The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

When they push the sports pics off the back page in favor of the ration chart, that's when you know things are getting serious.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

A cosmopolitan Manhattanite will find the next two and a half to five years a peaceful interlude in a busy life as he spends them in Sing Sing Prison after pleading guilty to bigamy charges. Twenty-six-year-old George E. Van Dreyer admitted to Queens County Judge Joseph M. Conroy that he had married Marie Trefzer of College Point on January 12th of this year while still married to Ethel Jean Ten Eyck of East Orange, New Jersey. He also pleaded guilty to passing two bad checks for $25 each in a Flushing tavern, but sentence on those charges was suspended. Van Dreyer, who was born in Siberia as the son of a Russian naval officer, and holds multiple degrees from the Sorbonne, appeared in court in the uniform of an Army private, but has already been convicted of Army desertion. Judge Conroy called Van Dreyer "a moocher who used the uniform for his own personal benefit."
...

An army deserter - in time of war, no less - a crook and a bigamist, wouldn't his mother be proud.

...

("I don't know WHAT it is with these children today," huffs Mildred Kelly, as Sally dubiously regards a cheese sandwich and a fruit cup on the tray before her. "Don't they know there's a WAR on? WE never carried on like this." "Yeah," nods Sally, taking a cautious bite of the sandwich. ""Remembeh t'at time we wen' t'see Rudy Vallee at t'Paramount? Allem goils t'rowin'neah unnehpants up onna stage? R'dicul'ous." Mildred shoots Sally a look, but her face, as she takes a more confident bite, is inscrutable. "Jitterbug dancing!" snorts Mildred. "So vulgar!" "T'is is a good san'wich," declares Sally.)
...

The big thing at the rock concerts I went to in the '80s and '90s was girls flashing their breasts, usually by pulling up their T-shirts to prove they weren't wearing a bra. Only on film clips from Elvis and a few other concerts have I seen panties thrown up on stage.

So, since this tradition goes back at least as far as the early '20s, the question is, do these women bring an extra pair with them knowing in advance that they will be throwing them on stage or do they, well, impulsively, choose to take off the ones they are currently wearing (which seems to have some logistic issues) to send airborne to the stage?

...

(NOT A CHANCE.)
...

Dogs and squirrels. My girlfriend's mother has a nine-year-old lab-great-pyrenees rescue who is a sweetheart. People say that all the time, but this dog is just a gentle soul. Yet, if he sees a squirrel he goes nuts. Other animals come an go without a peep from him, but one squirrel, one single squirrel, is a code red for this dog.

...

"Only one thing to do, I better frisk her." "You really are a dog, you know that?"
...

"Well, poke her then and see if she wakes up........................Not that way!"

...

"What, you in my court again? Unlawful search and seizure! Case dismissed!"
...

"'Case dismissed,' that's effin' bull____! You let Turkus try those guys on nothing more than confessions he beat out of them, at least I have real evidence."

...

You wanted action?
...

Lesson learned: never congratulate yourself until the mission is over.

...

Seeza Maboiks!
...

I guess this is why they didn't call in the FBI.

Both of these storylines are pretty close to jumping-the-shark stage.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

The Sorbonne alumnus-US Army private-deserter sentenced to Sing Sing prison would prove more useful in service.
Since he's in the Forces, fluent in French and Russian, a two wife bigamist rap and two cold checks passed really shouldn't matter. Sorry to be flippant but the Parachute Regiment at Aldershot is replete with guys like him.

I'll bet Lt Ryan gave the patient a real scrub. And that Marine wolf whistler is jungle fever daffy over Taffy too.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Spring sunshine bathes 63rd Street on a pleasant May morning. On the sidewalk, three little girls draw a grid with a stub of chalk, in preparation for a vigorous game of skully. A group of boys howl and yell as they pull a loose board off a fence and run away brandishing it in the air. A trash can clatters as a hungry cat knocks off the lid in search of breakfast. And gazing out approvingly on the scene from his kitchen window, Joe takes a deep day-off kind of breath. "Hey Sal," he enthuses. "Whatcha say we have s'm fun t'day. You been woikin' awl week, out t'Joisey an' awl, an'nis is ya fois' official day off! Desoives a celebration! Hey, whatcha say soon's we finish eat'n, how 'bout let's take Leonoreh an' go oveh t' Sat'llite Pawk. Give'eh ride onna swings an'neh slip'ry slide, wawk aroun', get some sun. "Mmmm," mms Sally. "An'nen," continues Joe, his enthusiasm building, "how 'bout we go up'ta Poleh Groun's? Take inna good ol' doubl'headeh! Watch'm moideh t'em Giants!" "Mmm," mms Sally. "An'NEN," afteh t'at, whatcha say we g'wout t'eat. Downtown. Someplace nice. Childs. Or ev'n Joe's maybe. Someplace nice." There is no reply from Sally. "Sal?" queries Joe. "Hey Sal!" And Joe turns around to find Sally slumped over the kitchen table, fast asleep.)

Representative Donald O'Toole and his political allies in the 9th Assembly District will confer today to decide whether their dispute over the election of Joseph J. Madden as district Democratic leader will go to the courts. The issue at stake, if a decision for legal action is taken, will be the use of proxy votes in that election. Rep. O'Toole, his chief political advisor Everett McGarry, and other members of his political faction are expected to reach a decision on the matter this afternoon. The possibility of a lawsuit looms after last week's stormy all-night meeting of the 9th District Democratic Committee which ended with Madden, an attache of District Attorney William O'Dwyer, winning the vote to replace the late Thomas McGee as committee chief. Hundreds of proxy ballots, most of them dated April 27th -- the date of the meeting -- were cast during the vote, with the majority going to Madden, who beat out O'Toole by a margin of 519 to 293. The O'Toole faction may also challenge rulings by meeting chairman John J. Dorman, former City Fire Commissioner, that threw out many proxy votes for O'Toole on the grounds that those signing those proxies no longer lived in the district.

