The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

In too many ways, Miss Landis was Marilyn Monroe before Marilyn Monroe was Marilyn Monroe. She was a very talented actress, a clever writer, and a woman who should have gotten much more out of life than Hollywood ever let her have.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

In too many ways, Miss Landis was Marilyn Monroe before Marilyn Monroe was Marilyn Monroe. She was a very talented actress, a clever writer, and a woman who should have gotten much more out of life than Hollywood ever let her have.

A LIFE cover I recall had her dancing at the Hollywood Canteen, such grace and sweetness.
I haven't seen the Marilyn film but what snippets I have caught look horrific psychological hellish.

 

[Farace]

My partner, when she was in her 20s, lived in Newport, RI and used to encounter Ms. Duke from time to time when Duke “went out slumming,” in particular enjoying a club called Harpo’s, and sometimes exhibiting bawdy behavior. There were also rumors she was having affairs with her chauffeurs, three of which died in “accidents.”

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

There were also rumors she was having affairs with her chauffeurs, three of which died in “accidents.”

A lot of that going around these days, particularly chefs, crack-ers, other rumours.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("It's gettin' serious wit' Alice an' Krause," sighs Sally, sitting next to Joe on a bench in Satellite Park as Leonora scampers on the grass. "Heh," hehs Joe. "I bet Misteh G can't wait t'give t'bride away." "Don' be like t'at," scolds Sally. "T'ey got a right to be happy. Alice is had a hawrd life. I dunno what kinda life Krause is had, but, I guess, when ya look at'tim, why, y'gotta drawr conclusions. Ev'rybody desoives t'be happy." "'Cept Rickey," grins Joe. "Yeh," nods Sally. "'Cept Rickey." "Hey, y'know, eight'na row is sump'n," Joe observes. "Whatcha say we go t'day. Las' Sunday t'see'm t'is yeeh." "Ahhh, I dunno," demurs Sally. "Who wantsta see t'Braves. B'sides, I'm still boycott'n." "Lotta good boycott'ns done," points out Joe. "Boycott'n ain' bringin' Camilli back. Or Fitz. Or Medwick. Or -- ah -- even Petey." "It's t'principle'a t't'ing," frowns Sally. "Gonna be a long winteh," reminds Joe. "Gonna be a lotta Sundays t'sit arouna house plannin' Alice's wedd'n." "Ahhh, g'wan," grumbes Sally. "LEONOREH! LEAVE T'AT DAWG ALONE!" Joe gazes across the green as his daughter, two days shy of two, threatens a high-strung wire-haired terrier romping before her. "Wawr's gonna last t'ru nex' yeeh," sighs Joe. "You see t'at inna papeh?" "Yeh," nods Sally. "Might be..." stumbles Joe, "Might be -- some guys' -- las' chance t'see t'Dodgehs f' t' duration." Sally absorbs this remark in silence. "G'WAN HOME YA MUTT!" she shouts as the dog retreats and Leonora grins in triumph. She leans back on the bench and glances at Joe. "Ahhhh," she concedes. "What good's a boycott anyway.")

General Henry H. Arnold, commander of the U. S. Army Air Forces, said today that the maximum strength of American heavy bomber strength, including the new "super flying fortresses," will soon be based in Britain to help clear the road for Allied ground troops who will make the "formal entry into Germany." Hinting that the Allies will bring into play secret weapons of their own, Gen. Arnold declared that "we are going to use cannon, rockets, or whatever necessary to get home to the target. Addressing a press conference in London, Gen. Arnold further stated that no point in Germany, not even Berlin, will be safe against American bomber fleets which, thanks to new technical developments, will be able to roar out on high-precision raids in all sorts of weather.

Broadcasts from Rome acknowledged today that the war has reached a critical stage for Italy, and offered strong hints that the country is prepared to accept a separate peace with the Allies. In a broadcast monitored in London, the Rome radio stated that Italy is prepared to accept any Allied demand that "could possibly sound just and practicable." The Rome commentator described Italians as "the world's most reasonable people, who are always ready to listen to reason and accept it," and added, "if we were given half a chance, we could really do things in a serious way."

