The Era -- Day By Day

[Harp]

Burma threw a Leo Durocher upper cut ba***rd brass knuckler.
Now, after they eliminate the psychopath with an Albertin Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz 104mph punch across the plate,
they need to settle down. And score a home run, Terry. Geez kid get with the program already.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Fifteen men who walked into a Williamsburg barber shop and walked out again showing no evidence of having received a haircut or a shave were enough to raise suspicions for a plainclothes patrolman, who entered the shop himself to discover a back room where 30-year-old Raymond Auriemma was seated at a table with a telephone, a scratch sheet, and a stack of fourteen betting slips on horse races. Patrolman Charles Cordera of the Borough Headquarters Squad brought in Auriemma on a charge of bookmaking, and the "barber" is being held on $500 bail for a hearing in Special Sessions Court....

I guess all the candy shop backrooms were already taken.

...
(Sheffield Farms will only survive fifteen years or so into its second century before being entirely subsumed by its corporate owner, the National Dairy Products Corporation -- later to become Kraftco, later to be merged with General Foods and then consumed by Philip Morris, before being spun off and engulfed by a Mexican cookie-baking company which will spit out a vestigal Kraft Foods Group which will then be absorbed into H. J. Heinz. The final appearance of the proud Sheffield name will be on a discount-priced brand of Kraft margarine in the '80s. But old Sheffield processing plants and horse stables remain interesting architectural curiosities all over New York City.)...

This is so the norm that it really is special when you come across a hundred-year-old business that has, essentially, not been merged/acquired/etc.

...The Kaufman-and-Hart Broadway hit "The Man Who Came To Dinner" is coming to the movies courtesy of Warner Brothers, which will adapt for the screen the story of acidulous radio personality Sheridan Whiteside, who bears no resemblance at all to Alexander Woollcott, with a script by Julius and Philip Epstein. Cary Grant has been signed to play the title role filled by Monty Wooley on the stage. The production will go before the cameras at Warners' Burbank studio within the month....

Love Cary Grant, but can't imagine anyone but Wooley in the role in the movie.

...[ (Doesn't take much to distract the kid, does it?)...

What exactly is Hedy wearing on her lower half that silhouetted that way in panel four?

... ("Why, it's almost as funny as that time Dick Tracy forgot to buy the Chief a new suitcase!")...

You gotta love that Jo is pedal to the metal on this one. She doesn't care anymore and isn't holding back one bit.

It would be really, really funny if, in some future "Dick Tracy" strip, the chief snidely brought up the new suitcase he never received.

... ("Can This Marriage Be Saved?")...

Should it?

... (Poor, poor Wolf. Not only is Dan gone, but he doesn't even get to eat the Skull's face.)

"Lizzie, don't forget, you have your weekly appointment with the school counselor this afternoon. Let me give you another hall pass as we don't want you missing that" [said the principal with a nervous smile]

... All of Dotty's friends will now plan a jail-themed party that will be oh, just a scream!...

All of Dotty's troubles could have been avoided as I think Stumpy was just acting up in protest to his name...and who could blame him?

If I was a betting man, and I am, I'd bet detective Shanley was intoxicated when she fired her weapon.

...
And they say Harold Gray has no sense of humor.....

Hey, Daddy Warbucks is stealing Kermit's move:

.. And Fading gets the prediction prize for the day. But did Burma *mean* to hit Kiel, or was she aiming for Terry and he ducked?....

And I now refer Burma and Terry to The Fedora Lounge Rulebook for Killing a TV, Movie or Comic-Strip Enemy: "Always kill your enemy as fast as you can and, then, check carefully to make sure he or she is dead."

This is why we have the rulebook people, please use it.

Burma threw a Leo Durocher upper cut ba***rd brass knuckler.
Now, after they eliminate the psychopath with an Albertin Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz 104mph punch across the plate,
they need to settle down. And score a home run, Terry. Geez kid get with the program already.

I loved her punch. That was no light tap, she threw her body into it. Good illustrating by Caniff (even if he did cheat us on the background work today).

 

[LizzieMaine]

I can't imagine Grant in that role at all. Whiteside is supposed to be -- ah -- a physically-repellent man, and I can't imagine what they'd do to make Grant fit that bill. We all know that saner heads will prevail, but I have to think they're doing this because Woolley's tied up in New York for as long as the stage version runs. Better to just wait until it closes and hold the film until then.

(During the road tour, Whiteside will be played by Alexander Woollcott himself -- and that no film or recording of this exists is a great loss to the American theatre.)

The abashed-schoolboy expressions worn by Punjab and the Asp today are priceless. They're hoping they won't get grounded for very long, because they were counting on going to the big dance next week.

I think Boody originally intended to ink in the silhouette of Hedy's dress all the way, but then he realized he didn't leave enough room in the panel to keep it from blending into Sparky's leg. So I guess we can assume that she's wearing one of those new cellophane skirts, just in time for Easter.

I have to wonder just how much force Burma could generate by having to leap up like that before belting Kiel. Seems that would drain quite a bit of energy out of her punch. In which case, she better hope Kiel stumbles over a chair or something because she won't get a second shot.

 

[Harp]

^^^Burma seems to have assumed stance Ki Niko dachi then a mawashi Seiken thrown in the best
Kyokushinkai manner though this actual style, derived Shotokan, will not formalize until after the Second World War
when Korean native Masutatsu Oyama settled down to postwar Occupation Japan. Nonetheless, a Seiken brass knuckler
delivered Durocher-style can do the trick. As can our gal Burma. No doubt about it.