The margin by which the Second War Loan exceeded its quota, nationally and locally, continued to climb yesterday as bond buyers hastened to add to their purchases over the campaign's closing hours. FInal returns in the campaign will not be known until tomorrow, but it is known that the national quota of $13,000,000,000 has already been exceeded by at least $3,000,000,000. Figures for Region 7, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, have exceeded the local quota by well over twice the amount sought. That original quota of $95,000,000 was topped within the first 24 hours of the campaign, and the amount now raised exceeds $217,000.000.

Mayor LaGuardia will speak today at Yankee Stadium at the annual Communist May Day rally sponsored by the Labor for Unity and Victory Committee, but his appearance has been censured by members of the Kings County American Legion, who have sent the Mayor a letter urging him to reconsider his decision to participate. Grover Whalen, chairman of the Civilian Defense Volunteers Organization, has already indicated that he is unable to appear at the rally, but has designated borough representatives to present awards to volunteers recognized for outstanding service. Brooklyn CDVO chariman Mrs. Tracy Voorhees has also sent regrets, stating that she will be attending a family wedding today.

Meanwhile, Occupied Europe marked the blackest May Day in history, as Nazi forces sought to suppress any observation of the labor holiday with harsh reprisals, especially in Holland, where Dutch workers who have refused to register with the German authorities were sought out for prosecution. In Moscow, the traditional May Day parade in Red Square was cancelled for security reasons, but Soviet workers were reported optimistic for the first time since the Nazi invasion in June of 1941. Millions of workers cheered as Premier Joseph Stalin broadcast his Order of the Day, declaring that "the Hitlerite war machine has been shaken to its foundation."

A Flatlands flier with the Army Air Force in Australia has been reported killed in action after his bomber, named "Dirty Gerty" was specifically targeted to be shot down by the Japanese. First Lieutenant George Munker, of 1542 E. 46th Street, was the navigator aboard the "Dirty Gerty," and participated in most major American air actions in the region since his arrival in Australia last year. The Japanese had taken particular notice of that plane, easily recognizable by the large kangaroo painted on its fuselage, and a recent broadcast over Radio Tokyo demanded that "the kangaroo plane" be liquidated. "The Nips are after old Dirty Gerty," declared the 27-year-old Lt. Munker in the final letter received by his mother. With that letter, Munker, an alumnus of Erasmus Hall High School, sent a rug embroidered with the image of a kangaroo. "My boy," declared Mrs. Munker, "wanted more than anything to do his part --and he had to work hard to get his opportunity." Munker had washed out of Army air cadet school in 1941, but undaunted, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, and won his wings as a navigator. He returned to the United States early last year, and received his commission at Turner Field in Georgia. He was among the first American soldiers to land in Austrialia last fall.

(This debate has been a long time coming, and the Eagle's 'yes, but' approach is far from the last word.)

(Yep, bicycle nostalgia is big right now.)

(The biggest winner in the Derby? Jack Benny's writers, who will wring several weeks of material out of the fact that "Burnt Cork" finished last, and Jack lost money betting on him.)

The New York Black Yankees, one of the slickest outfits in the Negro National League, invade Dexter Park today
for a doubleheader against the Bushwicks, with the first game scheduled to begin at 2 PM. The Black Yanks feature an imposing one-two punch of starting pitchers in the persons of Neck Stanley and Roy Williams, and they are expected to start today's games. Wally Helborow and Gene Phillips will start for the Bushwicks, who are "always at their best against Negro opposition."

(And yet another impressive accomplishment for Miss Hanzelin? Beating out John L. Lewis for this week's lead spot in TREND.)

Walter Brennan's been in movies for eighteen years -- and all that time he'd never been kissed, until Lana Turner finally broke his streak in "Slightly Dangerous," now playing at Loew's Metropolitan. Brennan, who plays a billionaire in the picture, gets more kisses from Miss Turner than even the leading man, Robert Young. But, Walter hastens to point out, his character is Lana's father.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are not only America's leading box-office attraction for 1943, they also lead all Hollywood stars in war bond sales. The comic twosome is credited by the Treasury Department with selling $85,000,000 in bonds and stamps during a whirlwind tour of the nation's defense plants which took them to 101 factories in 78 different cities over just 34 days.

("Sorry cowboy -- it turns out I'm your long lost sister.")

(Incidentally to Madame Chiang: try saddle shoes, they're awful comfy!)

(Maybe he's not Boody Rogers, but I bet Russell Stamm has an interesting fantasy life.)

(Sorry, Hix, you gotta share a page now with Fritzi Ritz. Her boyfriend's kind of a weird little passive-aggressive pill, but you'll get used to him.)

(Stick around, Mary. I bet they'd love to hear some Leona stories about now. And if this means Dan is heading for A PIRATE ADVENTURE, well, aaaaaaaar, I'm on board! After all, we've already seen Irwin walk the plank.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And also...

Wow, four more games against the Phillies. At this rate we'll have the pennant clinched by Mother's Day.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I'm beginning to notice a pattern.

"Have you finished this week's drawing, dear?" asks Mrs. W. E. Hill. "I so enjoyed posing for you and I do want to see it before you send it in!"

Tracy's got a lotta gall just out and telling this guy he rifled his bag without a warrant. And how many times do we have to tell ya -- NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A BANDLEADER!

"Any kid can spot a cop a mile away." Wholesome little Annie.

From the wings, Margie Hart looks on and grumbles "this is the LAST camp show I will ever do!"

Of course she has amnesia. It's 1943. Everybody gets amnesia at least once.

Well now. So it seems Pop and Ma Smart never did get married, because he suspected her motives were not entirely pure. Which, given what we see of her son, is not difficult to believe.

"Okay, you two, break it up. The firing squad's here, and they're on the clock."

Judy Wallet, role model to a generation.

"Anything to get away from my parents! Did you know my father wears ladies' clothes?"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and..

Cleaning out the Page Four junk drawer...

