The Era -- Day By Day

[Harp]

The Chicago Tribune Sunday edition weighed a flour sack, heft n' bulk. And along South Paulina Avenue
three and four flat apartment buildings ruled domicile choice, so the day of rest paperboy work detail
scaled Mt Everest until all delivered. Rainy Sundays mandated plastic cover slips so condomized necessitated
a few tugs per paper. Lucky were the paper hawkers outside Little Flower Church. All that was required
there was a lateral pass to walkup paying customers. Pedestrian paper spots, like street delivery was a
time honored inheritance racket. Older brothers passed off to younger siblings who might hire a non relative
to assist-that is how I broke in the biz. Two bucks a week plus Tuesday subscription collection tips.
Paperboys also nailed stolen or found wood shoeboxes and shined shoes.

Terry and Heraldry running a bit thin.

 

[EngProf]

I'm astonished that Mace Brown pitched more games than Fitz did. I remember when they picked up Brown and I remember when they sent him on his way, but I can't remember a single thing he did in between.

I had no idea that tungsten smuggling was a thing. That might be the most Dick Tracy crime ever.

Tungsten is a VERY important strategic mineral for modern warfare.
Aside from the obvious use of tungsten for light bulbs and vacuum tubes (by the millions) for radios and radar, very-hard tungsten goes into machine-tool cutters for making precision parts for guns, aircraft, torpedoes, etc.
However, the most valuable use of it in warfare is as the central core of anti-tank armor-piercing projectiles. The hardness and high density of tungsten made it the best penetrator available at the time.
Until depleted-uranium came into use much later, tungsten was as good as it gets when it comes to stopping tanks.
I can see it being sold and smuggled on the international black market. Any country would want as much of it as they could get from whatever source.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Allied forces including American-made bombers struck heavy counter-blows against Japanese invaders of the East Indies today, bombing a Japanese cruiser and two transports, and shooting down four enemy planes over Celebes. A Japanese destroyer was also attacked. The new counter-blows brought the total number of enemy transports hit to six, including two torpedoed and sunk by Dutch submarines in the Gulf of Siam. Three Japanese warships have been hit since the invasion of Celebas and the oil-rich Tarakan Island began, and two cruisers were reported hit.

Japan increased the fury of her attack on Gen. Douglas MacArthur's men today after American and Philippine troops rolled back the initial full-scale Japanese assault on their stout defense lines at Batan Province. Japanese forces rolled big guns into position along the short front MacArthur was holding on the northern Batan border, and today sent a constant rain of explosive shells into the American lines. American guns replied, and a War Department communique described the encounter as "a heavy artillery battle."

British Empire forces are being withdrawn to a new line north of Seramban, on the main rail line to Singapore 30 miles north of Kuala Lumpur, before a ferocious Japanese tank-led offensive, according to reports contained in a Malaya command communique. A late bulletin from Rangoon reported by the United Press stated that Royal Air Force planes ranging over Thailand today strafed a railroad station and an airdrome, wrecking a moving train and destroying two Japanese planes on the ground.

The greatest fighting man in pugilism today became a private in Uncle Sam's Army. Heavyweight champion Joe Louis early this morning signed his enlistment papers and then boarded the ferry to Fort Jay on Governor's Island, directly across from the Statue of Liberty. The champion, attired in a tan plaid suit and a brown overcoat, wore a bright red registration tag numbered 374 around his neck, and his co-manager Julian Black declared "I've got to get back to New York so I can place a couple of dollars on 374 in the numbers pool!" Along with Black, and promoter Mike Jacobs, a swarm of about fifty reporters, photographers, and newsreel men witnessed the Brown Bomber's departure for the service. Meanwhile, Promoter Jacobs turned over to the Navy Relief Fund Louis's entire winner's share of the purse from Friday night's fight against Buddy Baer, enriching that fund to the tune of $89,012.01.

