcement have failed, Judge Franklin Taylor today outlined his own plan for the formation of a "Crime Prevention Institute," which would supplant much of the work now handled by the police department with a bureau emphasizing social work and action to prevent the causes of crime before they can take root. Judge Taylor, in a speech before the Kings County Grand Jurors Association, proposed that this Institute be staffed by "hard headed professionals" who would be "immune from crackpot control." The Judge observed that in his twenty years on the bench he has dealt with about 10,000 criminal cases -- most of which could have been prevented had adequate attention been given to the circumstances which produce crime instead of emphasizing a system that focuses only on "arrest and punishment."

The Eagle Editorialist praises Borough President John Cashmore for his decisive move to get the new Brooklyn Public Library opened after months of delays. Mr. Cashmore earlier took steps to cover a $350,000 budget shortage that had stalled final construction work, and this week he overruled a delay revolving around the terms of a contract for interior decorating, ordering that the main section of the new $5,000,000 building be opened to the public on February 1st, regardless of whether it is fully decorated or not. The Borough President's plan calls for the rest of the building to be opened in stages, with the final deadline for the entire facility to be open set for April 1st. The project began in 1912, and, the EE stresses, there can be no further delays in putting it to use.

("Don't worry, it'll be over soon. And there's a Donald Duck coming on next!")

("Hit him again! He's still moving!")

The Yankees are high on Phil Rizzuto, kid shortstop who starred last year at Kansas City, and rumor has it that he will replace old Frankie Crosetti in the infield next spring. But the Crow isn't ready to fly off into retirement just yet, even though his statistics for 1940 show an unusual decline in an area in which he routinely leads the American League. Frankie was only hit by a pitched ball ten times last summer -- and as he has for the past five seasons, he again led the Junior Loop in that category. But he was plunked 13 times in 1939, and 15 times in 1938, so there is some concern in Yankee circles that he might be losing a bit of his aggressiveness at the plate. In nine seasons as a Yankee regular, Crosetti has been hit 78 times, which appears to be a modern-era record. It may be that Wee Willie Keeler of the Old Orioles was hit even more often than that -- including 49 times in just the 1896 season alone -- but HBP records for the pre-1900 era are scanty.

Connie Mack turns 78 years old today, and the Grand Old Man of Baseball celebrated by buying up the 50 percent interest in the Philadelphia Athletics held by the estate of former partner Benjamin Shibe, giving him, after forty seasons as team manager, a controlling interest in the ownership of the club. Mack paid $42,000 for the shares, giving him 75 percent of the club. The heirs of Thomas Shibe own the remaining 25 percent of the A's.

(I'm not much for the night life, but if I had to welcome 1941 somewhere, Leon and Eddies' would have the best music of anything I see here. Joe and Sally don't know what they'll do -- they usually stay home and listen to the radio, but that ASCAP contract thing is going to put the kibosh on that.)

Uncle Don, radio's kiddie king, will host his annual Christmas Carnival as the main attraction at the Majestic Theatre this week. Among the acts he'll introduce are Max Arnold and his Dogs, comedy magician Prince Hara, Fairy Princess Della Faye and her Musical Bells, Ray Miller's Punch and Judy show, and the Merry Clowns Happy and Pete with their Merry Mule, Pal.

(What, Benny in first place? Mr. Allen won't stand for that! I do commend the voting public though for their good taste in putting "Vic and Sade" at the top of the daytime list -- it's the best humor being produced anywhere in 1940. And you can see from the dance orchestra listings that the Golden Age of Swing is coming ever so gradually to an end. Joe and Sally don't realize it yet, so don't say anything.)

(Poor Slappy, forced against his will back into the straitjacket of rigorous gender conformity. Actually, it's ten to one that the editor called Boody in and said "Look, kid...")

(There's gotta be a way to monetize this, there's just gotta.)

("You won't just walk out on me again Dad, like you did when I was five years old, would you? You remember, when I was sick and couldn't walk, and I had to live in the streets with Grandma until finally Bill -- you know, a real man -- came along and helped us. Unlike anything you ever did. Would you, Dad? Stop looking at the nurse, Dad, I'm talking to you!")

(With all this flying-lesson stuff, somebody forgot to feed Wolf. Better watch out, Irwin.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The Stork Club "aids expectant mothers?" Does Sherman Billingsley know?

And here's the rest of that Hotel Pierre-Getty-Nazis story. Rather conspicuously absent from this otherwise-interesting investigative piece is the fact that Mr. Getty owns a controlling interest in the Tidewater-Associated Oil Company, who operate the Tydol gas stations, and who are a prominent advertiser in the New York papers -- including the News. Seems odd they'd leave that out, but at least the News dug up the story while the big respectable broadsheets ignored it.