 

[PrivateEye]

(Spring sunshine bathes 63rd Street on a pleasant May morning. On the sidewalk, three little girls draw a grid with a stub of chalk, in preparation for a vigorous game of skully. A group of boys howl and yell as they pull a loose board off a fence and run away brandishing it in the air. A trash can clatters as a hungry cat knocks off the lid in search of breakfast. And gazing out approvingly on the scene from his kitchen window, Joe takes a deep day-off kind of breath. "Hey Sal," he enthuses. "Whatcha say we have s'm fun t'day. You been woikin' awl week, out t'Joisey an' awl, an'nis is ya fois' official day off! Desoives a celebration! Hey, whatcha say soon's we finish eat'n, how 'bout let's take Leonoreh an' go oveh t' Sat'llite Pawk. Give'eh ride onna swings an'neh slip'ry slide, wawk aroun', get some sun. "Mmmm," mms Sally. "An'nen," continues Joe, his enthusiasm building, "how 'bout we go up'ta Poleh Groun's? Take inna good ol' doubl'headeh! Watch'm moideh t'em Giants!" "Mmm," mms Sally. "An'NEN," afteh t'at, whatcha say we g'wout t'eat. Downtown. Someplace nice. Childs. Or ev'n Joe's maybe. Someplace nice." There is no reply from Sally. "Sal?" queries Joe. "Hey Sal!" And Joe turns around to find Sally slumped over the kitchen table, fast asleep.)

I wish I had the skill to put some artwork to these two, what I strip it would be.

 

[Fading Fast]

(Spring sunshine bathes 63rd Street on a pleasant May morning. On the sidewalk, three little girls draw a grid with a stub of chalk, in preparation for a vigorous game of skully. A group of boys howl and yell as they pull a loose board off a fence and run away brandishing it in the air. A trash can clatters as a hungry cat knocks off the lid in search of breakfast. And gazing out approvingly on the scene from his kitchen window, Joe takes a deep day-off kind of breath. "Hey Sal," he enthuses. "Whatcha say we have s'm fun t'day. You been woikin' awl week, out t'Joisey an' awl, an'nis is ya fois' official day off! Desoives a celebration! Hey, whatcha say soon's we finish eat'n, how 'bout let's take Leonoreh an' go oveh t' Sat'llite Pawk. Give'eh ride onna swings an'neh slip'ry slide, wawk aroun', get some sun. "Mmmm," mms Sally. "An'nen," continues Joe, his enthusiasm building, "how 'bout we go up'ta Poleh Groun's? Take inna good ol' doubl'headeh! Watch'm moideh t'em Giants!" "Mmm," mms Sally. "An'NEN," afteh t'at, whatcha say we g'wout t'eat. Downtown. Someplace nice. Childs. Or ev'n Joe's maybe. Someplace nice." There is no reply from Sally. "Sal?" queries Joe. "Hey Sal!" And Joe turns around to find Sally slumped over the kitchen table, fast asleep.)
...

I can't imagine a kid in diapers having fun, nor it being fun to have a kid in diapers at a double header.

...

Representative Donald O'Toole and his political allies in the 9th Assembly District will confer today to decide whether their dispute over the election of Joseph J. Madden as district Democratic leader will go to the courts. The issue at stake, if a decision for legal action is taken, will be the use of proxy votes in that election. Rep. O'Toole, his chief political advisor Everett McGarry, and other members of his political faction are expected to reach a decision on the matter this afternoon. The possibility of a lawsuit looms after last week's stormy all-night meeting of the 9th District Democratic Committee which ended with Madden, an attache of District Attorney William O'Dwyer, winning the vote to replace the late Thomas McGee as committee chief. Hundreds of proxy ballots, most of them dated April 27th -- the date of the meeting -- were cast during the vote, with the majority going to Madden, who beat out O'Toole by a margin of 519 to 293. The O'Toole faction may also challenge rulings by meeting chairman John J. Dorman, former City Fire Commissioner, that threw out many proxy votes for O'Toole on the grounds that those signing those proxies no longer lived in the district.
...

ELECTION FRAUD! (1943 style, once again we see very little is new.)

...

The margin by which the Second War Loan exceeded its quota, nationally and locally, continued to climb yesterday as bond buyers hastened to add to their purchases over the campaign's closing hours. FInal returns in the campaign will not be known until tomorrow, but it is known that the national quota of $13,000,000,000 has already been exceeded by at least $3,000,000,000. Figures for Region 7, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, have exceeded the local quota by well over twice the amount sought. That original quota of $95,000,000 was topped within the first 24 hours of the campaign, and the amount now raised exceeds $217,000.000.
...

Beyond the patriotic spirit, this is a country at or near full employment, with, often (see Joe and Sally), two-income households, working long hours (so making good money with less time to spend the money) amidst war shortages/rationing (so less things to spend the money on) that is clearly funneling its extra savings into war bonds.

...

(This debate has been a long time coming, and the Eagle's 'yes, but' approach is far from the last word.)
...

Versions of this debate are still going on today with sides often having been switched more than once in all the ensuing years.

...

(And yet another impressive accomplishment for Miss Hanzelin? Beating out John L. Lewis for this week's lead spot in TREND.)
...

My first real job on Wall St. in the '80s (after being promoted from back-office work) was, effectively, the 1980s version of Hanzelin's 1943 job - clerking order flow. It is an intense job as one mistake is a very big deal as it can cost a lot of money and the flow can be nonstop at times. At least in my time, it was the clerk's responsibility to keep track of every order he/she touched. By the '80s, there were a lot of women (and several bookies) working on the floor of the exchange.

One other connect, the firm I worked for back then shared "booth space" with Merrill Lynch (a firm I also worked for several years later), so it's just possible, in the '80s, I stood in the same booth as Ms. Hanzelin did in '43.

...

(Incidentally to Madame Chiang: try saddle shoes, they're awful comfy!)
...

King George did not work in a factory during the war (maybe he did very briefly for morale, but not as a real job), so what are they referring to? He toured them, but he didn't punch a clock.

And in the Daily News...

I'm beginning to notice a pattern.

...

In the '70 and '80s (I'm sure it still goes on today, but on a smaller scale and not as out in the open) pimps would prey on runaways who would show up at the Port Authority bus station and turn those girls (and some boys) into prostitutes. What is extra shocking here is that the girls seem to be from local high schools.

