The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

("A butcheh," muses Sally. "I could do t'at. What's to it? Ya take a knife an' ya slice off ya steaks an' ya chops an' ya wrap it up an' sennit on its way." "Don'f'getcha put ya t'um' onna scale," adds Joe. "Nah," says Sally. "Bohack's don' do t'at, 'at'sem bums at Roulston's." "Might be a good idea at'tat," shrugs Joe. "Ev'n if we can't get no meat, lea's y'd come home at night smellin' like it.")
...

Mrs. O'Brien better hope her husband doesn't "fall" against a knife a second time and die as she's gonna have a tough time explaining that one away.

...

A remarkable assortment of items ranging from a three-stone diamond ring to 24 pounds of Ehler's Coffee will be sold to the highest bidders at Dave Elman's Victory Auction, to be personally conducted by the star of radio's "Hobby Lobby" program, starting at 2pm Monday in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel St. George. The auction benefitting the "Brooklyn Bombs Berlin" campaign is scheduled to run for twelve hours, will include many articles donated by leading Brooklyn stores and manufacturers, including nylon hose, shoes and clothing items, and assorted household items donated by Martin's, Namm's, Loeser's, and A. S. Beck, cases of Rhiengold Beer donated by Liebmann Breweries, 50 pounds of candy donated by Rockwood Confections, and other hard-to-get items. Mr. Elman himself has also contributed unique collectors' items for the occasion, including articles of silverware salvaged from the battleship Arizona, sunk at Pearl Harbor, along with a framed water-soaked newspaper the captain of the Arizona had in his pocket at the time of that backstabbing attack. Mr. Elman has also contributed several original Chinese war posters and several express money orders bearing the signature of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, which the aviator had on his person while adrift on a life raft in the Pacific. It is indicated that Mr. Elman is making every effort to get Capt. Rickenbacker to donate the actual raft itself to the auction. Organizers note that all bids for rationed goods must be accompanied by the appropriate number of ration stamps. Admission to the auction will be the purchase of one war savings stamp.
...

As I was reading this, I was wondering if they'd require rationing coupons for bidding. Had they not, they'd have raised a heck of a lot more money. Might even had made sense since the proceeds are going to the war effort. Imagine what 24 pounds of coffee or 50 pounds of candy, free of ration coupons, would raise.

...

("Countess Delicatesse?" And what of her husband, Lord Pastrami?)
...

A diamond-fencing caper is so wonderfully 1940s.

And in the Daily News...

Those regulation Civilian Defense uniforms are cut different out on the Coast.
...

Yes they are. "Miss Flame Girl," Elyse Knox, who looks so cute in her specially tailored uniform - it helps to have her specially tailored body to fit into it - is actor Mark Harmon's mother.

No kidding, Mark, your mom was The Flame Girl of 1943

...

SLACKER!
...

Even in the NY Press, albeit grudgingly, there have been so many exposes and stories, over the years, about how the recycled garbage that we wash and then painstakingly separate into different colored bins is either thrown together after being picked up or is simply not recycle because of the economics (plus, now, all the extra energy used for running separate trucks for different garbage has become an issue), that while good liberal New Yorkers still go through the motions of recycling, there is no real enthusiasm left for it. But when it first started, so many years ago now, woe be the neighbor who put a can or scrap of paper in the wrong bin.

...

Feel the quicksand.

And later...

Shadow: "You're going to marry Cynthia?"

Harold: "Well, it's a long story."

Shadow: "I always thought, one day, you'd marry Lillums."

Harold: "Umm, yes, but right now I really want to marry Joan."

Shadow: "Joan! Who the h*ll is Joan?"

Harold: "She's, uh, umm, uh Cynthia's sister."

Shadow: "That's it. I'm going back to Covina."

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Terrence might not finish. Fred might be taking private flying lessons. I recall he said something about the air force.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Lookit heeh," says Sally, brandishing an envelope. "T'lan'loehd sennus a check f't'em days we was stayin' at Ma's house. A rebate, he cawls it. An' he hopes we was 'not too incovenienced by t' unfawchoonet soicumstances durin' t' recen' col' spell." "Uncle Frank does nice woik," comments Joe. "I still ain' happy, t'ough," declares Sally. "T'at wateh f'm t'em broken pipes ruint a bunch 'a my pic'chehs a' Petey." "Tell Uncle Frank," sighs Joe. "Maybe he c'n get Rickey t'gettim back f'm t' Pittsboigs." There is no response. "Ain'cha gonna say 'what?'" interjects Joe. "Quiet," replies Sally. "I'm t'inkin'.)

Off for a weekend at Wellesley College, from which she graduated with honors in 1917, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek left behind her in New York the ever-so-polite suggestion that an American Expeditionary Force in China would have a good moral effect upon our common enemy, Japan. Before her departure from Pennsylvania Station for Boston at 11 this morning, the wife of China's Generalissimo addressed the New York press to offer "a small hint" that American troops would be welcome in China, to fight alongside her own people for the reclamation of their homeland. About 90 reporters, men and women alike, attended the conference, but as with President Roosevelt's press conferences, it was understood that there were to be no direct quotations of her remarks.

Two sailors, indicted on a charge of first degree robbery, were allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of malicious mischief after they testified before Kings County Judge Peter Brancato that they were veterans of the Battle of Midway. Twenty-year-old Preston B. Hill of of Danville, Virigina and 19-year-old Joseph Morin of Newberry, Michigan appeared before Judge Brancato in uniform, on charges that, on February 26th, they ordered a taxicab driver out of his taxi and drove away in the vehicle. They were subsequently discovered by a radio patrolman driving along Canal Street in Manhattan, and were arrested after they collided with a police stanchion at the corner of Spring and West Streets. After noticing the campaign ribbons on the sailors' uniforms, and being told what they indicated, Judge Brancato, visibly affected by emotion, declared "this charge of robbery is not going to stand," and after allowing the men to plead guilty to the lesser charge, promised to have it wiped clean if, in the future, it affects either man's military record in any way. After suspending sentence, Judge Brancato urged the two to "go and lick more" Japanese.