And this is a tricky situation.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Federal mediators today struggled today to settle the strike by the CIO United Auto Workers that has shut down production at the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan. An existing truce between the union and the company is being threatened by "misunderstandings," according to Federal conciliator James F. Dewey, who also notes that the union and the company "differ greatly" on the amount of picketing to be allowed under the present truce.

This morning forty to fifty pickets paraded outside the plant gates. The only violence reported this morning involved "a well dressed young man" and his companion who crossed the picket line and challenged the pickets to fight him. "You guys are yellow!" he sneered. "I'll fight any one of you!" Three pickets immediately jumped the man and the scuffle spread, with one picket clubbing the well-dressed man about the back. The man's companion ran away. Two picket captains then escorted the well-dressed man back to the street, where he got into a car and drove away.

The union and management have agreed that some 1500 office workers and maintenance staff will be permitted to enter the plant during the mediation period as discussions continue toward a goal of returning 85,000 workers to the production lines. Said Mr. Dewey, "some matters were discussed that the Company will think over during the night."

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Dies Committee is stating that Communists and "fellow travelers" are responsible for recent strikes in the steel and automobile industries. Representative Martin Dies (D-Texas) also contends that Communists and their agents are working to "foment disorder" in strikes with which they are not otherwise involved. Rep. Dies declared that his committee has "indisputable evidence" of the truth of these claims, but did not further elaborate other than to say that the information he has was gathered by "other Government sources," presumably including FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

At least 8 Americans were arrested by Gestapo agents in Berlin last night in apparent reprisal for the U. S. seizure of German and Italian ships and their crews. Sources state that the Americans were questioned incommunicado at Gestapo headquarters and then released, with the exception of the Rev. Stewart Brown, pastor of the American Church in Berlin, who was released as soon as he displayed his U. S. diplomatic credentials.

Republicans are lining up in opposition to attempts to use surplus relief funds to construct a new Brooklyn jail to replace the pestilential Raymond Street Jail. Members of the Democratic minority in the State Assembly are battling the clock in an effort to have the Beckinella Bill reported out by the Ways and Means Committee in the few hours remaining before the legislative session ends. Republicans in the Assembly have reiterated that they oppose any attempt to use those funds for any purpose other than the program worked out by Mayor LaGuardia for resolution of the city's fiscal problems.

("Lookit -- Fenimore Street!," notes Sally. "An' Ma lives on Midwood! 'At's jus' a few blocks down!" "I gotta algebra quiz tonight," says Joe. "I hate algebra.")

(What, no radiated hams for Easter?)

(We had the floor refinished in the theatre auditorium a few years ago, and the estimate came in at $5000. The final bill came to nearly $20,000 -- which just goes to show what estimates are worth.)

"Feminine grease monkeys" are rolling up their sleeves for National Defense in the service department at the Dugal G. Campbell Company garage, Myrtle Avenue at Gold Street. The women from the Brooklyn unit of the American Women's Volunteer Service don overalls every Thursday night for a course in automotive mechanics, and last night performed a full carbon cleaning and tune-up on two autos which ran perfectly once the work was done. The idea behind the classes is to train women in basic automotive maintenance so that they can repair any problems that may occur in vehicles used in connection with National Defense activities.

Larry MacPhail reunited with the Dodgers "A" squad in Waco, Texas yesterday following his trip to California to dicker with the Chicago Cubs over a possible trade for veteran second baseman Billy Herman. There has been no fresh news on that front for nearly a week now, but MacPhail acknowledges that he did talk with Cubs manager Jimmy Wilson and new general manager Jim Gallagher, and attempted to impress upon them the potential value of Babe Phelps to the Chicago lineup. MacPhail left Texas this morning to connect with the Montreal Royals and take a look for himself at Phelps' present condition. The Blimp has been training with the Royals "at his own expense' after being banished from the Brooklyn camp last month, a consequence of his extended holdout.

The Dodger "A" squad beat the Fort Worth Cats yesterday by a score of 6 to 4, while the B team in Valdosta, Georgia beat the home talent 8-0. Today the "A" team faces the Dallas Rebels in Waco, where Fred Fitzsimmons is expected to get the start. Fat Freddie looks forward to seeing what the Texas Leaguers can do with his fluttering, indecipherable knuckleball.

("I'm goin' downa candy store afta suppa," says Sally. "Whaffor?" says Joe as he dons his jacket and prepares to head off to class. "Jus' in case I might be gettin' a telegram, I wanna be downeah whenna phone rings.")

(Joe makes a mental note to beg Solly Pincus to help him get tickets for the Oriental on April 16th.)

The "Vox Pop" program broadcasts tonight from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, featuring "an intellectual battle between sailors and Marines." Tune in over WABC -- now at 880 on your dial -- at 7:30 PM.

(Stop smirking, Sparks, you know something's going to go wrong.)

(You really should clip that article and have it framed.)

(When did Sue turn into April Kane?)

(No fair using swipes of Rin Tin Tin.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

WHAT DID I TELL YOUSE KIDS 'BOUT PLAYIN' IN TRAFFIC?

Turkey for Palm Sunday? I don't remember going over that in Sunday School.

So there, Smilin' Jack, whattaya think of that?

All right, Punjab, settle down. This is no time for Lou Costello impressions.