Re the $99k lawsuit, this guy could have saved a lot of money had he just gone to the movies in the 1930s as there were several pictures whose plot had an heiress pretending to be a working girl - she'd take a regular job somewhere - so that she could find a man who would love her for herself and not her father's money. Richard Genius (can't miss the irony there) didn't need his whole elaborate set up as just taking a regular jobbed worked fine for heiress Miriam Hopkins in 1934's "The Richest Girl in the World."

...

"Any kid can spot a cop a mile away." Wholesome little Annie.
...

Annie was also smart enough to skedaddle in a hurry.

Oh, and..

Cleaning out the Page Four junk drawer...

No kidding, Jesus.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Mid-afternoon at Lieb's Candy Store finds a grim scene, as Danny "the Neck" Leary slouches his bulk upon a stool, nervously chewing a toothpick as Ma Sweeney stands behind the counter, her arms folded, fixing him in a stern glare. "Ye sh'd be thaaankful ye'rr not warrkin' in a cooal mine!" she reprimands. "Loaaafin' around here when ye should be in the station watchin' for Joseph and me little graaandaughter!" "But Ma," the Neck protests, "he tol' me he din' wan' me doin'at no moeh!" "Doonn't call me Ma," interjects Mrs. Sweeney. "I've told ye once, I've told ye a thooooousand times, I'm not ye matherr, an ye c'n ask ye faaaather about that!" "Sorry, Ma," mumbles the Neck. "I mean, ma'am." "I told beforre, ye need to be caaareful," continues Ma. "Ye don't want him to knowww ye're watchin' out for 'im. Ye got to be discreet! Michael always said ye were sloppy, Daniel. That business out in th' Flatlands, me boy did six months in stir because you..." "Aw, t'at Joe guy's a pain," grumbles the Neck. "T'at mug of a saileh was razzin' 'im, an' he jus' stood'eah an' took it." "That's none of yer affair," snaps Ma. "I give ye a job, an' ye do it, an' ye do it th' way I want it donnne, or I'll... Why JOSEPH!" The bell on the door jingles as Joe pushes a stroller full of Leonora into the store. "Da fight?" queries Leonora, her eyes on young Mr. Leary. "I betteh be goin'," mutters the Neck as he slides off his stool and lumbers out the door. "Whassat guy doin' heah?" queries Joe. "Ahhhhh, you know how it is, Joseph," replies Ma. "All the young men of the neighborhood, why, they come here to get my advice on their looove affairs. Jooost like in the funny papers, joost like old Poppa Jenks, heh heh. Hello there, Leonora, an' how is me little grandbaby t'day?" "Nick'ls!" pipes Leonora, reaching up to her father so he can sit her on the counter. "Oh, yes, darlin', we got lots o' nickels today. Can I fix ye an egg cream, Joseph, before you go to warrk?" "Yeah," agrees Joe. "I guess I got time f'tat! Gotta give Hoicules t'eah time t'get oveh t'station befoeh I get back onna train." "What?" "Nut'n. Hey, moeh syrup innis one, an' not so much fizz.")

The House of Representatives returned from its Easter recess today to resume debate pay-as-you-go tax legislation once more, facing a showdown over the question of total or partial forgiveness of a year's income taxes. Republicans favor the Carlson-Ruml plan that would forgive all 1942 taxes for persons making up to $5000 per year, and either 1942 or 1943 levies, whichever is lower, for those earning above that figure. Democrats have lined up behind the Ways and Means Committee's proposal to cancel an estimated 50 percent of 1942 taxes by returning the rates to 1941 levels, amortizing the unforgiving portions over 1944, 1945, and 1946, and allowing a 6 percent discount to those who pay their obligation in full prior to March 15, 1944. Both plans provide for a 20 percent withholding from the source against 1943 obligations. The debate resuming today will be the second time in four months there has been a general debate in the House on the issue, with all previous proposals rejected on March 30th.

The Japanese, renewing air assaults on Allied outposts, inflicted heavy losses on intercepting fighters that met and fought 51 raiding planes over Darwin, Australia, a communique acknowledged today. While the Allied planes damaged or destroyed 13 attackers, Allied losses were admitted to be the largest ever suffered in a single engagement in the southwest Pacific in proportion to the number of aircraft engaged. A communique from Tokio asserted that a total of 21 Allied fighters were downed over Darwin, with heavy damage inflicted on the port.

Victory for the Allies in 1944 and an end this month to the Tunisian campaign is forecast by Fighting French General Henri Honore Giraud. Addressing labor leaders and war workers at the summer palace at Algiers yesterday, Gen. Giraud failed to specify whether he meant the war as a whole will be over next year or merely the European phase of it. The general further predicted that after the war, France must embark on a broad new social program that will replace "the old capitalistic system" with one in which workers will play a far greater role in the economy. He appealed for maximum personal effort in war production now, and, while warning against agitators, pledged fair treatment for all workers.

(The Master Communicator in Action.)

Fifty thousand men and women booed the mention of John L. Lewis at Yankee Stadium yesterday, loudly cheering Mayor LaGuardia's call for the United Mine Workers president to call of the cold strike. Speaking at a May Day rally under the theme "Labor for Victory," the Mayor appealed to the UMW chief "not to destroy everything he has built up and not to lose all his friends, but to act now, before the President goes on the air tonight." The Mayor argued that "no leader, has the right because of grudge or personal feelings, to put a stigma on organized labor in this country." Also critical of Lewis during the rally was Sen. Claude Pepper (D-Florida), who condemned the UMW president as "a short-sighted and selfish leader who is threatening the victory of the United Nations in his selfish fight for power." Other speakers at the rally, which was endorsed by the Greater New York Industrial Council of the CIO, pressed the call for a second front in Europe. A large banner stretched across the infield behind the speaker's platform demanded "INVADE EUROPE NOW!"

(Hey look, confirmation bias.)

Longtime correspondent Biddy Briggs writes in to Helen Worth to weigh in on the question of unsupervised children digging up the neighbors' yards -- remembering when her own little ones dug with her silver wedding spoons to make mudpies. Now they're digging foxholes. "Would to heaven," Biddy laments, "the three who filched those coffee spoons, with delicate curves to their slender handles, were at the mudpie stage today..."