You notice he doesn't dare to say anything about the Scots.

Sam works in mysterious ways.

I often wonder if Min resents having her name turned into an all-purpose expletive, but I guess being married to Andy for thirty years makes that the least of her annoyances.

Please please please let this be the lead-in to a kangaroo-themed villian.

Ahhhh, the old trip-wire-across-the-road gag. You never get tired of the classics.

I like Snipe a lot, but I'm glad I don't work for her.

Don't count on it, Ma.

Emmy *realizes* she's living up to a trope, and yet she does it anyway. That's beyond meta.

 

[Harp]

Guessn' Fading Fast furst got it right bout ol Slim Jim.
Though I was pullin for the boy to bell that cat Leona, he bes leave her to shes' lonesome self.
An' that goes doubleshotgun fer Raven.

 

[Fading Fast]

...ATTACH=full]291450[/ATTACH]
(Slap-Happy clips this ad and leaves it where Doc and Sparky can find it.)...

...The Eagle Editorialist praises Borough President John Cashmore for his decisive move to get the new Brooklyn Public Library opened after months of delays. Mr. Cashmore earlier took steps to cover a $350,000 budget shortage that had stalled final construction work, and this week he overruled a delay revolving around the terms of a contract for interior decorating, ordering that the main section of the new $5,000,000 building be opened to the public on February 1st, regardless of whether it is fully decorated or not. The Borough President's plan calls for the rest of the building to be opened in stages, with the final deadline for the entire facility to be open set for April 1st. The project began in 1912, and, the EE stresses, there can be no further delays in putting it to use...

Well that nicely answers the question from yesterday.

...The Yankees are high on Phil Rizzuto, kid shortstop who starred last year at Kansas City, and rumor has it that he will replace old Frankie Crosetti in the infield next spring. But the Crow isn't ready to fly off into retirement just yet, even though his statistics for 1940 show an unusual decline in an area in which he routinely leads the American League. Frankie was only hit by a pitched ball ten times last summer -- and as he has for the past five seasons, he again led the Junior Loop in that category. But he was plunked 13 times in 1939, and 15 times in 1938, so there is some concern in Yankee circles that he might be losing a bit of his aggressiveness at the plate. In nine seasons as a Yankee regular, Crosetti has been hit 78 times, which appears to be a modern-era record. It may be that Wee Willie Keeler of the Old Orioles was hit even more often than that -- including 49 times in just the 1896 season alone -- but HBP records for the pre-1900 era are scanty....

Didn't Coach from "Cheers" have some sort of record like that too?

... (I'm not much for the night life, but if I had to welcome 1941 somewhere, Leon and Eddies' would have the best music of anything I see here. Joe and Sally don't know what they'll do -- they usually stay home and listen to the radio, but that ASCAP contract thing is going to put the kibosh on that.)...

We are a stay-in couple for New Years Eve, in particular too, but since I used to live at 3rd and 47th, only two blocks from the The Hawaiian Room and I enjoy a kitschy Hawaiian-themed place with tiki torches, grass-skirt-wearing waitresses and over-priced rum cocktails served in faux coconut shells as much as the next guy, I could be talked into going there, especially knowing we can be home in five minutes.

...
(What, Benny in first place? Mr. Allen won't stand for that! I do commend the voting public though for their good taste in putting "Vic and Sade" at the top of the daytime list -- it's the best humor being produced anywhere in 1940. And you can see from the dance orchestra listings that the Golden Age of Swing is coming ever so gradually to an end. Joe and Sally don't realize it yet, so don't say anything.)...

How did James Cagney not win something for his work in "Johnny Got His Gun?" That was this year (1940), right?

... And here's the rest of that Hotel Pierre-Getty-Nazis story. Rather conspicuously absent from this otherwise-interesting investigative piece is the fact that Mr. Getty owns a controlling interest in the Tidewater-Associated Oil Company, who operate the Tydol gas stations, and who are a prominent advertiser in the New York papers -- including the News. Seems odd they'd leave that out, but at least the News dug up the story while the big respectable broadsheets ignored it....

Fascinating story. As we've seen before, the News will pull back when its advertisers are involved. I've been to a few business events at the Pierre - it's a darn impressive hotel. It's not hard to imagine it full of wealthy international refugees and swirling in intrigue during WWII. It looks scripted out of Hollywood for just such a role.

Its famous "Rotund Room:"

...
You notice he doesn't dare to say anything about the Scots.....

While our cultural warriors would lose their mind over this classified today, the one thing that stood out to me is that I've almost never heard a good word about Irish cooking before.