Charges of maintaining a gambling hall were dismissed against a once-famous local philanthropist yesterday, after Magistrate Charles Solomon recognized the defendant as Louis Ettinger, once a wealthy builder in Brownsville known of his charitable works. Magistrate Solomon ruled that the games being run by the 70-year-old Ettinger "were not held for gambling purposes," and, declaring that "the men had a perfect right to play," dismissed the charges.

A Queens plant producing paints for use aboard ships of the Merchant Marine will receive the coveted "M" pennant and a Victory Fleet flag for excellence in war production. Employees of the Socony Paint Products plant of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Long Island City, will also be decorated with "M" pins in a ceremony to be held by the United States Maritime Commission next Thursday.

(And let's hasten the day with a Second Front.)

Reader John J. McKeogh writes in to complain about newspaper publishers using wire to tie up bundles of papers as they are thrown off trucks at newsstands and candy stores, and demands to know why all this metal is being wasted at a time when everyone is expected to save every bit of scrap metal. He notes that he has seen this wire, once clipped off the bundles, being thrown into the streets, and at the very least suggests that it should be put into salvage containers instead. The Eagle Editorialist notes that "the Brooklyn Eagle uses rope, not metal wire, to bind its papers."

(Sorry boys, no exemptions for baldness!)

An alleged bookmaker from Mill Basin attempted to foil a policeman by pulling out his own telephone wires, but the patrolman reconnected the line in time to receive four calls from bettors. Thirty-three year old Ben Rosenthal of 5321 Avenue O, who claims to be the owner of two racehorses, was arrested yesterday by Patrolman Andrew Murcia, and pleaded not guilty to bookmaking charges before Magistrate Thomas H. Cullen Jr. in Brooklyn-Queens Night Court. He was held on $200 bail pending an appearance in Flatbush Court on March 12th.

(Sigh. At least Augie Galan doesn't run into walls. I guess that's something.)

(Upton Sinclair is writing screenplay adaptations now? How hath the mighty fallen.)

(Careful now, the chortling will give you away!)

("Oh. That's right, isn't it. You think they'll notice?")

(POINT OF ORDER: Didn't we see this exact gimmick in "Mary Worth" back when that guy that looked like Pat Ryan was investigating those fifth columnists at Governor Blackston's summer house or something? Andriola not only swipes from Caniff, he swipes from other Caniff swipes!)

(And thus do both Junior and Trix learn the meaning of the word "contingency.")

(Look, kid -- next time leave the heroics to the Junior Commandos.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Rep. Lambertson, a self-styled "dirt farmer" with a long career as a politician and bureaucrat has never worn the uniform of the United States in any war. He was old enough to serve in both the Spanish-American War and in World War I, but he managed not to. Since Col. Roosevelt is too much of a gentleman to mention it, I just thought I would.

When I was in the first grade, our music teacher -- a World War I vet -- taught us to sing "It's A Long Way to Tipperary," "Pack Up Your Troubles," "There's A Long Long Trail," and "Hinkey Dinkey Parley Voo." We were encouraged to make up our own verses to the latter, because, you know...

"I can use zeez almonds to make zee cyanide! An zen -- well, OK, I haz not theenked thees one thru yet..."

"But I thought we were just gonna collect old bottles and scrap paper and what not! This is no fun at all!"

Yeah, somebody's gonna have to clean that up.

Still haven't learned to comb your hair though.

Rommel never had a chance.

Never try to reason with the unreasonable.

That's right, Emmy, hold it in -- you need at least one paying boarder.

"Love is a smoke rais'd with the fume of sighs..."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

It's a pity they didn't get Norman Marsh to draw this.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

I've a deep admiration and appreciation for the USA and President Roosevelt. And Theodore Roosevelt's son fell at Utah Beach on D-DAY.

And bye-the-bee Hugh throws me completely.

 

[Fading Fast]

("Lookit heeh," says Sally, brandishing an envelope. "T'lan'loehd sennus a check f't'em days we was stayin' at Ma's house. A rebate, he cawls it. An' he hopes we was 'not too incovenienced by t' unfawchoonet soicumstances durin' t' recen' col' spell." "Uncle Frank does nice woik," comments Joe. "I still ain' happy, t'ough," declares Sally. "T'at wateh f'm t'em broken pipes ruint a bunch 'a my pic'chehs a' Petey." "Tell Uncle Frank," sighs Joe. "Maybe he c'n get Rickey t'gettim back f'm t' Pittsboigs." There is no response. "Ain'cha gonna say 'what?'" interjects Joe. "Quiet," replies Sally. "I'm t'inkin'.)
...

...

Off for a weekend at Wellesley College, from which she graduated with honors in 1917, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek left behind her in New York the ever-so-polite suggestion that an American Expeditionary Force in China would have a good moral effect upon our common enemy, Japan. Before her departure from Pennsylvania Station for Boston at 11 this morning, the wife of China's Generalissimo addressed the New York press to offer "a small hint" that American troops would be welcome in China, to fight alongside her own people for the reclamation of their homeland. About 90 reporters, men and women alike, attended the conference, but as with President Roosevelt's press conferences, it was understood that there were to be no direct quotations of her remarks.
...

Don't Terry and Flip count at all?

...

Two sailors, indicted on a charge of first degree robbery, were allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of malicious mischief after they testified before Kings County Judge Peter Brancato that they were veterans of the Battle of Midway. Twenty-year-old Preston B. Hill of of Danville, Virigina and 19-year-old Joseph Morin of Newberry, Michigan appeared before Judge Brancato in uniform, on charges that, on February 26th, they ordered a taxicab driver out of his taxi and drove away in the vehicle. They were subsequently discovered by a radio patrolman driving along Canal Street in Manhattan, and were arrested after they collided with a police stanchion at the corner of Spring and West Streets. After noticing the campaign ribbons on the sailors' uniforms, and being told what they indicated, Judge Brancato, visibly affected by emotion, declared "this charge of robbery is not going to stand," and after allowing the men to plead guilty to the lesser charge, promised to have it wiped clean if, in the future, it affects either man's military record in any way. After suspending sentence, Judge Brancato urged the two to "go and lick more" Japanese.
...

