The Era -- Day By Day

[Farace]

Spellings of “Lichty” and “Litchy” have been alternating for several days now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The linotype department at the Eagle clearly does a lot of business with Uncle Frank.

 

[PrivateEye]

We felt the quake in Connecticut. I’m told there were reports all the way to the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border.

Felt it here in Boston on the 20th floor of the building...just enough to make you wonder if you felt something or if it was your imagination

 

[LizzieMaine]

("You got anyt'ing planned f't'marreh?" queries Sally. "Ma wan'ed me t'ask if you'n Krause wanna come oveh t'heh place f'Easteh dinneh?" "Uncle Frank shoot a wild pig, did he?" snickers Alice. "Yeh, sueh, we'll be t'eh." "Won' be takin' Leonoreh oveh t'see Docteh Minkoff," continues Sally, "cause'a t'holidays 'n awl, but he sent me t'is t'ing t'read heeh, t'is booklet. 'Sawla 'bout t'is Clinic f' Gifted Chil'ren t'ey got at t' N. Y. U. t'eh. T'at's New Yawrk Unehvoisity. Oveh't city, y'know. T'is heeh guy, t'is is P'fesseh Hawrvey W. Zorbaugh, he's t' big cheese'a t' whole t'ing. T'ey got like a reg'leh school t'eh, like a noissery school f'lit'l kids, an'ney giv'm awlese t'ings t'do t'figyeh out how smawrt t'ey awr." "Soun's like a racket," snorts Alice. "Whatta t'ey chawrge ya?" "Well, t'at's t't'ing," shrugs Sally. "It don' cawst nut'n. But'cha I'd hafta take Leonoreh oveh t'Manhattan ev'ry day, an'nat's gonna cawst me a lotta time, 'nless I have Ma do it. An' you know what Ma t'inksa awlis 'gifted chile' stuff." "Yeh," nods Alice. "She prob'ly don' like a lawta people askin' a lawta questions -- um -- a' sump'n." "T'at ain' it," insists Sally. "It's jus' like she was awrways sayin' t'me when I was lit'l. Don' get too big f'ya britches. Y'notice awready Leonoreh acks like she's gotta run' t'ings, t'way she pushes Willie aroun'neh, an' him t'ree yeehs oldeh'rn she is. But onna ot'eh han', I mean, she ain' like ot'eh kids, an' we awl know t'at. Joe says we oughta get'eh inta t'is Clinic, maybe it'll help us, help us figyeh out howta raise 'eh. It's a hawrd t'ing, raisin' a kid, 'special when y'don' know what she's gonna do nex'." "At leas' she don' jump up an' down," shrugs Alice, "an' scream like monkey an' get ya husban' t'scream like a monkey too." "Give 'eh time," sighs Sally.)

A four-year-old girl found starving and abandoned in an empty room in a Manhattan boarding house, with only a small, equally-starving dog for company, enjoyed a Passover Seder last night at the Children's Day and Night Shelter, 130 Boreum Street, as authorities questioned a man identified as her father. The child, known as "Vivian," stared with delight shining in her bright blue eyes at the table piled high with food, and at the crisp new clothes she was wearing. Meanwhile, her father, whose name was not revealed, told detectives from the Missing Persons Bureau that his wife had run away with their daughter two weeks ago, and had evidently abandoned her in the boarding house. The father acknowledged that he is unable to care for Vivian himself, and requested that she be placed in an orphanage. Authorities have not located the mother.

("OOOK! OOOK! OOOOK!" screams Willie, jumping up and down with excitement as Leonora recoils. "NO!" she protests. "NOT MONKEY! NO!" She advances on Willie, and yanks at his left arm. "Play SLOMMACHINE!")

(Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick...)

(It's like they stepped right off a recruiting poster...)

("Durocher was in his usual good voice." Did he sing "I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Second Baseman?")

Sportswriter Oscar Fraley makes the first predictions for the 1944 campaign -- the Washington Senators will face the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The Yankees will finish 6th in the American League and the Dodgers will finish 7th in the National, spared the basement only by the presence of the sad Stengel-less Boston Braves. "But it's all in fun!"

(The sinister puppetmaster plans her next move...)

("Let's have no false swank!" Oh, where's the fun in that?)