... I often wonder if Min resents having her name turned into an all-purpose expletive, but I guess being married to Andy for thirty years makes that the least of her annoyances.....

"Help, he murdered me." Tech-nic-nee, you wouldn't be able to say that if true.

... ... View attachment 291489 I like Snipe a lot, but I'm glad I don't work for her.....

"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" - 19th century British politician Lord Acton

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yeah, I can't imagine why Cagney didn't at least make the top five for that performance. The only thing I can think of is that all of those performers, other than Bette Davis, have their own programs and are on the air every week. Davis turns up often on Lux, Screen Guild, and similar such programs -- and she also did an impressive piece for Arch Oboler called "Alter Ego," about a woman being driven to murder by a voice inside her head -- but Cagney's radio appearances are not so frequent. He should have had his own program -- but whether for reasons of price or availability, he never did.

Frankie Crosetti was still coaching into the early '70s, and I remember he always looked very much like somebody who would have led the league in being hit by pitches.

I'll be very interested to see how this Getty story is covered now that it's been brought out into the open. It's not often a tabloid scoops the respectable papers on a major story like this, but when it did happen, it was usually the News that did it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A proposal by British Minister of Shipping Ronald H. Cross for the addition of United States-registered ships to the British service, along with the seizure of "a certain number of enemy ships now in the United States," has brought a direct threat to the US from the Nazi government of Germany. "The entire attention of the German government is centered upon American reaction to the Cross proposal," declared a spokesman for the German Foreign Office, who called the plan "nothing other than inciting the United States to commit a warlike act." The spokesman further accused the US and Britain of following "a systematic policy of pin-pricks, challenges, humiliation, and even moral aggression," under which, he contended, Germany has "shown restraint to the point of self-effacement."

Meanwhile, the Reich Government today ordered the removal from the US Embassy in Paris two secretaries and an Embassy employee whom it accused of helping a captured British officer to escape from German custody. Secretaries Cecil M. P. Cross and Leigh W. Hunt, and employee Mrs. Elizabeth Deegan are accused of not only facilitating the officer's escape, but of secretly harboring him in the Embassy building for weeks while the Gestapo searched for him. Mrs. Deegan was subsequently arrested by German authorities in Paris, and was released on December 14th after nine days in custody. The US State Department indicated today that the German demand has been met, the three have been recalled to the United States, and a formal investigation of the incident has begun.

As Downtown Brooklyn bustles with last-minute shoppers, even the dowdy Long Island Rail Road terminal on Flatbush Avenue has come to life with festive holiday decor. The slatternly old building is bedecked in wreaths and holly, illuminated red balls, silver trees, princess pines, and all the other appropriate seasonal appurtenances, thanks to the efforts of two commuters who complained about the gloominess they had to endure as they made their way from the station to their jobs at the nearby Williamsburg Savings Bank Building. They convinced the bank's decorators to go to work on the terminal, and the result has proven pleasing to all who seek a respite from the war news and other problems this year.

("Pity they couldn' get ol' Pickle Puss t'put on whiskas or a red suit or' sump'n," says Joe. "I seen'at guy smile one time," says Sally. "Some lady dropped haffadolla onna' floor, an'ne slipped'is foot ova it. She ast'im diddeeseeit, annee sed 'ya missin' ya train, lady, beddagitonbo'ad.' But he was SMILIN'. 'Atshuddatipped'er off.")

A 38-year-old building contractor from Bay Shore was hospitalized today after he was bitten by a seal on the beach at Fire Island. Edward Pederson told doctors at Dr. King's Hospital that he spotted the seal basking in the winter sun and thought he might make a fine pet for his children. He picked up the blubbery, and apparently docile, mammal and carried it to his car, but in an unguarded moment let his hand get too close to the seal's mouth. One set of clamped teeth later, Mr. Pederson was doubled over in pain and the seal was flopping his way back to the sea. Mr. Pederson noted that before submerging, the seal looked him straight in the eye and spat a long jet of water in his direction.

Two Bronx youths known as "the Soda Water Bandits" after holding up a string of candy stores are in the Raymond Street Jail awaiting sentence, after pleading guilty to an attempted holdup of Louis Pecker's shop in Bensonhurst November 28th. 20-year-old William Goldstein of 1420 Stebbins Avenue and 18-year-old Julius Melish of 1392 Prospect Avenue entered their pleas yesterday before Judge George Martin in Kings County Court. Their robbery attempt at the Brooklyn soda shop failed when Mrs. Becky Pecker, wife of the proprietor, put Goldstein in a headlock, wrestled him to the floor, and sat on him until police arrived. Melish fled the scene on foot, but was subsequently picked up by police.

