The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I can't stop looking at the late Mr. Finnell's head. Does it really slant up to a point like that or was he the victim of a really bad haircut?

The "Polynesian Restaurant/Tiki" craze won't really come along for a few more years, but Johnny Pineapple will be there when it does, and he'll be loving every minute of it.

"The ruling followed lengthy correspondence between MacPhail and the Commissioner, who have differed on numerous occasions." Yeah, I bet they have.

I got hit in the back of the head once by a take-out fish dinner thrown out of a passing car, but I bet shoes would hurt more.

"Now now, Punjab, no politics. You remember what happened the last time."

DIG YOURSELF IN DEEPER WHY DON'T YOU?

Terry wishes it had been Hu Shee too.

***sob***

$30 = a solid weeks' pay for a skilled worker or a mid-level office functionary. Of course, Andy's a paper millionaire, so that doesn't count.

Where's Catherine O'Brien when you need her?

 

[Harp]

Terry is a good kid. Out of his depth for these circumstances and the strip is all tease as they say.

 

[Harp]

Harold. Long ago and far away a guy in my outfit got the Dear John. He read the Happy Jack, went off and put
a round through his head. After that particular postal delivery I always made a point to watch all the guys reading.
Letters handed out were always immediately read-consumed really. And guys who didn't get a letter would
reach into a pocket and retrieve a past letter to read.

 

[Fading Fast]

A prominent Deputy Police Inspector who played a key role in the Seabury Investigations that unseated former Mayor Jimmy Walker killed himself this morning at his home in Queens. 47-year-old John W. Kenna shot himself in the head with his service revolver in the bathroom of his apartment at 108-25 72nd Avenue in Forest Hills shortly before 7 AM. His wife heard two shots and discovered his body, with one bullet lodged in his forehead above the left eye. The second bullet penetrated Kenna's head and was embedded in the bathroom wall. "It is too bad," declared Deputy Chief Inspector Harry L. Lobdell of Queens, who called Kenna "a fine police officer." Kenna was second in command of the 14th Police District in Brooklyn, and had been in ill health in recent months. During the Seabury probe in 1930, Kenna was questioned concerning bank deposits exceeding $226,000 that he declined to explain, but in promoting Kenna to the rank of Captain in 1932, former Police Commissioner Edward P. Mulrooney stated that an audit of Kenna's financial affairs resulted in "a satisfactory explanation" of the money....

$226,000: Rug, swept, under.

...
("Hey, lookit!" shouts Joe. "Ya ma gotta pitcha inna paypa!" "What?" says Sally. "Oh, wait," replies Joe, reading the caption. "Nevvamind.")...

Every hero doesn't look like he or she was scripted out of central casting, but he or she is a no-less hero. Thelma Ritter is already reading the script.

Although, if they are going for similarity in appearance, actress Esther Dale - who regularly played maids and cooks in the '30s and '40s - would do nicely too.

...
You can't possibly get more 1941 than a double bill of "The Great Dictator" and "Blondie Plays Cupid."...

We all have our critique of Hollywood's studio system, but for an average week in '41, there are several movies here that are still highly regarded today and a few others that are still reasonably good entertainment. Not bad for a not-special week.

... (Exactly how tall is Sparky supposed to be? I'm trying to figure out the physics of how small you'd have to be to be knocked over by a raindrop, but it's giving me a headache. I was never any good at STEM.)...

I think you might be overestimating the accuracy and consistency of the "science" in "Sparky Watts."

... (Why don't you just put the money back where you found it and forget the whole thing? You're all going to kill each other before this is over if you don't.)...

Now you're just trying to give the plot away of the film noir movie version of this story, 1949's "Too Late for Tears." As noted before, it is amazing how these storylines keep getting recycle. (Comments on the movie here: #27649)

Jo would probably be happy that Lizabeth Scott plays her in the movie.

... ("Oh yeah? Well, when do I get my name up top in the slug line?)

Sill, it's a cool '41 version of Girl Power.

... I can't stop looking at the late Mr. Finnell's head. Does it really slant up to a point like that or was he the victim of a really bad haircut?...

It's not as if "The Neighbors" punchline today couldn't be a real Page Four story tomorrow or, at minimum, a letter of complaint to Helen Worth.

... ***sob***...

Lana's more than okay in my book - note the returned ring without any drama. I'm glad for her sake she's left him.

Here's a crazy mashup. Lana should meet Nick. Sure, she's too straight and he's, well, Nick, but he's also a man of integrity in his own way. Lana's smart enough to surf in Nick's world and she might even rein in his more unsavory instincts. They might make each other a more interesting person.

Harold. Long ago and far away a guy in my outfit got the Dear John. He read the Happy Jack, went off and put
a round through his head. ...

That's brutal.

 

[Harp]

Lana's more than okay in my book - note the returned ring without any drama. I'm glad for her sake she's left him.