(NO MEANS NO)

(It's so easy!)

(AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG CAN'T WAIT TO RELAX BY THE FIRESI....oh crap.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Hmph," snorts Tommy Manville. "Amateurs!"

Thanks for clearing all that up.

"So -- um -- how ya been?"

Yeahhhhhhhhhh.

"Lana? Lana who?"

POINT OF ORDER -- How can you forget everything you know when you don't know anything?

CUT! Stop looking into the camera!

"I *do* hope, though, she'll learn to play something other than 'Mairzy Doats.'"

He's awfully limber for an old coot.

"At times."

 

[Fading Fast]

For fans of Day-by-Day star Gypsy Rose Lee who want to see her in a movie, she has a supporting role in 1958's "Screaming Mimi," a not-very-good Anita Ekberg vehicle I recently watched.

At forty-seven in this one, Ms. Lee looks younger than her years, does a very modest dance number and shows some screen personality. It isn't hard to see how, fifteen years earlier, she was a modest sensation of the period.

Ms. Lee with the very blonde Ms. Ekberg on the set of the 1958 movie.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

At this point, Caniff has made us wait long enough, I just want to see Terry and Burma meet again.

Statkers sure what and our lad ready to enter.=

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Well," argues Sally, jabbing the air with her fork to emphasize the point, "I'm jus' sayin' it ain' FAIEH t'ey took Joe an' now t'eh sayin' if t'ey hadn'a awready TOOK 'im, t'ey wouldn' took him at awl. Who's RUNNIN' 'is S'lective Soivice t'ing, anyway? Seems like t'ey could t'ink t'is t'ing t'ru befoeh t'ey pull up a man by his roots. I'd like t'get my han's onnat Hoishey, an'nem politicians, I'd tell'm wheah t'get awff." "T'is is a swell ham," interrupts Alice, sensing a filibuster. "Wheh'dja get it again?" "Ohhhh," rumbles Uncle Frank, his belly swollen and his eyes twinkling, "Oi shot 'im ovarr on Kingston Aaavenuh. Either thaat or -- ahhh -- a man oowed me a favor, Oi forget which. But did ye know thaat woild haahgs useta roon in haaaards aaaahl ovar this part 'a town? Why, when Oi come to this coontry, aaaahl this aroond hear was faaarmland an' shanties, an' people kep' goooats an' sheep, an' cows. But moostly pigs, which is why they used t'cahhl it 'Pigtown.' Yess indeed." "PIGtown!" chortles Leonora, as her mother shoots her a remonstrative glare. "OINK! OINK!" snorts Willie, pulling up his nostrils into an effective imitation of a snout. "Thaat'll be enoof'a that," commands Ma. "Ye two finish ye ham if ye want any cake. You too, Mistarr Krause," Ma adds, as Krause returns his own nostrils to their proper position. "Which brings me to a point," continues Ma. "Yoong William here will be finishing his school year in a coopla' months, an' Francis an' Oi have been thinkin'. Th' boy does so seem to enjoy spendin' toime with you, Mr. Krause. And with you too, Alice, an' we warr thinkin' p'rhaps th' two'a ye moight be int'rested in, joost faahr th' soomar, moind ye..." "Yeh," nods Krause, interrupting his fork in mid-motion. "Um," ums Alice, "What he means is..." "YEH." repeats Krause in forceful tones. "Yeh.")

Imperial British troops have smashed local attacks by Japanese invasion columns pushing thru the hills north of Imphal, capital of Manipur state, it was reported in a communique from the New Dehli headquarters of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. The communique further predicted that a large-scale engagement seems imminent. A wireless dispatch from the Japanese Domei news agency stated that Japanese forces and troops of the puppet Indian National Army had captured Kohima, big Allied supply center 60 miles north of Imphal, a vital junction on the Imphal-Dimapur highway.

Mayor LaGuardia announced yesterday that no draft deferrments will be sought for any city employees under the age of 26, no matter how important their work. "No one under 26 and unmarried," directed the Mayor, "is to apply for deferrment, no matter what he is doing and no matter how valuable he may be." The Mayor's order came as New York Selective Service Director Col. Arthur V. McDermott notified the 280 metrpolitan draft boards that no man over the age of 26 who is employed in essential war industry, or in work supporting essential war industry, is to be inducted. Pre-induction physical examinations of men between the ages of 26 and 37 will continue, however, with such examinations valid for three months. The new orders are to remain in force until all available men under the age of 26 have been taken.