A 27-year-old gangster already serving a life sentence for one murder and about to stand trial for another hung himself today in his cell at the Queens City Prison in Long Island City. Albert "The Hook" Gaetti was last seen alive in his cell by a guard shortly after 6 this morning, but was found swinging from a rope made from a bed sheet at approximately 6:45. Gaetti was convicted of the 1939 murder of small-time Queens bookmaker Sam Choicolla and sentenced to die, but that sentence was commuted to life last June, just twelve hours before he was scheduled to meet his fate in the electric chair. He was to have gone on trial again for the January 1940 slaying of Brooklyn tavernkeeper John Glass during a botched robbery. Gaetti subsequently confessed to yet another murder, that of Detective John Fuery of the Queens Homicide Squad, who was killed during a holdup at a Richmond Hill stamp dealer's shop in December 1939.

City Controller Joseph T. McGoldrick today denied charges that he cut the salary of a bureau chief in his department by $1000, and demoted him to senior bookkeeper in an act of political retribution. Spencer C. Young of Queens, who challenged McGoldrick for the Democratic Party nomination for the office of Chief Controller last fall, also alleged that McGoldrick had intervened to block his continued activities on the staff of New York City Selective Service head Col. Arthur V. McDermott. McGoldrick acknowledged that Young had been demoted, but attributed that action to "a necessary reorganization" in the Controller's office.

("I could do t'at," declares Sally. "An' in a few mont's, soon's Leonora's a lit'l oldeh, I'm GONNA do t'at." "You a weldeh?" replies Joe. "Yeah!" insists Sally. "What's wrong wit'tat? I'm good at fixin' stuff. Lotta times I fixed t'at windeh t'ere." "Afteh you t'rew t'radio t'rough it, y'mean?" "Yeah," admits Sally. "I don't do t'at no moeh, t'ough. Bein' a mutteh has changed me." "Yeah," admits Joe. "But wait'lla baseball season stahts up again.")

A Japanese radio broadcast picked up in Turkey today claimed that Adolf Hitler is a Mohammedan. The propaganda broadcast directed at the Middle East further asserted that not only does Hitler follow Mohammedan beliefs, but he is also a direct descendant of Mohammed himself. It was also claimed in the broadcast that when Hitler was born, he was wearing a "holy green belt" around his waist.

The Columbia Broadcasting System today released a statement protesting a ruling by British authorities in Singapore banning its correspondent Cecil Brown from broadcasting "anywhere on British soil." The ban was reportedly issued due to Brown's "pessimistic reports" on the Malay campaign and the effect of those reports on the local population. Before he was stationed at Singapore by the radio network, Brown was banned from Libya by Axis authorities for expressing his "pro-British sentiments" on the air.

A lawsuit for $10,275,000 has been filed against the National Broadcasting Company by the Mutual Broadcasting System following NBC's refusal to sell "important parts of its Blue Network" to Mutual. The MBS suit accuses NBC of violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by interfering with Mutual's sale of network time thru various exclusive contracts, but NBC President Niles Trammel accuses the principal owners of the Mutual chain, R. H. Macy & Company and the Chicago Tribune, of themselves attempting to violate the anti-trust laws by seeking to purchase the Blue Network intact. NBC was ordered to divest itself of the Blue Network by the Federal Communications Commission last year, and the first steps in that process were taken earlier this year, when the Blue Network Company, Inc. was established as an independent subsidiary of the Radio Corporation of America, with the intention of selling that subsidiary to new owners.

(We're entering the Golden Age of the Wartime Tie-In Ad. This one's pretty mild compared to what's coming.)

(In these fast-changing times when you never know what to expect next, it's comforting to see that "Life With Father" is still running.)

(The film in question was made in 1936, and Mr. B has long since moved on to stooging for Kay Kyser and Rudy Vallee. C'mon, M. H. K., try to keep up.)

(Mr. Lichty must be working on a lead time of one day. Pretty impressive.)

(The Amerks are horrible and everybody knows they're horrible, but they're still in the running for the playoffs. I'll never understand hockey. And "Clyde Kluttz" is my all-time favorite baseball name.)

(SHE'S ONLY SEVENTEEN YOU CREEPS)

(Wah wahhh wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...)

(Yeah, forget these yucks, and let's turn the whole strip over to Polly Plumpsett!)

("There must be an owner's manual! If only I can get to the glove compartment!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And from high atop the Tower...

Or, you could become a welder.

"The Judge" was a very prominent radio personality in the '30s, and the arch enemy of Father Coughlin. A mob of Coughlinites and Christian Fronters tried to break up one of his rallies at Madison Square Garden in 1939, and were beaten into submission by Witnesses armed with heavy canes for the occasion. "It Was A Gentler Time."

