The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And then they'd probably cast Eddie Bracken, with his hair dyed blond, as Terry. "Burrrrrrrrma!!"

 

[Fading Fast]

And then they'd probably cast Eddie Bracken, with his hair dyed blond, as Terry. "Burrrrrrrrma!!"

As long as they didn't give the role to Mickey Rooney, I'd be reasonably happy.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Awwwww. The Post, in 1941, was probably the most liberal-leaning paper in New York aside from PM and the Daily Worker, which meant it was centrist with just the slightest bit of a tilt to the left, and it would have fit in well with the Willkie Republicanism of the Eagle. And the Post carries SUPERMAN! That'd have shown that punk Sparky Watts where to get off.)

Mayor LaGuardia today declared that he is serving his "last year in office." Although the Mayor has made several cryptic statements alluding to the possibility that he will not seek reelection in November, today's statement was the most definitive yet that he will leave office at the conclusion of his present term. The statement was made to New York University Chancellor Harry Woodburn Chase, who called this morning on the Mayor to advise him that he had been awarded the annual medal for Outstanding Civic Service by the Hundred year Association of New York, to be presented at the Association's annual dinner next month. "I will be very glad to get it," replied The Mayor, "because this is my last year in office." The Mayor declined to elaborate further on that remark.

Mayor LaGuardia and the Brooklyn Democratic delegation to the City Council have taken a united stand in favor of a Council resolution calling on the State Assembly to pass the Steingut Bill, authorizing the city to lease buses in order to replace trolley lines to be displaced by demolition of the Fulton Street L. In making his stand with the Brooklyn Democrats, the Mayor maintained his position that work must begin on removal of the L structure by this coming May. Meanwhile in Albany, Republican opponents of the Steingut Bill suggested today that certain financial revisions to that legislation offer a brighter prospect for its passage than had existed yesterday.

Adolf Hitler will shortly demand that Greece sign a peace pact with Italy, and there is a good chance that his ultimatum will be accepted, thus drawing an end to the current war along the Balkan front. The recent decisions by Turkey and Bulgaria to allow passage of German troops across their territory will allow those forces to pass unmolested to the Greek frontier.

A Brooklyn man who joined the Royal Air Force to fight against Nazi Germany is missing in action, and his mother back home in Crown Heights is anxiously awaiting news of his fate. Twenty-seven-year-old Irish-American Vernon C. Keough had worked as a parachute expert at Floyd Bennett Field until last July, when he joined the RAF at Halfax, Nova Scotia and sailed for Europe. Since his arrival, Mr. Keough has served as a parachutist and parachute instructor with the American Eagle Squadron of the RAF. His mother, Mrs. Constance Keough of 758 Nostrand Avenue said today she last heard from her son in a letter dated January 24th, and she suspects, but has received no official word to confirm it, that he may have been one of the British parachutists reported captured in a mission over Italy early this week. Keough, who is only 4 feet 11 inches in height, and was known behind his back as "Shorty", joined the RAF, according to his mother, "because he loved liberty."

Anti-Communist author Elizabeth Dilling was arrested in the Capitol building in Washington today on a charge of disorderly conduct after she attempted to disrupt Senate debate over the Lease-Lend bill. Mrs. Dilling, a Chicago resident whose book "The Red Network" purports to document the "Communist ties" of many personalities in American public life, was required to place a $5 personal bond in order to guarantee "future good conduct," but vowed to continue her demonstrations of opposition to the British aid bill.

(Well now isn't this an interesting little tidbit about Counselor Rosenthal. He was, you will recall, the mouthpiece for Hymie Caplin, cardsharking racketeer recently convicted, and now we see that he will also be defending Murder For Hire's Happy Maione. Interesting clientele he has, wouldn't you say?)

(Joe and Sally would admit they aren't entirely comfortable with the fact that there's a shop in their neighborhood called "Reich Food Store," especially when they'd rather trade with Solly's dad over there at Pincus's on 86th Street.)

(I don't care all that much for westerns, but I am prepared to make an exception for a western with Jean Arthur in it. And a Point of Order -- no members of the "Aldrich Family" radio cast appear in "Life With Henry." Which isn't fair, but Paramount insists that Ezra Stone is too old, too fat, and too Jewish to fit the visual image of the role.)

(Lichty isn't bad at drawing teenage girls, but he lacks George Clark's ability to capture their eternally-fidgety energy. Clark never would have had the typing girl's feet just hanging down like that, and that makes all the difference in the sense of energy in the drawing. I'll give it a B+, but he can do better.)