(At the Empire Boulevard station, Hops Gaffney saunters into the lobby and catches the eye of Desk Sergeant Doyle, who shakes his head nervously and shoos the Hopper away.)

(I'm convinced Davis was AT LEAST 40 when he LOST THE FIRST GAME OF THE WORLD SERIES THREE YEARS AGO. Grrrrr.)

Arrangements for Thursday's special Red Cross exhibition game between the Dodgers and Phillies at Ebbets Field promise plenty of excitement. Manager Leo Durocher will present Whitlow Wyatt in his first mound appearance of the year, and will himself start the game at second base. Phillies manager Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons will be fully in the spirit of the occasion himself, promising to start the game for the Phils in what may be his only mound appearance of 1944. Fitz hasn't pitched since he was released by the Dodgers last July so that he might take the Philadelphia managerial job. Aside from the ballgame there will be an impressive slate of pregame entertainment, with musical attractions ranging from Frank Sinatra in person to the famous Dodger Washtub Symphony, and the exhibition of the famous "Dirty Gertie from Bizerte," a notorious German 220mm cannon captured by American forces in North Africa. The festivities will commence Thursday morning with a grand parade from Grand Army Plaza to Ebbets Field featuring hundreds of marching servicemen, Red Cross units, and both the Army and Coast Guard bands.

(ROBBED RIMROCK STAGE! ROBBED RIMROCK STAGE! ROBBED RIMROCK STAGE!)

(I wonder what pigs eat for Easter dinner?)

(And not only that, he never chopped down a cherry tree, he never threw a dollar across the Potomac, and he never finished last in the American League.)

(I hope Fritzi doesn't live to see the Internet.)

(Well, you could scare him to death and that would end the problem.)

(It's a good thing that Mr. Stassen has a career to fall back on.)

("I have a strange feeling that -- we're about to start a new plotline.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Count Frederick Karl von Zedlitz." Oh come on.

Plus he was no Artie Shaw.

"His" Bones? I'm impressed.

Trouble again with your B card, Mr. Hill?

"When A Feller Needs A Friend."

"Weasel" and "Shark?" "Mom always DID like YOU best." And "mibbs" is turn-of-the-century slang for "marbles." You're showing your age, Carl.

Kayo will be a millionaire before he's ten, if he lives to be seven. And "Mrs. Richblitz?" Come now, Mr. King, you can speak plainer than that.

See how all this ties together?

"What's Milton Caniff got that I haven't got?" -- Gus Edson.

Our little boy's all grown up.

 

[Fading Fast]

I know Krause has a first name, but for the life of me I can't remember it.


Terry and Burma, that was no peck on the cheek.

 

[LizzieMaine]

SIdney. Only Alice gets to call him "Siddy," and only Alice would WANT to call him "Rosebud."

I never knew Terry was capable of that. Oh my.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

''Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.''---Shakespeare, Macbeth

The hell with the plane lad.

 

[Fading Fast]

SIdney. Only Alice gets to call him "Siddy," and only Alice would WANT to call him "Rosebud."

I never knew Terry was capable of that. Oh my.

If all the regular Day-by-Day readers send you a dollar, would you promise to never have Alice call him Rosebud again? Heck, if we all send you two dollars, would you promise to never have Alice allude in any way to her sex life? (I'll tuck a fiver in my envelope for the latter one.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Yeh!" adds Krause. "Awr," growls Alice, "ya no fun."

