The Era -- Day By Day

[tonyb]

Up into the 1970s bootleg cigarettes and hijacking cigarette trucks was a pretty common thing. I suppose it fell out of favor when the large scale practitioners of the game moved on to some sort of drug business.
A friend of mine has family who live near an Indian reservation. A few years back he told me about a large federal raid with multiple arrests for moving large quantities of untaxed cigarettes through the reservation. I believe that you are allowed to purchase a couple of cartons for personal use to take home after your trip to the casino. If you are suspected of taking more, you will be stopped and your car searched as soon as you leave the reservation. The penalties have made what was once a good way to make a few bucks not worth the potential stay in the graybar hotel.

During my last couple years of cigarette smoking I got my fix at a reservation about 10 miles up the road. The tribe not only sold brand name smokes for considerably less than you’d pay in town, it also operated a cigarette factory, which made crummy smokes, but they were inexpensive and delivered a nicotine fix, which is a cigarette’s primary duty. So I smoked ’em.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The British Government has called for volunteers to help combat German mine warfare, after the Port of London was partly shut down for much of Thursday so that mines dropped by German planes could be cleared out of the Thames estuary.

Germany is now claiming that the Dutch steamer sunk by a U-boat this week was actually a "Q-boat," a British decoy ship disguised as a Dutch vessel. Britain used so-called "Q-boats" during the World War, but this is the first mention of their possible use in the current conflict.

It's still November, but "General Winter" is very much in evidence on and above European battlefields, with snow and rain impeding the air war. Twenty-two German planes were shot down in two days of heavy fighting yesterday before weather conditions grew too inclement for flying. The only action reported during last night's heavy weather saw French troops drive back two German patrols east of the Moiselle River.

Japan's foreign office is issuing a "strong protest" against the British blockade of exports bound for Germany, and declares that Japan may be required to take countermeasures to free up its trade routes.

Sweden, Holland, Denmark, and Belgium are also protesting the British blockade against neutral nations.

A general strike called by AFL motion picture unions could shut down the entire movie industry after the collapse of negotiations between the unions and the studios. At issue are requested 10 percent pay raises for 23,000 industry technicians, with union leaders pointing the "exorbitant salaries paid to stars" compared to the "ridiculously low" wages earned by hundreds of technicians. The studios have been immovable on the pay hike, citing the loss of foreign markets due to the European War and the resulting "sharp curtailment" of production. The general strike, if called, would shut down exhibition as well as production, with 20,000 projectionists affiliated with the International Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers expected to join any walkout. No hour has been named for the start of the strike.

A Long Island religious cult has adopted a five-month-old baby girl, and has declared the infant a test of its theories on immortality. The red-haired baby, identified as "Baby Jean," was relinquished to the custody of the Royal Fraternity Of Master Metaphysicians by her parents, who were "too poor to keep her." Members of the cult, led by James B. Schafer of Oakdale, say that they will give the child "eternal physical life as well as eternal life of soul and mind" by application of its beliefs, including a strict vegetarian diet. The infant is said to be under the care of 70 students and a trained nurse at the cult's mansion-headquarters, the former Vanderbilt estate now named "Peacehaven."

70,000 fans are expected at Philadelphia's Franklin Field as Penn takes on Cornell in today's marquee college grid tilt, with Cornell shooting to complete its first undefeated season since 1923.

President Roosevelt's proposal for a tax increase to fund increased defense spending has the endorsement of one of his arch-foes in the Senate. Republican Senator Arthur Vandenburg endorsed the President's plan, providing the new levy is collected on a "pay as you go" basis.

In Huntington, West Virginia, a group of rogue policemen attacked illegal gambling parlors, saloons, and other "vice establishments" in a series of unsanctioned vigilante raids. The eight police officers say they will continue their private campaign against vice, regardless of what the authorities say.