How prissy. My mother used to throw a dishpan full of ice water on me if I wouldn't get up.

This buildup better be worth it.

Hey Moon, ever consider the Army?

Don't these people believe in banks?

You can't make this stuff up. Unless you're Chester Gould.

Tops is a tower of maturity next to this guy.

Poor Honey. She really could do a lot better.

"How 'bout a raise then?"

 

[Fading Fast]

...The greatest fighting man in pugilism today became a private in Uncle Sam's Army. Heavyweight champion Joe Louis early this morning signed his enlistment papers and then boarded the ferry to Fort Jay on Governor's Island, directly across from the Statue of Liberty. The champion, attired in a tan plaid suit and a brown overcoat, wore a bright red registration tag numbered 374 around his neck, and his co-manager Julian Black declared "I've got to get back to New York so I can place a couple of dollars on 374 in the numbers pool!" Along with Black, and promoter Mike Jacobs, a swarm of about fifty reporters, photographers, and newsreel men witnessed the Brown Bomber's departure for the service. Meanwhile, Promoter Jacobs turned over to the Navy Relief Fund Louis's entire winner's share of the purse from Friday night's fight against Buddy Baer, enriching that fund to the tune of $89,012.01....

This is why, later in life, when Louis was having all his tax issues, if the government had any compassion, some real forbearance would have been the kind and just thing to do, but the government had no interest in opening that door even a crack.

"I've got to get back to New York so I can place a couple of dollars on 374 in the numbers pool!" is a great example of how "the numbers racket" was just a normal part of life back then.

...
("I could do t'at," declares Sally. "An' in a few mont's, soon's Leonora's a lit'l oldeh, I'm GONNA do t'at." "You a weldeh?" replies Joe. "Yeah!" insists Sally. "What's wrong wit'tat? I'm good at fixin' stuff. Lotta times I fixed t'at windeh t'ere." "Afteh you t'rew t'radio t'rough it, y'mean?" "Yeah," admits Sally. "I don't do t'at no moeh, t'ough. Bein' a mutteh has changed me." "Yeah," admits Joe. "But wait'lla baseball season stahts up again.")...

...A Japanese radio broadcast picked up in Turkey today claimed that Adolf Hitler is a Mohammedan. The propaganda broadcast directed at the Middle East further asserted that not only does Hitler follow Mohammedan beliefs, but he is also a direct descendant of Mohammed himself. It was also claimed in the broadcast that when Hitler was born, he was wearing a "holy green belt" around his waist....

Can't help wondering what open-minded Hitler would have thought about this.

...The Columbia Broadcasting System today released a statement protesting a ruling by British authorities in Singapore banning its correspondent Cecil Brown from broadcasting "anywhere on British soil." The ban was reportedly issued due to Brown's "pessimistic reports" on the Malay campaign and the effect of those reports on the local population. Before he was stationed at Singapore by the radio network, Brown was banned from Libya by Axis authorities for expressing his "pro-British sentiments" on the air....

The West makes its mistakes around freedom of the press, but it's a good sign when the fight takes place in the open.

.....
(Mr. Lichty must be working on a lead time of one day. Pretty impressive.)...

Seriously, he's treating it like a daily column. That is some serious pressure he's putting on himself.

...
(Wah wahhh wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...)...

Kudos, Lizzie, while it became obvious later, you made that call very early one. Well done.

...
(Yeah, forget these yucks, and let's turn the whole strip over to Polly Plumpsett!)...

I'm all for a spin-off strip, but I don't think 1942 America is quite ready for everything that is Polly Plumpest.

...
How prissy. My mother used to throw a dishpan full of ice water on me if I wouldn't get up....

No kidding. My job was to get up first, turn the heat up in the winter, plug in the coffee pot for my parents and get myself breakfast. I actually liked the "quiet time" I had early in the morning, but man was it cold in the winter till the heat came up. I remember sitting at the breakfast table with my winter coat on, on the coldest mornings.

... Don't these people believe in banks?..."

$47,000 in '42 is ~$800,000 today. So, yes, a pillowcase seems crazy, but the bank failures of the Depression were still fresh in everyone's mind.