Being lenient on drunk and disorderly behavior, sure. This was a robbery of an automobile (a carjacking, as we call it today) - of a man's livelihood - that ended in a car crash. One day, millions of boys who fought bravely will be coming home.

...

Charges of maintaining a gambling hall were dismissed against a once-famous local philanthropist yesterday, after Magistrate Charles Solomon recognized the defendant as Louis Ettinger, once a wealthy builder in Brownsville known of his charitable works. Magistrate Solomon ruled that the games being run by the 70-year-old Ettinger "were not held for gambling purposes," and, declaring that "the men had a perfect right to play," dismissed the charges.
...

Over to you, Mayor.

...

(Sigh. At least Augie Galan doesn't run into walls. I guess that's something.)
...

Count Fleet is going for be fun to follow this year. I love his name.

...

(Upton Sinclair is writing screenplay adaptations now? How hath the mighty fallen.)
...

Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Maugham and many other did the same - the money was so big, most couldn't resist. The studios wanted good work out of them, but just the shine of a famous author's name in the credits was worth a lot to the studio even if they weren't great screenplay writers, which many of them weren't.

If you watch old movies and pay attention when the credits go by, you'll regularly see famous names getting screenwriting credit on, often, mundane movies.

...

(And thus do both Junior and Trix learn the meaning of the word "contingency.")
...

Welcome to the world of owning your own business; it only looks easy from the outside.

..

When I was in the first grade, our music teacher -- a World War I vet -- taught us to sing "It's A Long Way to Tipperary," "Pack Up Your Troubles," "There's A Long Long Trail," and "Hinkey Dinkey Parley Voo." We were encouraged to make up our own verses to the latter, because, you know...
...

My girlfriend, who went to public grammar school in the '70s, remember singing "Onward, Christian Soldiers" as they marched around the classroom. The world would end if a public school attempted that one today.

...

Yeah, somebody's gonna have to clean that up.
...

"...that once was a car, pops and crackles as it cools off in the unbending blizzard." Kudos for the good writing, but I'm concerned that his mind thought of this detail. It's a good thing Gould had "Dick Tracy" as an outlet.

 

[EngProf]

I've a deep admiration and appreciation for the USA and President Roosevelt. And Theodore Roosevelt's son fell at Utah Beach on D-DAY.

And bye-the-bee Hugh throws me completely.

You might want to check your sources - Teddy, Jr. came ashore on D-Day (Utah Beach) as the Assistant Division Commander of the 4th Infantry Division. He died of a heart attack almost six weeks later.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Beans," grumbles Joe, gazing distastefully at his plate. "Y'know, t'ey say Hitleh is one a't'em, whatchacawll, vegetarians.""Beans ain' a vegetable," argues Sally. "It's whatchacawl, a legume. An' a legume is jus' as good as meat, it's awl fulla protien an' awlat. You seen'em postehs inna stoehs, 'Ev'ry Day Eat T'is Way." Shows a pitcheh a' beans right nex' to roas' beef an' a powrk chop an' sausages. Remembeh -- it's a *legume.*" "A leg-yume, she says," frowns Joe. "'At's jus' as bad as a vegetable. Y'cut inta a bean, it ain' juicy, ain' no bones inside, an' ya don' put no gravy on it. Fawr's I'm consoined, 'atsa vegetable." "Aw, quitcha beefin'," snaps Sally. "Beefin', she says," sighs Joe. "If only.")

Allied sea power has broken the back of the Axis, and will win the war, declared Admiral Sir Andrew B. Cunningham, United Nations Supreme Commander of Naval Operations in North Africa, in an exclusive interview with the United Press. Admiral Cunningham predicted that Nazi Marshal Erwin Rommel will undoubtedly attempt to evacuate his beaten army by sea, and declared that Allied naval units are already prepared to inflict a "German Dunkirk" on the Tunisian shores of the Mediterranean. The chief difference, he promised, is that Britain was successful in evacuating its troops from Dunkirk -- but the Nazi evacuation, he declared, will fail.

Fifteen men from Brooklyn and Long Island are listed on the latest tally of 1252 Americans currently held by the Japanese in the Philippines. Those internees are Sgt. Leon V. Burch of Maspeth, Sgt. Charles G. Colfato of Marine Park, Pfc. George A. Cecil of Maspeth, Warrant Officer Edward H. Cruikshank of Flushing, Corp. Alfred R. Gordon of Sunnyside, Staff Sgt. Edward M. Jarycranski of Williamsburg, Corp. Raymond W. Koenig of Elmhurst, Pfc. Edward Pfeiffer of Setauket, Corp. Stephen E. Pollock of Bay Shore, Master Sgt. Marcel Remy of Sunnyside, Corp. James A. Russell of Long Island City, Pfc. Nicholas S. Santo of St. Albans, Pfc. John F. Scanlon of Bushwick, Sgt. Ernest W. Wilkins of Northport, and Pfc. John F. Zinda of Bensonhurst.

The War Department also released today a list of 138 Americans missing in action and 178 wounded in the European, North African, and Pacific areas of operations. Nine men on those lists are from Brooklyn and Long Island. Missing in the European area is Staff Sgt. Morris Tauber of Flatbush. Missing in North Africa is 2nd Lt. Douglas H. Campbell of Woodhaven. Wounded in action in the North African sector are Pvt. Arthur Bullis of Brownsville, Corp. James R. Breeds of Astoria, Pfc. Walter J. Hilcken of Hollis, Pvt. Raymond A. Johnson of Oceanside, Pfc. Frank A. Lawrence of Park Slope, Pvt. Irving Rosenberg of Crown Heights, and Pfc. Joseph J. Vitale of Sunset Park.