(SPRING IS HERE SPRING IS HERE SPRING IS HERE SPRING IS HERE! But who the hell is "Larry" Lavagetto? The Eagle will get a call from Judge Liebowitz over that. And is it just me, or are Dressen and Durocher actually keeping MacPhail from falling over?)

Joe Louis stepped into the ring, looked around, sized up the situation, counted the house, figured his winnings, and then put away Gus Dorazio without breaking a sweat. Figuring the local Philadelphia fans deserved to see their favorite for at least a little bit, the Brown Bomber let the fight go into the second round and then cleaned up the business at hand. Joe will fight next in Detroit on March 21st against Abe Simon, in a match that figures to be pretty much the same thing only more so.

Paul Waner is a new man as he looks forward to the 1941 season as a Dodger. The thirty-eight-year-old Big Poison was once known as a man with a fondness for distilled beverages, but he has gone on the wagon since donning Brooklyn flannels, and now will drink nothing stronger than milk. He sat in the clubhouse today in Havana imbibing a quart of Cuba's finest Grade A straight from the bottle, and then headed out to give Pete Reiser a serious challenge for a starting role in the Dodger outfield.

Fred Fitzsimmons is the first Dodger to log an injury in spring training. Fat Freddie tripped over first base during a running drill and sprained his ankle.

Pticher Hugh Casey is supposed to be in camp, but no one has seen him and no one is sure where he is.

Henry Morgan of WOR, that man who hangs around in front of the cigar store every night at 6:45, is going into partnership to buy a professional boxer. Morgan, along with WOR producer Anne Honeycutt, writer Ring Lardner Jr., dandyish newspaper columnist Lucius Beebe, and author Wolcott Gibbs are going into partnership to sign an actual pugilist, who they will promote under the nom-de-guerre "W. W. Kroobisch." This project has generated such interest at WOR that a second syndicate has now formed, consisting of special-events announcer Dave Driscoll, commentators Ed and Pegeen Fitzgerald, and sportscaster Al Helfer, to sign up a second fighter to go up against the future Mr. Kroobisch.

(It's always nice to get some beefcake in the funnies for a change.)

(WHAH HAH AH AH AHA AHA AHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!)

(Hmph. All I ever got was my cousin's hand-me-downs. My father's lowlife pals down at the pool room were real cheapskates.)

(Yeah, Dunn's PLENTY TOUGH, but fortunately his buddy is a fat lump of dough.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Jimmy Walker." says Joe. "Ain't he dead?" "He otta be," says Sally.

"Mygawd, Willie. Shave it off NOW. You look like a giggle-o"

My hometown was named after a famous businessman of the early 19th Century in hopes of encouraging him to make a big donation to build a town hall. He did so, it was built, a squat little brick thing, and he came to see it, said "Hmph! Looks like a powderhouse!" and then went home and never had anything to do with the town again. And I don't think I'm any relation to Alice up there, but you never know...

Bailiffs? I think he owned some judges too.

Such a little finger for such a big monkey to be twisted around.

"Krome? Who cares about that bum! I don't wanna have to pay for the plow!"

"Hey! Maybe YOU could -- nah. If you had two heads, you wouldn't be using that one."

Y'know, Skeez, you can be a real little turd when you want to be.

If this ends up with Mush heroically foiling the crooks with Moon doubled over in pain on the floor, I will not be the least bit surprised.

JEEEEEZ, Lil. That thing with the eyes, you never used to do that. What'd they teach you in that college, anyway?

 

[Fading Fast]

View attachment 311034 ...
(Well now isn't this an interesting little tidbit about Counselor Rosenthal. He was, you will recall, the mouthpiece for Hymie Caplin, cardsharking racketeer recently convicted, and now we see that he will also be defending Murder For Hire's Happy Maione. Interesting clientele he has, wouldn't you say?)...

Most lawyers (away from the ambulance-chasing tort litigation ones who advertise everywhere) get most of their business through referrals. QED. I guess the mob guys have each other on speed dial. "Hey, do you know a good lawyer...really, he got you off for that...really...could you give me his number...let me call that back to you, 555-6376...good...thanks and 'hi' to the missus."

... (Joe and Sally would admit they aren't entirely comfortable with the fact that there's a shop in their neighborhood called "Reich Food Store," especially when they'd rather trade with Solly's dad over there at Pincus's on 86th Street.)...