Here's a crazy mashup. Lana should meet Nick. Sure, she's too straight and he's, well, Nick, but he's also a man of integrity in his own way. Lana's smart enough to surf in Nick's world and she might even rein in his more unsavory instincts. They might make each other a more interesting person.

Nicely put. Lana, sweetheart that she is, seemingly came late to the realization-not yet fully realized.
She is too sweet to see through Harold, more child than man; certainly not husband material for her.
And she needs some seasoning in the world of eligible males.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The question now is will Harold learn anything from this at all, or will he go drown his sorrows in a row of Awful-Awfuls?

 

[ChiTownScion]

Harold. Long ago and far away a guy in my outfit got the Dear John. He read the Happy Jack, went off and put
a round through his head. After that particular postal delivery I always made a point to watch all the guys reading.
Letters handed out were always immediately read-consumed really. And guys who didn't get a letter would
reach into a pocket and retrieve a past letter to read.

When it happens to one enough times in a lifetime, in the best of all worlds you learn to live by the not quite so old saying, "Never run after a woman or a bus: another one will be right along."

 

[Harp]

I was on a plane to New York; stopped Madrid, picked up a Lufthansa crew; including six or seven stewardesses,
and this brunette sat next next to me. Gorgeous, spent half the Atlantic Ocean-artic polar cap, whatever, trying
me Irish charm on her, no luck. Just smiles, sweetness, but silence. I gave up. Quit. In New York, we deplaned,
and I went downstairs to luggage claim. Had a Chicago connection, which, considering earlier seating arrangement
I had been prepared to jettison entirely. And guess who walked up behind me and sweetly said, "Thomas, can I buy
you a drink?"

And dumbass me declined, mentioned my Chicago connection, and hurried off.

...I usually listen to that voice in the back of the mind that whispers advice, warning, whatever.
Not this time, somewhere over the sea or polar ice cap I folded.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The fall of Athens is at hand, with two columns of mechanized Nazi troops at the city gates today, and it is predicted in informed German quarters that the swastika will fly from the Acropolis, birthplace of Grecian democracy, as early as tomorrow. It was reported in Zurich, Switzerland that the Nazi-controlled radio station in Zagreb had reported German columns have advanced from Thebes to about fifteen miles from the Greek capital.

Meanwhile, four German motorized divisions comprising about 60,000 men are reported to be massing at the Spanish-French frontier for a swift advance against Gibraltar, simultaneous with German efforts to seize the Suez Canal and knock out Britain's Mediterranean fleet. A non-stop continuation of the German sweep thru Yugoslavia and Greece into a campaign to close both the Eastern and Western doors of the Mediterranean was being forecast in authoritative Balkan quarters.

The U. S. Navy intends to take full ownership of municipally-owned Floyd Bennett Field within the next four months, and private operators and flying schools now leasing space at the airfield have been notified to evacuate the premises. The Navy intends to replace the facilities used by those operators with a complex of barracks at a cost of $100,000, it was understood. Formal notice of the requirement to vacate was served by the Navy yesterday, giving the private operators until May 26th to quit the field and remove all personal property from the base. Floyd Bennett Field was designated as "Naval Air Station New York" this week by Navy Secretary Frank Knox.

Twenty-six freighters operated by the American Transport Lines will be tied up by strikes as soon as they arrive in port at Brooklyn, unless an agreement is reached by the firm with Local 33 of the Marine Beneficial Engineers Association, C. I. O. The first move in the threatened work stoppage occured in Jersey City yesterday, when the freighter Siboney was prevented from sailing on schedule by a walkout.

At long last, the formal start of demolition of the old Black Spider will take place on June 16th, when Mayor LaGuardia manipulates an enormous crane. to pull down a section of the Fulton Street L in front of Borough Hall. The Mayor is said to be looking forward with great enthusiasm to taking his seat at the crane's controls for the occasion, but will have to restrain his excitement long enough to participate in speeches and other ceremonies before the actual destruction begins. The schedule now being worked out by a celebratory committee calls for the razing to commence at 12 noon.

Meanwhile, trolley enthusiasts are planning for the ceremonial last rides on the four Fulton Street surface car lines to be displaced by the removal of the L structure, with the New York Car Riders' Association planning a series of excursions along the lines for May 25th, ending with a dinner at Feltman's Restaurant at Coney Island. Cost of the excursion, not including the dinner, is $1, and association officials, who have announced their public opposition to the replacement of the trolleys by bus lines, declare "no civic-minded Brooklynite or rail fan can afford to miss this event!"

Our Dodgers, roaring along at top speed, won their fifth straight game yesterday, shutting out the Boston Bees 7-0. The win marked the fourth consecutive shutout of the Boston club, and the ninth Dodger win in the last ten games.

Tomorrow the Dodgers will inaugurate Greater New York Fund Week by unfurling an enormous banner from the upper deck rail at Ebbets Field. The start of a four-game series against the Reds will be preceded by ceremonies featuring President Larry MacPhail and Manager Leo Durocher urging support for the charity campaign, and presenting the Dodgers' own contribution to fund chairman James Farley. Broadway favorite Carol Bruce, now starring in Louisiana Purchase," will sing the Star Spangled Banner. 11-year-old Raymond Weber, representing the Boys Club of the Navy Yard District, will also take part, participating in an on-field workout with the Dodgers.