A captured Japanese submarine will be exhibited all day tomorrow at Borough Hall until 6 PM. It will then be moved to Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush, where it will be on exhibit until 11 PM. Purchase of a war bond at a downtown Brooklyn theatre will entitle the purchaser to a close inspection of the sub.

(Job's not over till the paperwork's done.)

In Hollywood, fire last night destroyed the mansion of film star Joan Bennett and her husband, producer Walter Wanger. The blaze forced the couple to flee the house half-dressed with their two children and three servants. Miss Bennett, who is carrying her third child, was taken with her two children to the neighboring home of director Allan Dwan. A crowd of film personalities living in the exclusive neighborhood gathered to watch the flire, which did an estimated $175,000 in damage to the home.

(Time is running out for Mr. Medwick. MacPhail refused to give up on him because he didn't want to look bad for making that trade. Rickey, however, was the one who gave up on him in 1940 to make that deal, and he will not hesitate to do it again. Tick tick tick...)

The Bushwicks swept the Black Yankees yesterday in a doubleheader at Dexter Park, romping to an 18-3 win in the first game, and notching a trim 3-1 victory in the seven-inning nightcap. The sweep elevates the Woodhaven boys to a 6-1 record on the season so far.

("Well, I guess that's that then. It's early yet, whattaya say we go get some chow mein?")

(Well, you could always call them on the phone...)

(Unlike Henry Morgan the buccaneer. He has a show every night on WOR.)

(Suddenly a bear arrived, looking for HIS dinner...)

(Even the gentlest soul has something they're willing to fight for...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Hmph," hmphs Ma, the News spread before her on the counter after Joe departs. "These subway stations are FUUUUULL OF HELOTS!" "Heluts!" gurgles Leonora, curiously sipping the last bit from Joe's abandoned glass.

Fascinating.

Bearded Pat is more cynical than clean-shaven Pat ever was.

C"mon, Warbucks, better take off the whiskers and come clean before they find that pit full of Nazis.

Yeah, sure, but he really does have a great band.

But who's gonna carry all that loose money back to the bank?

"Is This Trip REALLY Necessary?"

"Son, why aren't you in the Army?"

"Well, then it's time I packed you away in my trunk!"

Harold Teen, Tool of Management.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

When you think of IRRITATION, think of Philip Morris!

 

[Fading Fast]

(Mid-afternoon at Lieb's Candy Store finds a grim scene, as Danny "the Neck" Leary slouches his bulk upon a stool, nervously chewing a toothpick as Ma Sweeney stands behind the counter, her arms folded, fixing him in a stern glare. "Ye sh'd be thaaankful ye'rr not warrkin' in a cooal mine!" she reprimands. "Loaaafin' around here when ye should be in the station watchin' for Joseph and me little graaandaughter!" "But Ma," the Neck protests, "he tol' me he din' wan' me doin'at no moeh!" "Doonn't call me Ma," interjects Mrs. Sweeney. "I've told ye once, I've told ye a thooooousand times, I'm not ye matherr, an ye c'n ask ye faaaather about that!" "Sorry, Ma," mumbles the Neck. "I mean, ma'am." "I told beforre, ye need to be caaareful," continues Ma. "Ye don't want him to knowww ye're watchin' out for 'im. Ye got to be discreet! Michael always said ye were sloppy, Daniel. That business out in th' Flatlands, me boy did six months in stir because you..." "Aw, t'at Joe guy's a pain," grumbles the Neck. "T'at mug of a saileh was razzin' 'im, an' he jus' stood'eah an' took it." "That's none of yer affair," snaps Ma. "I give ye a job, an' ye do it, an' ye do it th' way I want it donnne, or I'll... Why JOSEPH!" The bell on the door jingles as Joe pushes a stroller full of Leonora into the store. "Da fight?" queries Leonora, her eyes on young Mr. Leary. "I betteh be goin'," mutters the Neck as he slides off his stool and lumbers out the door. "Whassat guy doin' heah?" queries Joe. "Ahhhhh, you know how it is, Joseph," replies Ma. "All the young men of the neighborhood, why, they come here to get my advice on their looove affairs. Jooost like in the funny papers, joost like old Poppa Jenks, heh heh. Hello there, Leonora, an' how is me little grandbaby t'day?" "Nick'ls!" pipes Leonora, reaching up to her father so he can sit her on the counter. "Oh, yes, darlin', we got lots o' nickels today. Can I fix ye an egg cream, Joseph, before you go to warrk?" "Yeah," agrees Joe. "I guess I got time f'tat! Gotta give Hoicules t'eah time t'get oveh t'station befoeh I get back onna train." "What?" "Nut'n. Hey, moeh syrup innis one, an' not so much fizz.")
...

Even without illustrations, other than "Terry and the Pirates," this is my favorite "comicstrip." And Caniff better stay on his game or he'll slip to second.

...

The Japanese, renewing air assaults on Allied outposts, inflicted heavy losses on intercepting fighters that met and fought 51 raiding planes over Darwin, Australia, a communique acknowledged today. While the Allied planes damaged or destroyed 13 attackers, Allied losses were admitted to be the largest ever suffered in a single engagement in the southwest Pacific in proportion to the number of aircraft engaged. A communique from Tokio asserted that a total of 21 Allied fighters were downed over Darwin, with heavy damage inflicted on the port.
...

Some unsettling but honest bad war news. Usually, in the papers, it seems the Allies are winning the war every single day.

...

A captured Japanese submarine will be exhibited all day tomorrow at Borough Hall until 6 PM. It will then be moved to Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush, where it will be on exhibit until 11 PM. Purchase of a war bond at a downtown Brooklyn theatre will entitle the purchaser to a close inspection of the sub.
...

How small is this thing? It is a submarine after all, but it sounds like a couple of guys are lugging it all over Brooklyn.

...

(Job's not over till the paperwork's done.)
...

"Documentation," our fancy word for "paperwork," has only gotten much, much worse. Plus now that it's "digital," much of the work is pushed out to the customer, as we have all become the receptionist at the doctor's office, the secretary at the bank, etc. Some of those jobs didn't really go away, but putting the work online gave businesses a way to eliminate some jobs and turn the customer into their unpaid document filler-outer.