Brooklyn's drive to meet its $324,000,000 quota in the Third War Loan campaign begins Tuesday with a patriotic rally in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel St. George. Guest speakers will include Borough President John Cashmore, Dodgers president Branch Rickey, and W. Randolph Burgess, chairman of the New York State War Finance Committee. The local campaign will be carried out under the slogan "Back Brooklyn Buddies -- Buy Bonds!" Unofficial statistics indicate there are at present 225,0000 Brooklyn men serving in the Armed Forces, and the campaign quota calls for the sale of four bonds in the name of every individual Brooklyn man in the service, or one million bonds to one million individuals.

(Miss Murray, one of my favorite Broadway belters, at liberty with the closing of "Sons 'o Fun," will soon leave for a USO tour which will carry her to the Pacific Theatre, where she will be wounded under enemy fire, and become one of the few civilians to be awarded the Purple Heart. Godblessya, Wynnie.)

Old Timer J. T. Whitelaw Sr. sends his regards to all the old Pigtowners out there, and recalls with pride the old St. Matthew's baseball nine, which, he admits, "did not always consist of the same players." He calls on his fellow residents of good old Pigtown to step up and show all those Old Timers from Crow Hill and such what it's all about.

The Eagle Editorialist commends British anti-aircraft Sergeant John Saggers, a recent visitor to the borough, for his comments of appreciation for the Brooklyn accent. Sgt. Saggers told reporters the other day that he could "understand every word your Brooklyn fellas spoke," while it was "'ard t'make 'ead or tile" out of the speech of boys from other regions who laugh whenever a Flatbush boy speaks. "Whereas most people use language to conceal thought," the EE comments, "here in Brooklyn we use language to express ideas. Surely, then, the test of our melodious tongue is in the efficiency with which it conveys our ideas (and we have plenty) to others. Sergeant Saggers understands us. If the natives of Nebraska or Mississippi don't, the fault lies in them, not us. Sergeant Saggers proves it, for which we thank him, and reciprocate by saying that the dulcet tones produced within the sound of the Bow Bells are pretty musical too."

Reader W. F. Rockville criticizes the recent proposal to legislate against marriage after a third divorce. "Tommy Manville is not my idea of a solid citizen or an inspiration to youth," Rockville acknowledges, but "at least Manville marries his girls. Do the legislators wish to say that after the third divorce the law no longer cares how much a man or woman flouts morality or the dictates of decency?"

("T'at Howie," grins Alice, scanning the paper while relaxing on the front stoop. "Yeh," acknowledges Krause, chipping old paint from the door. "Hey," admonishes Alice, picking a paint chip from her tangerine-colored frizz. "Watch it wit' t'at stuff. I jus' had a poimanent. Ya notice?" "Yeh," replies Krause, with a barely perceptible nod, his scraper working furiously against the heavy wood. "Ya like it?" winks Alice, with a wrinkle of her Pert Irish Nose. "Ya notice I had'em put some henna inneh too while t'ey was attit. I t'ought it come out a lit'l too orange at fois', but it's growin' awn me! Ha! T'at's a joke, see? Ya get it?" "Yeh," nods Krause, pausing to take the cigar out of his mouth. "It's got a-ppeal!" "It does, don' it?" preens Alice. "Get it?" adds Krause, returning the cigar to its position. "'A peel? T'at's a joke, see?" Ya get it?" "Oh," ponders Alice. "Yeh! I get it!" "Yeh," nods Krause, puffing an acrid cloud as Alice gazes upon him with awe.)

With Labor Day approaching, Brooklyn keglers are straining at the wire as they await the start of the tournament bowling season, and officials of the Brooklyn Bowling Proprietors Association will meet on Wednesday at the Hotel Granada for the election of officers. Members of the New York State Bowling Association spent last week touring all alleys in the borough, and all received the necessary certifications for tournament play.

(I am not one to think much of royalty, but I will bow before "that soldier," King Christian X.)

Moustaches are making a movie comeback not just as character props for comedians of the Groucho Marx or Jerry Colonna type or the waxed-pointed heralds of villainy, but also as appropriate adornment for heroic figures. While hero Paul Lukas of "Watch on the Rhine" is clean shaven, Donald Woods as Bette Davis's noble brother displays a short-cropped lip-trimming that seems appropriate for his characterization as a strong and sympathetic member of the household.