Radio fans will want to add Max Wylie's latest compilation of outstanding radio scripts to their Christmas book lists. "The Best Broadcasts of 1939-40" is the second in Mr. Wylie's series recognizing outstanding broadcast accomplishments, and includes complete comedy scripts from the Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Burns & Allen, and "Aldrich Family" programs, and dramas by such authors as Norman Corwin, Arch Oboler, Lucille Fletcher, Milton Geiger, and Brooklyn's own Elaine Carrington. A selection of outstanding news and special-event broadcasts also appears, including pieces by William L. Shirer, Elmer Davis, Edward R. Murrow, and Raymond Gram Swing.

(By some coincidence, this very volume is sitting on my desk right now. The whole Wylie series belongs on every radio fan's bookshelf.)

(That guy who thinks the Eagle is anti-Italian is already writing another letter.)

(Works better if you use a glass.)

A 24-year-old Greenpoint man will be sentenced next week on charges of petty larceny and obstructing a subway turnstile after police caught him sucking nickels out of a coin slot at the Greenpoint station. Chester Madzenski entered a guilty plea at his arraignment before Magistrate Charles Solomon in Bridge Plaza Court, after a subway investigator explained how the trick works: you put a penny in the turnstile slot instead of a nickel, and that jams the mechanism, allowing nickels to back up in the coin channel. After enough have accumulated, you return to that turnstile and apply lip suction to draw the nickels back out of the slot and into your mouth. Said Magistrate Solomon, "this only serves to prove that larceny is a sucker's game."

Errol Fly, Olivia De Havilland, and Raymond Massey give you the story of abolitionist John Brown from a distasteful Jim Crow Southern perspective in "Santa Fe Trail," now showing at the N. Y. Strand. Herbert Cohn went to see it, and came away extremely displeased with the film's anti-abolitionist political slant, depicting Brown as it does as a wild-eyed madman. "It doesn't seem to know that the North won the Civil War, and that Lincoln, like Brown, spilt blood to free the Negroes." The film portrays Flynn as "heroic" Jeb Stuart, and seems pleased to see Brown, played by Massey, end up with a noose around his neck. "Its very worst offense is its lack of sympathy for the cause that Brown represented, its lack of understanding of the problem he faced, and its underemphasis of his sincerity of purpose."

("The Borough of Churches.")

Welterweight champion Frankie Zivic fought lightweight title-holder Lew Jenkins to a ten-round draw in a non-title bout at Madison Square Garden last night, but the fight was a lot sloppier than it should have been, with Zivic, widely considered the better fighter, missing many opportunities to take command.

The Football Dodgers, coming off the best season in their history, are looking at the possibility of raising their prices next year. At present, the Grid Flock charges $1.10 and $1.65 at Ebbets Field, compared to the $1.10-$2.20 charged by the Giants up at the Polo Grounds, and with a full house at Brooklyn putting $40,000 in the till, an increase would seem to be warranted. The increase could be even further justified if Larry MacPhail goes ahead with plans to increase the ballpark's seating capacity from 31,000 to 42,000 by adding a double-decked stand in place of the present right-field fence. There are questions about just what such an addition would do to the home-run distances at the park, since the addition couldn't impinge on Bedford Avenue, but if Laughing Larry can figure how to manage it, there could be a cash bonanza in store for both the baseball and football Dodgers.

Don't forget to get your entries in for the Eagle's Ten Best Films of 1940 contest. Judging begins on Monday!

(Nobody cares what you want, Slappy. I thought we'd made that clear.)

(I hope they get Magistrate Solomon, he's bound to get off a funny line or two.)

(Even Mary knows the poor chump hasn't got a chance.)

(Two weeks? Can't you pep it up a bit, I really wanna see this.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Terrible.

Nobody ever said restaurant names had to make sense -- but "Enduro?" Please tell me this joint is run by a guy named Louie Enduro or something.

There are people over in Red Hook who would argue with you about Mr. Moses, but otherwise, go Butch!

"Come, Anvil. Be my follower."

Krome, huh? Well, that pompadour's shiny enough.

(bump) "Oh, hi Tula." "Why Skeezix! For me? Oh, you dear boy!"

Meanwhile back home, Min and Bim sit comfortably before a crackling holiday fire, enjoying a glass of spiced Christmas punch. "Oh ho ho! Wasn't that a good joke on Andy! I bet he's getting a great laugh out of the whole thing!"

Wish the DL was here, she could pick up some pointers from this guy.

Forget it, Lana. Just forget it.

Mush moves well beyond passive resistance.