"Which way to the bucket shop??"

Oh boy.

Comics = movies on paper.

Little known fact: "Why Are You Locking Me In This Closet Grandmother?" was a big song hit in 1904.

The craze for "hardboiled private eye" comics begins here.

"Irresistible Force!" says Immovable Object. "How nice to meet you!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

And a bit of a bonus for today --

Van is just happy they don't have matadors in Canada.

 

[Fading Fast]

... View attachment 323740 ("Lookit -- Fenimore Street!," notes Sally. "An' Ma lives on Midwood! 'At's jus' a few blocks down!" "I gotta algebra quiz tonight," says Joe. "I hate algebra.")...

Here's an algebra problem for you Joe: 2 + X = Living with your mother-in-law.

Solve for X

... View attachment 323742
(We had the floor refinished in the theatre auditorium a few years ago, and the estimate came in at $5000. The final bill came to nearly $20,000 -- which just goes to show what estimates are worth.)...

That's a pretty stunning spread between estimate and final price.

I call it the "first price." It's what the contractor or mechanic or plumber or electrician gives you as an estimate. It's only marginally related to the true final cost, but it is a conversation starter and, often, gets the person the job.

It's the "first price," as there often are several "revised" prices along the way until you get to the final price - the highest one, which is the one you pay.

If you sense the situation and the person's personality and ask the right questions, you can sometimes get the person to give you a more-accurate (higher) estimate as I sincerely just want to know the true cost up front.

To be fair, we've had some great experiences with some very honest contractors, plumbers, etc. who have come in at or below the estimate or have been very pro-active in explaining why something would, modestly, exceed the estimate as the job was progressing.

But the majority of our experience has been the "estimate" is just a "first price" to get things going.

Lawyers are about the same. A few give good estimates, most seem to find a way for the price to climb way above the estimate.

..."Feminine grease monkeys" are rolling up their sleeves for National Defense in the service department at the Dugal G. Campbell Company garage, Myrtle Avenue at Gold Street. The women from the Brooklyn unit of the American Women's Volunteer Service don overalls every Thursday night for a course in automotive mechanics, and last night performed a full carbon cleaning and tune-up on two autos which ran perfectly once the work was done. The idea behind the classes is to train women in basic automotive maintenance so that they can repair any problems that may occur in vehicles used in connection with National Defense activities....

... Fat Freddie looks forward to seeing what the Texas Leaguers can do with his fluttering, indecipherable knuckleball....

... (Stop smirking, Sparks, you know something's going to go wrong.)...

A day later, Sparky on the phone with Doc:

"I'm telling you, it doesn't work - it's got to be the rays"

"Yes, we tried that...and that...yup, and that."

"No, it's not an 'interesting' problem, it's a crisis!"

"What do you mean 'well, it's possible the rays have the opposite effect on that part of your body?'"

"Damn straight I'll be right over."

... (You really should clip that article and have it framed.)...

No need to, fifty years from now, on her deathbed, when she can't remember who Peggy is, she'll still be able to quote that article word for word. Hate is a powerful motivator.

... (When did Sue turn into April Kane?)...

Nasty yes, but "Really Mrs. Perry! If I'd known you didn't trust Ted off the leash," is a heck of a line.

...
Turkey for Palm Sunday? I don't remember going over that in Sunday School....

Thought bubble from the Turkey: "Christ, I made it through Thanksgiving and Christmas, now they're trying to make me an Easter thing too. Why can't the lambs and pigs handle this one? Where's my union rep! He's always there when it's time to pay dues."

... "Which way to the bucket shop??"...

Yes, there are crooked firms and crooked people on Wall St., but I've also encountered many Andy's who, try as you will, you can't talk out of losing their money. Honest firms, especially today, want no part of clients like Andy.

The Andys scream you are cheating them when you do everything you can to dissuade them from doing the things they want to do that will lose them money and, then, when they do them anyway (sometimes they have to sign a release form that you would think would discourage them, but it doesn't), they then scream that the firm cheated them when they do lose their money.

If you've ever wondered why there is so much documentation involved in opening a brokerage account and so many controls around trading at reputable retail firms, Andy is part of the answer.

... Comics = movies on paper....

Very disappointed that Burma and Terry had no follow-through plan. All they did was anger Kiel. That was very stupid.

Why do we even have the rulebook and training?

And a bit of a bonus for today --

Van is just happy they don't have matadors in Canada.

Phelps is probably trying to bum some money off of Mungo since McPhail is making him pay his own freight.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Union picketers at the Ford Motor Company River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan charged today that company management last night smuggled machine guns and men to operate them into to the plant, and that they intend to use them against the striking workers. Meanwhile, at the U. S. Army's Camp Custer, 118 miles from Dearborn, persons informed with camp operations have revealed that all leaves were last night cancelled, duffle bags have been packed, ammunition has been issued, and trucks have been loaded in preparation for military intervention in the strike.

Bruised and shaken, but not apparently seriously injured, passengers and crew of an Eastern Air Lines liner that crashed into an east Florida swamp yesterday were unanimous in their praise of the heroism of the crew, and of each other. All sixteen persons aboard the Jacksonville Flier, which went down in a violent storm near Vero Beach, and was missing for approximately ten hours, were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, with the most serious injuries suffered by the pilot, Captain Gerald O'Brien. The pilot suffered a broken leg and other injuries, but passengers said it was his expert flying that kept the crash from being far more serious than it actually was. Captain O'Brien was pinned under the steering wheel in the plane's ruined cockpit with most of his body underwater before rescuers were able to free him and carry him to safety.

