The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

That's a pretty snazzy little house, too. Right out of "Better Homes and Gardens."

With two fireplaces.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Five workers were burned to death early this morning as flames tore thru two factories and adjoining lumberyards on the Gowanus waterfront. The bodies of the five men were charred beyond recognition. Six other persons were rescued from the flames, with four of them now in critical condition at Holy Family Hospital. The fire broke out around 12:10 AM today on the first floor of a two-story wooden frame factory building at 454 Hamilton Avenue, owned by the Bennett Brothers Company, manufacturers of wooden packing cases, and three additional alarms were quickly turned in as the blaze roared into a furnace-like inferno, fueled by dry wood and sawdust, and spreading rapidly to the Bush Lumber Company yard at 456 Hamilton Avenue. Firefighting efforts were hampered last night's bitter cold, as jets of water from the hoses of some two hundred firemen turned instantly to sheets of ice. The firemen themselves were encased in ice as they battled the inferno, the light from which could be plainly seen as far away as Williamsburg. Only their valiant efforts kept the blaze from spreading into a holocaust that could have consumed much of the Brooklyn waterfront.

The Bennett firm was operating on a round-the-clock three-shift schedule manufacturing packing crates under National Defense contracts for the Government, and it is expected that government investigators will join the probe into the cause of the conflagration. Fire Marshal Edward Brophy says preliminary investigations indicate the fire began when workers tried to thaw out two five-gallon cans of frozen paint by heating them on a kerosene stove. The heated cans exploded into a ball of flame, quickly engulfing the workers and spreading to the rest of the building.

A payroll courier and a policeman were shot to death today and two other persons were wounded in a midday payroll robbery in Manhattan that ended in the death of one of the robbers and the arrest of the other. Fifty-six-year-old Albert Klausman of Woodhaven picked up a $649.99 payroll at the Irving Trust Company branch in the Empire State Building, and boarded an elevator to carry it to the offices of Kemp & Beatley, linen manufacturing firm of which he is office manager, where he was shot dead by a fellow passenger. That passenger and his accomplice then forced the elevator operator at gunpoint to take them to the ground floor, where they fled into East 34th Street and then ran into B. Altman's department store as the elevator man sounded an alarm. They exited Altman's on the 35th Street side and attempted to commandeer a taxicab. When the driver, Isidore Edere of the Bronx, refused their commands, they separated and fled on foot, one of them pursued by Patrolman Edward Maher of Traffic C, who had responded to the alarm. A shot from Maher wounded the bandit, but when he caught up with the man and attempted to arrest him, the robber shot him twice and the patrolman fell dead. Leonard Weissberg, taxicab driver of 1577 Carroll Street in Brooklyn, tried to come to Maher's aid, but the gunman shot him in the neck before he was finally subdued. The other robber fled into Woolworth's, where he exchanged shots with Patrolman Thomas Edwards before surrendering. The payroll was found dropped in the street by Patrolman Edward Ready. The other wounded person was a guard at the Central Hanover Bank who was standing at the intersection of 34th and 5th when he was hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet.

Governor Herbert H. Lehman today called for a law banning racial discrimination in the New York State defense industry. Denouncing the practice in employment of bias based on race, creed, or color as "a vicious practice," the Governor told the Legislature that many complaints have come to his desk charging that racial discrimination is being practiced by defense contractors in the state. The Governor excoriated employers who refuse to hire any but "native-born Americans," or insist on hiring "Christians only," and also strongly denounced the refusal by "many of the leading companies in our state" to hire qualified Negro workers. The governor declared that such discrimination is in all cases a violation of "the fundamental principles of American democracy," and noted that private industry in the state must be required to adhere to the same anti-discriminatory policies now binding upon public utilities and labor organizations.