I see a strong echo of the 1930s Soviet Worker poster art in our two stewardess there.

...(I don't care all that much for westerns, but I am prepared to make an exception for a western with Jean Arthur in it. And a Point of Order -- no members of the "Aldrich Family" radio cast appear in "Life With Henry." Which isn't fair, but Paramount insists that Ezra Stone is too old, too fat, and too Jewish to fit the visual image of the role.)...

I'll give anything that has Jean Arthur in it a shot.

...Fred Fitzsimmons is the first Dodger to log an injury in spring training. Fat Freddie tripped over first base during a running drill and sprained his ankle....

Thought bubble over Mrs. Fitzsimmons: "Oh, this is not good. Looks like it's gonna be another season of hiding the paper."

... (It's always nice to get some beefcake in the funnies for a change.)...

Men do not exist just for your ogling pleasure, Lizzie. We are human beings with thoughts, feeling and emotions. We will not be objectified.

.. (WHAH HAH AH AH AHA AHA AHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!)...

You called it when Peggy showed up, Lizzie.

... Y'know, Skeez, you can be a real little turd when you want to be....

Come on Snipe, get into Mr. Wumple's office and argue your case now before his opinion gets set. It took me years to learn that you can't count on being recognized by keeping your head down and just doing good work. Don't be obnoxious about it, but you do have to argue your case now and then.

 

[Harp]

And sweet wonderful exquisite rose luminous pearl and ruby beyond price Lana is Kim Novak.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Medwick is pretty hot with his shirt off too.

Wrigley was known for using that style in its ads for many years, and the same artists drew the program covers for the Cubs --

 

[Harp]

Cubs have let it be known that prohibitive payroll will place Rizz, Baez, everybody on trade block limbo.

Jake's returning for a season, little more than a rental pitcher. But he can hit.
Next season will be another low revenue pitch. Rollin the dice inside the latrine.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Bet your life on it: Lillums already knows. This charm by the boxcar load is no spontaneous display on her part. Mama saw him with Lana, waddled right to the phone, and stoked those dying embers of passion. Nothing on the part of Miss Lillums since before her departure for home has "just happened."

Always hated playing games, even as a kid. That on again, off again/ hard to get one day and in your lap the next schtick is, as Ms. Lizzie might put it, "the bunk." Harold has no stellar history in this, but he certainly isn't worth Lillums stooping to that level. Whether she realizes or not, Lana has never done anything to her deserve ending up on the receiving end of the clearly foreseeable heartache that's ahead. You're really beginning to anger me, Lillums.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Absolutely. Lil could have gotten in touch with Harold any time after Shadow tracked him down last summer, but she made no effort to do so until her mother stirred things up. And Harold made absolutely no effort to contact her while he was in New York -- and he knew the marriage to McClusky hadn't happened once Shadow caught up with him and told him. He had four months after that to write to her to try and get things settled between them and he never did.

Ma Lovewell is the real villain of this story, just as she was in the whole business of fixing her nineteen year old daughter up with a creepy forty year old man. She's out for the main chance here, and the only thing she's interested in so far as Harold is concerned is the state of his paycheck. I hope Lillums herself realizes that and confronts her about it before this is over. Lil has always been a bit full of herself, but she's never actually been this malicious before.

Incidentally, in December 1941, artist Bob Montana will introduce a strip called "Archie" in Pep Comics, featuring a likeable but sappy leading man in a love triangle with an innocent blonde and a calculating brunette. I am willing to bet cash money that Mr. Montana is sitting in Haverhill, Massachusetts in the early months of 1941 following "Harold Teen" very, very closely.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Spurred by the militant battle cry "Buses For Brooklyn -- Or Bust!" over 250 business and civic leaders gathered last night at the Academy of Law under the auspices of the Downtown Brooklyn Association to demand legislative action that would clear the way for the demolition of the Fulton Street L. Demanding that "personalities and politics" be set aside, the meeting called for the State Assembly to approve, within ten days, the proposed Steingut Bill, permitting the city to lease the buses required to replace trolley lines that would be displaced by the removal of the L structure, in order to "climax the 25-year-battle to transform Brooklyn's leading shopping street from a dark, structure-shadowed thoroughfare to a broad sunlit avenue." Unwrapping the "tentacles of the Black Spider" would, according to the meeting delegates, "eradicate the scar on the face of Brooklyn." A second mass meeting will be held under the sponsorship of the Midtown Civic League tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile, the Assembly moved into action today to consider the Steingut Bill, sponsored by Assistant Minority Leader Irwin Steingut of Brooklyn. Some members of the Republican majority in the Assembly are said to favor an alternative bill put forward under the endorsement of Mayor LaGuardia that would accomplish a similar goal thru different means. The Mayor put forward the bill with the cooperation of Republican Assemblyman Robert J. Crews with the understanding that he was doing so to ensure that whatever the Assembly decides, action will be taken to acquire the necessary buses to allow the L demolition to proceed this spring.