("And Neil Bonner as Eleanor Roosevelt." Oh those wacky Democrats.)

Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine issued a statement yesterday on the suicide of Deputy Police Inspector John W. Kenna, declaring that the veteran police official had "suffered a heart attack over the last weekend, and suffered from hypertension." The Commissioner added that Kenna had been on "a special diet" for years, and suffered from a stomach ailment. Kenna, a prominent figure in the Seabury Investigation in 1930, will be buried Tuesday with full departmental honors.

Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen is a high official in the Catholic Church, but he insisted he was speaking yesterday not as an ecclesiastical authority but as "an American Citizen" when he warned that women have too much influence on American society. "Woman was only a side issue at the Creation," declared the Monsignor before an audience of 3500 at the annual Communion Breakfast of the Catholic Teachers Association at the Hotel St. George, "but she seems to be the whole show today." He condemned the "strong sense of independence" displayed by all the "Eves of today," an "attitude which would have been frowned upon in the Garden of Eden."

("Hah!" snorts Sally. "'At's big talk comin'f'm a man 'at goes aroun' wearin' a dress!" "Well," exhales Joe, "I'm off ta school!" "Ain' no school on Sunday," reminds Sally. "Oh," says Joe.)

Old Timer G. Stryker Bergen of Flatbush reminisces about the days when derailing horse cars was good clean fun for the boys around the neighborhood, a feat commonly accomplished by piling sticks of wood on the tracks when a car was idled near a switch. The result found the car rolling off into the ditch, the driver in a rage, and the passengers forced to disembark the car and help push it back onto the tracks.

Jitterbugs may not know the name of Joe Lippman, but they should. The 26-year-old from Elmhurst is one of the most sought-after arrangers in swing circles, and has worked for many of the top names in hot music, ranging from Benny Goodman to Bunny Berigan. He started with Goodman when he was just 19 years old and prepared charts for many of the Swing King's earliest successes. As a youngster, he spent every nickel he could get his hands on on old phonograph records of the great old names in hot music, such as Bix Beiderbecke, W. C. Handy, and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. But he sneers at people who say they only like their music hot. "I don't like "swing," he insists. "I like *good* music -- of all kinds."

(Win five in a row, and still in third place? WHATTAYA GOTTA DO??? It's nice to see that Wes Ferrell found a job, though. Wonder what Stengel thinks about golf?)

The Cincinnati Reds move into Ebbets Field tomorrow to begin a four-game series that figures to be a real test for the Dodgers, who have fattened up in recent games against weak clubs. But now come the defending World Champions with Bucky Walters, Paul Derringer and Johnny Vander Meer all pitching in fine form. Last year, you will recall, the Rhinelanders thumped Whit Wyatt five times in as many outings, and their offense remains no less formidable this year.

Cubs second baseman Billy Herman, long an object of the covetous gaze of Mr. Leland Stanford MacPhail, is now laid up with an injured ankle and leg following a collision at the keystone sack with Cardinals base runner Jim Brown. Three is no word from Chicago as yet on the extent of Herman's injury, but he had to be pulled from the game and replaced by Lou Stringer, toward whom Mr. MacPhail casts no gaze at all.

Developer Fred C. Trump plans to build 200 new houses at Brighton Beach along Corbin Street and Neptune Avenue. The houses are being constructed by a round-the-clock mass-production process with a view toward completion of the new development by early July.

The U. S. Army has banned the use of divisional insignia "stressing the destructive nature of warfare," declaring that "war is a gruesome enough business without advertising it on uniforms." But the new policy specifically allows the decoration of Air Corps planes with aggressive motifs.

("Sal, pally," says Sid the Press Agent. "The moustache, it's a great idea, but can'cha make it, I dunno, more su-real? You know, grow it out kinda long like an' maybe put some wax on it, make it stick up in long points? Th' pigeons won't be able ta resist it, I'm TELLIN' ya, pally!")

Remember Nita Naldi, famous screen vampire of the silent days? She's working Billy Rose's Silver Screen revue at the Diamond Horseshoe this week, back on stage with old pals Lila Lee, Gilda Grey, Carlyle Blackwell, and Charlie King. "Do I like being back in show business?" shrugs Miss Naldi, from behind an unaccustomed pair of spectacles. "Do you like to eat?"

("Damn," grumbles Miss Nita Naldi. "Shearer doesn't need to take parts like this, she's eatin' regular. Why don't they ever call ME?")

(Tsk, Mr. Stamm. Swiping from baby-food labels. Would Caniff do that?)

("See?" says Sid The Press Agent to Mr. Dali. "It's a great bit, but they ain't gonna know ya from William Powell. I tell ya, you gotta go big. Now just a minute, I think I got Brenda Frazier callin' on the phone -- an' it ain't gonna be good!")