Also, perhaps, you want to put, say, half aside and only bet half on the next race - just sayin'.

... You can't make this stuff up. Unless you're Chester Gould....

Secret marriages seemed to really be a thing back then; we don't have them today anymore.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"The Judge" was a very prominent radio personality in the '30s, and the arch enemy of Father Coughlin. A mob of Coughlinites and Christian Fronters tried to break up one of his rallies at Madison Square Garden in 1939, and were beaten into submission by Witnesses armed with heavy canes for the occasion. "It Was A Gentler Time."

My favorite pre- law professor used to lead one of his favorite lectures with the admonishment, "You owe a debt to the Jehovah's Witnesses that you'll NEVER be able to repay." And then we'd go through West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Niemotko v. Maryland, Lovell v. City of Griffin, Cantwell v. Connecticut, etc. He was correct: so much of what we enjoy regarding the Free Exercise of religion was defined through litigation involving that group.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Rtutherford was a decidedly odd character -- the "House of the Princes" mentioned in the article still stands in San Diego, and was originally actually deeded to King David and various other Bible personalities with Rutherford acting as trustee. But he was, by profession, a lawyer, and was involved in arguing a number of those early cases. He had as his assistant a fire-breather named Hayden Covington, who would actually be responsible for most of the victories in those cases after Rutherford died. Covington will go on, years later, to represent Muhammad Ali during his troubles with the draft.

Joe Louis's problems with taxes can largely be laid to the corrupt machinations of his handlers, especially Mike Jacobs. The Buddy Baer fight just completed and the upcoming Lou Nova fight were supposed to be a special strict charity deal arranged with the IRS to cancel out what Louis then owed in tax debt -- but, it will turn out, Jacobs didn't live up to the full letter of the agreement and took a cut for himself, which will void the whole arrangement so far as the IRS was concerned. Louis himself will know none of this until it's too late.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Joe Louis's problems with taxes can largely be laid to the corrupt machinations of his handlers, especially Mike Jacobs. The Buddy Baer fight just completed and the upcoming Lou Nova fight were supposed to be a special strict charity deal arranged with the IRS to cancel out what Louis then owed in tax debt -- but, it will turn out, Jacobs didn't live up to the full letter of the agreement and took a cut for himself, which will void the whole arrangement so far as the IRS was concerned. Louis himself will know none of this until it's too late.

Great color on Louis, but in a way, I feel that's where the gov't could have used its discretion as it was clear Louis wasn't trying to cheat the gov't as he actually tried to do the right thing. Having seen how the IRS operates, it has a lot of discretion to settle things for less than the full amount, to bring intent in, etc. It seemed to have taken an unnecessarily hard line on Louis.

 

[Harp]

My favorite pre- law professor used to lead one of his favorite lectures with the admonishment, "You owe a debt to the Jehovah's Witnesses that you'll NEVER be able to repay." And then we'd go through West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Niemotko v. Maryland, Lovell v. City of Griffin, Cantwell v. Connecticut, etc. He was correct: so much of what we enjoy regarding the Free Exercise of religion was defined through litigation involving that group.

The First Amendment Establishment Clause should serve sufficient note in and of itself so as to
render subsequent litigation subordinate to strict construction and frankly superfluous as regards
provenance. The consequence of judicial overstep with Kennedy's opinion in Obergefell and the
confluence of gay rights and the First Amendment guarantee of religious and speech rights as seen
in Masterpiece Cake Shop ad infinitum cast confusion and cowardice among the Court.

As intrigued as I am with constitutional law the lack of reasonable adherence and restraint
are all the more remarkable, then also a decided lack of strictness mars precise exactitude.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Great color on Louis, but in a way, I feel that's where the gov't could have used its discretion as it was clear Louis wasn't trying to cheat the gov't as he actually tried to do the right thing. Having seen how the IRS operates, it has a lot of discretion to settle things for less than the full amount, to bring intent in, etc. It seemed to have taken an unnecessarily hard line on Louis.

It's always struck me as odd that Nixon didn't intervene when Louis's troubles were at their peak in the early 70s. Louis had enthusiastically campaigned for him in 1960, and as President, Nixon certainly could have settled down the IRS with a phone call. But he didn't.