Detectives from the Ozone Park and Butler Street precincts, acting on a tip that they hoped would lead to the killer of Patrolman Leon Fox, last night seized four men and five loaded automatic pistols in a raid on a furnished room at 370 State Street. While the involvement of the four men in last week's murder of Patrolman Fox at Coney Island remains to be determined, the arrests are believed to have solved a $1000 stickup at a poolroom in Reading, Pennsylvania that took place early Monday morning. According to police, the four men, all residents of Queens, traveled to Reading Saturday morning to visit girlfriends, and robbed the poolroom before returning home. The stickup relieved an estimated 50 patrons of the poolroom of their cash and valuables.

("Um," says Joe, "t'is can't be right. I mean -- ah -- can -- um -- some woman, I mean, any woman, really, be -- um -- all of 'em at once?" Sally rolls her eyes and takes another helping of mashed potatoes. "Um, I mean," continues Joe, "it's jus' kinna innerestin', I guess, t' t'ink about, maybe....um. Hey, how bout t'em Dodgas?")

(The 99s still exist as a group for women in aviation, and their website includes a fascinating archive of information about the group -- https://www.ninety-nines.org/)

The Eagle Editorialist mourns the impending end of a grand old Brooklyn tradition -- this year's Washington's Birthday parade by the Kings County Volunteer Firemen's Association will be the last. About a hundred veterans of the days before a paid fire department served the borough will march for the final time, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the first Vamps' Parade. "The golden anniversary has been planned as a glorious valedictory to the grand old men."

(Bucking for "dollar a year man" are we?)

(Good ol' "Hot Potato" Hamlin. Ready to see a few more pitches fired over the right field wall are we?)

Hugh Casey is finally in camp in Havana, with no explanation forthcoming of where he has been or what he has been doing over the past couple of days, and it can be reported that the big fellow isn't any bigger than he was in 1940. Hughie, who is a man of some substance, remains at about the same weight as he was when the team broke up for the winter, and is looking forward to getting back into action.

(Mr. Casey, a fellow who is known to drink straight whiskey by the water glass, will become over the course of this spring visit to sunny Havana, a good friend and drunken-binge-companion of one E. Hemingway. Which suggests that his late arrival to camp might have a very good story behind it indeed.)

The star addition to the Brooklyn mound staff, meanwhile, is slimmed down from his 1940 playing weight. Kirby Higbe weighed in at 200 with the Phillies in 1940, and the fireballing righthander dropped twenty pounds with a heavy workout regimen over the winter. Durocher is excited to put his prize acquisition to work, and it's expected he'll start throwing the ball as early as tomorrow.

(There are still many cartoonists in 1940 who depict Mr. Louis in the caricatured "minstrel" style, and it is to Mr. Hughes' continuing credit that he conspicuously does not. As we've seen before, the Eagle takes a strong line against racial discrimination in sports at a time when not many papers even thought about it.)

One of radio's great comedy teams will be reunited for a one-time appearance on Colonel Stoopnagle's program next Sunday. The good Colonel will pair up once more with his former partner, Budd Hulick -- with whom he cavorted on the air to great effect between 1931 and 1937. The two broke up the act to conduct solo ventures at that time, and Budd has been heard as a master of ceremonies on several quiz programs since then, while the Colonel has just gone on being the Colonel. The Stoopnagel and Budd team was hailed in its heyday as one of radio's most original comedy acts, and it will be gratifying to hear them together once more.

(If you know Bob and Ray, Stoop and Budd taught them everything they knew.)

(If there was ever a time for Sparky to consider a super-hero type uniform, now would be it. He's got the bod for it, but the polka-dot trunks will have to go.)