(Get used to it, sweetie, spoiled dreams is what life is all about.)

(An amnesia plot? OF COURSE, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?????)

(Anyway, with her eye for irrelevant detail, it's Jo who ought to be the Secret Operative.)

(We have a shop here that carries a whole range of exotic novelty jerky, including buffalo, alligator, kangaroo, and elk -- but for some reason, no goat. Hey kid, you're missing out on a market.)

 

[Fading Fast]

...Meanwhile, trolley enthusiasts are planning for the ceremonial last rides on the four Fulton Street surface car lines to be displaced by the removal of the L structure, with the New York Car Riders' Association planning a series of excursions along the lines for May 25th, ending with a dinner at Feltman's Restaurant at Coney Island. Cost of the excursion, not including the dinner, is $1, and association officials, who have announced their public opposition to the replacement of the trolleys by bus lines, declare "no civic-minded Brooklynite or rail fan can afford to miss this event!"...

... View attachment 330373 (Win five in a row, and still in third place? WHATTAYA GOTTA DO??? It's nice to see that Wes Ferrell found a job, though. Wonder what Stengel thinks about golf?)

The Cincinnati Reds move into Ebbets Field tomorrow to begin a four-game series that figures to be a real test for the Dodgers, who have fattened up in recent games against weak clubs. But now come the defending World Champions with Bucky Walters, Paul Derringer and Johnny Vander Meer all pitching in fine form. Last year, you will recall, the Rhinelanders thumped Whit Wyatt five times in as many outings, and their offense remains no less formidable this year....

Here's part of the answer, take 3 of 4 from the Reds, i.e., beat the better teams. I'm actually anxious about the series. It happened 80 years ago, but since I don't know the results, it feels exciting going into it.

...[ ("Damn," grumbles Miss Nita Naldi. "Shearer doesn't need to take parts like this, she's eatin' regular. Why don't they ever call ME?")...

Good one Lizzie - nice job connecting three different ephemera.

... (Tsk, Mr. Stamm. Swiping from baby-food labels. Would Caniff do that?)...

Very 1970s-style good-deed-doer TV. I think I saw this episode of "Highway to Heaven."

... (An amnesia plot? OF COURSE, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?????)...

All that for an off-the-shelf amnesia plot. Meh.

Also, doesn't Kay have to have some training or can anyone walk in off the street and become an elite "Secret Operative?" But it is cool that, in '41, a woman is being offered the role without a bunch of huffin' and puffin' about it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I believe this is the first photo we've seen of Senor Gonzalo, and, I dunno, I just thought he'd not look quite so much like John Gilbert.

"Arrives in a very fluid state." Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it.

Now what are the odds?

Punjab, meanwhile, considers going down the plant and making the personnel manager go away.

Uncle Willie = my late, lamented Uncle Rosey, who made every boat ride an adventure.

That's all well and good, but if we don't get a shot of Kiel floating face down in the sea I'm going to be sadly disappointed.

Where's Sr. Gonzalo when you need him?

And yet he never gets any bigger. Shadow truly is a biological marvel.

HOLD LOCAL FIEND AS KIDNAPPER. "WE WAS ONLY PLAYIN'," SAYS "UNCLE AVERY."

Why the child welfare people haven't racked up Andy and Min long ago is beyond me.

 

[Harp]

Terry has more lives than a cat. Speaking of which, Burma....alley cat in residence here is nowhere to be seen.

 

[Fading Fast]

And in the Daily News...

View attachment 330390 ... Punjab, meanwhile, considers going down the plant and making the personnel manager go away....

It really is 1970s good-deed-doer day in the 1941 comicstrips.

...[ That's all well and good, but if we don't get a shot of Kiel floating face down in the sea I'm going to be sadly disappointed....

That's partly because you've internalized The Fedora Lounge Rulebook for Killing a TV, Movie or Comic-Strip Enemy: "Always kill your enemy as fast as you can and, then, check carefully to make sure he or she is dead."

Nobody checked the box next to "Make sure your enemy is dead." We train and train for these moment, yet still, the box is not checked. Everybody in the meeting room at 5pm and I don't want to hear any complaining.

We need Burma or Hu Shee to reappear.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh today resigned his commission in the U. S. Army Air Corps Reserve in response to criticism by President Roosevelt of remarks he made at the recent America First rally at Madison Square Garden. The aviator accused the President of making "implications" concerning his loyalty, his character, and his motives, and declared that he could "see no honorable alternative" to resigning from the Air Corps. In his remarks at a press conferecnce on April 26th, the President compared Lindbergh and his followers to the "Copperheads" of the Civil War period, a faction of Northern Democrats who urged acceptance of the Confederacy. That statement came in reply to Lindbergh's declaration at Madison Square Garden last Wednesday that Britain cannot win the war with Germany, and that the British Government is attempting to convince America to "share militarily as well as financially in the fiasco of this war."