...

("Well, I guess that's that then. It's early yet, whattaya say we go get some chow mein?")
...

And they could get it at the Automat.

Again, what does Mary do here all day?

And in the Daily News...

"Hmph," hmphs Ma, the News spread before her on the counter after Joe departs. "These subway stations are FUUUUULL OF HELOTS!" "Heluts!" gurgles Leonora, curiously sipping the last bit from Joe's abandoned glass.
...

The plane strafing the apartment houses is really, really strange. I hope there is some follow up to this story.

...

Fascinating.
...

The public is smarter than its government on this one.

...

But who's gonna carry all that loose money back to the bank?
...

When it's that much money, the bank will gladly send an armored car over to pick it up.

...

"Is This Trip REALLY Necessary?"
...

Settle on one plan. You can't both be trying to look like a pile of junk and be driving forward.

Oh, and...

When you think of IRRITATION, think of Philip Morris!

The ad does, by implication, all but admit smoking irritates the nose and throat. It's interesting that they even released this ad.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

King George didn't do factory duty during the war but his daughter our late queen Elizabeth drove ambulance
thru the Blitz. Her Majesty and her sister Princess Margaret snuck out of the palace on VE Day to dance in the streets.
General Eisenhower had meat wrapped within tin foil strapped to his car engine for road cooking.

The new child prostitution criminal occurrence seems pervasive.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("'S'bout time t'ey cracked down on'nem chiselehs," comments Sally, as she pokes at a slice of Western Electric cafeteria meat loaf. "Maybe t'en we c'n get hamboigeh t'at ain' all fulla soybeans an' sawdust an' junk." "Oh, politics is such a bore," sighs Mildred Kelly. "Bud was interested in that stuff, but I just think it's so BLAH." "Oh I dunno," replies Sally, pausing before her next mouthful. "Say, you remembeh t'em sit down strikes in t'oity-seven? It was befoeh me'n Joe got married, an' I was woikin' at t'at Woolwoit's oveh on Sutteh Aveneh, you know, t'big one? An' one mawrnin', all of us jus' set down. Wouldn' wait on no customehs, wouldn' lissen t'no flooehwawkeh. Closed t'stoeh right down. We had cots, an' all, an' we slep'right inneh stoeh, an' durin'a day we had signs an' awl, you know, picketin'. "That must've been quite a sight," comments Mildred, with a barely perceptible eyeroll. "An' we sung a song, right?" recalls Sally, relishing the memory. "It was swell. 'Barb-ra Hutton has t'dough, par-ley voo! Where she gets it, we awl know, par-ley voo! We woik at Woolwoit's five-an'-dime, t'pay we get is sueh a crime! Hin-key dink-ey parley-voo!" Heads turn in the cafeteria, as Sally continues her story. "Yeah, an' we was inneah til' t' City buildin' inspecteh shows up an' says 'lissen heah you goils, t'is ain' no roomin' house,' an'ney run us out, an' we get arrested. My ma an' my Uncle Frank an' my brot'eh Mickey was out't'eah' yellin' at t'sawrgent while t'ey was loadin' us inna pie wagon. Aw, it was sumpin'. Even Joe, gawdluv'im, was out onna sidewawk wavin' an' yellin', aw, it was swell." Mildred smiles an uncomfortable smile, and backs slightly away from the table. "Sutter Avenue," she finally remarks. "That's almost in Brownsville, isn't it? That's such an -- interesting -- neighborhood, isn't it? Did you -- LIVE -- there?" "Oh no, I was still livin' wit Ma t'en, up on Rogehs Aveneh. I grew up on Midwood Street, see, out by Kingston, an' right aroun'nis time we move oveh t' Rogehs, y'know, so my Ma could take oveh runnin'is canny stoeh." "Midwood Street?" frowns Mildred. "Isn't that in Pigt..." "East Flatbush," interrupts Sally, returning to her meat loaf. "It's always interesting to get to know people," sighs Mildred. "Yeah," nods Sally, her mouth full. "It's swell.")

A broadcast over the Berlin radio today claimed that the bullets that penetrated a Park Slope apartment house during Sunday's practice air raid drill came from American flyers practicing "terror raids" on the local population, but local military authorities indicated that the bullets were not from a machine gun, but were "ack-ack" resulting from the accidental discharge of a Brooklyn anti-aircraft gun during the air raid drill. The Eastern Defense Command stressed the accidental nature of the fire.

Board of Education member Mrs. Johanna M. Lindlof of Queens, who has been involved in innumerable controversies during her tenure which expired today, has been replaced on the Board by George H. Chatfield of Jamaica. Mayor LaGuardia, in announcing Chatfield's appointment expressed the hope that the former director of the Bureau of Attendance will help usher in "needed changes in the treatment of our children in our public schools." The Mayor, in announcing Mrs, Lindlof's replacement, made no mention of her controversial career on the Board, which included clashes with the American Legion in 1935 over her anti-war views, and more recently in her opposition to the Rapp-Coudert Committee and to the release of students from class for religious training. Mrs. Lindlof's views generally have lined up with those of the Mayor, but last week she came out in favor of Mark Starr as director of Adult Education despite the Mayor's opposition to the appointment of an unopposed candidate. Starr was subsequently rejected for the job by a majority vote of the Board.

The Red Army beat off a German infantry attack on a Soviet bridgehead on the west bank of the Donets below Balakleya in the Ukraine today while Russian and Axis air forces exchanged fire all along the front. A Soviet broadcast stated today that Russian fliers brought down 54 German planes in dogfights west of Krasnodar in the northwest Caucasus on Sunday and Monday, against losses of only 21 Soviet planes.

A 16-year-old Brooklyn boy who has served in the Army for over a year was discharged from the service in Greenwood, Mississippi after military authorities discovered his true age. Private Arthur White, who was serving as a fully qualified link-trainer instructor, was only fifteen when he enlisted in March of 1942, and when questioned by officers, admitted that he had lied about his age when filling out his enlistment papers, and noted that no one asked to see his birth certificate. Officers, in sending White home, did not reveal how they learned his true age, and admitted that he was an efficient instructor. "I'll be back," the boy promised, as he headed home to finish his education at Brooklyn Technical High School.