A partially-blind 76-year-old woman was rescued from her burning home this morning by her next door neighbor. Mrs. Ann Foley was trapped by the flames on the first floor of her house at 57 1/2 Wyckoff Street, and when her neighbor, Joseph Sheehan, a war veteran employed by the Railway Express Agency, saw her thru the window he rushed to her aid and pulled her safely to the street. Mrs. Foley is being treated at Holy Family Hospital after being overcome by smoke. The fire started in the basement of the two-story frame structure and caused substantial damage. The upstairs tenant was not home at the time of the blaze.

In Walton, New York, a 44 year old man blew himself up with a homemade dynamite bomb unwittingly detonated by his wife. Ross Travis wrapped himself in a blanket lined with an explosive charge he had wired to a light switch connected to the front door of his house. When Mrs. Travis and their seven year old daughter entered the house, the bomb went off. Mrs. Travis and the girl were not injured.

The American Legion is demanding that action be taken to bar Communist Party leader Earl Browder from speaking as scheduled Tuesday night at Yale University. Legion officials issued their demand to New Haven city officials, and officials of the university, and a mass meeting of veterans' groups protesting Browder's speech have been called for Monday night.

Sheffield Farms will extend its new two-quart paper carton to Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island and the Flatlands as of Monday. Eleven other districts in Brooklyn are already receiving the new containers, and Sheffield president L. A. Van Bomel says that the new packaging is both successful and popular with customers.

Boy Scouts hiking in the woods outside Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey recovered a small safe stolen from a Post Office substation in Jamacia last week. The door had been blown off the safe with some explosive, and the contents of the safe were missing. The safe had reportedly contained $38 in cash, a quantity of stamps, and Government stationery.

The inventor of basketball is reported in critical condition in a Lawrence, Kansas hospital. 78-year-old Dr. James Naismith was hospitalized with a heart attack last week, a few days after he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

In London, Irish Republican Army activity is believed responsible for the bombing of several telephone booths and police boxes, after authorities declared there was no possibility the explosions were the result of air raids.

Helen Worth tells a 16-year-old girl chafing under her mother's firm rules against boyfriends that her mother is wrong, and that she should be making plans to move out on her own as soon as she is old enough to be entirely self-supporting.

55 Mohawk Indians are members of Brooklyn's only Mohawk-language Presbyterian Church congregation. Pastor David M. Cory has learned the language from native speakers, but admits he has trouble with verb conjugation because there are no printed grammars in the language available for study.

Will he or won't he?

The Eagle editorialist looks with approval on a strict bicycle-licensing law enacted in Bronxville, and says it's high time Brooklyn had such a law to ensure the safety and regulation of riders in the borough's ever-crowded streets.

"Christian Science, Its Practice and Proof," by Florence Middaugh, C. S. is the week's full-page lecture. Mail subscriptions to the Saturday Eagle, which contains these lectures, are available for $1.50 per year.

The mailman who says he was beaten in the street by three Coney Island men last month is refusing to drop charges, and the case has been referred to Special Sessions Court for trial. Letter carrier Louis Seeback declined to withdraw his case against 50 year old Nathan Boxt and Boxt's two sons 27-year-old Louis and 24-year-old Frank, who are accused of assaulting him as he made his rounds on October 12th following a dispute over mail-handling regulations.

The Dodgers have their holiday wish list all ready for the upcoming Winter Meetings, and Joe Medwick's name is still at the top, followed closely by Max West. But Tommy Holmes reports that Don Padgett of the Cardinals, Morrie Arnovich of the Phillies and Johnny Rizzo of the Pirates might also turn up under Larry MacPhail's tree. Of the lot, Arnovich would probably the easiest to acquire, since Phillies owner Gerry Nugent is always desperately strapped for cash, but Padgett would be the best choice -- even though Larry will have to deal with Branch Rickey to get him. MacPhail offered the Cardinals $50,000 straight up for Padgett last year and Rickey wouldn't even talk to him. Padgett hit .399 for the Redbirds last year in 99 games as a substitute outfielder and frequent pinch-hitter. A left-handed pull hitter, he would be right at home in Ebbets Field. Arnovich, meanwhile, can be a spotty performer -- but he's Jewish, which always means gate appeal in Brooklyn.