Construction on nine six-story apartment buildings in the Fort Hamilton district was halted today by what contractors described as "sabotage," after hoisting machines were found clogged by sand and debris. A business agent for Local 30 of the Operative Plasterers and Cement Finishers Association A. F. L. accused a faction opposing the union as responsible for clogging the machinery. Difficulties within Local 30 have already led District Attorney William O'Dwyer to order an investigation of its affairs.

An eleven-year-old Queens girl who has fought against the odds to survive bone cancer finally lost her battle today. Dorothy Lewis of 383 Himrod Street in Ridgewood died today, two years after she lost a leg to the deadly disease. At the time of the operation, doctors told the girl's father that even with the surgery she had only a 1 in 10 chance of survival, but without it, she had none. After emerging from the hospital in late 1939, Dorothy expressed confidence about the future, telling reporters she dreamed one day of owning her own candy store, along with a bungalow in the country with collie dog and a cow for fresh milk. She recently celebrated her birthday in good spirits, little realizing that it would be her last.

The Supreme Court ruled today that the National Labor Relations Board can require companies to rehire or hire workers fired or denied employment for holding beliefs sympathetic to unions. In its ruling, the Court reversed a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allowed the Phelps-Dodge Corporation to refuse jobs to two men at its Bisbee, Arizona copper mine because of their "union sympathies," and which, according to the NRLB, explicity legalized the practice of blacklisting. The Court voted six to two to overturn the ruling, with Justice Felix Frankfurter reading the majority opinion that "the effect of such discrimination is not confined to the actual denial of employment, it inevitably operates against the whole idea of the legitimacy of organization."

Property formerly owned by the Vanderbilt family on Long Island now owned by a metaphysical religious cult is to be foreclosed upon, the latest twist in the story of "Peace Haven," compound of the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians. The cult purchased the property under a $50,000 mortgage, of which $42,500 remains unpaid. The cult is charged with failing to pay interest on the loan since July 1940, and is also reported to be in arrears on property taxes owed since 1939. The sect drew notice last year for its adoption of "Baby Jean," a child whom it had declared its intention of raising as "an immortal girl," but the baby was unceremoniously returned to her birth mother a few months later. The cult has failed in several efforts to claim tax-exempt status.

(Forget the negligee, if she wants to get a rise out of this guy, she needs to dress up like a second baseman.)

Mayor LaGuardia declared last night that, if the city is to be fully defended from invasion, enemy forces must be kept at least 1000 miles away from the Battery. Addressing an audience of more than 600 persons last night at the Manhattan Center at a dinner celebrating the 18th anniversary of the labor weekly "New Leader," the Mayor stated that "distance no longer exists," and warned that speedy planes traveling 300 miles an hour mean that distance "can no longer protect us." The Mayor promised that if the danger of air raids against the city does materialize in the future, "every citizen will receive instructions on where and how to go."

Dodger stars Pee Wee Reese and Kirby Higbe will preside over the opening ceremonies for the new Florsheim Shoe Shop at 433 Fulton Street tomorrow. The two Ebbets Field favorites will cut the red ribbon at the stroke of noon, and tear open the sheets of golden cellophane covering the entrance, which give the store the effect of a gigantic gift package. The new shop supplants the previous, smaller Florsheim store at 401 Fulton Street, and will feature the same staff under the management of Mr. George Nash. The new store features a front made from sleek black Carrera marble, with the interior completely visible from the street thru Herculite sheet glass doors. The interior is finished in fine walnut, with a combination of incandescent and recessed fluorescent lighting.

("Back home they snub us, but at least in America we can do cigarette ads. Ars Gratia Artis. eh kid?")

Youthful red-headed Susan Hayward, Brooklyn girl turned film star, has landed two plum roles in upcoming pictures. The former photographer's model will play the second feminine lead opposite Paulette Goddard in Cecil B. DeMille's forthcoming Technicolor drama "Reap The Wild Wind," and has also been cast opposite Albert Dekker as leading lady in the thrill drama "Among The Living."

(Such stereotyping. Mr. Lichty just got a parking ticket.)

("Y'know," observes Sally, "that Lavagetta, he's a pretty good lookin' fella." "I hadn' noticed," sighs Joe.")

Dodger coach Chuck Dressen is the king of sign stealers, and he tells Jimmy Wood that he has no trouble at all with the Reds, a club he managed himself a few years back. "When Johnny Vander Meer was pitching against us last year," laughs the little dugout detective, "we knew what he was going to throw ten seconds before he wound up." Charley also scoffs at Cincinnati's own skill at signal pilferage, because "McKechnie doesn't go in for it, nor do his coaches," Hank Gowdy and George "Highpockets" Kelly. Dressen also admits he picked up quite a bit of useful information as the Flock barnstormed north with the Yankees this spring, and he is filing those signals away "for use mebbe in October."

The Bushwicks swept the Black Yankees in a Sunday doubleheader at Dexter Park, stopping the Negro National League club by scores of 6-2 and 11-10. Bushwick pitching held the Negro stars to a total of 10 singles over 18 innings.