(Yeah, Warbucks, you don't see THESE TWO whining about being trapped in a water cave!)

(Ben Hecht is a time traveler from 2023 CONFIRMED)

(Mr. Stamm clearly has a thing for women of size.)

(As we know, Phil's an idiot. And Mrs. W. F. Turner ought to just get a cat.)

(Sorry, Towers, Patti has her heart set on being Miss Rheingold. And Burma HAS HAD ENOUGH OF TRUCKS!!!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Where in hell were the crowds?" DON'CHA KNOW THERE'S A WAR ON?

Like all high-ranking officers, Col. Annie delegated the mission. Lt. Sandy -- report!

Ah, apartment living.

Just a reminder that the Sunday News is sold and delivered to home subscribers with the comic section wrapped around the main paper. So that on this fine September Sunday, this gory scene is the first thing you see. Who's up for breakfast!


MR. FLASK IS JUST ASKING FOR IT ISN'T HE! And gee, Andy, your boy goes off and disappears for months at a time and now you're worried?


I'm always impressed by Moon's skill at the pool table.

Ah, Corky's fifteen. Wanna live to be sixteen?

Joy? YOU HAVEN"T CHANGED A BIT!

Goofy, also is an idiot. But we all knew that.

Terry never forgets a face.

 

[Fading Fast]

Cary, what do you think of Fedora's current technology issues?

I thought they were getting better, but today was as bad as ever.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

John Catlin's story caught my attention. Surprised he returned before the armistice as many children
were farmed out away from cities because of Luftwaffe bombing. Seems a bright lad.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Today is Labor Day in 1943, so the Eagle doesn't publish. But at the Bush Terminal plant of the Sperry Gyroscope Company, Joe Petrauskas stands at his lathe regardless of the holiday, turning out precision parts intended for bombsights. And across the river in New Jersey, at the Kearny Works of the Western Electric Company, Sally Sweeney Petrauskas and Alice Dooley sit at their bench, painstakingly soldering components to their base pins along a vast vacuum tube assembly line.

But as she works, Sally's thoughts turn back to that night six and a half years earlier, when she and her comrades at Woolworth's sat down for their rights -- all the way to a jail cell.

(Sal's the loud one. SOLIDARITY!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I bet working for the ration board in Reno is a very hard job.

Nice work if you can get it!

Even Milton Caniff deserves a day off now and then.

Annie reports directly to Paul V. McNutt.

POOR EMIL

"1-2-3-4?" "Um, yeah. WELL IT'S HARD TO COME UP WITH GOOD PASSWORDS!"

"But did she have to call me a petit-bourgeois oppressor???"

Careful what you ask for, kid.

Oh those bill collectors.

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child..."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

Keep 'em flying!

 

[Fading Fast]

Greta Garbo trying to post on Fedora Lounge with its current tech issues.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

But as she works, Sally's thoughts turn back to that night six and a half years earlier, when she and her comrades at Woolworth's sat down for their rights -- all the way to a jail cell.

Sally's thoughts turn back to that night six and a half years earlier, when she-*CENSORED*-.
(THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT NARRATION)

Terrence's ''Oh Boy'' read between punch line really zips the letter's envelope what.

Sing Sing's Guard Roster speaks volumes.
A film about British gallows humour ran the circuit here detailing the professional last hangman in the UK
who came to the Americans' assistance at Nurembourg. Grisly gibbet horror tale but true while macabre,
still not without interest yet.