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Two mont's," growls Sally."If t'ey coulda jus' waited two mont's, t'ey wouldn'a hadda take Joe atawl. An'na wawr's gonna be oveh b'foeh Chris'mas." She lets out a prodigious sigh, punctuated by an emphatic "I ask ya." "Two *moeh* mont's," observes Alice, "an' I'm gonna be a Ma. Well, kinda. Jus'f't' summeh t'ough. Siddy's awl excited, y'know. When we got home las' night he run right oveh t't'at pile'a ol' foinetcheh inna basemen' 'neh an' foun'a pawrts to build Willie a real bed, steada t'at ol' cot we had. He's gonna put it innat room we got t'at I was gonna make into a sewin' room, 'cept I dunno howta sew. An' y'know what he's gonna do? He's gonna let Willie help 'im put t'at bed t'getteh. Gonna make a reg'leh junyeh supeh 'rout'vi'm." "T'at's pretty good," nods Sally. "T'at kid is come a lawng way since he fois' showed up, t'at's f'sueh." The two ride on in silence for a time before Alice speaks again. "Whatta ya t'ink," she sighs, "is gonna happ'n whenna wawr's oveh, an' Mickey comes home? I mean, Willie's really his kid, ain'ee? An'nat mot'eh t'eh, t'at Marie, she run awff an' nobody's hoid fr'm 'eh since. Whatcha t'ink Mickey's gonna wanna do when he comes home?" "He'll do t' right t'ing," shrugs Sally. "Fois' time f'r ev'ryt'ing," mutters Alice. "What?" "Nut'n.")

The Brooklyn fuehrer of the German-American Bund, who has lived in the United States since 1903, will today be charged in Brooklyn Federal Court with "reacting gleefully" several weeks ago when a United Nations transport ship was sunk in the north Atlantic, costing the lives of more than a thousand American soldiers. Fifty-six-year-old William Frederick Van Den Burgh of 27 Montgomery Place is one of eight Bund leaders to face denaturalization proceedings brought by U. S. Attorney Harold M. Kennedy on charges that they obtained citizenship by fraudulent means. Van Den Burgh has also been accused of willingness to harbor fugitive Nazis on the basis of his statement that "blood is thicker than a piece of paper."

A uniform style for the spelling of foreign place names was adopted today by the three major US news services, following recommendations set out by the National Geographic Society. The emphasis in that list will be, wherever possible, on the use of spellings actually used in the countries themselves. Exceptions, such as Rome and not Roma, and Moscow instead of Moskva, will be used in cases where the Anglicized name already figures prominently in Western history or culture. Changes will include the use of Romania instead of Rumania, Yugoslavia instead of Jugoslavia, Manchuria instead of Manchukuo, and Dnepr and Dnestr Rivers instead of Dnieper and Dniester. The Associated Press, the United Press, and the International News Service, also agreed to refer to the Yugoslav partisan leader as Marshal Josip Broz instead of Brosovich, with the appelation "Tito" also to be retained.

("Nostrand Avenarr, Francis!" frowns Ma. "That's joost th' next street ovar! Thar'r gett'n THAT CLOSE!" "Ohhh, ye warry too mooch, Nora," dismisses Uncle Frank. "It doon't say WHERE on Nostrand Avenarr that was. Could be way oop in Crown Hoights f'rall ye know." "Joost th' same," retorts Ma, "it's TOO CLOOSE farr me. We have gaaht t'close things down here 'til the heat's ahhhf! I want ye t'get th' boys ovarr here t'day with th' troock an' load ev'rything oota th' back room. Oi'll close up th' store f'th'ahhfternoon an' take Leonora an' William to th' zoo aahr soomethin', joost see too it ye get th' jahhbb doon." "Oh, now, Nora," scoffs Uncle Frank, draining his two-cents-plain and banging the glass down on the countertop for emphasis, "yarrr joost bein' r'diculous." "An' when ye see th' Hoppar," continues Ma, "ye tell 'im t'lay low until Oi say ootharwise. Oi don' wanna see his face within two miles'a here, an' Oi'm not playin' games." "But," sputters Uncle Frank, "Doyle told me..." "Doyle!" erupts Ma. "You tell Doyle t'keep his fat trap shoot, ahhr Oi'll shoot it faaahr 'im! Tharr gonna start aaahskin' him questions 'ere long, an' he batter give th' roit answers." "You leave Doyle t'me," promises Uncle Frank. "Doyle knows whatt's good f'rim." "Well if he doon't," warns Ma, "Oi do.")