(The Sinclair Brontosaurus has struggled to find personal-appearance work since the World's Fair closed, so a guest shot in "Sparky Watts" is a welcome career boost.)

(Really, the first thing you need to do is buy a new suitcase. Maybe you'll run into Chief Brandon down at the store.)

("I'd know that greasy smirk anywhere!")

(It's been over a month since "Dan" fell in the river, and a body that's been immersed in water for that long is not going to be in any way -- ah -- recognizable. But hey, at least Irwin gets a free trip. With cute little cafe curtains yet.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"She'll get balm for her hurts." Tabloids have a language all their own.

Sure, Bucky, have a few more. Smoke the whole carton! After all we want you good and relaxed and breathing easy when you pitch tomorrow.

Are cherries in season already? Where does the time go.

"An' if they DON'T, why Punjab and the Asp will be around to say 'hello.'"

Yep, just like a panther. A skinny knob-headed goose-faced panther.

You'd think he'd get used to it by now.

A few days from now, Tracy will drink a glass of water and he'll say "Hm. Tastes funny. You don't suppose....?"

"Here, let me tell you a story about my cousin Lana. Used to live in a town called Covina..."

"You know, boy," says Dad, "I used to think you were a moron. But as you've grown up, I've realized I was wrong. You're an *idiot.*"

You'll never get anywhere if you keep letting yourself be the butt of the joke.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Forget the negligee, if she wants to get a rise out of this guy, she needs to dress up like a second baseman.)...

Yup.

...
Dodger stars Pee Wee Reese and Kirby Higbe will preside over the opening ceremonies for the new Florsheim Shoe Shop at 433 Fulton Street tomorrow. The two Ebbets Field favorites will cut the red ribbon at the stroke of noon, and tear open the sheets of golden cellophane covering the entrance, which give the store the effect of a gigantic gift package. The new shop supplants the previous, smaller Florsheim store at 401 Fulton Street, and will feature the same staff under the management of Mr. George Nash. The new store features a front made from sleek black Carrera marble, with the interior completely visible from the street thru Herculite sheet glass doors. The interior is finished in fine walnut, with a combination of incandescent and recessed fluorescent lighting....

Florsheim was a monster brand in its day. When men's dress shoes were as common as sneakers are today, Florsheim was the Nike of its day.

I've read that, at the time, the largest men's shoe store in the country (by sales) was the Florsheim in Herald Center near Macy's. When I first arrived in NYC in the '80s, that store was still up and running. It had an amazing selection of styles plus it had all the crazy widths and sizes in stock.

If you were in another Florsheim in the city and they didn't have your size, they'd "call over to Herald Center," and, in all likelihood, they'd have it. "We can have it sent here and have it for you by tomorrow or they'll put it on hold for you and you can pick it up today." It was kinda like the internet of shoes before there was an internet.

... ("Back home they snub us, but at least in America we can do cigarette ads. Ars Gratia Artis. eh kid?")...

Olivier's eyes argue that's not a cigarette he's smoking.

... (The Sinclair Brontosaurus has struggled to find personal-appearance work since the World's Fair closed, so a guest shot in "Sparky Watts" is a welcome career boost.)...

He survived the extinction, so we know he's a fighter.

... (Really, the first thing you need to do is buy a new suitcase. Maybe you'll run into Chief Brandon down at the store.)...

Since they let it happen a second time, whatever happens to George and Jo now they deserve. That they didn't either secure that suitcase or use another one to carry the money after it spilled open once is world-class stupidity.

... "She'll get balm for her hurts." Tabloids have a language all their own....

And that is part of the tabloid wonderfulness.

Hey, that's the second time in about two weeks that 2 Sutton Place South has been in the news.

... Yep, just like a panther. A skinny knob-headed goose-faced panther.....

I laughed out loud at the panther comment too. It's the best line the strip's had in weeks.

 

[Harp]

Harold and Terry. Ter's a good kid, but he really needs to learn the ropes before he's hung.

Harold, learned a valuable lesson; hopefully, but he hung himself out to dry with that sweet pearl Lana.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The War Department today accepted the resignation from the U. S. Army Air Corps Reserve of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh, who resigned his commission yesterday in response to criticism from President Roosevelt of remarks made by the flier during the recent America First rally in Manhattan. Before the War Department announced that the resignation had been accepted, White House Press Secretary Stephen Early made a statement wondering "if Mr. Lindbergh will also be returning the decoration he received from Mr. Hitler." The flier was decorated by Field Marshal Hermann Goering, on behalf of the Nazi Fuehrer, with the Order of the German Eagle three years ago.

Meanwhile, the former Colonel was invited to address an audience in Brooklyn under the auspices of the newly-formed local America First Committee branch, which has opened offices at 44 Court Street. Newly-appointed Executive Chairman William T. Leonard sent the message to Lindbergh at Lloyds Neck, L. I., inviting him to appear at a "mass meeting," on a date to be chosen by him, and answer the President's "smears and intimidation." Mr. Leonard promised in the letter to secure "as big a space as possible" for the projected meeting.