The disciplinary action taken this week against seven Brooklyn College night students for "holding illegal meetings" can be traced directly to President Harry Gideonse, according to an official of the American Student Union. Claire Nekind, secretary of the organization's New York District, charged today that the move against those students was an indication of Dr. Gideonse's "intention of further assault upon the rights of Brooklyn College students." A college spokesman responded that Dr. Gideonse is not a member of the Faculty-Student Committee, which placed the seven students on probation for their activities, and barred them from serving on any student committee. Opponents of the ASU have alleged that the organization is "Communist controlled."

The flu epidemic raging in California has yet to strike New York, but city officials are making preparations to deal with the arrival of the disease. Mayor LaGuardia, Health Commissioner John L. Rice, and representatives from all five boroughs met yesterday at City Hall to confer on the situation. Dr. C. C. Pierce, regional director of the U. S. Public Health Service, predicts the influenza wave will strike the city sometime in February.

(But what if you get seasick?)

M. J. S. writes in to Helen Worth wondering what an 1836 dime with thirteen stars on it is worth. Helen says "There are many fine coin dealers in Brooklyn who can tell you that," which is more polite than saying "it's worth an ice cream on a stick and a copy of the Sunday Eagle at any candy store."

(Trouble is, it doesn't seem to take Hollywood makeup off. For that you gotta use Boraxo.)

Joseph Zoller of of 215 Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights is the overall winner of the Eagle's Ten Best movie contest, leading all entrants in the men's section, and beating out the winner in the women's division, Mrs. Josephine Maher of 1049 Sterling Place -- who, if you know your way around Crown Heights, is practically Mr. Zoller's neighbor. Mr. Zoller's selections included nine of the ten titles selected by the trade paper Film Daily as the best films of 1940, and Mrs. Maher scored eight out of ten. Both of the winners matched the top four titles exactly. Film Daily's selections were: Rebecca, The Grapes of Wrath, Ninotchka, Foreign Correspondent, All This and Heaven Too, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Boom Town, Northwest Passage, Our Town, and The Mortal Storm. Mr. Zoller wins his choice of a season pass to Loew's Metropolitan, the Brooklyn Fox, the Brooklyn Paramount, or the RKO Albee, with Mrs. Maher getting second pick of those passes.

(Over in "Dick Tracy," Krome says "Exploding cereal! Why didn't I think of that!")

With just a month left before the Dodgers head to their new Spring Training base in Havana, Larry MacPhail is reviewing his contract list and anticipating holdout headaches. With only Leo Durocher, Joe Medwick, and Kirby Higbe positively signed for 1941, the possibility of contract trouble with many key players looms over the next few weeks. The Red Headed One may very well be planning pay cuts for Pete Coscarart, Cookie Lavagetto, Joe Vosmik, and Luke Hamilin, all of whom, for whatever reason, had disappointing years in 1940, and it's doubtful those cuts will go down well. And last spring's most insistent holdout Dolph Camilli may well be expected to take the same wage for 1941 that he got last year. It may be a case of like it or lump it, and it's likely big Dolph will choose to lump it. MacPhail may also be planning to hold the line on Whit Wyatt's salary, although the big Georgian is considered the staff ace going into the new season, and Whitlow may well be expected to kick over that.

("Skip to my Lou, my darlin'")

(Sparks don't care 'bout none of that prissy high-armhole stuff.)

(Is this the moment where George finally questions the entire direction of his life? Nah.)

("Ok, so it's just a shot of sugar water. Whattya expect from me?")

(And across the field in a dark and chilly shed, the night watchman wonders what all the yelling's about.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Today goes well beyond "Ew."

Well look who's back.

What I don't get is why this question was sent in by a guy named "Rogowski."

Really, Sam? Gaslighting? What would Dad say to that?

"It's a funny thing, Chief. The bottle of nitro just fell off the table and flew sixty feet until it hit the wall. Be sure to put that down in the report. Hey, I saw some great suitcases in a store window today."

Well hey, the Dragon Lady is always looking for new recruits if you two are game for it.

Ahhhhhh, so this was Wumple's plan all along. And here I thought he was just another blank-eyed bald-headed comic strip idiot.

A boyfriend for Tilda! Just in time for Valentine's Day!