The Football Dodgers will try again to break their futility streak against the Giants when they meet at the Polo Grounds tomorrow. The Flock is 0-16 against New York since they entered the league in 1930.

Dodger pitcher Hugh Casey also bowls a mean game -- rolling a 630 series to help pace the H. Kaplan Co. team to a 16-pin victory over Nadler Motors in Inter-Club Bowling League action.

A new Frequency Modulation radio station goes on the air tomorrow, with W2QXR signing on at 43.2 megacycles. The new station, affliliated with standard broadcast station WQXR, will operated on a 42-hour-a-week schedule using the Armstrong system of transmisson.

The Dodger-Giant game will be televised tomorrow by W2XBS at 2pm. Other television highlights for the week include the feature films "The World Gone Mad," with Pat O'Brien and Evelyn Brent, and "Mayerling" with Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux, boxing from Ridgewood Grove, a fashion review, and the play "Roosty," by Martin Berkeley.

Looks like George will be going for a ride. What will those snippy neighbors think?

Oh, it's onnnnnnnnn....!

Dick Tracy would shoot without hesitation. Just sayin'.

 

[Fading Fast]

...A Long Island religious cult has adopted a five-month-old baby girl, and has declared the infant a test of its theories on immortality. The red-haired baby, identified as "Baby Jean," was relinquished to the custody of the Royal Fraternity Of Master Metaphysicians by her parents, who were "too poor to keep her." Members of the cult, led by James B. Schafer of Oakdale, say that they will give the child "eternal physical life as well as eternal life of soul and mind" by application of its beliefs, including a strict vegetarian diet. The infant is said to be under the care of 70 students and a trained nurse at the cult's mansion-headquarters, the former Vanderbilt estate now named "Peacehaven."....

Can't see anything going wrong here.

...In Huntington, West Virginia, a group of rogue policemen attacked illegal gambling parlors, saloons, and other "vice establishments" in a series of unsanctioned vigilante raids. The eight police officers say they will continue their private campaign against vice, regardless of what the authorities say.....

Hmm, good cops fed up with a corrupt system or did several palms not get properly greased?

...In Walton, New York, a 44 year old man blew himself up with a homemade dynamite bomb unwittingly detonated by his wife. Ross Travis wrapped himself in a blanket lined with an explosive charge he had wired to a light switch connected to the front door of his house. When Mrs. Travis and their seven year old daughter entered the house, the bomb went off. Mrs. Travis and the girl were not injured.....

What was really going on here? What the heck was he trying to do?

...The American Legion is demanding that action be taken to bar Communist Party leader Earl Browder from speaking as scheduled Tuesday night at Yale University. Legion officials issued their demand to New Haven city officials, and officials of the university, and a mass meeting of veterans' groups protesting Browder's speech have been called for Monday night.....

And pressure groups today still try to get some groups/individuals banned from speaking at colleges. Another in the very-little-changes category.

...A new Frequency Modulation radio station goes on the air tomorrow, with W2QXR signing on at 43.2 megacycles. The new station, affliliated with standard broadcast station WQXR, will operated on a 42-hour-a-week schedule using the Armstrong system of transmisson.....

From memory (which could be wrong), but I doubt there were a lot of radios that got FM reception in homes in '39.

...Dick Tracy would shoot without hesitation. Just sayin'.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I would hate to be Ross Travis's seven-year-old daughter.

FM radio was just getting off the ground in 1939 -- it was offered only in a few of the higher-end radios from major manufacturers and some of the specialty companies -- and the stations were only being licensed on an experimental non-commerical-only basis, as seen by the W2xxx call letter format. There were several stations in the Northeast, which was Major Armstrong's base of operations, and a few others dotted around the rest of the country, but the system didn't take off until after the war, by which time the frequency band was shifted from the 40-mc range to the 88-108 mc range used today.