The Carole Landis photo with her then husband sent a shiver through me. May Ms Landis rest in peace.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Cake!" burbles Leonora, as she plunges her fists into the frosting and the smoke rises from the two just-extinguished candles stuck into the top. "That's it, honey," grins Joe. "Dive in! Jeez, I wish Sal could be heeh." "She made a very foine cake though," observes Ma, ducking a flying gob of icing as Leonora helps herself. "She stayed around aaafter waark last noit, an' wouldn't go home until it was paarfect." "We shoulda took a pitcheh," sighs Joe, as a chunk of devil's food bounces off his chest, leaving a brown smear on his overalls. "Harumph," harumphs Uncle Frank, reaching into his inside pocket to withdraw a manila envelope."I haaave here farr the barthday garrl soomethin' farr her future," he declares, enunciating as though he were standing on the steps of Borough Hall. "I would loike to present to Miss Leonora a twenty-foive dollar war bond, paarchased today as a caaaantribution to the Thaard War Loan Droive, in honaaar of her dear Uncle Michael, now held prisonaar somewharrr in Gaaaarmany. Maay this caaantribution haaasten his safe retaaarn, and may the fooonds thus reepresented symbolize a briiiight post waaar future." To a small smattering of applause, Uncle Frank presents the bond to Joe, taking both a small bow and a slice of cake. "T'at's swell, Uncle Frank," Joe nods. "T'anks." "Thaaat'l be eighteen sevaaanty-foive," Uncle Frank adds, thru a mouthful of frosting. "Oh," ohs Joe. "It's a joke, me lad," chuckles Uncle Frank. "Of caaarse, if ye'd like to paarchase..." "Yeh," nods Joe. "I would. Put me down f'one F' Solly Pincus." "Leonora!" admonishes Ma. "The cake is faar eatin' an' not faar wearin'!" "CAKE!" peals Leonora, flinging a chunk upward as she beams joyously into the start of her third year...)

Virtually all organized resistance has halted in the Donets Basin as Russian armies swiftly pursue the fleeing Germans toward the Dnieper River Line. Front line dispatches reported today that what may have been the last German defense position east of the Dnieper River bend collapsed with the fall of the key railroad stations of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Konstantinovka along a line stretching 60 miles north from Stalino. More than two thirds of the Donets Basin has been freed, and Stalino, twelfth largest city in the Soviet Union and the industrial capital of the basin, was almost within grasp of the Red Army following the capture of Makeevka, only 7 1/2 miles to the northeast.

Republican Party leaders today trod the middle ground between rigid isolationism and sweeping internationalism in charting a prospective foreign policy plank for their 1944 platform. Concessions on both sides are expeected in order to present a united party front for the Republican postwar policy council, in a report to be presented by a six-member subcommittee on foreign policy and international relations. That subcomittee's meeting began, at Mackinac Island, Michigan, with a statement by Senator Arthur H. Vandenburg of Michigan offering a resolution intending to stress American sovereignty in any postwar collaboration of nations. The wider internationalist policies of Wendell Willkie were interjected into the discussion by Governor Raymond E. Baldwin of Connecticut, who urged the formation of an international council and a world court as part of such a collaboration.

Labor Day marked a minimal disruption of the war effort in New York City, with shipyards, airplane factories, and other war plants in the metropolitan area humming with activity. No parades were staged by labor unions, as their members in war plants, men and women alike, did their marching at their machines and assembly lines. White collar workers, however, and those not directly involved war jobs, flocked to places of recreation. Approximately 800,000 persons found their fun at Coney Island, but only about 100,000 of these were pushed by the heat and humidity into the cooling ocean water. Rockaway Beach reported about 500,000 vistors, and Jones Beach established a new wartime record with a crowd of about 50,000. That number, however, was far short of pre-war Labor Day expectations.

(Better yet, you could just write a letter. It'll last longer.)

"For the benefit of those in the sagebrush and alfalfa country who think there is nothing more to Brooklyn than Ebbets Field," the Eagle Editorialist points out that the borough's Third War Loan quota of $324,000,000 is larger than the quotas of 38 entire states.

(Repent At Leisure.)

In New Jersey, students who had been banned from the pubic schools for refusing to salute the American flag must be readmitted when the fall term begins, under an order issued this week by State Commissioner of Education John H. Bossart. The Commissioner noted that the order is in compliance with a recent United States Supreme Court ruling that children may not be compelled to salute the flag.