Plus it's good exercise. Why, look at Max!

Frank Willard says "If that hack Carl Ed can do cheesecake, *I* can do cheesecake!"

 

[Fading Fast]

...A payroll courier and a policeman were shot to death today and two other persons were wounded in a midday payroll robbery in Manhattan that ended in the death of one of the robbers and the arrest of the other. Fifty-six-year-old Albert Klausman of Woodhaven picked up a $649.99 payroll at the Irving Trust Company branch in the Empire State Building, and boarded an elevator to carry it to the offices of Kemp & Beatley, linen manufacturing firm of which he is office manager, where he was shot dead by a fellow passenger. That passenger and his accomplice then forced the elevator operator at gunpoint to take them to the ground floor, where they fled into East 34th Street and then ran into B. Altman's department store as the elevator man sounded an alarm. They exited Altman's on the 35th Street side and attempted to commandeer a taxicab. When the driver, Isidore Edere of the Bronx, refused their commands, they separated and fled on foot, one of them pursued by Patrolman Edward Maher of Traffic C, who had responded to the alarm. A shot from Maher wounded the bandit, but when he caught up with the man and attempted to arrest him, the robber shot him twice and the patrolman fell dead. Leonard Weissberg, taxicab driver of 1577 Carroll Street in Brooklyn, tried to come to Maher's aid, but the gunman shot him in the neck before he was finally subdued. The other robber fled into Woolworth's, where he exchanged shots with Patrolman Thomas Edwards before surrendering. The payroll was found dropped in the street by Patrolman Edward Ready. The other wounded person was a guard at the Central Hanover Bank who was standing at the intersection of 34th and 5th when he was hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet....

Holy Smoke! Without changing a single thing, this could be a scene out of a Warner Brothers movie.

... View attachment 300705
(Over in "Dick Tracy," Krome says "Exploding cereal! Why didn't I think of that!")...

....
"It's a funny thing, Chief. The bottle of nitro just fell off the table and flew sixty feet until it hit the wall. Be sure to put that down in the report. Hey, I saw some great suitcases in a store window today."...

Well, I guess Krome won't be needing that exploding cereal after all.

... Ahhhhhh, so this was Wumple's plan all along. And here I thought he was just another blank-eyed bald-headed comic strip idiot...

That looks like a nice grip Skeezix has; wonder where he got it? Just asking for a friend who might or might not be a detective with a square jaw.

.. Plus it's good exercise. Why, look at Max!...

In general, office romances should be avoided and sex at work is skeezy (one very large bank I worked for in the '90s had to send out a memo indirectly, but effectively, telling its employees to stop having sex in the stairwells), but there are always reasons for exceptions, over to you Lana.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, one of my former bosses in radio used to use his office as a late-night trysting place. He also would sleep in there when his wife threw him out of the house after catching him in the act. You got used to the drama, but hey, what can you expect from a man who went around in an aqua sport coat. In January.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Just a guess: it isn't candlepin or duckpin.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The way the figures are positioned in the second panel made me think for a sec that Harold really needs to give up the sodas.

 

[Harp]

In general, office romances should be avoided and sex at work is skeezy (one very large bank I worked for in the '90s had to send out a memo indirectly, but effectively, telling its employees to stop having sex in the stairwells), but there are always reasons for exceptions, over to you Lana.

Lana is a sweet virginal chaste pure as driven snow angel.
And that sorry dumb ass ba***rd schmuck Harold doesn't deserve her.

 

[Fading Fast]

Lana is a sweet virginal chaste pure as driven snow angel.
And that sorry dumb ass ba***rd schmuck Harold doesn't deserve her.

My comment above about Lana was a bit tongue-in-cheek as I didn't literally mean she should pop into the next stairwell and have at it with Harold, but I did mean that being too-good, too-proper, too-by-the-book can be its own problem.

Everyone needs to take some risks in life, color outside the lines occasionally or (when young and unattached) have a fling now and then.