In Albert Lea, Minnesota a widowed mother yesterday sobbed out a confession to the murder of the youngest of her seven children, whom she admitted that she killed to save the child from the taunts of schoolmates who mocked her ragged clothing. Thirty-four-year-old Mrs. Della True, whose second husband died several years ago after a long illness, admitted to putting rat poison in milk given to her nine-year-old son Merle, who died last week. She then also admitted to poisoning her 6-year-old daughter Ardith, who died last fall. "I didn't like to have them come home and say 'Mama, will you get me this and that," she stated in her confession. She told police that her children were constantly taunted for their ragged clothes, and that the family has been living on relief since the father died, in a shack which Mrs. True declared that she "kept up as good as I could." Her remaining five children have been placed in the care of welfare authorities.

The State Assembly has rejected a proposal from a Brooklyn Democrat to legalize lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets. The measure submitted by Assemblyman Eugene Brannigan was in the form of an amendment to the State Constitution, and was proposed in the wake of Mayor LaGuardia's citywide crackdown on bingo. A companion bill introduced by Assemblyman Brannigan would have authorized the state to issue licenses for bingo games and other games of chance conducted by churches and other bona fide charitable or veterans' organizations.

(I can't wait till one of these Yoo Hoo characters runs into Cheery Blaze.)

One year after the formation of the City Patrol Corps, the Brooklyn unit of the organization numbers 2300 members, serving the borough as an adjunct to the police four hours per night, seven nights a week. Three hundred of the City Patrol Corps members are women. All are uniformed, and all are provided with adequate equipment to carry out their duties, and there is even a mounted platoon that patrols on horseback the residential area around Kings County Hospital. The latest duty assumed by the Patrol is escorting women war workers to subway and bus stops to prevent annoyance or personal injury at the hands of flirts and muggers. City Patrol Corps commander Col. John Kenney says that with more enrollments, the organization could rid the city of muggers and sex maniacs. The latest phase of training for the Patrol Corps involves teaching members the practice of Judo, in classes taught by former World Welterweight Wrestling champion Young Nick Monday. Potential applicants for service in the organization must have III-A draft classifications, and must not be obligated to any other branch of Civilian Defense.

The Eagle Editorialist deplores the "nasty and unfair attacks" against the military records of the four Roosevelt sons, made by venomously anti-Roosevelt Congressmen, and declares that such statements cause the average decent-minded American "nothing but shame." "There is a type of Roosevelt-hater who flies into a lather and rants and howls at any mention of the Roosevelt name, who stoops to anything, no matter how cheap, to vent his spleen. Fortunately, even among convinced opponents of the President, those who degrade themselves are not many. Most Americans, of whatever political faith, honor the President's sons as young men who have proved themselves patriotic men who have not shirked their duty."

(Medwick has never recovered from that beaning, and everybody's unwillingness to admit that stems from the same mentality that had Reiser back in the lineup three weeks after he almost killed himself. Isn't that right, Leo?)

Tommy Holmes notes the formation of "The National Girls' Softball League" in Chicago by Cubs owner P. K. Wrigley, and wants to know if Brooklyn will have a franchise -- and if so, will it play at Ebbets Field? "Well," says Tommy, "Mr. Rickey didn't say yes and he didn't say no, and I can't say that he evaded those questions. What happened is that he started talking rapidly in French, and I'd given my interpreter the day off." Tommy predicts that this league may take on major proportions, especially if the manpower situation forces baseball to disband completely for the duration.

Old Timer "N. S." recalls the mammoth fire that tore thru South Brooklyn in 1894, devastating 12th and 13th Streets on a bitter cold winter night that saw the hydrants frozen as the old buildings, "regular tinderboxes," went up in flames. She further recalls with gratitude how the Eagle led relief efforts to provide the dispossessed with food, warm clothing, and shelter -- a campaign that was so successful that the neighborhood had to ask the Eagle to discontinue the drive because more donations had come in than could be used.

(Keep 'em sailing, Maddie!)

The possibility of a serious housing shortage in Brooklyn looms by the time this summer rolls around, in the opinion of local realty men who can speak with authority on trends in the local market. A diminishing supply of rentable space and a lack of new construction due to the war is expected to contribute to the problem, which is already severe in districts around major war production centers. While the doubling-up of families that was common during World War I has not yet begun, it is expected that such a practice may be necessary here if the war continues into 1944. Available rentals in heavily populated sections of Bay Ridge and Flatbush are already almost non-existent.

(Tess Trueheart was named for her grandma, who had plenty of troubles of her own,)

(And wait'll you see her raccoon hat.)

(That swimming class at the Y. W. was the best investment Scarlet ever made.)

(Hey, you only get one Stamp No. 17, and you've got to be careful!)

(Mrs. Fopply is a bit dressed for daytime, but I guess that's why her name is 'Fopply.' And Ja, finish her with this -- uh -- whatever it is? Piece of a butter churn?)

(And thousands of women serving as Red Army snipers, machine-gunners, and artillerywomen say "so what else?")

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

You might want to check your sources - Teddy, Jr. came ashore on D-Day (Utah Beach) as the Assistant Division Commander of the 4th Infantry Division. He died of a heart attack almost six weeks later.

Gen Roosevelt is buried at the American Normandy Cemetery. At the back of my memory I recall a discussion
wherein his cardiac arrest came afterwards-long day in the City.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

When do we get a movie of Mrs. Darling's adventure?

Dopey Dad is wondering how he'd look in a jacket like Flip's.

So long, Nifty. See you in the spring.

"And I'll never be able to replace him! You know they're taking antique dealers in the draft now!"

Next time just give her the two bucks.

See, this shows how times have changed. Ten years ago, when Trixie tried to join Skeezix's neighborhood gang, she qualified by just beating everybody up.

Countdown to Goofy losing his III-A now at three--two---

Y'know, Cadet, if you'd stuck with the DL, you'd be in command of a whole fleet by now.

Join the WAACs, hon.

"Wow, just like Steeplechase Park! Hey, blow some air up their pants!"