A strike of all operating employees of Jamaica Buses Inc. called by the Transport Workers Union went into effect at 5:25 this morning, idling 65 buses serving three Queens lines and sending 101 drivers and 37 mechanics to the picket lines. About 40,000 commuters were left to find alternate means of getting to work by the walkout, which revolves around a five-cent per hour difference between wage increases requested by the union and offered by the company. The company had agreed six months ago to negotiate on the question, but no agreement has been reached.

Great Britain and Germany battled today with airplanes and big guns over the straits of Dover and the south coast of England, as the assaults fueled new speculation concerning a possible Nazi drive against Gibraltar. Reports from Radio Berlin, monitored in London, claimed that Britons are being ordered out of Spain, and that the Spanish borders are about to be closed.

A 200 pound safe containing $461 in cash and $1500 in stamps was stolen today from a post office on Railroad Avenue in Wantagh, Long Island. Police say there was no trace at the scene of unusual activity such as may result from moving a 200 pound safe thru a post office window. The only clue found by detectives was a series of marks on the window sill indicating where it had been jimmied open.

(This wouldn't have happened if Dan Dunn was alive.)

The Chairman of the Democratic Committe of Nassau County wrote to Governor Herbert H. Lehman today demanding that District Attorney Edward J. Neary be superseded at once as prosecutor of the ongoing investigation into the Long Island pinball racket. Chairman John S. Tharp charged that Assistant District Attorney David Holman had been seen at a meeting of pinball machine operators in a Bellmore restaurant, and further alleged that several of these operators are personal clients of Mr. Holman.

Federal agents are investigating a letter threatening the life of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, received in Hollywood this week at the home of actor Melvyn Douglas and his wife Helen Gahagan, where Mrs. Roosevelt was a guest during a recent visit to the Coast. The Secret Service in Hollywood was immediately notified of the threat, marking the first incident in which the First Lady has received a threat deemed sufficiently serious to call for such action. The contents of the letter, and any signature carried by it, have not been been revealed.

("Meh. It's a living.")

One of the Brooklyn College instructors suspended recently pending investigation of their political beliefs and activities by the Rapp-Coudert Committee has appealed to his students for support in fighting the probe. Dr. Howard Seslam compared the investigation to "the Salem Witchcraft Trials," and declared before a mass meeting sponsored by the Brooklyn College Student Council, and attended by more than 800 night-session students, that "to keep America at peace, you must defend your rights at home." Meanwhile, a Manhattan Supreme Court justice today issued an order for two leaders of the Teachers Union to show just cause why they should not be jailed for refusing to obey an order to turn over the union's membership files to the Committee.

("Hydroforming" sounds like something the Boys made up after a particularly martini-filled lunch, but it is, in fact, an actual process that uses hydrogen to reclaim heavy naphthas and other byproducts of the refining process and allows them to be re-refined into gasoline. "Flame Control" and "Cushioned Power," however, are phrases that are even now causing the staff at Consumers' Union to roll on the floor and experience paroxysms. )

"Hellzapoppin'" celebrates its third birthday today, with the raucous Olsen and Johnson masterpiece of chaos having had its first performance, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on April 29, 1938. The boys had a bit of trouble over the title in that midwestern outpost, with the theatre manager protesting that his patrons wouldn't stand for such blasphemy, and insisted that the marquee instead read "What's Next?" By the time the tryout tour reached Philadelphia, however, the show's proper name had been restored, and it's never been called anything else for the duration of its run at the Winter Garden, which began on September 22, 1938.

The Eagle Editorialist mildly ventures to offer a respectful criticism of Ex-Colonel Lindbergh, by stating that he should have "risen above personalities" and remained in the Air Corps Reserve to serve his country when and if needed, as is the duty of "every patriotic citizen."

(My mother got a dog this way once, but I don't think anyone would have dared to try it with five.)

Actor Lionel Atwill is under the care of a physician today after collapsing at the news that his son has been killed in action while serving with the Royal Air Force. Twenty-five-year-old John Atwill was reported shot down on April 26th. The actor had been planning to travel to England soon to visit his son, after receiving a recent letter in which the young man had warned that "you never can tell these days."

("FOIS' PLACE!" exults Joe. "FOIS' PLACE!" "Ahhhh, t'ey'd be ten games up," says Sally, sourly, "if Petey'd been playin'. One game he gets, in fifteen. Whatkin'a chance izzat?")

Amidst all the excitement as the Dodgers claimed first place yesterday with their 3-2 win over the Reds, attention is called to Mr. Harry A. Lavagetto of Oakland, California and Brooklyn, New York, who now leads the National League in hitting with a glittering average of .4211. Cookie thus edges out Billy Jurges of the Giants, who's batting .420. But why bring that up?