(More untreated mental illness.)

(It took up to five yards of fabric to make a dress c. 1940, and now it's down to just about 3 yards. You can't get much trimmer than that unless you start leaving uncovered that which ought to be covered.)

The girdle situation is about to get tighter, but not quite so stretchy. Although foundation garments have lost much of their elasticity over the past year due to the rubber shortage, in favor of old-fashioned stiff boning, what elastic remains is about to be reduced to the bare minimum. Garters will no longer be attached to girdles with elastic straps -- which is likely to mean more stocking runs -- and no more than two pair of garters will be allowed per garment. Elastic panels will be limited to two inches in width, and Lastex yarn is completely out of the picture. Panty girdles will bear little resemblance to their prewar models, with most of the elastic replaced by knitted jersey cloth, with firm insert panels of swamee cloth at the front and back. Compared to prewar versions, the "victory panties" provide little figure support. Corsetry will look more and more like that of Grandma's day -- with no zippers allowed, expect to see old-fashioned lacing at the back, sides, or front, with only a bit of gore elastic to give ease.

(Nah, never mind the civilian stuff, you'll want to hold out for the GI Bill.)

The Pulitzer Prize for the best play of 1942 goes to Thornton Wilder, now a major in the U. S. Army, for his play "The Skin Of Our Teeth," now running at the Plymouth Theatre. The prize for best novel of the year, as determined by the trustees of Columbia University, goes to Upton Sinclair for "Dragon's Teeth." Both Wilder and Sinclair have won previous Pulitzers, with Wilder having earned the honor twice before. The award for poetry will be presented to Robert Frost for "A Witness Tree."

(It's like this, Ducky. Three yeas ago you were hit in the head and nearly killed. And you came back too soon and it messed you up and you haven't been the same since. And that's the gawdshonestruth. And there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about it if you don't first admit what the problem is.)

(Aw, getcha head out of the movie magazines, kid. This is real life.)

(Point of order: Tallulah, no matter how desperate for work, would never EVER live in a place called "Seed County." I bet they don't even allow pet lions.)

("If I can't work here as a hero, or even as a sidekick," growls Irwin, "I'll work here as a VILLIAN! HAH HA HA HA HA!)

(ALL RIGHT THAT'S ABOUT ENOUGH, MR. BECK. AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG DOES NOT EAT WATERCRESS!)

(Migawd, he's really Oakdale's kid!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"If anybody ever paid me back $45,000 I certainly would remember it for a long long time." Well, yeah.

"Don't blame US for this mess! It's them bituminous guys!"

Besides, the pit must be pretty full.

WHERE INDEED?

Didn't take Mama long to fall out of the mood, did it?

"Woo hoo, maybe they brought food!"

"And no complaining about the watercress!"

"Ahem.." says Mr. Paul V. McNutt.

90 percent of war is making the other guy think you're bigger than you really are.

To be fair, though, it does look more like a rat.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

A broadcast over the Berlin radio today claimed that the bullets that penetrated a Park Slope apartment house during Sunday's practice air raid drill came from American flyers practicing "terror raids" on the local population, but local military authorities indicated that the bullets were not from a machine gun, but were "ack-ack" resulting from the accidental discharge of a Brooklyn anti-aircraft gun during the air raid drill. The Eastern Defense Command stressed the accidental nature of the fire.
...

I'm not sold on this version of the story. The description of strafing yesterday doesn't seem consistent with anti-aircraft fire.

...

(It took up to five yards of fabric to make a dress c. 1940, and now it's down to just about 3 yards. You can't get much trimmer than that unless you start leaving uncovered that which ought to be covered.)
...

"We're not allowed to work at night...too many tavern calls..."

...

(ALL RIGHT THAT'S ABOUT ENOUGH, MR. BECK. AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG DOES NOT EAT WATERCRESS!)
...

And Bo comes around to a Hobbesian view of life without civilization.

And in the Daily News...

"If anybody ever paid me back $45,000 I certainly would remember it for a long long time." Well, yeah.
...

Especially since $45,000 then is ~$800,000 today.

...

Besides, the pit must be pretty full.
...

Nobody is handling this one well.

...

WHERE INDEED?
...

So the merry widow wants to walk out of the bank with $200,000 in cash (~$3,500,000 today) as if that's not suspicious and insanely stupid.

...

"Woo hoo, maybe they brought food!"
...

The heck with food, even better, maybe they can unload the annoying reporter on them.

 

[Farace]

General Eisenhower had meat wrapped within tin foil strapped to his car engine for road cooking.

Back in the ‘80s I found a cookbook on the remaindered table at a local bookstore detailing just how to do this. Recipes tended to give cooking duration in miles rather than time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Now innis pitcheh heah," says Joe, with Leonora comfortably nestled on his lap as he reads to her from a wilted comic book, "y'see? T' lit'l goil looks inna windeh an' sees boiglehs robbin'a safe! An' so she hollehs out loud, she hollehs 'SHAZAM!' An'awluva suddn'nis lightnin' comes down outa t'sky, an' goes BOOM! An'na lit'l goil toins inta Mary Mawrv'l! See heah? Wit' a cape on an' evry'ting? An'nen she SMASHES t'ru t'windeh an' ya see what she does heah? She jus' ups an' pops 'm right onna beezeh!" "Pop'na beeza!" giggles Leonora as she takes a swing at her old man's proboscis. "Hey!" chuckles Joe. "You got t'right idea, don'cha. Yeah, you wanna remembeh t'at, 'cause t'eahs a lotta bad guys inna woil'. It's awlya see inna newspapeh. An' you wanna be ready f'tat. But you don'need no magic woid a'nut'n, you just grow up t'be like ya ma. She don' need no magic woid, an' neiteh will you!" "Zam!" yells Leonora, looking around expectantly for the lightning.)