 

[Fading Fast]

("Beans," grumbles Joe, gazing distastefully at his plate. "Y'know, t'ey say Hitleh is one a't'em, whatchacawll, vegetarians.""Beans ain' a vegetable," argues Sally. "It's whatchacawl, a legume. An' a legume is jus' as good as meat, it's awl fulla protien an' awlat. You seen'em postehs inna stoehs, 'Ev'ry Day Eat T'is Way." Shows a pitcheh a' beans right nex' to roas' beef an' a powrk chop an' sausages. Remembeh -- it's a *legume.*" "A leg-yume, she says," frowns Joe. "'At's jus' as bad as a vegetable. Y'cut inta a bean, it ain' juicy, ain' no bones inside, an' ya don' put no gravy on it. Fawr's I'm consoined, 'atsa vegetable." "Aw, quitcha beefin'," snaps Sally. "Beefin', she says," sighs Joe. "If only.")
...

Historically, it's interesting to see what may be the end of the blue ribbon panel.

Oh, and, Joe, peanuts aren't actually nuts, they are legumes too - so also, "just as good as meat."

...

The State Assembly has rejected a proposal from a Brooklyn Democrat to legalize lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets. The measure submitted by Assemblyman Eugene Brannigan was in the form of an amendment to the State Constitution, and was proposed in the wake of Mayor LaGuardia's citywide crackdown on bingo. A companion bill introduced by Assemblyman Brannigan would have authorized the state to issue licenses for bingo games and other games of chance conducted by churches and other bona fide charitable or veterans' organizations.
...

The government hadn't yet figured out that the "answer" to the lottery question was for the government to become the sole racketeer.

So it rebranded "the numbers" as the lottery, monopolized it, advertised the heck out of it and, of course, paid out a lower percentage of the take than the evil mobsters did, because the government eliminated competition in a way the mobsters couldn't.

Hence, end of the day, the government became the biggest bookie, effectively, collecting a highly regressive tax. And that is how the illegal numbers racket became the legal government-run lottery.

...

One year after the formation of the City Patrol Corps, the Brooklyn unit of the organization numbers 2300 members, serving the borough as an adjunct to the police four hours per night, seven nights a week. Three hundred of the City Patrol Corps members are women. All are uniformed, and all are provided with adequate equipment to carry out their duties, and there is even a mounted platoon that patrols on horseback the residential area around Kings County Hospital. The latest duty assumed by the Patrol is escorting women war workers to subway and bus stops to prevent annoyance or personal injury at the hands of flirts and muggers. City Patrol Corps commander Col. John Kenney says that with more enrollments, the organization could rid the city of muggers and sex maniacs. The latest phase of training for the Patrol Corps involves teaching members the practice of Judo, in classes taught by former World Welterweight Wrestling champion Young Nick Monday. Potential applicants for service in the organization must have III-A draft classifications, and must not be obligated to any other branch of Civilian Defense.
...

Based on the stories we've read recently, it seems like the CPC should be diverting some of its members to the bars around the Navy Yard.

And in the Daily News...

When do we get a movie of Mrs. Darling's adventure?
...

I was impressed with Mrs. Darling, especially her seemingly to have survived without getting frostbite for eight hours in subzero temperatures. She did better than I would have. One assumes, this led to one of the early steps on the never ending road to tighter airport security.

...

Countdown to Goofy losing his III-A now at three--two---
...

You sure the Army wants this guy?

...

Y'know, Cadet, if you'd stuck with the DL, you'd be in command of a whole fleet by now.
...

If you were born in the '80s or later, it is hard to appreciate how much of a cultural shift we've experienced as, before the '80s (the shift started, mainly, in the '70s) it was sincerely believed, by many, that the right way to train someone was to browbeat them, to knock any confidence out of them and, then, build them back up with knowledge, training and experience.

We can mock it now - and it deserves some of that mocking - but it was a deeply held belief by many. I trained in the '80s in my first post-college job that way and it was exhausting, but if you got through it, you really did learn a lot as you were scared to death not to know any single thing that might be asked of you.

I'm glad we aren't doing it that way anymore, but in some cases that I've seen, the pendulum has swung too far the other way.

Oh, and. Caniff, really, "Nobody appreciates the smell of powder like a soldier."

...

Join the WAACs, hon.
...

She did ask for an honest answer.

 

[PrivateEye]

She did ask for an honest answer.

Don't fall for that, they never want an honest answer

 

[LizzieMaine]

("T' Des'et Fox," sneers Sally. "Des'et Rat, moeh like it. Lookit'im run!" "We ain' had a letteh f'm Solly since, what, Novembeh?" comments Joe. "I hope he's awright." Sally pauses as she lifts Leonora from her high chair and sends her scurrying off to play with Stella the Cat. "He's awright," she declares. "He's prob'ly so busy runnin' t'ings oveh t'eah he got no time to write." "Yeh," sighs Joe. "He's awright. Solly's awrways awright.")

An American armored patrol in Tunisia, badly outnumbered, charged last night into an Italian position with machine guns clattering and took 84 prisoners without losing a man. The action occurred in a pass 10 miles west of Gafsa, where a force of Italian military police had taken up a position, and shook the Italians so badly that they thought a full-scale American assault on Gafsa was underway, and 70 enemy tanks were summoned to take up positions ready to defend the town. They found that the Americans had already departed with their prisoners, after destroying a considerable amount of enemy equipment. The American detachment under the command of Lt. John P. Souther opened up at 1500 yards with a 75mm assault gun mounted on a half-track. A platoon of small tanks led by Lt. Wendell C. Sharp of New York City followed scout cars, and opened fire on Italian trucks and equipment as the Italians broke and fled the camp. Americans securing the base found that its commanding officer, an Italian captain, had been killed in his tent by a hit from the 75mm gun.

The Red Army in the past 24 hours has captured more than 100 towns and hamlets in their three converging drives on Smolensk, the Soviets announced today. The German DNB news agency announced in a Berlin broadcast that Axis troops have evacuated Sychevka, 42 miles north of Vyazma, on the railroad from Rzhev, in a move that was said to be "according to plan." Sychevka is 110 miles northeast of Smolensk, site of a key German base. A dispatch from Rome published by a Swedish newspaper reported that the German High Command has transferred three panzer and nine infantry divisions totalling 340,000 men and 1000 tanks from France to the Russian Front in an effort to stem continuing Soviet advances.