The home-run tallies of the season thus far also fall under Brooklyn domination, with Mr. Adolph L. Camilli standing high with six round-trippers so far. Mel Ott of the Giants and Bill Nicholson of the Cubs trail behind with 4. Mr. Camilli also leads the league in Runs Batted In with sixteen.

Station WNYC will broadcast a series of thirteen dramatizations of the lives and accomplishments of "outstanding Negroes," beginning this Saturday night at 8 PM. Among those to be profiled in the series are Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Bannecker, George Washington Carver, Crispus Attucks, and Paul Robeson. "Negro writers" Kirk Lord and John Griffin will provide the scripts, with Mitchell Grayson directing. The music will be provided by the Juanita Hall Choir. Author Richard Wright will serve as commentator.

("I stick my neck out for nobod...oh wait, I guess I do.")

("In a way that's my suitcase!" Well, I mean, he's got as much claim to it as the Bungles do.)

(Yeah, we all know it's probably Leach, but wouldn't it be something if instead it turns out to be that hokey phony count that was nosing around Leona way back there, the Handsomest Man In All Europe? And his buddy with him is Murdock the Butler.)

("I mean, his hands and feet were gone, and so was all the flesh on his face, an' his lower jaw was missin', an', well, to be honest, there wasn't a whole lot left of anything else. BUT IT SURE LOOKED LIKE DAN!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Aw, how can you only be 85 per cent in love with Burgess Meredith? EVERYBODY loves Burgess Meredith.

Can't we be both?

Harold and Lillums take on side work.

"Say George, tell me -- what's with Baldy? Howcum he dresses up like he's goin' to the opera at eight o'clock in the morning?" "Some things is best not to ask, bub. Some things is best not to ask."

Because hostesses in roadhouses always shop at fine department stores. How 'bout you check Woolworth's?

Who could possibly want to troll Andy Gump?

That "dark glasses indoors" fad is really catching on.

Oh no no no no no no no. Don't you DARE get Trix involved with Chigger.

Wellll, if you hadn't run away last time, you never would have gotten involved with Pipdyke and never would have gotten a job in his plant and never would have met Lana in the first place. So, really, whattaya got to lose, kid?

Let 'em take him, Mush, it'll be the best move you ever made.

 

[Fading Fast]

...(This wouldn't have happened if Dan Dunn was alive.)...

...
("Meh. It's a living.")...

What she needs to do is "open up" a "back room" for all the extracurricular activity - bookmaking would be my advice - that happened in barber shops back then. Forget about one course, she'll be able to pay for four years of college in no time assuming she doesn't wind up in the hoosegow. (Ehh, everything is a risk.)

... ("Hydroforming" sounds like something the Boys made up after a particularly martini-filled lunch, but it is, in fact, an actual process that uses hydrogen to reclaim heavy naphthas and other byproducts of the refining process and allows them to be re-refined into gasoline. "Flame Control" and "Cushioned Power," however, are phrases that are even now causing the staff at Consumers' Union to roll on the floor and experience paroxysms. )...

Boy, use "Hyrdroforming" gas in one of those new Buicks with "Compound Carburetion" and you'd really have something. I'd love to hear Joe and Sally talking about all these new advances.

..."Hellzapoppin'" celebrates its third birthday today, with the raucous Olsen and Johnson masterpiece of chaos having had its first performance, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on April 29, 1938. The boys had a bit of trouble over the title in that midwestern outpost, with the theatre manager protesting that his patrons wouldn't stand for such blasphemy, and insisted that the marquee instead read "What's Next?" By the time the tryout tour reached Philadelphia, however, the show's proper name had been restored, and it's never been called anything else for the duration of its run at the Winter Garden, which began on September 22, 1938....

The movie's coming later this year, can't wait.

...
("I stick my neck out for nobod...oh wait, I guess I do.")...

The turtle is too good for this strip. He should be shopping his resume around. Harold could use a new friend or maybe he could somehow help in the rescue of Terry. I see several career opportunities for him - his talents are wasted in "Sparky Watts."

...
Can't we be both?....

Six for six is surprising. I thought food would be a bigger concern for, at least, some as it was still the Depression. Also surprised that they didn't ask any men. With all the suits and fedoras, etc., it wasn't cheap back then for a man to be well dressed.

... Because hostesses in roadhouses always shop at fine department stores. How 'bout you check Woolworth's?....

Could be from Namm's.

...
That "dark glasses indoors" fad is really catching on..

But can't deny, for 1941 in war-torn China, the guy - check sport coat, sweater vest, tie, pipe, sunglasses and slicked-back hair - does look darn cool. To have that getup, he'a got to have something going on.

... Oh no no no no no no no. Don't you DARE get Trix involved with Chigger.....

But from a storytelling perspective, that could turn into a Caniff-level move.

Also, Chigger being nice to Skeezix was like when your parents had guests over and all of a sudden they became nice to you. You're thinking, what the heck is going on here? (Really, more my mom, my dad didn't change much with company around or not.)