That left pre-war FM sets more or less useless -- ha ha ha early adopters -- but in the 80s and 90s, if you had one of those sets you could tune in on cordless telephones, which made for more interesting listening than most of what was on the "new" band by that time.

 

[EngProf]

"Dick Tracy would shoot without hesitation. Just sayin'."
Forget Dick Tracy - think what Fearless Fosdick would do in that situation... (And would then do a sales pitch for Wildroot Cream-Oil...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Germany is claiming direct bombing hits on four British warships in the North Sea, but British authorities, while admitting the attacks, deny the damage -- stating that no hits were made and that there were no casualties. The planes eluded heavy British anti-aircraft fire and made their escape.

A German mine damaged an 11,063 ton British steamer in the English Channel. The vessel Sussex was towed to a mooring in the Thames by tugboats.

The Chairman of House Naval Affairs Committee is calling for the new tax funding emergency defense expenditures to be funded on a "Pay Now" basis. Rep. Carl O. Vinson of Georgia has proposed that the money come from war profits now being accumulated by industry.

Acting Navy Secretary Charles Edison is calling on the President to authorize an emergency expansion of American naval power to place the Navy on a full wartime footing. Acknowledging current plans to add 95 new ships and 2400 new planes to the fleet, the Secretary says it may be necessary to accelerate that program -- but by no means should it be retarded.

As the Chrysler Motors strike moves into its 51st day, there is a dispute between management and labor as to the exact nature of the work stoppage at the main Dodge factory -- with the United Auto Workers declaring a formal strike on that plant. Chrysler has termed it a "lockout," and has tried to bring in replacement workers to restart production. The UAW will now install full-scale picket lines at the Dodge plant, and warns that anyone crossing that line will be considered a strikebreaker.

The accidental disposal of more than 12,000 voter registration slips from the most recent election has Brooklyn police officers going from house to house in 22 of the borough's assembly districts to re-enroll the affected voters. Investigations are underway to determine why the original slips, which had been stored at the Butler Street police precinct, were thrown away as rubbish before being properly recorded.

A 65-year-old Astoria woman was killed yesterday when a dumbwaiter rope broke, causing the dumbwaiter to fall down the shaft and hit her on the head. Mrs. Elizabeth Niemann died of a fractured skull at a Long Island City hospital.

A 21-year-old youth will face charges of operating a gambling ring involving grammar school and high school students in the Bath Beach and Coney Island districts. Morris Lasky of 2228 63rd Street appeared before Magistrate Charles Solomon and was freed on $200 bail pending an appearance in General Sessions Court. Police say Lasky was the mastermind of a large-scale football pool centered at Lincoln and Lafayette High Schools, where betting tickets were bought and sold, and that the operation had also penetrated into nearby grammar schools. Lasky was working at a desk surrounded by betting slips when police picked him up.

Powerful New York State Republicans are hoping to start a boom for the Presidential candidacy of Thomas E. Dewey, pushing hard to line up support for the racket-busting District Attorney even before Dewey himself has formally declared his candidacy. Dewey ran a "spectacular if unsuccessful" race for Governor in 1938 before being defeated by incument Democrat Herbert Lehman.

The 1939 Christmas Seals are out, and are under fire for their modernistic depiction of an angel by artist Rockwell Kent. The chairwoman of the Christmas Seal drive in Newberry, S. C. declared that the image "doesn't look like much of an angel" to her. Artist Kent replied "Have you ever seen an angel?"

Motion picture technical unions will get their 10 percent pay raise after the studios agreed to AFL demands, heading off a strike that could have shut down the entire movie industry. The 23,000 workers who will receive the wage hike are mostly carpenters, set builders, and painters earning an average of $900 a year.

The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations commitee expects a bill authorizing the President to place embargoes on US exports to Japan will pass this week. Senator Key Pittman of Nevada says Japan is continuing to violate US rights in China,
despite a warning four months ago from the State Department that the existing trade agreements between the US and Japan will be abrogated on January 26th.

