The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"The Hat himself?" Rude.

Parisian glamour by way of Bushwick.

Ouch, right thru the wattle!

Oh don't worry, you won't be alone for long.

"Oh. Well, you remember what we used to call a 'cuddle cutie?'"

Destiny calls.

Well, I mean, with all the real directors in the service...

REALLY? WHAT A SURPRISE.

Gawdawmighty.

"Hey Jessica," muses Nina. "I wonder what these two were like when they were, you know, courting."

 

[LizzieMaine]

And also...

All right then.

 

[Fading Fast]

"And one day they found George Bungle lying face down in a quicklime pit."

Or perhaps the service pit of a gas station. I've read that can happen, too.



"Gawdawmighty."

Whatever the norms, customs, rules or laws - then or now - I'd lock my daughter in her room till she was fifty before I'd let her marry Wilmer.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Whatcha writin'?" queries Alice, glancing over at Sally tapping her pencil against a tablet. "Letteh t' Joe," Sally replies. "I wanna know what he t'inks about me takin' Leonoreh t'see t'is Docteh Minkoff. He wants me t'bring 'eh oveh to his awffice afteh woik some night so he c'n give 'eh some tests." "Afteh woik at night, huh?" snickers Alice. "Yeh, t'at's a new one." "Getcha mind outta t'gutteh," frowns Sally. "It ain' like t'at, he's a docteh. He was tawkin' about how t'ez t'is t'ing cawlta Clinic F' Gifted Children overn'a city, at New Yawrk Uniehvoisity t'eh. It's t'is place wheh t'ey give kids like Leonoreh awlese tests, fin' out t'eh I Q an' awlat, an'nen figyeh out what grade t'ey oughta be in when'ney go t'school. Like maybe t'ey fin' out Leonoreh's so smawrt she c'n skip right pas' kindehgawrtn, stawrt out in 1-A or even 1-B. Maybe even 2-B! Who knows?" "She's still kin'a young f't'at' t'ough," observes Alice. "I mean, she ain' even t'ree yet an' ya tawkin' about 2-B. What would she do in a room fulla seven yeehr ol's?" "Not NOW," retorts Sally. "But when she's ready t'stawrt school..." "Eh," shrugs Alice. "I don' know much about public school, I was nevehr in it. T'sistehs seen t't'at. Coehse, bein' roun' awlem kids oldeh'rn me was good f'one t'ing, I loint how t' fight." "Y'know," Sally continues, "when I was inna secon' grade t'ey wan'ed t'skip me, t' school did. Awlaway fr'm 2-A t' 3-B. T'eh principal a' PS 92 even come oveh t'tawk t'Ma about it. An' y'know what? She t'rew 'im out. Said she didn' wawn'no daughteh'ra hers gett'n no aiehs. An'ney wawn'ed t'skip me again inna fift' grade, upta 6-B, an' I ain' sueh what happ'nt, but Mickey tol' me Ma tol' Uncle Frank t'trow t'principal downa staiehs. We neveh hoid no moeh'ra 'bout skippin' grades afteh t'at. I coulda graduated when I was fifteen'a sixteen, steada wait'n till I was eighteen." "Eh," dismisses Alice. "What good woulda t'at done ya?" "I dunno," shrugs Sally. "But I t'ink about it sometimes, an' I wondeh.")

American bombers and fighters, smashing a Japanese convoy attempting to reinforce the battered enemy garrison at Wewak, New Guinea sank two loaded transports and three armed corvettes, killing an estimated 1000 Japanese troops, it was disclosed today. The Japanese personnel losses were believed to be the largest of any sea engagement in the southwest Pacific since the first battle of the Bismarck Sea a year ago last month.

Hissing streams of lava from Mount Vesuvius engulfed farmland and farm houses at the outskirts of the Italian villages of San Sebastino and Massa di Somma today, as a caravan of 200 military vehicles evacuated the last 700 inhabitants. The lava flow inundated three orchards, and was reported early today to be licking in and around the two villages. The main stream of lava was advancing at a rate of 300 yards an hour down a valley between the villages, and observers predicted both towns will be obliterated by the end of the day. Allied military authorities have overseen the evacualtion of approximately 6600 persons who were living in the path of the eruption. Officials of the Royal Italian Observatory reported that the lava flow has already reached the proportions of the Vesuvius eruption of 1872, the worst of modern times, with no sign of an early slackening.

Officials of the War Production Board, the Solid Fuels Administration, and the OPA were summoned today to a conference in Washington that may determine whether coal will be rationed next winter. The OPA, favoring consumer rationing of coal only as a last resort, was prepared to unveil a rationing plan which could be put into operation on 90 days notice. Solid Fuels Administrator Harold I. Ickes has persistently opposed nationwide consumer rationing of coal, insisting that satisfactory conservation can be achieved thru the dealer allocation plan used this past winter.