 

[ChiTownScion]

The First Amendment Establishment Clause should serve sufficient note in and of itself so as to
render subsequent litigation subordinate to strict construction and frankly superfluous as regards
provenance. The consequence of judicial overstep with Kennedy's opinion in Obergefell and the
confluence of gay rights and the First Amendment guarantee of religious and speech rights as seen
in Masterpiece Cake Shop ad infinitum cast confusion and cowardice among the Court.

As intrigued as I am with constitutional law the lack of reasonable adherence and restraint
are all the more remarkable, then also a decided lack of strictness mars precise exactitude.

Disagree. Primarily because the Free Exercise clause is meaningless absent adherence to the Establishment Clause.

 

[Harp]

Disagree. Primarily because the Free Exercise clause is meaningless absent adherence to the Establishment Clause.

The First Amendment Establishment Clause should serve sufficient note in and of itself so as to
render subsequent litigation subordinate to strict construction and frankly superfluous as regards
provenance. The consequence of judicial overstep with Kennedy's opinion in Obergefell and the
confluence of gay rights and the First Amendment guarantee of religious and speech rights as seen
in Masterpiece Cake Shop ad infinitum cast confusion and cowardice among the Court.

As intrigued as I am with constitutional law the lack of reasonable adherence and restraint
are all the more remarkable, then also a decided lack of strictness mars precise exactitude.

My point exactly counselor; although my comment at second glance strikes gratis dictum and should
have been better writ. Obergefell should have been considered a violation of both First and Tenth due
to Judeo Christian tradition as Kennedy's dismissal ipso facto upended said and established marital accord
as was recognized for two thousand years between a male and female to male and male within
constitutional context.

Masterpiece and like cases where the right to silence as germane religious beliefs heterosexual
in relevance marriage, and, the Roberts Court silence is deafening.

 

[Harp]

It's always struck me as odd that Nixon didn't intervene when Louis's troubles were at their peak in the early 70s. Louis had enthusiastically campaigned for him in 1960, and as President, Nixon certainly could have settled down the IRS with a phone call. But he didn't.

The President is restrained in certain matters as to active federal legal action regarding private citizenry
and inadvertent precedent set for public avail.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Japanese airplane fleets opened an attack on the central Celebes coast and Ternate Island in the Molucca group, 150 miles across the Molucca passage, as the Netherlands East Indies command announced the fall of oil-rich Tarakan Island. Brief reports of the raids gave no indication whether as in previous instances they were the prelude to new invasion attempts. Thirty heavy bombs were dropped on Kolonedale, 250 miles down the Celebes coast from Tarakan, but the only casualty reported was the wounding of a non-commissioned officer.

The War Department announced today that American and Philippine batteries locked in a 24-hour duel at Batan have forced the Japanese to withdraw their big guns to the rear after heavy losses. Meanwhile, American air reinforcements have assumed a major role in the fight for Singapore and the Dutch East Indies, as British forces have abandoned Port Swetenham, 40 miles southwest of Kuala Lumpur. As the climactic phase of the battle for Singapore approaches, it was admitted yesterday that the Japanese entered Kuala Lumpur, only to find it stripped of everything they could possibly use.

Adolf Hitler has withdrawn his field headquarters from Smolensk in the face of the relentless counter-drive of the Red Army, and has established a new command base "somewhere in southern Russia." Soviet forces were reported last night to have advanced to within 110 miles of Smolensk, along the road on which Napoleon's grand army met its fate.

Meanwhile, reports out of Berlin indicated that twenty-five field marshals and generals have been caught up in a "merciless purge" of high German Army officers following Hitler's removal of Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch as commander-in-chief. At the same time, a mass recruiting campaign to rebuild the German Army's ranks is underway, with men being drafted for military service on as little as 24 hours notice. A German spokesman was quoted as acknowledging this, but denying that there is anything unusual about it.

(Something shady about this. Starting asking questions at candy stores.)

Harry "Happy" Maione and Frank "The Dasher" Abbandando will die in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on February 19th. The execution date for the two convicted Murder For Money killers for the slaying of stool pigeon George Rudnick was set yesterday. The Court of Appeals turned down a request from the two to overturn the convictions last week.