("Well, t'at's t'at," sighs Sally. "Buncha bums!" "You take t'is awrf'l poissonal," observes Alice. "It ain' healt'y." "Y'know wheah I was two yeehs ago t'day?" propounds Sally. "At Ebbets Feel -- goin' inta labeh! How c'n I not take it poissonal. Y'tink I got it bad, wait'll Leonoreh's grown up -- it's in heh BLOOD! Twenny yeehs f'm now, you wait, she's gonna be yellin' at'm jus' like me." "Twenny yeehs," shrugs Alice. "In twenny yeehs I'll be fifty-sev'n. An' you'll be fifty!" "BUNCHA BUMS!" yells Sally, her face reddening. "If," adds Alice, "ya live t'at lawng.")

Manager Freddie Fitzsimmons of the Phils ran short of players yesterday at the Polo Grounds. With catcher Bob Findlay injured, and Dee Moore summoned by his draft board, Fitz was forced to send first baseman Babe Dahlgren behind the plate against the Giants yesterday -- and to bring in a couple of sandlot kids to warm up pitchers in his bullpen.

The Bushwicks split both of their Labor Day weekend doubleheaders against Negro National League clubs -- taking the first game Sunday against the Newark Eagles and the first game yesterday against the St. Louis Stars. Ex-Fordham star Johnny Szanja won against Newark, while Senor Goofy Gomez prevailed in game one against the Stars.

(That's the problem with Broadway these days, too many revivals. And Doc Brady may be a man ahead of his time, but you can't say Joe wasn't right there when Sally went into labor.)

(Beelzebulb, the Philistine god of Mazda lamps.)

"Just a big farm girl."

("BEING HIT BY A TRUCK WILL DO THAT!" -- Burma.)

(AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO WORKING DOG AT WORK)

(Classic Jo would never put up with this. THE BOLD FAKER!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Horrible.

Just horrible.

Well, let's just hope the parking brake's on.

Annie certainly does have a way with lumbering oafs.

M'sieur LATE Mayor, that is.

Today I learned...

I forgive you, Skeez. Just never speak of this again.

WELL YOU WONT BE WHISTLING FOR A WHILE NOW WILL YOU

The Army sure is confusing.

Hmph, hanging around candy stores. You'll come to a bad end, kid.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And also...

With all the distressing Page Four stuff we come across, it's reassuring to know that there are plenty of well-adjusted people left. I hope Mr. Signorelli made it.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Grim Reaper headlines whether war or locomotive origin turn cold black ink page.

Katherine Grayson is a pretty lass, reminds Joan Leslie.

 

[Fading Fast]

Even clicking on a "like" is an ordeal.

Sylvester, how has posting on Fedora been for you recently?

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

^ Looks like Sylvester is a horse man. American thoroughbred racing is the sport's deep end of pool betting.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("I tell ya, Sal," chuckles Alice as they settle into their seats on the H&M, "ya coulda knawked me oveh wit' a soup spoon. He had it awl laid out -- table awl set, napkins, plates, t'whole t'ing. Who woulda t'ought Siddy knows how t'set up a candle light dinneh! T'en he brawt out t'bag f'm Silvehman's deli! Oh, Sal, I wawna tell yeh, cawrn beef neveh tasted so sweet. What a night." Other than a deep sigh, however, Sally offered no reply. "Hey," interjects Alice, slapping her companion's knee. "Why so glum, chum? It's a be-you-ti-ful woil." "Ahhhh," exhales Sally, "I still ain' oveh missin' Leonoreh's boitday pawrty. I shoulda been'neah. I shoulda been right t'eh." "Ya made a swell cake, t'ough," reminds Alice. "An' judgin' f'm how much of it she had onneh when we wen' oveh t'pick 'eh up, it wen' oveh big." "Yeh," nods Sally. "I s'pose. But it ain'a same. Ya kid on'y toins two oncet, y'know." "Yeh," sighs Alice, "I s'pose ya right at t'at." They sit in silence as the train rumbles thru the Downtown Tube. "Hey," begins Alice, breaking the lull in the conversation. "Y'spose it's too late f'me t't'ink about havin' a kid? Is t'oity sev'n too old?" Sally shoots her a look and shrugs. "Maybe it is," she offers. "Maybe it ain'. Anyt'ing c'n happ'n." "Yeh," exhales Alice. "T'at's what I'm afraid of...")