(Hooooookay, so, to recapitulate -- the last time we encountered our favorite gimlet-eyed faker, he was swanning around in a surplus World's Fair guard uniform, posing as an expert on European military affairs, and as such began a dalliance with some cousin of Peggy's, leaving her, as always, flat. With the turn the war has taken over the past year, somehow I doubt that Mr. Oakdale's services as a military analyst have been much in demand, so it will be interesting to see what new persona he has adopted for this "just happened to be in town" appearance.)

(It really is a wonder that Ted can even hold a job.)

(The part of Irwin Higgs will be played today by Joe Besser.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

If there was one thing that was drilled into me as a kid it was "Never Eat Pink Pork."

Show business was, and is still, absolutely brutal to women "past their prime," unless they can latch on somehow as character actressess. The only exception was radio, where you could be sixty years old and if you hadn't wrecked your voice with cigarettes, you could still convincingly play a teenager.

I mean, he does have a point.

Yep, just a regular down-to-earth guy with his own private army.

Whatever you do, Sam, here's a tip -- don't go to Kiel's barber.

I'm having real problems sleeping lately, and this isn't helping.

Imagine a fanfic where Min Gump and Jo Bungle meet for coffee.

Better polish your resumes, kids.

Mush used to be Jack Dempsey's sparring partner, so he shouldn't have too much trouble with these two mugs.

Goodgawdawmighty. Once a rattle-brained hepcat, always a rattle-brained hepcat.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
("Um," says Joe, "t'is can't be right. I mean -- ah -- can -- um -- some woman, I mean, any woman, really, be -- um -- all of 'em at once?" Sally rolls her eyes and takes another helping of mashed potatoes. "Um, I mean," continues Joe, "it's jus' kinna innerestin', I guess, t' t'ink about, maybe....um. Hey, how bout t'em Dodgas?")..

The Oomph Girl herself says that's ⇧ all bunk, you either got it or you don't.

...Hugh Casey is finally in camp in Havana, with no explanation forthcoming of where he has been or what he has been doing over the past couple of days, and it can be reported that the big fellow isn't any bigger than he was in 1940. Hughie, who is a man of some substance, remains at about the same weight as he was when the team broke up for the winter, and is looking forward to getting back into action....

Mrs. Fitzsimmons, at the kitchen table and with a cup of coffee at her side, cracks open the Eagle, reads the sports pages, sighs and thinks to herself, "Yes, please, please, please focus on Casey's weight this year."

...[ (It really is a wonder that Ted can even hold a job.)...

He should also not be allowed to shop for an overcoat by himself.

... (The part of Irwin Higgs will be played today by Joe Besser.)

Or Guy Kibbie (throw a little fake hair on top and he'd make a fine Irwin).


Also, I can't believe all those machine-gun bullets hit their target so, sadly, Dan's new plane will need some body work.

... If there was one thing that was drilled into me as a kid it was "Never Eat Pink Pork."....

The Danish ship story is quite interesting, but why is it on Page Four - no one cheated on his or her spouse, violently killed someone or married a woebegone Royal in it?

Oh, and dear Lord God, stay in college kid and don't get married yet.

...
Show business was, and is still, absolutely brutal to women "past their prime," unless they can latch on somehow as character actressess. The only exception was radio, where you could be sixty years old and if you hadn't wrecked your voice with cigarettes, you could still convincingly play a teenager.....

As you note, radio is different. Local rock-station DJ, Carol Miller, whom I've been listening to since the '70s, is still going strong. But here's the thing, she has - and I'm just being straight - an old-woman's smoked-too-many-cigarettes voice (and a ridiculous lisp that could give Kay Francis a run for her money). But Carol is a small NYC radio legend; that's my guess as to why she defies all conventions (and, as you note, radio).

...... Yep, just a regular down-to-earth guy with his own private army....

In fairness, and taking the story at face value, it's not Warbucks' fault that his wealth and fame require some protection.

Oh, and Re the barber who wrote into the Eagle, based on the historical drawings, I think Sam is trying to grow out his hair and beard.

...... Goodgawdawmighty. Once a rattle-brained hepcat, always a rattle-brained hepcat.

For a different reason, but Sparky Watts got himself into the same predicament. I'm sorry Lana will be hurt, but man can she do better for herself. At least some of the idiot men in "Mary Worth" hold down good jobs and only marry one woman at a time. Perhaps Lana should send her resume over to "Mary Worth."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yeah, my grandmother used to have an electric heating pad that had a cover made out of the same material as Ted's coat. Honestly.