For the second time within a year, Murder For Hire gangsters Harry "Happy" Maione and Frank "The Dasher" Abbadando face the electric chair, after a jury in Kings County Court again convicted them for the 1937 icepick murder of police stool pigeon George Rudnick. The jury found both men guilty of murder in the first degree and recommended no mercy, after deliberating yesterday for approximately four and a half hours. The second trial was the result of the original convictions being overturned on appeal, but as in the first trial, the testimony of Abe "Kid Twist" Reles proved key to the prosecution's case. District Attorney William O'Dwyer declined to comment on this latest development in his campaign against the "Murder, Inc." combine, but praised the work of Assistant District Attorneys Burton Turkus and Sol Klein on securing the new convictions. Maione and Abbadando will now be returned to the death house at Sing Sing Prison to await execution.

With less than an hour to go before adjournment of the State Legislature for the present session, Assembly Republicans killed the Beckinella Bill, spelling an end to efforts by Brooklyn to secure surplus relief funds to replace the obsolete and filth-ridden Raymond Street Jail. Assemblyman Charles A. Beckinella of Gowanus blamed Mayor LaGuardia for the failure of the bill to emerge successfully from review by the Ways and Means Committee, condemning his failure to use his Home Rule powers to endorse the bill. The Mayor in failing to do so overrode a 14-3 City Council recommendation that the bill be passed. "If that's not dictatorship," declared Beckinella, "I don't know what is." Republican Assemblyman Robert J. Crews of Brooklyn agreed with Mr. Beckinella that the Raymond Street Jail is "a rat hole," but explained his opposition to the bill by arguing that he does not believe that such a measure should have been introduced so late in the legislative session.

("Yeah," says Sally. "But he needs ta stop scratchin' his armpits. He ain'no Gargantua." "Looks like 'at Ted guy, inna Mary Woit' comic," adds Joe. "Hope he ain' so bone dumb.")

(Now this is my kind of bill. Jesse Block and Eve Sully are sort of a low-rent Burns and Allen, but they've been doing it for a long time and they're very very good at it. And like George and Gracie, they will remain together, happily married, for the rest of their long lives. Comedy teams seem to be the exception to the friability of show business marriages, maybe because learning to laugh at each other is a professional requirement. Plus, Ina Ray Hutton has a really fine, swinging band. And Helen Morgan, well, as long as there are pianos, Helen will be there to sing on top of them.)

(You know, this is the second recent GABI that looks exactly like my neighborhood. There's some new people moved in a couple houses up the street last month -- is that you, Lichty?)

The final fate of Van "The Great Lover" Mungo rests in the hands of Leo Durocher. So stated Larry MacPhail today, holding court with reporters in Waco, Texas yesterday before heading off to Macon, Georgia, where he will look in on the abashed Mr. Mungo and his fellow exile Babe Phelps at the training camp of the Montreal Royals. Larry says that all indications are that the big righthander has led "an exemplary life" since he was outrighted to the Royals following his recent one-man revolution in Havana, and if Leo wants to bring him back to Brooklyn, that decisions belongs entirely to the manager himself. If Leo isn't convinced that Van will from hereafter walk the straight and narrow, then it's Montreal for as long as Leo wants him to stay there. The Dodgers sought waivers on the long-time Hamlet of Ebbets Field in the wake of the Havana incident, and there were, perhaps understandably, no takers.

It also appears that Pete Coscarart's job is safe, at least for the time being, as MacPhail reported that he was unsuccessful in prying Billy Herman from the loving grasp of Jimmy Wilson, Jim Gallagher, and Philip K. Wrigley. Larry says that Wilson, who is in his first year as Cub manager, is still finding his way with the club, and feels that he is not ready to make any radical moves, especially since Herman has been a strong part of the Chicago lineup since 1932. MacPhail hasn't totally abandoned a Herman deal, but he says if one comes it won't happen until very close to the June 15th trading deadline.

("Barrel-bodied veteran?" "Fast-firing oldster?" Well, at least they didn't say "Fat." The mention of Fitz's "turntable delivery" is interesting -- he had a motion very similar to that of Luis Tiant, the whole pivot-on-the-left-heel-and-show-the-batter-your-number deal. Must be an old fat guy thing.)

Since WOR's contract for Dodger broadcasts doesn't include night games, arrangements have been made by sponsors General Mills and Lever Brothers to air those contests over WNEW. Red Barber and Al Helfer will of course be at the microphone for those eleven arc-light games just as they are when the sun is up. Broadcasts will be aired to their conclusion, regardless of the length of the game.

(I'm disappointed Slappy isn't wearing a maid-of-honor dress.)

(There's so much here today that's sublime, I hardly know where to begin. "Leetle deenky black mustache!")

(Sue's been taking acting lessons. Unfortunately, she's taking them from Norma Shearer.)

(You know, Marsh, if you're not going to have Wolf EAT FACES in this story, the least you could do is give him better dialogue.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"MY HOME WAS ALWAYS A-ROAR WITH HER PASSION FOR OTHER MEN!" Hey, looks like a good movie role for Barrymore. And old Grandpa stealing the giant paper cutting machine piece by piece sounds like a great role for, I dunno, Jimmy Gleason.