(Hmph. There are "ways" to deal with this guy.)

(History Repeats Itself.)

(There's the future you want, and the future you get.)

(First week of spring training and already stories about Leo hustling pool? It's gonna be a lonnnnnng summer.)

(She's as bad as Jessica. C'mon, hon, you can do better.)

(Proverbs 21:2.)

(Such a tangled web.)

(That's the last time he'll order those cheap electrolytics from Allied Radio.)

(Kitty is the only realist in this entire strip.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Well this certainly promises to be quite a wallow.

As will this.

Actors. Always auditioning.

Well, he knows a gold mine when he looks into it.

"And I'm REALLY sorry I let her talk me into loaning her $2 for the blood test!"

And who knows, maybe she'll be the next Edna May Oliver.

"Buy a Slug" -- this must be Chicago, where you have to buy a special token to use a payphone. Keeps out the riff raff.

Well, she's no Senga.

I saw my grandmother do this once with a pound of hamburger, but at least it was thawed.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And also...

I never thought Jerry Colonna could do a part like this, but I guess I was wrong.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Terry and the Pirates?"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Aaaaa! I wish they'd stop messing the with the layout -- today they put it *after* Moon Mullins at the very back of the sports section AFTER the parimutuel results. THERE IS AN ORDER IN THINGS.

Careful now, Caniff, don't be going meta on us.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

-... ..- .-. -- .- BURMA

Garbled ''Burma ........'' I just know it must 'ave been Picadilly Macau back alley.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Dipht'eria," sighs Alice. "T'at's an awrful t'ing, y'know. When I was inna home t'eh, it come t'ru t'eh an' evr'ybody got sick, includin' me. Didn't sleep f'ra week fr'm awla coughin'. Coupla kids inneh died fr'm it. T'sistehs couldn' do much about it, neiteh, Oh, t'ey done t'bes' t'ey could, i guess, wit' bringin' in doctehs'nawl, but even'a coupl'a t'em got sick." "I had it too," recalls Sally. "Me'n Mickey bot'. T'at was right aroun'a time t'at influenza was goin' aroun', y'know, t'at Spanish Flu t'eh, an' Ma was afraid we had t'at. I t'ink she was glad when it on'y toint out t'be diptht'eria. T'ey gotcha vaccinations f'rit now, t'ough. Leonoreh had one right afteh she was bawrn, an'nen a coupla moeh." "'Mazin' what t'em scientis' can do," marvels Alice. "Now t'eh sayin' t'ey c'n take t' mold awffa piece bread an' toin' it inta medicine. T'ey shoulda come aroun'a home t'eh, t'at's about t' on'y kinda bread t'ey give us." "Aw," dismisses Sally, "It wasn'NAT bad. Was it?" "Well, maybe not awla bread was moldy," shrugs Alice, "butcha get me pernt. Lenoreh's a lucky kid growin' up now, wit' awlis science 'n what not. Which remin's me, whatcha gonna do 'bout t'is Docteh Minkoff?" "I dunno," confesses Sally. "I wanna know what Joe t'inks, an'nen I'll make up my mind. Ma don' want me to do it, she was awl upset. She says I dowanna do nut'n t'make Leonoreh stand out, 'cause people might pick on'neh. An' I c'n see t'pernt, I mean, look at me -- awrways gett'n shoved in stairways by soiten people, stuff like t'at." "People tried t'pick on me," nods Alice, flexing her wide hands into fists. "But I vaccinated'm against t'at idea pretty quick.")

Premier Marshal Hideki Tojo told the Japanese Parliament today that Japan's military position has become "very serious" over the past six weeks, with the empire now facing "decisive struggles that will determine its destiny." A dispatch from the German DNB news agency reporting on the speech from Tokio also noted that Tojo asserted that the Japanese to date have "warded off all-out attacks" on Japan's outer fighting lines, but it appeared that Tojo made no effort to reconcile that statement with his acknowledgement that the Japanese military situation has deteriorated in recent weeks. During the six-week period mentioned by Tojo, American forces in the Southwest Pacific have siezed new islands within 800 miles east and 500 miles south of Truk, her main bastion outside her home waters.

Moscow warned Helsinki today that by rejecting Soviet terms for a proposed armistice that would take Finland out of the war, she has "assumed all liability for the consequences." Soviet newspapers today gave wide play to yesterday's Finnish communique declaring that the Soviet armistice terms were "unacceptable without further clarification," but the press refrained from commenting on the implications of that statement.

Turbulent Mount Vesuvius went into its fifth day of violent eruptions today with no abatement of the lava flows that have obliterated the Italian villages of San Sebastiano and Massa di Somma, partially destroyed Solina, and have threatened several other towns. It was feared that a two mile high column of fine dust that belched from the volcano late yesterday presages a change in the direction of the lava flow toward the south, placing the towns of Torra del Greco, Resina, and Torre Annunziata in increasing danger. Some of the falling volcanic dust peppered as far away as Salerno, but no hot ash fell there.