One of my own radio characters has that scratchy-scrapy voice but the older I get the harder it is to do. It takes a lot of breath to sound so short of breath.

I may have posted this before, but it's always worth revisiting -- Red Barber's reminiscence of Hugh Casey and Ernest Hemingway. An incredibly well-written, evocative piece. There is also a vivid reminiscece of the same incident in Peter Golenbock's book "Bums -- An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers" by one of the players who was an eyewitness to the "scrap."

 

[ChiTownScion]

Premeditated (with deliberate and purposive intent) on Lillum's part, I tell ya.....

 

[Harp]

Premeditated (with deliberate and purposive intent) on Lillum's part, I tell ya.....

...topped with malice aforethought, depraved heart indifference, and pre-possessing proposition proposal
grammatical trespass sin of supposition tortious use of the English language in a covetous manner.

 

[Harp]

Burma's Prussian Junker consort seems a third personage aristocrat on a first-name basis with himself.
MacArthur had similar affliction but prone to surname-selfhood. This bodes ill for Burma, first person singular
bitten by Eros but perhaps mortally stung by Cupid's dart.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Representatives of the College Teachers Union, Local 537, will defy a subpoena from the Rapp-Coudert Committee demanding the local turn over all of its membership and financial records to the panel investigating "subversive activity" in the city school system. The local covers teachers at Brooklyn College as well as all other New York City collegiate institutions. Union officials appeared at the office of State Assemblyman Chester C. Backus, committee member from Oswego County, to declare that they intend to fight the subpoena in Federal court. Committee attorney J. G. Louis Malloy warned that the Committee is prepared to take "appropriate action," and called the union's action one of "contempt for the State Legislature."

Students at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, L. I. will find themselves living under a Nazi regime tomorrow, with their activities controlled by fascist edicts enforced by the self-declared Dictator, Principal E. Raymond Scheible. All students attending school will find that the Bill of Rights and the rest of their Constitutional protections have been suspended, and that all expressions of personal beliefs, rights of assemblage, and the privilege of leaving school to attend classes in religious instruction are now prohibited, with enforcement of the new laws to be supervised by a hand-picked force of Faculty Storm Troopers given full authority to maintain discipline in the hallways. Strict codes of appearance will also be enforced, with girl students prohibited from wearing any form of cosmetics, elaborate hairstyles, or sheer hosiery. Cotton stockings and sackcloth dresses will be permitted providing they are sufficiently unattractive. Teachers may demand that students act as their personal servants under the new regime, to the point of being compelled to take them home for lunch, serving them menus prepared according their personal specifications. The "Dictatorship Day" will be followed by a compulsory school assembly discussing the Bill of Rights.

A new compromise bill that would clear the way for the leasing of buses and the demolition of the Fulton Street L is making progress in the State Assembly, with legislation combining the features of the Republican-backed Crews-Crawford Bill and the Democratic-backed Steingut Bill expected to pass. The combined bill jettisons a provision requested by Mayor LaGuardia that would have allowed the issuance of equipment notes or trust certificates that would enable the city Board of Transportation to lease the buses without charging the expense against the city's already narrow debt margin.

The joy of a Cropsey Avenue couple who learned yesterday that their 17 year old son, who had been reported killed in an auto accident in Charleston, Indiana, had not in fact been killed in such an accident, was cut short by word that it was their younger son who was killed instead. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Rower had first been notified by authorities in Indiana that their son Stanley had been killed -- but no sooner had they learned this than they received a postcard from the boy postmarked after the date of the supposed accident. They called the coroner in Charleston for clarification -- and that official notified them that their 16-year-old son Melvin was in fact the victim of the accident. The younger boy was carrying Stanley Rower's Social Security card, and wearing a sweater with his name sewn in the neck at the time of the accident. The boys had left home together, but it is believed that for some reason they became separated before the fatal car crash. Authorities in Indiana are continuing their investigation, while Mr. Rower is imploring his surviving son to return home.

Twenty-two Britons were killed last night in the bombing of a suburban London hospital by Nazi planes. The attack occurred while hospital nurses were relaxing at a county council dance, and nurses still clad in party frocks were picking thru the rubble this morning looking for survivors.

Ice skating movie star Sonja Henie is applying for U. S. citizenship. The Norwegian-born skater, wife of Football Dodgers owner Dan Topping, filed her initial papers today in Hartford, Connecticut.