From the little we know, which, to be sure, is incomplete, Lana seems like a great kid but, right now, she could do with some coloring outside the lines in her life.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, there's always Shadow...

 

[Fading Fast]

Well, there's always Shadow...

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

 

[LizzieMaine]

President Roosevelt's angry statement that "the rottenest thing said in public life in my generation" was being used as an argument against the aid-for-Britain bill brought an opposition rejoinder today claiming that the President himself had made the danger of war the foremost issue in the lease-lend armaments bill. Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D-Montana), who readily assumed responsibility for the original statement that riled the President, said with seeming elation that the President's criticism has raised "a clean-cut question: whether or not this bill will lead us into war." Wheeler's comments came as the House Foreign Affairs Committee began public hearings today on the proposed lease-lend legislation.

A proposed constitutional ban on special elections in the State of New York emerged today in Albany, response to the resignation of two Brooklyn lawmakers. State Senator Philip M. Kleinfeld resigned his seat in that body after being nominated by Governor Herbert H. Lehman to a seat in the State Supreme Court, and Assemblyman Carmine J. Marasco resigned from that body in order to run for Kleinfeld's vacant Senate seat. The special elections to fill the two vacant seats are expected to be called by the Governor for mid-February, but Commissioner Jacob A. Livingston, Brooklyn representative to the Board of Elections is pushing to eliminate special elections as an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. Instead, Commissioner Livingston will advocate that the same procedure be followed as is used when a Congressman or U. S. Senator must be replaced -- that the county committee of the political party to which the outgoing member belongs be delegated to appoint a successor.

Heroic Brooklyn cabbie Leonard Weissberg is fighting for his life today in French Hospital in Manhattan, a day after he was shot while trying to foil a payroll bandit in the heart of the Fifth Avenue shopping district. Weissberg came to the aid of Patrolman Edward J. Maher, who was shot and killed by 33-year-old Angelo Distefano, who had just been shot and wounded by the policeman after Distefano and his 35-year-old brother Joseph killed a payroll messenger in an Empire State Building elevator and fled into 34th Street with the cash. The two robbers are both being held under heavy guard at Bellevue Hospital, as District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey moved rapidly today to obtain murder indictments against the brothers. The two are known to the police, with long records as petty sneak thieves, and were most recently arrested for rolling drunks.

Meanwhile, friends of the slain payroll courier are mourning him as a family man and civic leader in his home town of Woodhaven. A high requiem Mass will be will be said on Saturday at St. Elizabeth's R. C. Church for 55-year-old Alfred Klausman, a longtime employee of the linen firm of Kemp & Beatley, who was shot when he refused to hand over the payroll he had just picked up from the Empire State Building branch of the Irving Trust Company. Mr. Klausman was very active in municipal and church affairs in Woodhaven, and last week had been installed as an officer of the Equity Taxpayers Association of that town.

The death toll from yesterday's devastating fire at a Gowanus box factory has risen to six, with 21-year-old Vincent Simeone of 1143 39th Street dying last night from burns received in the blaze. Three of ten men injured in the fire remain hospitalized today. The fire destroyed the Bennett Brothers packing-crate factory at 454 Hamilton Avenue, which had been operating on a twenty-four-hour-a-day schedule manufacturing footlockers for the Army. Approximately 2100 unfinished footlockers were lost to the flames.

Funeral services for comedian Joe Penner will be held tomorrow in Hollywood, with the late radio, stage and movie comedian to be borne to his final resting place by his closest friends, including actor Jack Oakie, Charles Correll -- Andy of "Amos 'n' Andy" -- and columnist James Starr. Mrs. Penner, the dancer Eleanor Mae Vogt, arrived today in the film capital, bringing her husband's body from Philadelphia, where he died in his sleep from a heart attack last Thursday at the age of 36.

(Powdered carrots???)