(J. Paul Getty????)

Cartoonist Fred Harman, creator of the "Red Ryder" western adventure comic appearing every Sunday in the Eagle, was the guest of honor at the Brooklyn Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to the Childen, where sixty youngsters gathered to hear authentic cowboy stories and receive autographs. Dressed in full Western garb, the cowboy cartoonist sketched Red Ryder and Little Beaver for the assembled children, and sang a solo rendition of "Home On the Range." Harman is a close friend of Superintendant Wilson D. McKarrow, and was making his first visit to the Brooklyn home, which provides care for children involved in court actions or are victims of abuse by their parents or of vicious home surroundings.

("Six paarcent beer!" roars Uncle Frank, his ruddy face reddening even further from the laughter. "Oi'll be bound! Goooo ahead -- waaaaaaste yarr reeeeesarces!" "Hey Pop," interrupts Jimmy the Chest. "T'eh t'reatenin' t' shut awff t'wawteh out t' t' waehhouse again." "Ah," nods Uncle Frank. "A little LESS wateh in t' Wateh Commissioneh's next orrdar, if ye please.")

(Ripped From The Headlines.)

Mayor LaGuardia has given his wholehearted endorsement to the proposal by the Tolerance Day League to amend the pledge of allegience recited by school children each morning to add the phrase "I will respect my neighbor regardless of race or religion." League President Victor Anfuso, addressing a meeting of the group last night at the Hotel St. George, made public a letter from the Mayor instructing School Superintendant John E. Wade to "take such action as he might deem proper" to implement the amended pledge in the city's public schools.

("There are 80 years of smart old catching in camp." Well that's one way to put it.)

(Oooh, special effects.)

("What? I didn't hear a thing.")

(Everybody hates lieutenants.)

(Yeah, Stamm, it's REALLY a good thing the real Tesla's dead.)

(LET'S GIVE KITTY HER OWN STRIP! WHO'S WITH ME!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And also...

Wait, only third billing? Leo needs a better agent.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Ew.

"Victory and Venereal." Sigh.

Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before...

Hey, Gould invested a lot in this X-Ray setup so you can't blame him for wanting to use it.

"Hmph. I already knew the rightest guy I'll ever know, and his name was Nick Gatt."

Roumania? Not for much longer, Flippo.

ACK

Actually, they're there to make sure Old Gooseface is really gone.

Nobody sleeps in this neighborhood.

Oh, Harold, you're so wholesome. Go ask Shadow where the REAL action is.

 

[Fading Fast]

"J. Paul Getty????"

I haven't been focused on this story, but I've followed it, did I miss Getty's name before or did it just pop up, amazingly, today?

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is the first I've seen of him. Chaplin had a very wide ranging and eclectic group of friends outside of show business, but I had no idea Getty was one of them. A random Rockefeller I could see but Getty seems kinda off-brand for a celebrity of Chaplin's magnitude.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

My London School of Economics recall is that Getty was a prewar California wildcat oil speculator
and a wildcat himself, what with all the available side action for sexual speculation. His later years here
in Mayfair were still filled with romp and Satyrmony.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well then he and Charlie would be natural buddies.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("I gotta letteh fr'm Joe," announces Sally, settling into her seat for the run to Jersey. ""Bout takin' Leonoreh t'see Docteh Minkoff." "Whassee say?" queries Alice, shoving her dinnerpail under the seat. "Lemme read it to ya," continues Sally. "Says heeh, 'Deeh Sal." An'nen 'nis fois' pawrt is, um, kinda possional." "One'a t'em kinda lettehs, huh?" snickers Alice. "Wrote on asbestos papeh?" "Shut y'trap," snaps Sally, her face reddening. "Anyways, t'is nex pawrt is -- um -- awlso poissonal." "He's been away a whole mont'," chuckles Alice. "A man's got oiges." "If ya keep t'at up," warns Sally, "I ain' gonna read ya none of it." "Sawry," relents Alice. "But jus' make sueh you pack t'at letteh away safe. It'll comf'et yeh inya ol' age." "You gotta gutteh mind," growls Sally. "ANYways. He says 't'ings is fine at camp, we'eh still woikin' on shoot'n, an' I'm doin' bett'ehn I was. I hit t'tawrget twice yest'ehday anna cawpr'l gimme a cigar. Jus' like Coney Islan'! Ha. Ha.' He's jokin'neh, I t'ink. Anyways, down 'eeh 'e gets downa business. 'I t'ink,' he says, 't'at Docteh Minkoff soun's awright. If he is a frien' of Misteh GInsboig he mus' be O. K., an' I t'ink it would not hoit nut'n if you see what he's got awn his mind. Leonoreh is not like any lit'l kid I have eveh seen an' I t'ink t'at maybe he could give us some good advice.'" "See t'eh," nods Alice. "I tol' ya Joe would go fawr it. Misteh Ginsboig is a right guy, an' if he says t'is Minkoff charecteh is onna squaeh, t'en he is." "Well," continues Sally. "It's t'is nex' pawrt. Says heeh, 'I don't t'ink you should say nut'n moeh t' Ma about any a' t'is, an' not Uncle Frank neiteh. T'ey got t'eh own way a' lookin' at t'ings, but Lenoreh is oueh kid an' t'ey should not be tellin' us how to raise 'eh. So I t'ink we oughta keep awla t'is onna Q. T. fr'm now awn." "Ah," ahs Alice, shifting uncomfortably as the train hits a bump. "An'nen t'is nex' pawrt," notes Sally. "I dunno what t'make a' t'is. He says 'When you tawk t'Docteh Minkoff I t'ink you should not say too much about Ma an' Uncle Frank. He might wanna ask t'em questions himself, an' I don' t'ink t'at would be a good ideeh. Betteh t' jus' include t'em out'v t'whole t'ing.' An'nen -- um -- t'ez moeh poissonal stuff an'nat's t' letteh." "He's right," nods Alice. "You do'wanna get ya Ma an' Uncle Frank all bot'ehed wit' any'a t'is. T'ey got enough onneh minds wit'out havin' t' ansehr'a lotta questions. Jus' leave'm outta t'whole pitcheh." "Huh," huhs Sally. "Huh.")