My mother wouldn't let me wear 'em when I was a kid because I had "bad arches and weak ankles." So I wear them as often as I can now just because I can. SO THERE.

OK, so I gave myself a permanent last night. And after digging the box out of the garbage I find that it only contains good, wholesome ammonium thioglycolate and hydrogen peroxide like God and Helena Rubenstein intended. Which is a relief, because it would be really awful to have to find a rabbit on Easter morning.

Y'know, I had no idea how entertaining I'd find a "Punjab Goes Rogue!" storyline.

I'm impressed. It isn't easy to kick like that in an open-toed shoe.

Hey, isn't this that pickpocket guy who used to work for Uncle Bim? Nice to see he's found an honest line of work.

You know, I understand the whole "schadenfreude" thing and all, but shouldn't you two be halfway to Chungking by now?

Look, kid, stop moping and start investigating. Wilmer's in that lunchroom right now blowing the entire $12 on pinball.

Well now, if it isn't Lord Plushbottom! See how all these story threads tie together?

Start packing, son.

 

[Fading Fast]

... ("Yeah," says Sally. "But he needs ta stop scratchin' his armpits. He ain'no Gargantua." "Looks like 'at Ted guy, inna Mary Woit' comic," adds Joe. "Hope he ain' so bone dumb.")..

While I chuckled at Sally's comment (and Joe's comparison), I think (hard to tell) he's putting in or taking out his pocket square - maybe?

For a few decades, it was the norm in advertising to have men look at women and women look at men with those "adoring" looks, which today, I think we see as creepy. Also, "natural ripples" is just a bad phrase to use to describe a suit. "Drape," "natural contours" are good phrases, but I've never owned a suit with "good" ripples.

...Larry says that all indications are that the big righthander has led "an exemplary life" since he was outrighted to the Royals following his recent one-man revolution in Havana...

What's it been, a week? I'm all for second chances, but describing not getting drunk, not banging another man's wife and dance partner (at the same time) and, then, not getting into a first fight with him for all of a week as leading "an exemplary life" is a bit of a stretch. Perhaps we should hold back on the accolades until a little more time has passed.

...
("Barrel-bodied veteran?" "Fast-firing oldster?" Well, at least they didn't say "Fat." The mention of Fitz's "turntable delivery" is interesting -- he had a motion very similar to that of Luis Tiant, the whole pivot-on-the-left-heel-and-show-the-batter-your-number deal. Must be an old fat guy thing.)...

Well, Lizzie, all I can say is I hope Freddie isn't reading Fedora Lounge today from that great ball field in the sky.

Kidding aside, that's an impressive career our Freddie has had.

...
(Sue's been taking acting lessons. Unfortunately, she's taking them from Norma Shearer.)...

Good one Lizzie.

Also, kudos to Joe, Ted really does look like the guy in the Stein Bloch suit ad.

... (You know, Marsh, if you're not going to have Wolf EAT FACES in this story, the least you could do is give him better dialogue.)

School Counselor: "When did you first starting thinking about dogs eating faces Lizzie?"

Lizzie: "I believe our hour is up."

... "MY HOME WAS ALWAYS A-ROAR WITH HER PASSION FOR OTHER MEN!" Hey, looks like a good movie role for Barrymore. And old Grandpa stealing the giant paper cutting machine piece by piece sounds like a great role for, I dunno, Jimmy Gleason.....

Gleason or our other buddy, Barry Fitzgerald.

I hate to admit a tiny bit of awe for the 97 year old crook. Usually, by that age (really by their seventies), most crooks are either in jail, reformed perforce or dead. It's hard to keep a life of crime going for that long. Also, I'm worried, who's going to look after his dogs?

Pretty good "The Neighbors" today. If Peggy ever gets married, I could see her in that exact situation.

...
My mother wouldn't let me wear 'em when I was a kid because I had "bad arches and weak ankles." So I wear them as often as I can now just because I can. SO THERE.....

But it sounds as if those shoes should help with weak arches?

...[ Y'know, I had no idea how entertaining I'd find a "Punjab Goes Rogue!" storyline.....

Yes, but Gray had a bit of a scale issue in panel four.

...[
Hey, isn't this that pickpocket guy who used to work for Uncle Bim? Nice to see he's found an honest line of work.....

... You know, I understand the whole "schadenfreude" thing and all, but shouldn't you two be halfway to Chungking by now?....

I'm still disgusted with those two for not following through when she had the brass knuckles - just keep punching.

Kiel and his underling, combined, have one full head of hair.

The underling is pushing the line between subservience and insolence with his "the great Kiel" line.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A heavy air raid at Brest last night was believed by the British today to have crippled two 26,000-ton German warships. The German vessels Scharnhorst and Gniesenau were straddled by sticks of heavy bombs dropped by RAF planes, but the British dispatches did not reveal whether these bombs carried the new superpowerful high explosive that was reported to have blown houses off their foundations during a previous raid at Emden.

Yugoslavia, united as it has never before been in its history, today closed all borders save that on the Greek frontier, and forbade all travel except by special military permit. The tightening of security comes in anticipation of war against the Axis powers, which is believed not just to be imminent, but inevitable.

("Striker? Scab? Who cares, as long as I get to hit somebody.")