The U. S. Supreme Court, in an apparent reversal of several past decisions, today set aside the convictions in Texas of two members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious sect for violation of municipal ordinances concerning the distribution of literature. The convictions of Mrs. Ella Jameson for distributing leaflets advertising a religious lecture and of Miss Daisy Largent for selling books in a residential district, were set aside by the high court as a violation of the Constitutional right to freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

The owner and operators of what is aid to be "the most notorious call house in the East" will be arraigned in Washington today before a United States Commissioner for violations of the Federal White Slave Act. The "highly lucrative prostitution business" operated out of "The Hopkins Institute," at a fashionable Connecticut Avenue address, and is reported to have catered to a clientele made up of "prominent Washington figures," who paid as much as $25 per encounter to a group of nine alleged call girls based at the house, who posed as "masseuses" at leading Washington hotels. The owner of the house, George Francis Whitehead, was arrested by FBI agents in New York.

(Which is all well and good until we see a story headed HOLD CPC MAN IN MUGGING.)

Mayor LaGuardia is reported to be ill today, and remained at his residence at Gracie Mansion as rumors continue to swirl around the possibility that he might soon be commissioned as a general in the U. S. Army. His secretary, Lester Stone, arrived today at City Hall in the Mayor's official car, and announced the Mayor's "indisposition" without offering details, and, further, declined any comment on the Army rumors. Should the Mayor be so commissioned, he is expected to appoint acting Corporation Counsel Thomas D. Thatcher to serve in his stead as Deputy Mayor. Ordinarily that position would go to City Council President Newbold Morris, who usually serves as Acting Mayor when the Mayor is away from the city on business, but it is rumored that Morris, too, will soon join the armed forces. A "strong Fusionist" such as Thatcher would be a logical choice for the position in Morris's absence, and it would be expected that a Fusionist would also be selected to replace Morris as Council President.

(Thanks for the vote of confidence.)

(Some one could make a great board game out of all this.)

Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt today praised American and Russian women for their part in war production, and predicted they will have a role to play in postwar world reconstruction. The First Lady sent the following message to the women of the Soviet Union in recognition of International Women's Day: "The American women are, like the Russian women, taking part in all kinds of war production. They are determined not only to win the war, but to do it as quickly as possible. As soon as the war is over, the women of the different countries will take part in the work of reconstruction which will have to be undertaken in every country."

(How to say that Dressen's been blacklisted for his racetrack proclivities without saying that Dressen's been blacklisted for his racetrack proclivities. And I look forward to future installments of Mr. Holmes's series, especially when the setting shifts to the Hotel Nacional...)

Dixie Walker walked quietly into the Brooklyn Red Cross headquarters at 57 Willoughby Street headquarters yesterday to donate a pint of blood. Should significance be read into the fact that he did so, not as a representative of the Dodgers but as an employee of the Sperry Gyroscope Company?

Baseballs autographed by Our Dodgers will be auctioned in borough theatres in the weeks ahead by WMCA personality Bob Harris as a fundraiser to build a monument in the borough to local war hero Sgt. Meyer Levin.

Columnist John Kieran, well-known panelist for radio's Information Please, has turned the typewriter he used to cover famous sports events from 1915 to 1942 over to be auctioned off on behalf of the $40,000,000 war bond campaign to replace the lost Navy cruiser USS Chicago.

("Everything is falling into place! Bwah hahahah!")

(When meeting a Count, any Count, the first thing you should do is pull on his goatee. And just in case, sniff for spirit gum.)

(PULL HIS MOUSTACHE)

(GOOD THING I GET PAID BY THE HOUR)

(Um.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"A mysterious figure who refused to identify himself to reporters." C'mon, let's get on that.

Better be careful when you open the little door.

"Should I show him some of those Dude Hennick tricks I know? If I dood it I gets a whippin'! I DOOD IT!"

I wonder if Annie keeps a log of her kills, or if it's just so routine now she doesn't bother.

Yep, dig right in deep. Snug as a bug in a rug. No, wait, that was Little Face.

Well, at least it isn't Zander.

"I'd like to do a piece on the Typical American Soldier." "We've got just the boy for you. When you get there ask for Pvt. Wilmer Bobble."

Unfortunately, everybody else has the same idea, and now they're out of your size.

"Who?"

"Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

 

[Fading Fast]

("T' Des'et Fox," sneers Sally. "Des'et Rat, moeh like it. Lookit'im run!" "We ain' had a letteh f'm Solly since, what, Novembeh?" comments Joe. "I hope he's awright." Sally pauses as she lifts Leonora from her high chair and sends her scurrying off to play with Stella the Cat. "He's awright," she declares. "He's prob'ly so busy runnin' t'ings oveh t'eah he got no time to write." "Yeh," sighs Joe. "He's awright. Solly's awrways awright.")
...

It's amazing how much angst sliced bread has caused. And a "special knife" is needed to slice bread. Really? Sure, chefs have all sorts of special knives and good for them, but come on, I am not exaggerating, we had one basic kitchen knife when I grew up and it sliced bread, cut up vegetables, trimmed the fat off meat, etc., and we managed quite well.

...

An American armored patrol in Tunisia, badly outnumbered, charged last night into an Italian position with machine guns clattering and took 84 prisoners without losing a man. The action occurred in a pass 10 miles west of Gafsa, where a force of Italian military police had taken up a position, and shook the Italians so badly that they thought a full-scale American assault on Gafsa was underway, and 70 enemy tanks were summoned to take up positions ready to defend the town. They found that the Americans had already departed with their prisoners, after destroying a considerable amount of enemy equipment. The American detachment under the command of Lt. John P. Souther opened up at 1500 yards with a 75mm assault gun mounted on a half-track. A platoon of small tanks led by Lt. Wendell C. Sharp of New York City followed scout cars, and opened fire on Italian trucks and equipment as the Italians broke and fled the camp. Americans securing the base found that its commanding officer, an Italian captain, had been killed in his tent by a hit from the 75mm gun.
...