Benjamin Franklin appeared today at Camp Upton looking to enlist for the Army. He's a 51-year-old World War Cavalry veteran who hopes to be given an exception to Army age restrictions to return to service in his former branck. Also reporting for duty yesterday was William Perry Gray, a 19-year-old Rappahannock Indian who noted that, even though his tribe is still technically at war with the United States, he is willing to put his feelings aside to fight against a common enemy.

The head of the Technocracy movement, prominent nearly a decade ago, has been proposed for a new post as "Director General" of all defense industries. The nomination of engineer Howard Scott for such a role came from his own organization, Technocracy Incorporated, which has remained active despite falling from the national profile it had in the early 1930s. Asked why his group has so few followers in New York, Mr. Scott sniffed "New Yorkers have a low intelligence quotient."

The war has forced the closing of Hollywood's most prominent nightclub. Ciro's, plush-lined hot spot of the stars, and the nation's most expensive location for after-dark entertainment, shut its silver-plated doors last night and doused its lights, with proprietor William B. Wilkerson complaining that his glittering clientele has put away its ermine wraps and has "gone into mourning since Pearl Harbor." Mr. Wilkerson also suggested his usual crowd has been panicked by rumors rampant on the Coast of Japanese air raids, and that they're afraid to use up their automobile tires.

("Prospec' Pawk inna spring," muses Joe. "Don' he mean Ebbets Feel?" "Yeah," notes Sally. "Ya notice t'ere's awways a Brooklyn angle.")

A twenty-one-foot-high painted thermometer in front of Borough Hall marks the dedication of Fulton Street as Brooklyn's Street of Mercy. The giant thermometer was erected today to mark the start of the borough's Red Cross campaign for 1942, and it will be filled in with a rising line of red to indicate the progress of contributions toward a quota of $700,000.

The price of two leading brands of store milk dropped three cents today as the Borden and Sheffield Farms companies acted to head off new charges that they are attempting to monopolize the distribution of fluid milk in the city. In setting the new price at 13 cents a quart in glass deposit bottles or 14 cents a quart in paper cartons, Borden also announced that it is eliminating several auxiliary brand names under which it has sold its product, including Interstate, Reid's Union Dairy, and Dairy-Sealed. Hereafter all Borden milk will be sold under the Borden name. While also reducing the price of Sheffield-branded milk conform to the new scale, Sheffield officials made no mention of its subsidiary brands, Breakstone and Muller Dairies.

("The Voice With A Smile.")

("Hey, 'at was a pretty good pitcheh," says Joe, sauntering out of an afternoon show at the Paramount. "I dunno why Bette Davis puts up wit' awllat t'ough. She shudda took t'at monkey by t'whiskas an' t'rew 'im onna floeh. Save ev'ybody a lotta trouble." "One t'ing I don' get," says Joe. "Ya say Durante was s'posta be playin' Hawpo Mawx? Well, ev'ybody knows Hawpo don't tawk, an'nat Durante, he don' do nutt'n BUT tawk! I don' get it!" "It's whatcha call," explains Sally, "ya poetic license." "But he din' say nut'nn'at rhymes! How'zat po-etic? Seems like t'ey oughta take away his license f't'at.")

The Eagle Editorialist ponders the OPM's proposal to ban the manufacture and sale of "two pants suits" for the duration of the war by wondering why they can't come up with a way to make the coat and the pants wear evenly, thus eliminating the need for the extra pair of pants in the first place.

(Besides, shouldn't you be working at Sperry's?)

("Dear Billy: Why aren't you in the Army? Signed, Your Father-in-Law.")

(Again with the double-entendres.)

(Speaking of elephants...)

(Ah now! Exit one Hollywood diva, enter one gentleman jewel thief!)

("Hmph! They should call you Dan Down!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And from the city so alive and strong and coarse and cunning...

Usually happens right after he puts the lampshade on his head.

No underducks!

Gawdawmighty.

"A bottle and a bird" means exactly what you think it means. No wonder Emmy's got such a temper.

"And to make matters worse, I wish I hadn't had all that ginger ale at the night club."

Probably shouldn't wear your white suit.

"You're worried, though, aren't you?" "Hm? Oh yes, very worried. By the way, have you seen Chester's baby dinosaur?"