The CIO United Auto Workers and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are jointly investigating charges that equipment inside the River Rouge plant of the Ford Motor Company has been damaged, as the strike against the company continues. Reports claimed that dies and open-hearth furnaces have been wrecked, and tons of molten steel poured directly onto the plant floor. Ford company officials charge the damage is the result of "communistic sabotage" by UAW members, but CIO officials maintained that any damage is the work of roving bands of company "thugs" brought in to intimidate maintenance workers. UAW secretary R. J. Thomas, in a wire to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, stated "no property at any time has been damaged by the Ford strikers. Despite attacks on our men by thugs inside the plant, our union has voluntarily supplied maintenance men for furnaces and the power house at the Rouge plant so that no equipment would be damaged."

Thirty-one thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians assembled today to march down Manhattan's 5th Avenue in celebration of Army Day. The Brooklyn delegation of the American Legion outnumbered all other marchers, as tickets for the reviewing stands were completely sold out. Even Mayor LaGuardia was unable to obtain extra tickets that would have allowed his relatives to watch the parade in comfort.

The Kings County Grand Jury today dismissed an indictment against three persons charged with operating a bingo game in Greenpoint. The defendants produced evidence to prove that the game at the Chums Pleasure Club, 148 Greenpoint Avenue, was being operated by a registered charity, and that all proceeds of the game were donated to that charity.

Five striking workers at The Day, Yiddish-language newspaper currently being struck by 36 members of the Newspaper Guild of New York, face charges of violating anti-noise ordinances. The workers, including columnist and former managing editor B. Z. Goldberg, were arrested yesterday outside the newspaper's offices at 183 East Broadway in Manhattan, after they shouted "Scab!" at a non-union worker seen leaving the building at lunch.

("Well," sighs Sally, who usually wears a size 18, "at least 'at's sump'n.")

(Mr. Morgan's mother and my mother would get along just fine. I wonder if we're related?)

(A new crusade against pinball? C'mon, Cliff, that should be your lead item.)

The Eagle Editorialist accepts with a sigh recent views-with-alarm concerning a recent trend. It seems people don't read as much as they used to, according to reports from the New York Public Library, with people preferring to get their information and entertainment from radio and the movies. "Books were not meant to be read on the run," he acknowledges, but we live in an era where everyone is.

(During the six months I lived in the Golden State, it rained continuously for about three of them. So there.)

Lou Nova will get a shot at Joe Louis this fall, after dispatching Max Baer in the eighth round last night at Madison Square Garden. Baer went down after three fast blows to the eye, tried to stagger to his feet, and then folded, leading referee Arthur Donovan to step in and end the fight. Nova will get his crack at the Champ after Billy Conn gets his this summer, and Lou's manager insists his boy will fight no one else but Louis, assuming Conn doesn't unseat the Brown Bomber first.

The Dodgers are now ten days away from Opening Day against the Giants at Ebbets Field, and Leo Durocher feels that his squad is already as good as it's going to get. The Flock will reunite its two halves in Atlanta on Monday to begin the final barnstorming tour North, with the Yankees furnishing the opposition. Yesterday, Durocher's "A" squad made short work of the Houston Buffaloes at Galveston, Texas in a 14-3 blowout featuring home runs by Camilli and Medwick, and a fine pitching performance by Big Hugh Casey. Meanwhile, Chuck Dressen's B squad in Georgia edged out the Albany Senators 5-4.

The Bushwicks open their season at Dexter Park in Woodhaven against the Chester, Pennsylvania team tomorrow, with Big Bob Miller, one of the brawniest men ever to wear their uniform, getting his first start. Miller is a Dartmouth man, played several seasons in the Yankee system, including stints in the International League with the Newark Bears and in the American Association with the Kansas City Blues. He'll go three innings tomorrow, followed by a three-inning stint by Wally Singer, Bushwick ace of 1940, and F. J. "Bots" Nekola will wrap up.

(While Joe is at New Utrecht wrestling with Algebra I, Sally and her Ma have a date at the Patio to see "Gone With The Wind" again. Don't wait up, she'll be home late.)

(Suddenly, a shot rang out...)

(If the first rule of spycraft is that an operative must be as inconspicuous as possible, then these two have hit up on the perfect cover -- they are *so* conspicuous, that no one could ever possibly suspect them of trying to be inconspicuous.)

(Back home, Mary has had to down an entire bottle of gin to pull off "sick," so I hope it's worth it.)

(Beginning in this space tomorrow -- KAY FIELDS, SECRET OPERATIVE)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I don't know what Dr. Joss's final fate will be, but it's a real pity he didn't go into show business instead of medicine/uxoricide. He'd have been an ideal choice to play Professor Moriarty in a Sherlock Holmes picture, what with his "great domed cranium that oscillates slowly from side to side."

When Katharine Cornell tells you to do something, you damwell better do it.

Plus, nobody can bust up a pinball machine like our Butch.

Myrna runs like Ted Williams trying to leg out a triple.

Ah, Burma -- ever the pragmatist.

The Asp wonders if Uncle Bim is hiring.

Chigs reads "Terry" every day, and really wants to be Kiel.

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

There's a reason why Andy's head is drawn the way it is, and it has a lot to do with the size of his brain.

Vintage Phrases You Don't Hear Anymore -- "Something that'll put a little color in your nose."

 

[Harp]

Criminal law never ceases to amaze by exhibiting the depths of human nature, whether a simple assault
against striking, non strikers; or a janitor murderer weasel attempt to deny his crime and furnace cremation of his child victim.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(A new crusade against pinball? C'mon, Cliff, that should be your lead item.)...