Modern trends in womens' fashion hamper missing-persons' investigators, according to Captain Joseph Stein of the Missing Persons Bureau. The Captain notes that most women today carry their identification in their handbags -- and if a woman are separated from that bag, there is seldom anything on her person to positively identify her. In former times, he notes, it was the custom for women to have their names or initials engraved inside their wedding rings, but the style of bands worn today is generally too narrow to allow for this. Nor do women wear lockets or other items of jewelry in which clues to their identity might appear. Also frustrating, he says, is the habit many women have of cutting the labels out of cheap clothing and sewing in labels of more expensive stores. This trend has caused confusion for investigators, observes the Captain, on more than one case.

(Downwind Jaxon reviews this page with interest, but little does he know they're wise to him.)

Baby Sandy is three years old now -- and she wants everybody to know she's a girl. Sandra Marie Henville played a boy in her first film, opposite Bing Crosby two years ago, and Universal decided to milk that for all it was worth in her -- or his -- next picture, sending out publicity calling the youngster's true sex into question. But now, Sandy -- daughter of a Los Angeles milkman who was convinced by Sandy's mother to leave photos of the child along with the milk at the homes of movie executives -- will play only feminine roles on screen. Though just a toddler, Sandy has a precocious ability to memorize dialogue, and her favorite lines are "Oh yay-us!" and "Let's do that, shall we?" Time will tell if young Miss Henville goes on to a Shirley Temple-like screen career or if she follows the tiny little footsteps of Baby LeRoy into obscurity once babyhood has passed.

("Cold shoulder? No, why do you ask?")

Young Phil Rizzuto was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Richmond Hill -- but when he makes his major league debut he'll do it as a Yankee. But the question of just what young Mr. Rizzuto's debut will involve remains to be decided by Yankee manager Joe McCarthy, who will be going into Spring Training with two first-class keystone combinations to decide between. Rizzuto and second baseman Jerry Priddy tore up the American Association with the Kansas City Blues last year, and would, on any other club, be obvious candidates for the starting lineup. But the Yankees already have an all-star combination shortstop Frank Crosetti and second baseman Joe Gordon. One idea going around is that the Yanks will dispose of third baseman Red Rolfe, who is said to be slowing, and move Gordon to third, making way for Priddy to take over at second. But Rizzuto replacing Crosetti at short is another matter altogether, and McCarthy says he'll be heading to St. Petersburg next month with no real plan in mind for that position. Crosetti has anchored the Yankee infield since 1932, and while he had a mediocre season in 1940, that's not taken in Yankee circles as a sign that he's done.

New York University has been majoring of late in humiliating its fine Negro athletes, and the latest incident constitutes "another sickening capitulation to Jim Crow," according to columnist Ed Hughes. With emotions on campus still raw from the humiliation of Violets football star Len Bates last fall, now school administrators are dishing out the same unforgivable experience to basketball star Jim Coward. The situation here is even more disgusting, since college officials in North Carolina, where the Violets will play next week, say Coward is perfectly welcome to play, and a "Carolina Good Sportsmanship Association" has been formed specifically to encourage him to appear. But NYU, in its craven efforts to avoid any confrontations by those who might not be such "good sports" as to deign to allow a Negro player on their court, is throwing up the miserable excuse that Coward doesn't have the necessary school credits yet to make the trip. Students at NYU are outraged by this transparent subterfuge, and protests on campus are mounting, especially with Chancellor Harry Woodburn Chase on the record as stating "the time has not yet arrived when Southern schools can be asked to play against Negro players on Southern campuses." "It is later," says Hughes, "than the Chancellor thinks."

"Bewildered" writes in to Helen Worth to ask for advice on what to do about her husband, who rules the life of their 17-year-old daughter to the point where she is not allowed to go on movie dates with boys or even have her friends over to the house. Helen says friend husband needs to realize the days when a man reigns over his household with an iron hand are over, whether he likes it or not. And Bewildered herself needs to stand up and insist on her parental rights as well. "It all sounds," she insists "VERY un-1941."

(Because we know xenophobic racists are a market too.)