("If t'ez anybody knows about a fat can," snorts Miss Kaplan, leaning over the Sperry lunch table, "it's Kate Smith.""Ya'ra awrf'l poisson," frowns Mozelewski."Y'know t'at?" "Awww, you take ev'ryt'ing so serious," Miss Kaplan laughs. "Hey, changin'a subjec' -- did Joe say innat letteh he wrotecha when he was gonna come by?" "Afteh he's hadda chance t'get settl'd in at home," shrugs Mozelewski. "He's got priorities, y'know." "Yeh," Miss Kaplan winks. "Priorities. I still can't b'lieve t'eh gonna make him a cook. Chef Joe Petrauskas of t' Waldawrf." "I ain' s'prised," counters Mozelewski. "Remembeh t'em t'ings he brought innat time, t'em Lit'uanian ravioli t'ings wit' t' cheese in'm? What he cawl'lem again." "Kuldunnies," recalls Miss Kaplan. "Sump'n like t'at. T'ey was pretty good, but I bet you eat too many of'm, y'end up lookin'like Kate Smith." "You really awr," sighs Mozelewski, "a terrible poisson.")

The Eagle Editorialist demands an "objective investigation" of the Brooklyn College art department, following President Harry D. Gideonse's published statement yesterday which seemed to indicate that
Mr. Gideonse "is obsessed with the with idea that the Eagle had some mysterious hidden motive" in publishing its recent articles concerning the situation in that department. The EE insists that those articles were published due to the "shocking discovery" of off-color art magazines being available to all 5000 Brooklyn College students at the collegelibrary, and of the fact that native-born instructors have been dismissed from the art department, leaving it dominated by "Europeans." "It is to be expected," the EE sniffs, "that the administration of Brooklyn College would give itself a clean bill of health on these issues. But we are shocked that the Administrative Committee of the Board of Higher Education has at once accepted this whitewash. It is time that the board itself step into this situation and initiate a really disinterested and objective inquiry. The people of Brooklyn are entitled to no less."

("And every night she took off the tires and massaged them to keep them supple.")

(Yeah, right. An "accident." Leo is just scared Fitz might pitch him inside.)

(And Mary doesn't even have Blue Cross.)

(Oh yeah? How 'bout that guy in the grease pit?)

("Ten cents a daaaance, that's what they pay me...")

("Mickey Sweeney? Never heard of 'im.")

(AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG doesn't worry about it saying in his contract that he only has to go in the water no more than once a day.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Hey lady, ya got a chicken on ya head.

Oh good, it won't feel clammy.

Yes, yes he is a villainous bounder. But wait'll you meet the District Attorney.

You knew him when he was twelve years old. TWELVE YEARS OLD.

You'd think that's all they do in the Army.

"Join?" She's getting a commission!

"The whole record? Um, let me explain about that 'prophylaxis.'"

"Hmph. Well, where's my blanket then? I paid five dollars for that!"

He's a lousy dancer too.

I wonder if Frank Willard is married, and if so, why?

 

[Fading Fast]

"I was gonna make into a sewin' room, 'cept I dunno howta sew."

God luv ya, Alice. You see, she can still be a fun character without any mention of anything she and "Siddy" do in private.

*********************************

"("If t'ez anybody knows about a fat can," snorts Miss Kaplan, leaning over the Sperry lunch table, "it's Kate Smith.""Ya'ra awrf'l poisson," frowns Mozelewski."Y'know t'at?" "Awww, you take ev'ryt'ing so serious," Miss Kaplan laughs."

I almost forgot about these two - they're good characters.

*********************************

"You knew him when he was twelve years old. TWELVE YEARS OLD."

"He ain't twelve now, Lizzie. Well, part of him is, he, he, he." - Burma

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

A May-September fling is just the thing.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Forgive my ignorance but how did Harold Teen make Petty Officer Second Class during his very brief time in (thus far)? I know there's a war on and that advancement in some of the services can be rapid, but hasn't he been in for less than a year?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, it has been just about a year, or maybe a little less -- I think we had that story with Harold and Shadow working undercover at the Pipdyke plant vs. spies up until May or so, and then spent the whole of last summer watching Goofy's neck shooting up like a toy monkey. We never saw Harold actually getting drafted/enlisting/whatever he did, so who knows what the exact circumstances were. I thought that was very strange storytelling, and wonder if maybe Ed was trying to stall for time to figure it all out for himself.

As for his rank, well, he was in combat, and maybe all the qualified NCOs on his ship were lost in battle. Either that or he's REALLY grown up.