I never knew Laguardia had stopped the old campaign - he always seems to be passionately against pinball machines.

...The Eagle Editorialist accepts with a sigh recent views-with-alarm concerning a recent trend. It seems people don't read as much as they used to, according to reports from the New York Public Library, with people preferring to get their information and entertainment from radio and the movies. "Books were not meant to be read on the run," he acknowledges, but we live in an era where everyone is....

An evergreen complaint, yet books still get written and published. It seems the internet has made it easier to publish but, relatedly, since there are so many more books out there, away from the "big name" authors, few of these books make a lot of money.

...
(During the six months I lived in the Golden State, it rained continuously for about three of them. So there.)...

I've probably spent fifty or so days in Florida, "The Sunshine State," in the past thirty years and it's rained for some part of 40-plus of them.

... (Back home, Mary has had to down an entire bottle of gin to pull off "sick," so I hope it's worth it.)...

Just noticed, Sue has the same taste for loud patterns that Ted does. Although, tonight, Ted seems to have his more conservative "town" coat on.

... (Beginning in this space tomorrow -- KAY FIELDS, SECRET OPERATIVE)

She's already got the hat for the job.

... I don't know what Dr. Joss's final fate will be, but it's a real pity he didn't go into show business instead of medicine/uxoricide. He'd have been an ideal choice to play Professor Moriarty in a Sherlock Holmes picture, what with his "great domed cranium that oscillates slowly from side to side."...

Re the doctor: We've all heard it called a lot of things, but never "Coca-Cola."

Re the safe robbers: They belong in jail simply because they are too stupid to be out on their own.

...[ Ah, Burma -- ever the pragmatist....

This is the second day in a row that Kiel's underling has been trolling him: "I can understand your reluctance to expose your valuable person to the dangers of the this venture!" [bold added]

Separately, have you noticed how almost every cartoonist loves exclamation points?

...
The Asp wonders if Uncle Bim is hiring....

Punjab's walking the line of trolling Warbucks, "Perhaps - who can say? One sees so many in a busy lifetime."

Criminal law never ceases to amaze by exhibiting the depths of human nature, whether a simple assault
against striking, non strikers; or a janitor murderer weasel attempt to deny his crime and furnace cremation of his child victim.

That story is so horrible that I only read the headlines now as I just can't take reading the details again everyday.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Someone explained to me once that the reason so many cartoonists use exclamation points instead of periods is that they show up better on newsprint than periods -- printing or engraving errors will sometimes cause a period to disappear where an exclamation mark, or at least part of it, will still remain visible. That, anyway, is the lore. Of course, since the change from hot-metal printing to offset, the reproduction is generally much clearer.

One thing that does bug me, though, in reading comics in modern papers, is that very often the linework is spoiled by what appears to be low-resolution digital artifacts -- either the strip was actually drawn on a computer, with no pens or paper involved, or the scans of the original paper drawing were compromised in some way between the artist and the reader. It isn't just a one-paper thing, because I see it in all the papers I read, and it does the most damage to the few strips that still use a lot of detailed linework. "Zippy" often looks a mess in the Boston Globe, because they print it so small that all the fine crosshatching disappears into a mud of digital artifacts and ink smudges.

We're only getting digital scans of the comics we read here, but to sit down with an original copy of the Daily News from 1941 and see Caniff or Gray laid out the full width of the page is a real revelation. It's a shame we don't have full-resolution scans to work from here.

 

[Harp]

That story is so horrible that I only read the headlines now as I just can't take reading the details again everyday.

Two years ago here in Chicago, a homicide similar to Montgomery in that a pregnant woman was murdered and her child
removed; prosecuting such heinous acts, and, defending at trial numbs the mind; but that these crimes occur boggles
the human intellect as well. A recent gang war saw the retaliatory execution of a child inside an alley.
And the child's father, later arrested, refused to assist in the apprehension or prosecution of the guilty party.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Two hundred and fifty thousand steelworkers will go on strike against the United States Steel Corporation effective midnight Tuesday, after negotiations on wage and benefit issues collapsed yesterday. CIO President Philip Murray last night announced the work stoppage in notices sent out to Steel Workers Organizing Committee members in fourteen U. S. Steel subsidiaries after the company's largest subsidiary, the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, rejected the union's offer to continue working without a contract until April 15th if changes made under any new agreement are made retroactive to April 1st, the date of the expiration of the previous contract. Negotiators for the SWOC and Carnegie-Illinois will meet again tomorrow in a last-ditch attempt to halt the strike. Negotiations have been ongoing since March 20th, with the union calling for a 10 cent per hour wage increase, improved vacation time, accelerated grievance machinery, and exclusive bargaining rights, among other improvments over the previous contract. The U. S. Steel subsidiaries hold millions of dollars worth of defense contracts.

In Dearborn, Michigan negotiators are "heartened" over the prospect of a resolution of the strike against the Ford Motor Company by the CIO United Auto Workers over union recognition. All Ford plants nationwide have been shut down by the walkout, and though there have been incidents of violence inside and around the River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Federal mediator James F. Dewey was in a happy mood yesterday during a break in the negotiations. After a three hour session, Mr. Dewey stated that "the attitude of the union is such as to indicate an even better possibility of an agreement being reached." Ford is the only automaker to have refused to recognize the UAW.