(Boody used to be Zack Mosley's assistant on "Smilin' Jack," and he just can't get planes out of his system.)

(It's hard to feel sorry for George, idiot that he is, but -- poor George.)

(Adrenal cortex extract? That's for morning sickness. Are you sure you're a real nurse?)

(Why does Irwin have a picture of a bed on the wall of his bedroom? Is it so he won't forget?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The News LIVES for stories like this.

I don't know about you folks, but I turn to the News for the comics, the Voice Of The People, scandal, and vice. The idea that it has a secret lab in Dayton, New Jersey where it carries out unspeakable experiments on "lower animals" is terrifying.

Look at Sandy smirk. He knows what's going on.

Joke's on you, Kitty -- it's a toy gun!

Poor, poor Min.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd we're off.

Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick....

Salmonella?

Even when she's subtle she isn't subtle.

 

[Harp]

My comment above about Lana was a bit tongue-in-cheek as I didn't literally mean she should pop into the next stairwell and have at it with Harold, but I did mean that being too-good, too-proper, too-by-the-book can be its own problem.

Understood. A little like Lance Romance, Love Counselor to the Gods, chuckle, chuckle.

 

[Fading Fast]

... View attachment 300993
(Powdered carrots???)......

... Also frustrating, he says, is the habit many women have of cutting the labels out of cheap clothing and sewing in labels of more expensive stores. This trend has caused confusion for investigators, observes the Captain, on more than one case....

Seriously, this is a thing? Who exactly sees the label besides the woman wearing her clothes? If she is taking them off for some action with a man, I can assure you he is not paying one second of attention to the labels in her clothing. So who is she putting in all this effort for to impress?

...

The News LIVES for stories like this....

Agreed, at least this one lives up to the hype.

... Annnnnnnnnnnnd we're off...

The Wilmers of the world make life so much more exhausting for the rest of us.

... Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick........

Amazing that there is a functioning telegraph business in the middle of a war-torn country.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm not sure exactly where, geographically, Terry and the guerillas are at this point, but it seems like they have to be reasonably close to a decent sized town and not out there in warlord country, if only for the fact that we see a lot of vehicle traffic coming and going. Or maybe they've got radio-telegraph going.

Add to the just-like-a-movie quality of the holdup story the fact that the poor cop was "scheduled to retire in a few weeks." Oooweeee.

I also have to wonder what the reaction was of the shoppers in Altman's when all this erupted. "Why, they're used to this sort of thing in Woolworth's certainly -- but Altman's? My deeah, it just isn't DONE."

I can't imagine swapping labels, but I suppose some people might do that for a label that might be seen, like inside a coat. Otherwise, it sounds like something pretty desperate -- the same type of people who, today, leave the label on the *outside* of a coat.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

That's a pretty snazzy little house, too. Right out of "Better Homes and Gardens."

Jack and Joy's house reminds me of Mr Blanding's dream house.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

View attachment 301051




Seriously, this is a thing? Who exactly sees the label besides the woman wearing her clothes? If she is taking them off for some action with a man, I can assure you he is not paying one second of attention to the labels in her clothing. So who is she putting in all this effort for to impress?




Agreed, at least this one lives up to the hype.




The Wilmers of the world make life so much more exhausting for the rest of us.




Amazing that there is a functioning telegraph business in the middle of a war-torn country.

Labels are really meant for women to take notice. I read in a vintage magazine that some coat labels are sewn in upside down on purpose. This way when the coat is flung over a chair the label is much easier to read.

These days some men thanks to the internet are label hunters too.

I myself could care less about a name brand. All I need in a garment is for the item to last me years, can go with every thing I own, and is easy to care for.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Mr. Mosley's gyrations to avoid showing Downwind's face can be pretty eye-rolling sometimes, but the angle with the phone in panel 4 there made me laugh out loud. Hey Downwind, stop parting your hair in the middle like that, it makes you look like a gigolo.

Interesting to see the Manhattan payroll heist make the Tribune. You'd think that kind of stuff would be old hat in Chicago.