Argentina today faced the prospect of being forced after the war to continue in its self-imposed isolation from other Western Hemisphere nations. That implication was contained in a letter from Secretary of State Cordell Hull to Argentenian Foreign Minister Segundo Storni, in which Hull blatantly rejected the South American country's appeal for airplanes and other munitions on grounds that Argentina has refused to contribute her share to defense of the hemisphere, has failed to live up to her inter-American commitments, and has in many ways given aid and comfort to enemies of the United Nations. Hull's letter responding to Storni's argument that his country's neutrality was "misunderstood" was seen as the most severe rebuke given by the United States to a Latin American government in many years.

A warning to kosher butchers that they must pay stricter attention to OPA regulations was handed down yesterday by Hearing Commissioner Ralph Mainster as he issued a five-day suspension to Michael Levinthal of 1332 Coney Island Avenye. Levinthal was found guilty of violating OPA ceiling prices in his shop, and of accepting invalid meat coupons.

Meanwhile, the meat supply in New York City has been less than expected after the temporary lifting of slaughtering quota restrictions. The Food Distribution Administration reported that receipts for the week ending September 4th showed a drop of 1,555,284 pounds compared to the previous week, and a drop of 4,489,156 pounds from the same week in 1942. The Daily Market Report issued by the FDA attributed the reduction in supply to "small outside slaughterers" flooding the market when the restrictions were lifted, causing major meat packers to reduce their output in protest over costs they deem "too high." It was also noted that a reduction in the meat supply is usual at this time of the year as farmers turn their attention to crop harvesting and hold off sending their cattle to market.

Approximately 100,000 Brooklyn residents who have yet to apply for updated ration books will have no one but themselves to blame when they don't receive their coupons. So warns Brooklyn War Price and Rationing Board chairman William Jagger, who notes that 17,000 Brooklyn residents have not yet filed their applications for Ration Book No. 4, 60,000 have yet to apply for fuel oil rations, and 30,000 holders of B and C gasoline rations have yet to exchange their outdated coupons which expired September 1st. "There is no excuse," declared Jagger, "for what appears to be a seemingly indifferent attitude on the part of a small minority of individuals to cooperate with the OPA." He added, "those who would be the first to criticize are usually the last to cooperate, and we will offer our sincere regrets but no sympathy to recalcitrants."

(First things first. Get Mussolini, then worry about the rest of it.)

(Behind the Scenes at the Union League.)

"Old Soldier" writes in to agree that something needs to be done about the statue of General Grant, and he suggests that what should be done is that the General should be relocated from his present location on Bedford Avenue to the middle of Grand Army Plaza. The General should not be left, he insists, overlooking "a lot of empty stores and dilapidated buildings,"but rather he should ride proudly to the area Brooklyn has set aside to honor its heroes of the Civil War. "If there is no place for Grant in Grand Army Plaza," he insists, "then we had better change its name."

Radio and recording star Frank Crumit died Tuesday in his suite at the Hotel Gotham in Manhattan, the victim of an apparent heart attack, at the age of 54. He showed no prior sign of illness, and had visited with friends on Monday. His wife and longtime performing partner Julia Sanderson was at his side when he died. Crumit, who had a long career in vaudeville and as a songwriter in addition to appearing with his wife on the air, first took the stage in 1909. He first performed on radio in 1923. Among his best-known song hits were "Abdul Abulbul Amir" and "The Gay Caballero." His composition "The Buckeye Battle Cry" is now the official school song of Ohio State University. Funeral services will be held Thursday in Springfield, Massachusetts.

("Tolerance is a great thing." Ah, Mr. Parrott, you ain't seen nothing yet.)

The Sperry Gyroscopes, despite finishing last in the Defense Baseball League, will receive a special trophy from the league in honor of their having kept going in spite of "a small squad and other handicaps."

("There are other dramatists who think while they write. Noel Coward simply plays." I wish I'd written that.)

("But Aunt Mary -- what does that make YOU?")

(Annie in twenty years.)

(Honestly, though, would Cary Grant be caught dead wearing that dumb cap?)

(AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG SAYS DON'T EAT VEAL.)

(Actually, it's Bellevue. They finally tracked him down, and will be sending the van right over.)