Allied bombers sank a destroyer and two small cargo ships off the northern New Guinea coast Monday night in smashing another Japanese attempt to reinforce their battered Wewak base, a communique announced today. Air patrols intercepted the three ships off Altape, 90 miles southwest of Wewak, and sank them with direct hits a communique said., bringing the destruction of Japanese ships to eight in two days.

Weary villagers in the Pompeii-Salerno area were digging out today from a blizzard of volcanic ash swirling from Mount Vesuvius over the past twelve hours. Layers of ash 3 to 18 inches thick blocked traffic and threatened to cave in roofs. Eight streams of molten lava were pouring dowwn the sides of the volcano today, with the main stream, 1000 feet wide and 50 feet high, believed to be moving down the slope halfway between the towns of Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata. The road circling Vesuvius was so cut with ash that it was impassble even to Jeeps.

(There's a new world coming...)

Fifty thousand Brooklynites have signed a petition urging that President Roosevelt be drafted as the presidential candidate of a United Labor Party. The signatures, gathered over just the past two weeks by the Kings County Committee for a United Labor Party, were secured from registered members of the American Labor Party, and represent support for an ongoing campaign to unite that party's warring left and right factions. Meanwhile, Mayor LaGuardia's proposed four-point plan to end the inter-party conflict has been endorsed by Sidney Hillman, labor leader who is spearheading the program to reorganize the ALP on the basis of union representation. The opposition right wing group, headed by David Dublinsky, president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union AFL, who has declared that the LaGuardia-Hillman plan would turn the party "over to the Communists," has promised a reply later today. Control over the party is the main focus of the ALP primary vote scheduled for next Tuesday.

(SHE ISN'T WRONG.)

("Hargrove" isn't the most important book of the war, but it may be the funniest. And the movie does capture that very well.)

(Another Higbe? You mean another guy Leo will refuse to pitch in a vital game? Oh, right, there won't be any vital games this year.)

(RUN GYPSY! RUN FAST AND FAR!)

("I better answer this, it may be another plot complication.")

(Ten cents worth of brass.)

("Snidney?")

(PREACH ON KITTY!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Miss Lynch's life story is much more interesting than that of her husband -- she was once arrested and held as a spy by Fascist authorities in Italy. I wonder if that'll come up in the trial.

About time we got a diagram.

You'd think a FINE HIT MAN would be able to keep his cool.

There's a reason why the postwar divorce rate will SOAR.

It MIGHT be -- it COULD BE -- but IS IT?

"LIsten, kid, are you SURE you're a sailor?"

"Not only that, she's probably hanging around MILK BARS!"

If it looks like a goose and honks like a goose...

Pfft. He's danced with the Dragon Lady. What makes you think he's scared of getting his throat cut?

Just what she always wanted! A SIDE OF BEEF! Or horse. She's not particular.

 

[Fading Fast]

"A man's got oiges."

"Nanananananana! I can't hear you!"

The double-headed arrow. God bless the Daily News.

It also could have been used quite effectively with one end pointing to Owen's glove and the other end to the ball, with the distance in between marked off.

"It MIGHT be -- it COULD BE -- but IS IT?"

I refuse to get my hopes up.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Is Terrence a ahem...virgin lad or what?