Fighting the Italian Army is not like fighting the German one.

...

The owner and operators of what is aid to be "the most notorious call house in the East" will be arraigned in Washington today before a United States Commissioner for violations of the Federal White Slave Act. The "highly lucrative prostitution business" operated out of "The Hopkins Institute," at a fashionable Connecticut Avenue address, and is reported to have catered to a clientele made up of "prominent Washington figures," who paid as much as $25 per encounter to a group of nine alleged call girls based at the house, who posed as "masseuses" at leading Washington hotels. The owner of the house, George Francis Whitehead, was arrested by FBI agents in New York.
...

$25 in '43 is about $430 today and that is "per encounter." No wonder the business is described as "lucrative."

So, are they going to release the client list of "prominent Washington figures?"

...

Mayor LaGuardia is reported to be ill today, and remained at his residence at Gracie Mansion as rumors continue to swirl around the possibility that he might soon be commissioned as a general in the U. S. Army. His secretary, Lester Stone, arrived today at City Hall in the Mayor's official car, and announced the Mayor's "indisposition" without offering details, and, further, declined any comment on the Army rumors. Should the Mayor be so commissioned, he is expected to appoint acting Corporation Counsel Thomas D. Thatcher to serve in his stead as Deputy Mayor. Ordinarily that position would go to City Council President Newbold Morris, who usually serves as Acting Mayor when the Mayor is away from the city on business, but it is rumored that Morris, too, will soon join the armed forces. A "strong Fusionist" such as Thatcher would be a logical choice for the position in Morris's absence, and it would be expected that a Fusionist would also be selected to replace Morris as Council President.
...

Yet still no picture of the "Mayor's official car."

...

Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt today praised American and Russian women for their part in war production, and predicted they will have a role to play in postwar world reconstruction. The First Lady sent the following message to the women of the Soviet Union in recognition of International Women's Day: "The American women are, like the Russian women, taking part in all kinds of war production. They are determined not only to win the war, but to do it as quickly as possible. As soon as the war is over, the women of the different countries will take part in the work of reconstruction which will have to be undertaken in every country."
...

Umm, sure, but the Russian women are also fighting on the front lines.

...

Baseballs autographed by Our Dodgers will be auctioned in borough theatres in the weeks ahead by WMCA personality Bob Harris as a fundraiser to build a monument in the borough to local war hero Sgt. Meyer Levin.
...

I wonder if they have any old ones lying around that were signed by "Petey?"

"You paid how much for what!?"
"It's a collector's item; it will go up in value."
"If we can find another crazy fan in love with him."
"What?"
"Nut'n."

...

Columnist John Kieran, well-known panelist for radio's Information Please, has turned the typewriter he used to cover famous sports events from 1915 to 1942 over to be auctioned off on behalf of the $40,000,000 war bond campaign to replace the lost Navy cruiser USS Chicago.
...

Shouldn't he have turned that in already?

And in the Daily News...

"A mysterious figure who refused to identify himself to reporters." C'mon, let's get on that.
...

So it's not $25 ($430 in '23 terms) an "encounter," but per hour.

"So, you want to go again?"
"Can I squeeze it into the same hour?"
"I guess so, but chop, chop."
"That romantic."
"You want romance, pay up for a second hour, cheapskate."


"I always told my girls I'd show up with bail money the same night if they ever got arrested."

...

Better be careful when you open the little door.
...

I'm surprised they could get the eggs for the meringue. That said, 15 cents sounds a bit steep for an H&H pie slice.

...

I wonder if Annie keeps a log of her kills, or if it's just so routine now she doesn't bother.
...

Maybe Annie's internalized this famous quote, "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic" - widely attributed to Joseph Stalin, but there are arguments about its origin.

...

Well, at least it isn't Zander.
...

He's got the Gump chin.

...

Unfortunately, everybody else has the same idea, and now they're out of your size.
...

Before the war, were there really a lot of women buying six pairs of shoes per year?

I've had several girlfriends over the years, and shoes are much cheaper adjusted for inflation today, and not one of them bought close to six pairs of shoes a year.

...

"Who?"
...

Let's not forget that with Joan also in the picture, Harold is facing a three-body problem.

 

[ChiTownScion]

The U. S. Supreme Court, in an apparent reversal of several past decisions, today set aside the convictions in Texas of two members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious sect for violation of municipal ordinances concerning the distribution of literature. The convictions of Mrs. Ella Jameson for distributing leaflets advertising a religious lecture and of Miss Daisy Largent for selling books in a residential district, were set aside by the high court as a violation of the Constitutional right to freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

Jamison v. Texas, 318 U.S. 413, 63 S. Ct. 669, 87 L. Ed. 869; and Largent v. Texas, 318 U.S. 418,63 S.Ct. 667, 87 L. Ed. 873.

Spoiler Alert!

But wait! There's more (in 1943 Supreme Court cases involving the Witnesses). On June 14 the Supreme Court will publish its opinion in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the more renowned flag pledge case.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Soybean loaf?" groans Joe. "SOYBEAN LOAF??" "T'eah, now," replies Sally. "Spam don' soun' so bad, does it?" "I guess I c'n live wit' Spam," shrugs Joe. "No Spam t'day," returns Sally. "I got Prem. It's jus' like Spam, on'y not so flashy." "Wawr is hell," grumbles Joe.")

The Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today immediately repudiated statements by Ambassador to the Soviet Union William Standley that the Russian people were not being told of the Lend-Lease aid being given to their country by the United States. Representative Sol Bloom (D-New York) pointed out that the Soviet press has carried a number of statements concerning US aid to Russia, including an item in the official Communist Party newspaper Pravda, cited by the New York Times on January 24th of this year, in which planes, tanks, motor vehicles and other goods provided to the Soviet Union by the US and Britain were discussed. Rep. Bloom further noted that the Soviet press regularly publishes, in full, the text of speeches by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill in which Lend-Lease and other aid are discussed. Rep. Bloom also noted that the Russian people themselves are actually using this material, "and must of necessity know of the Lend Lease aid which has been supplied to Russia." Rep. Bloom stressed, in making his statements, that he is not doing so on behalf of the Government, but is basing his comments on information received thru the State Department.

Wendell Willkie also assailed the charges by Admiral Standley, and in doing so also criticized suggestions from other quarters that the United States may be planning to "double cross" Russia after the war. That implication, Mr. Willkie suggested, could be drawn from recent comments by Vice President Henry Wallace stating that the United States will need to come to "a satisfactory understanding" with Russia if a third world war is to be avoided. "One government representative implies we may double cross Russia after the war is over," Willkie said. "Another indicates that the Russian government is playing us both ways. Neither statement in my judgement is wise or correct." Mr. Willkie suggested that the United States may be entitled to more credit than it is now receiving from the Soviets for the aid it has provided, but he also acknowledged that "the Russians, like any people, look upon the loss of the lives of their own young people as more important than materials and supplies."

Britain's biggest bombers roared back into action after a two-night rest, striking in force last night at the important southern Germany industrial town of Nuremburg. In a night offensive spread over hundreds of miles across southern and western Germany, hundreds of tons of explosive and fire bombs fell, pounding key German war factories at Nuremburg, including the Messerschmitt airplane works and factories turning out Diesel engines for Germany's U-boat fleet. Seven planes were lost in the raids, and one German fighter was shot down over Europe. Reports from the German DNB news agency acknowledged the raid, and stated that one target sustained a number of casualties "in residential quarters."

(AMERICA'S COURAGEOUS SACRIFICE IS MUCH APPRECIATED!)

Brooklyn fell for short of its quota when auctioneer Dave Elman hammered the final gavel shortly after 1 this morning at the "round the clock" war bond rally and auction held at the St. George Hotel, with only about $150,000 worth of War Bonds sold out against a goal of $1,000,000. Hour after hour, Elman, the moderator of radio's Hobby Lobby -- whose own hobby is conducting War Bond auctions -- labored prodigiously to sell a huge array of contributed merchandise, but the crowd was small and few large bids were received. Elman declared that he has never seen so many fine articles go so cheaply. The star bidder of the occasion was Max Weinstein, president of Russek's womens' store, who bid $25,000 for a silver fox jacket that he himself had donated, and then announced that he would donate the fur to the Red Cross. Mr. Russek also won, for a bid of $3000, a pair of nylon stockings. Martin Schwartz, controller at Russek's, was in on the bidding, winning for $750 a kiss from actress Claire Luce. That kiss also included as a bonus a piece of shrapnel that had just missed hitting Miss Luce in the head during the 1940 London Blitz.

(Only in California.)

Patrons at the Fox Fabian Theatre are invited to display their local accents in a contest to determine who in Brooklyn does the best imitation of Archie and Miss Duffy, characters portrayed by Ed Gardner and Shirley Booth on WJZ's "Duffy's Tavern" program. Winners of the dialect competition will be announced next Monday.

Absenteeism by women workers in local war plants is not a serious problem, acording to statistics supplied by local war contractors. Although Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins recently released figures indicating that absenteeism among women workers is twice that of men, officials of some local firms say they don't see that problem among their own workers. The Republic Aviation Company of Farmingdale, L. I. released figures indicating that the absentee rate for women is "slightly higher" than that of men, but officials stressed that this is generally due to ill children and a shortage of nurses to care for them. A local shipyard declared that there is a difference of less than one half of one percent between the absentee rates of women workers and men. A dissenting view, however, is sounded by the Arma Corporation at Bush Terminal, manufacturers of precision instruments for the Navy, which, in an article appearing in its house organ, criticized its female employees for an absentee rate ten-to-one higher than that of men.

Reader U. H. Hargrove writes in to note that Captain Eddie Rickenbacker's recent speeches on the war labor situation, failing as they do to make any mention of the Four Freedoms, or the other stakes America has in this war, seem to suggest that his belief is that what we are really fighting for is to put the Wall Street Old Deal back in political power. "Captain Rickenbacker certainly offers a great incentive to the average American to lay his all on the altar of his country."

(What *really* happened to Leon Henderson.)

In Staten Island, the dead are going unburied due to a shortage of gravediggers. Twenty-three coffins containing bodies are piled up at one cemetery, and its operators have been summoned to court on violations of the public health laws. A secretary for the cemetary explained that the bodies have been coming in so fast over the winter that the few laborers available can't dig graves fast enough to bury them. She also blamed the recent freezing weather that has left the ground "harder than cement." She indicated that the cemetary has stopped taking orders for new burials until they can bury the bodies now backed up, and then get "three or four graves ahead."

(Woo hoo!!! Not only is Camilli coming back, we've cornered the market on elderly Waners! And speaking of Babe Herman, what would it take to bring him back East? He won't turn 40 till June!)

("Whew, at least they left my Ursula Parrotts alone.")

("Hmph, least she could've done is leave the hat too.")

(The Secret Operatives sure do push the limits on secret spy gadgets!)

(AS LONG AS THERE'S NO RIDERS. THAT'S NOT IN MY CONTRACT.)

(Well this is certainly inconspicuous.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Ew.

"Oh, and nertz to you, Mrs. Luce."

"Vuff!" must be German for "YI-I-I-I!"

"Hmph! Those Russians spoil all my fun!"

I wouldn't have figured Mr. Gould for an Abbott & Costello fan.

"New helmets! Great! Now can we get those new rifles to go with them?"

"Bim and Bum." You can't say Mom and Dad didn't have a sense of humor.

"Um, sir, this really isn't the first time I've been in a..." "CAN'T HEAR YA KID! HOLD ONNNN!"

This is why public ventriloquism is banned in 17 states and the District of Columbia.

Thank you, Jiminy Cricket.