("Hmph!" hmphs Sally. "Hmph!" "What?" whats Joe. "He c'n do betta, t'ats all. He c'n do betta. Hmph!")

Negotiations to end the radio music war were expected to develop today following a decision by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers to accept a consent decree settling an anti-trust suit against it. The settlement is believed to establish a groundwork under which the radio networks, which have not broadcast any ASCAP music since the start of the new year, will be able to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the Association, which controls most popular music written within the past fifty years. An official for the National Association of Broadcasters would state only that the provisions of the consent decree will need careful review before any further statements can be made. Negotiations between ASCAP and the radio networks broke off last fall, and the last contract for the use of ASCAP music over the broadcast chains expired on December 31st.

("Hellzapoppin'" is a registered trademark of Olsen & Johnson, Inc., and is fully protected by U. S. Copyright law. Infringement of any element of the format, music, or comedy elements of this theatrical production is prohibited.)

(After Warner Bros. dropped the "Dead End Kids" in 1940, the group fractured. Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan ended up at Monogram, where they teamed up with grown-up former Our Gang kids "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison and Donald Haines to form a new group called the "East Side Kids." Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Bernard Punsley, and David Gorcey went to Universal to form "The Little Tough Guys." When Universal figured they'd gotten as much out of the property as they could, they dissolved the group, and Huntz Hall and David Gorcey moved on to Monogram joining the "East Side Kids" ran until 1946. Then Gorcey, Hall, and their agent formed a new corporate entity called "The Bowery Boys," taking over the Monogram contract and continuing the series, now under their ownership, into the late 1950s. By this time the Boys were all becoming paunchy middle-aged men, which sort of took the edge off the pictures, and they remained popular for far longer than they probably should have...)

(Did you know George Washington liked meat loaf? Neither did I.)

("And remember, Harry, stop off onna way home, an' getcha hat blocked, willya? Ya look like Leo Gorcey.")

(Colonel Baldwin here knows he'll never get promoted in the First Lichty Regiment until he, too, grows a big white moustache.)

Reader John P. Pfalzgraff writes in to say that Brooklyn is always going to play second fiddle to Manhattan until and unless Brooklyn people stand up and get loud about the way they're taken advantage of in city affairs. "We should raise a rumpus every time we have a reasonable request to make that isn't fully granted, and be done with this thing of just getting, as it were, the crumbs."

(And for that matter, Brooklyn still hasn't gotten "The Great Dictator.")

Van Lingle Mungo took the mound for serious today in Havana, and the early indications are that he has a very good chance of regaining the pitching form that once made him one of the National League's most fearsome hurlers. Shoulder surgery at Johns Hopkins last year has allowed the big boy from the cotton country to regain his old overhand pitching motion instead of the sidearm technique he's used since his injury a few years back. The result was a series of really fast fast balls that looked much like those of the Mungo of old, and if Van is well and truly back, this bodes impressively well for his chances of grabbing the fifth spot in Manager Durocher's projected five-man rotation of Wyatt, Higbe, Hamlin, Casey and -- somebody -- for 1941.

(You will find baseball experts who will say that the five-man rotation is an innovation of the 1970s -- but you will also note here that Leo is thirty years ahead of his time.)

Philadelphia heavyweight Gus Dorazio, cleaned out in less than two rounds by Joe Louis this week, is hotly denying rumors that the fight was a tank job. Pennsylvania State Senator John J. Haluska brought the rumors into the open yesterday by flatly accusing Dorazio of "taking a dive," stating that he himself had spent several years in the ring before going into politics, and he knows a dive when he sees one. Dorazio's response to the Senator "unlimbered his vocabulary" in insisting the fight was entirely legit.

("Let me touch him??" I hope Sparky is heading straight for a lawyer.)

(You had to hock the uniform, didn't you?)

(Allen Saunders, the "Allen" of "Dale Allen," will retire from writing "Mary Worth" in 1979. Pity he couldn't have kept on for a couple more years to resolve this dangling continuity issue.)

("IRWIN! YOU COULD LOSE YOUR BADGE FOR THIS!" "Ummm, uhhhh, I was gonna tell ya, um, I think I left that in a hotel room or sumpin'...")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Look," says Claire, "can we just take the damn picture and get it over with? Do I look like I have all day here?"

("Ho-MAH-Jen-Ized?" Whatta, youse from "Bahstun?" In New York, it's "Ho-MAWJ-Uh-Nized." Sheesh.)