With East Coast gasoline supplies at a lower ebb than at any time since the war began, Price Administrator Prentiss Brown threatened today to revoke B and C ration cards of any motorists caught using them for pleasure driving. Promising a "get tough" campaign against ration violators, Brown warned that OPA agents will patrol race tracks and amusement parks in search of violators, and any cars found at such places bearing B and C stickers will be cited. Noting that the "honor system" hasn't worked to curb pleasure driving, Brown stressed that not only will current rations be revoked for those found guilty of willful violations, the right of those persons to receive any future gasoline ration will also be revoked. Although Brown is seeking the cooperation of local police in the investigation of violators, he indicated that motorists on the highways will not be stopped for questioning. "However," he warned, "where the circumstances obviously indicate that B and C rations are being used for non-essential purposes, drivers will be interviewed by police and OPA investigators, where possible, to screen out non-violators." Where drivers cannot be immediately located for interview, Brown added, license numbers will be recorded and vehicle owners will be ordered to appear before their local ration board to explain. Brown further added that the new enforcement policy will apply only to B and C rations, which are expressly issued for essential driving only, with A card holders permitted to use their ration as they wish.

The biggest force yet of four-motored British bombers dropped nearly 1500 tons of explosives on the German coal and steel center of Dortmund last night, according to a statement from the Royal Air Force. The tonnage dropped on the Dortmund hub of the Nazi war machine was "not very short" of that amount dropped on Cologne during a 1000-plane raid last May 30. The raid cost the RAF 30 bombers, and followed by a few hours a powerful attack by American planes on Nazi industrial targets at Antwerp.

Brooklyn's drive to meet its $500,000 quota for this year's Greater New York Fund began last night at the Hotel Bossert in a dinner given by the Fund's Brooklyn Committee. Fund president Arthur A. Ballantine joined Borough President John Cashmore in urging 300 guests representing business, finance, and industry to do their part in supporting the campaign. The Greater New York Fund supports the efforts of 406 social, health, and welfare agencies serving the entire city, and Ballantine stressed that the war has put particular hardship on such agencies, making community support more important than ever. The city-wide quota for the 1943 campaign has been set at $4,500,000.

("Who the hell are you?" "Give me a break!" Well, at least he isn't wearing a zoot suit.)

The first motorwomen to operate trolley cars in Brooklyn and Queens will begin their training next Monday in Flatbush in a rigorous course in street car operation conducted by the Board of Transportation. Three women, among them Mrs. Lena Mae Wilson of 119 Kingston Avenue, were selected for the training from a pool of applicants for clerks' positions. All three were asked if they were willing to become motorwomen instead, due to the present shortage of motormen, and all three responded enthusiastically. Mrs. Wilson is already practicing her cheery "fares please!" with which she will greet her future passengers.

A warning from the manufacturers of Fletcher's Castoria that bottles of the popular patent laxative may contain an unspecified "foreign substance" and should not be used was issued today after several persons using the medicine complained of nausea and vomiting. The Centaur Company of Rahway, New Jersey warned that bottles of Fletcher's Castoria manufactured since March 2, 1943 may be contaminated with the substance, and all persons with such bottles in their medicine chests should immediately return them to the dealer from whom they were purchased for a full refund. Bottles manufactured prior to March 1943 do not contain the foreign ingredient. All production at the Rahway plant has been suspended pending an analysis by Federal and state health authorities, and the Centaur Company itself is also conducting an investigation. Several complaints of nausea and vomiting from users of the product have been recorded in the East, although comparatively few have been reported in the metropolitan area.

("There is nothing Mickey Mouse about rationing!" -- Prentiss A. Brown.)

Officials of the Sperry Gyroscope Company denied today that an employee at the company's Bush Terminal plant was required to quit her job in order to attend the christening of a ship named after her grandfather. Mrs. Polly Conohan Hinkamp claimed that the company refused to allow her time off from her position as an inspector in order to attend the christening of the new destroyer Conohan at the Bethlehem Steel Company's yard at Staten Island, so she quit. Sperry personnel official J. A. Fitz denied that claim, stating that Mrs. Hinkamp resigned last Friday because, she said, she was going to join her husband, Lt. Maddox Nelson Pieter Hinakamp of the Navy. Mr. Fitz noted that he has verification of this statement from two department heads, and added that "if she had asked for a night off we would have been glad to grant it under the circumstances.")

("Yeah, but you oughta see the men we meet!")

The War Labor Board has approved wage increases for radio artists employed by six major broadcasting companies. The increases of from 4 1/2 to 10 percent will be effective immediately for most radio talent represented by the American Federation of Radio Artistsm, employed in the production centers of New York, Chicago, and Hollywood by the National Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Blue Network Company, the Don Lee Broadcasting System, WGN, Inc., the Agricultural Broadcasting System, and the WOR Program Service.

("HEY!" yells Sally into a payphone while she waits for her train at the H&M Hudson Terminal. "Yeah! TELL'AT RICKEY PETEY WOULDA MADE T'AT PLAY!")

A tablet honoring Dodgers in the service may soon go up at Ebbets Field. Club officials are deciding on which of three submitted designs are best suited for display in the marble rotunda.

(You'll be dancing in a nightclub within a week. Hopefully not in a pirate outfit.)

(Y'know, Tallu, you really should wear a longer slip. Kinda misses the purpose to wear one that short.)

(Wait, secret operatives can take private fees? WHAT KIND OF RACKET IS THIS?)

(Poor kitty. *snif*)

(Wait, is George SMART in this universe? Of all the radical changes Mr. Tuthill has brought to his strip since he retired from retirement, this is by far the most radical.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

This was horrific the first time we read about it, and the details make it even more so.

"Nah," nahs Sally.

After the war, George will take over Nick's gang.

The sounding board in a piano is made of wood. The metal bridge, however, that holds the strings, is under several tons of tension. As Mr. Keyes will soon learn.

The one thing I think we can be certain of is that Bim does not, in fact, understand.

You must have pretty particular ears to tell the difference.

Well, it's not like there's a gas station where they can stop and ask for directions.

And they all lived happily ever after.

'Papa's little exemptions."

"I gotta see if there's ANY CHANCE she'll still marry Pop!"