Meanwhile, the issue of "roving bands of thugs" in the plant is, according to Mr. Dewey, "no longer so much of a problem as it was." Approximately 1000 non-union workers brought into the plant under company supervision, "most of them Negroes," had reportedly "entrenched themselves in the foundry with knives and spears six feet long," but since last night "a considerable number of them" have left the plant.

A civilian inspector went on a rampage yesterday at the Bendix Aviation plant in Bendix, New Jersey, smashing $200,000 worth of models and machinery vital to national defense. Police say 36-year-old Donald Converse of Lafayette, Indiana "apparently went crazy," swinging two ten-pound metal bars at anything breakable before plant workers subdued him and knocked him unconscious. Converse reported to work yesterday about five hours late for his shift, and was "acting highly agitated" before he scaled a five-foot fence between the optical and instrument sections of the factory and began destroying anything in sight. Federal agents investigating the incident do not see the case as one of deliberate sabotage, although much equipment destroyed by Converse was connected to the manufacture of secret military bombsights and other precision apparatus.

The holdover December grand jury for Kings County will not be dismissed until Brooklyn gets a new jail. So ordered Judge Franklin Taylor yesterday, even as Grand Jury foreman George Trumpler indicated that subpoenas will be issued tomorrow for Mayor LaGuardia and every member of the Board of Estimate. "We are not kowtowing to any city officials," warned Judge Taylor, adding that "Trumpler is sore as hell."

(Complain, complain, complain...)

Old Timer G. P. W. remembers the good old days in Bushwick, when good old Mr. Reid lived in a vault at Evergreen Cemetery, and amazed all the neighborhood kids by saying the alphabet backwards. (Is he still alive? He'd be a natural for "We The People.")

Ducky Medwick is on a real tear these days as the Dodger A squad wraps up its tour of the Southwest. Yesterday in Alexandria, Louisiana, Muscles hit in his twentieth straight game as the Flock liquidated the Alexandria Aces 13 to 1 before a crowd of nearly 4000 persons, many of them hanging from trees overlooking the ballpark.

Today the Dodgers return to New Orleans to mix it up with the Pelicans as they move toward the end of their minor-league adventures for the spring. After tomorrow's game, they'll look forward to facing the Yankees as they begin their barnstorming trip home to Brooklyn.

Larry MacPhail refused to comment today on reports that Van Mungo has been "reinstated." Asked how the frolicksome righthander is doing in Macon, MacPhail spat "I don't know and I don't give a (hoot)!"

(What's going on, Leo? VOTING IS A PRIVILEGE!)

("Steelman," huh? IF THAT'S YOUR REAL NAME.)

The Association For The Protection Of The Rights Of Left-Handers has formed this month, and is growing with leaps and bounds in furtherance of its three point program: the right to take oaths with the left hand instead of the right, the manufacture of clothing designed for left-handers, and the modification of musical instruments to suit left-handed players. The Association notes that famous left-handers of history include Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rudy Vallee, Henry Wallace and Lefty Gomez.

Twenty-two year old Teresa Wright, now appearing on Broadway in "Life With Father," says that as far as she's concerned, glamour-girl roles are OUT. "I'm an actress," she insists, "not a sweater girl." Miss Wright has a five year contract with Sam Goldwyn which allows time out for stage work, which remains her first love. She will soon be seen on screen "high up in the cast" with Bette Davis in "The Little Foxes."

(Well, well. Something New Has Been Added. Red Ryder's gonna be sore he got kicked off the front page by a monkey-man.)

(Scarlet really does have super powers. If you doubt it, you try to pull out hinge pins with your bare hands.)

(I wonder if inside the turtle, there's a fish? Contemplate, if you will, the nature of infinity.)

(I dunno, Bill, bold chalk stripes? You trying out for a role as a Dick Tracy villain? And meanwhile, I'm getting even more excited by this all new "KAY FIELDS -- DEATH DEALING VIGILANTE" strip. Pity she has to inherit Irwin.)

(Boys Will Be Boys.)

("Tarzan, huh?" snorts Red. "I'll tell yuh what *I* got that he AIN'T got -- DIALOGUE!")

 

[Harp]

I caught a snippet of a pre code Tarzan and Jane taking a swim, a quite revealing scene all the more surprising
for its innovative approach as much as Jane's nudity. A real swinger swim, still chaste yet.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Didn't we already have this "Fighting Ilish" (sigh) story once before? It wasn't funny the first time.

Hey, Hill -- no cracks about "Group Theatre actors." I studied acting with one, and I can guarantee I never once saw her wearing shorts. Well, OK, once. And it was in the middle of the winter. A sense-memory exercise. And yeah, OK, I'll admit the rest of the class looked about like this. That's me in the back, telling that guy I'm not gonna play the scene with him if he doesn't stop blowing smoke in my face.

She who lives by the poisoned door bell shall perish by the poisoned door bell.

Enough with the propaganda, baldy -- I wanna see "Raging Punjab!"

GEE THAT MUSTA COLLECTED A CROWD. When Kayo gets a good line, he knows he's gotta punch it for the balcony.

Yeah, well, if you don't watch where you're going, Downwind, you'll be the next lesson learned.

It's uncanny how the names on Lilacs' sweater keep changing from panel to panel. The kid must really get around.

Judy should get down on her knees every night and give thanks that she was adopted by Walt and Phyllis, and not by Daddy Warbucks.

Well, let's see you get out of this one.

Sure, the one cop in the city who actually reads the circulars, and it has to be this one.