Gee, Muriel, when you put it like that, it -- um -- doesn't sound like much of a hobby.

Bad move, chumps. When Warbucks gets wind of this, you'll find out what a goon squad can really do.

Jeeezuz, Gould. Jeeeeeezuz.

Pool now starting -- who will be the first to be fired under the new regime? Easy money on Wilmer, but I'm willing to bet Snipe gets the ax first. Unless she quits.

Oh oh. Do we go now from goofy slapstick bear-wrestling antics to a tearjerking "will Millie die in the flu epidemic" story? No middle ground for Gus.

"Well, you guys are sure a bundle of laughs."

It's a pity Senga got deported, because there'll be nobody to meet Harold at the station when he runs away again.

Vintage Expressions You Don't Hear Anymore: "Yeggs."

 

[Fading Fast]

...Negotiations to end the radio music war were expected to develop today following a decision by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers to accept a consent decree settling an anti-trust suit against it. The settlement is believed to establish a groundwork under which the radio networks, which have not broadcast any ASCAP music since the start of the new year, will be able to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the Association, which controls most popular music written within the past fifty years. An official for the National Association of Broadcasters would state only that the provisions of the consent decree will need careful review before any further statements can be made. Negotiations between ASCAP and the radio networks broke off last fall, and the last contract for the use of ASCAP music over the broadcast chains expired on December 31st....

I wonder who is feeling the pressure more by now? Are the broadcasters getting massively negative feedback from their listeners and advertisers or are the ASCAP members struggling without the revenue? Basically, who'll have the stronger hand in the upcoming negotiations?

...
("Hellzapoppin'" is a registered trademark of Olsen & Johnson, Inc., and is fully protected by U. S. Copyright law. Infringement of any element of the format, music, or comedy elements of this theatrical production is prohibited.)...

It's like when all the cool kids at school have Levi's jeans (in the '70s) and you have Wrangles 'cause they cost less. Also, "Funzafire" is just a terrible name.

...Van Lingle Mungo took the mound for serious today in Havana, and the early indications are that he has a very good chance of regaining the pitching form that once made him one of the National League's most fearsome hurlers. Shoulder surgery at Johns Hopkins last year has allowed the big boy from the cotton country to regain his old overhand pitching motion instead of the sidearm technique he's used since his injury a few years back. The result was a series of really fast fast balls that looked much like those of the Mungo of old, and if Van is well and truly back, this bodes impressively well for his chances of grabbing the fifth spot in Manager Durocher's projected five-man rotation of Wyatt, Higbe, Hamlin, Casey and -- somebody -- for 1941....

If no one else shows up, Fat Freddie didn't ask to be made a reliever. Just sayin'.

... ("Let me touch him??" I hope Sparky is heading straight for a lawyer.)...

They really did sneak a lot of stuff in back then, in comics and movies, that was only modestly palliated.

... (You had to hock the uniform, didn't you?)...

Considering her upbringing, I give Peggy a lot of slack, but still, how can she fall for his BS again?

...
(Allen Saunders, the "Allen" of "Dale Allen," will retire from writing "Mary Worth" in 1979. Pity he couldn't have kept on for a couple more years to resolve this dangling continuity issue.)...

Ironically, all anyone in 1941 had to do to see the man who would be the President of the United States in 1981 was to go to the movies to catch actor Ronald Reagan in, say, 1941's "Million Dollar Baby."

...
("Ho-MAH-Jen-Ized?" Whatta, youse from "Bahstun?" In New York, it's "Ho-MAWJ-Uh-Nized." Sheesh.)...

A quart-a-day recommendation sounds like a lot, unless, of course, you sell milk for living.

...
Gee, Muriel, when you put it like that, it -- um -- doesn't sound like much of a hobby....

Based on her description of her enjoyment of horseback riding (give that a read, Holy Cow!), I think Ms. Elwood would be equally happy with the mechanical horse we saw being used a few days ago.

... Pool now starting -- who will be the first to be fired under the new regime? Easy money on Wilmer, but I'm willing to bet Snipe gets the ax first. Unless she quits...

I've lived through this scenario at least twice in my career, it's awful and, yes, the bloodbath has not even begun.

... It's a pity Senga got deported, because there'll be nobody to meet Harold at the station when he runs away again....

We all know what the right thing to do is, but Harold has chosen time and again not to, so I agree, running away seems to be his next move. Or, based on the last panel, he might just be carried away to the funny farm.