"Yes *chuckle* he calls me 'Uncle,' even though he's my son. You see, back in 1921 a woman who turned out to be a world-famous opera singer left him on my doorstep in a basket, and..." "OPERA!? GUARDS! TAKE HIM AWAY!"

"NO, I DON'T WANT TO BUY A VACUUM CLEANER! DO I LOOK LIKE I NEED A VACUUM CLEANER?"

You don't have to go thru with this, you know. There's still time to run.

 

[Harp]

Lizzie,

Hope the weather is kind to Maine this week. Looks like a snow wallop around the corner.

WGN. World's Greatest Newspaper. In like a lamb, out on a meathook journalism.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Something shady about this. Starting asking questions at candy stores.)...

Agreed, there's something going on here. You'd hate to think he just "Hungry Heart[ed]" it:

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

....Mr. Scott sniffed "New Yorkers have a low intelligence quotient."...

I protest, but can't form the thoughts in my head to rebut him.

...
("Hey, 'at was a pretty good pitcheh," says Joe, sauntering out of an afternoon show at the Paramount. "I dunno why Bette Davis puts up wit' awllat t'ough. She shudda took t'at monkey by t'whiskas an' t'rew 'im onna floeh. Save ev'ybody a lotta trouble." "One t'ing I don' get," says Joe. "Ya say Durante was s'posta be playin' Hawpo Mawx? Well, ev'ybody knows Hawpo don't tawk, an'nat Durante, he don' do nutt'n BUT tawk! I don' get it!" "It's whatcha call," explains Sally, "ya poetic license." "But he din' say nut'nn'at rhymes! How'zat po-etic? Seems like t'ey oughta take away his license f't'at.")...

Thank you, Lizzie, just perfect.

...The Eagle Editorialist ponders the OPM's proposal to ban the manufacture and sale of "two pants suits" for the duration of the war by wondering why they can't come up with a way to make the coat and the pants wear evenly, thus eliminating the need for the extra pair of pants in the first place....

Umm, guys, this is not a manufacturing issue but a user issue driven by anatomy and function. The two-pants suit probably saves material as, otherwise, instead of just swapping out the pants and keeping the same jacket, a man would need to buy a whole new suit.

... ("Hmph! They should call you Dan Down!")

Having been on a few WWII subs in museums, Marsh's scale is way off if he thinks they have anywhere near that head or elbow room - those subs were really tight.

...
No underducks!....

There is a cruelness to how high and how early his life peaked. Referencing another song from the Boss, Rooney potential had the worst case of "Gloria Days" of any human being on earth, ever.

...[
"A bottle and a bird" means exactly what you think it means. No wonder Emmy's got such a temper.....

"A bottle and a bird," you couldn't get much more '30s/'40s argot than that.

...
"And to make matters worse, I wish I hadn't had all that ginger ale at the night club."....

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

And, nice, Lizzie.

... View attachment 394821 You don't have to go thru with this, you know. There's still time to run.

These people should move to three separate states.

 

[Harp]

Rooney genuinely cared for Ava Gardner.
Caught a snip of Entertainment Tonite whilst Ava, self-expatriated in London and alone, more miserable
than a miser received some sympathetic comment from her ex-husband.
Gardner must have been difficult to love.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Fortunate the man who has never had to deal with a "Honey" in real life. Realizing things as they really are is always a bitter pill when you look back at the clues that were there all along and one was too "goofy" (pun intended) to smell the coffee.

Women obviously have to deal with the same thing, and it's usually a lot uglier and more dangerous when "Mr. Right" turns out to be abusive, alcoholic, a narcissist, unfaithful, lazy, and worse. On both sides of the gender fence in this, I'd submit that a lot of this is wrapped up in the lack of self-confidence that maturity often remedies. If you consider yourself so unbelievably fortunate to have "found someone" that you're blind to objective realities and the fact that you are allowed legitimate expectations, there's a problem- and it's only going to get worse.

My own opinion is that marriage should wait until higher education (academic or vocational), establishment in one's career, and financial security have first been achieved. But again... this is a comic strip and people acting rationally all of the time in a comic strip would make things pretty dull.

 

[Harp]

. But again... this is a comic strip and people acting rationally all of the time in a comic strip would make things pretty dull.

Hey, lets keep politics out of this.