Religious tolerance is almost universal at Columbia, according to a recent survey of the student body. In a report issued by Dean Herbert E. Hawkes, it is stated that the general trend among Columbia students is "in a humanistic direction -- agnosticism is too strong a word for it. But the development of tolerance for those of different creeds is almost universal."

The 13,000,000 beacon at the newly-renamed LaGuardia Field will be lit for the first time this coming Tuesday night by cosmic rays captured by the Hayden Planetarium. The impulses will be gathered and captured by delicate apparatus at the Planetarium, converted into electrical impulses, and sent to the airport over a special telephone line, where they will close the switch to light the beacon.

Meanwhile a proud Mayor LaGuardia brought his two children out to see the new airport yesterday, along with nine of their school friends. The kids were disappointed not to see any actual airplanes taking off or landing.

45,000 TOYS -- 69 cents, marked down from $1! World's Fair Ring Toss -- ringing the Trylon gets you 5 points, the Perisphere earns 15 points! Just 69 cents! Sleepy Baby doll, Official Football, Modeling Clay set, Artist's Outfit, Sewing set, Table Tennis outfit -- all 69 cents -- at Abraham & Straus! And Don't Miss Golblasto -- King Of The Pygmies! He's Making Charlie McCarthy Look To His Laurels! (You mean he sits on some guy's knee and makes sexually-charged comments to movie actresses? Wow.)

Girls, Women Wanted -- To Jump From Planes! An all-women parachute club is forming in Brooklyn. Calling themselves "The Suiciders," their leader is Mrs. Marie McMillin, transport pilot, who has made over 145 successful jumps, and has established her headquarters at Floyd Bennett Field. Mrs. McMillin says the only time she's ever been injured is that one time when she was walking down the street and a traffic sign fell on her.

CLEARANCE DRESSES -- $3.98 -- in the Budget Fashion Shop at Oppenheim-Collins!

Cornell ends its season with its first perfect record since 1923, defeating Penn 26-0. Yale laced Harvard in Cambridge in their 58th annual matchup by a score of 20 to 7.

Boys High could be on its way to the Orange Bowl finishing out a undefeated season at Ebbets Field with a 12-7 win over Lincoln. (I wonder if Lincoln at least beat the point spread? Somebody check with Morris Lasky.)

The Football Dodgers hope to play the spoiler when they face the Giants at the Polo Grounds today. A Brooklyn win would mean the Giants would have to beat Washington next week for a shot at the title.

Leo Durocher expects to sign his contract for 1940 at the Winter Meetings in Cincinnati next week. The Dodger delegation will be largest yet at the off-season conclave, with Durocher and team president Larry MacPhail joined by a phalanx of lesser executives, scouts, and farm-system managers.

NBC's "Great Plays" series presents "MacBeth," today at 2pm over WJZ, if you aren't listening to the Dodger-Giant clash on WOR and WHN.

No column for Helen Worth today, because she's out sick. Advice: Stay home and listen to the ball game. Or Shakespeare. Or whatever.

Mrs. F. Webber, once known down around 9th Avenue as Frances Spinner, writes in to remind her fellow Old Timers of the days when Indians used to sell medicine in the lots across from the school at 8th and 6th. (Nothing like those guys who sell reefers there now.)

Take a Luxurious Trip to Miami -- Go GREYHOUND! Round Trip -- $28.65. No Local Stops!

Fronting the Trend section this week is that polar pal Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, who says he's come to prefer the isolation of Antarctica to the bustle of civilization.

(Don't be so hasty, Admiral. Lookit what you'll be missing!)

Movie critic Herbert Cohn is Thankful this Thanksgiving Season for a 1939 slate of movies which so far seem to be avoiding the same old tired Cinderella plots. He thinks the 85,000,000 Americans who line up at the box office each week feel the same way about it.

If you haven't seen Mr. Smith Goes To Washington yet, it's at the Brooklyn Paramount -- 4500 Seats! Children Always 15 cents. Adults 35 cents until 2pm.

Do you know who plays radio commentator H. V. Kaltenborn in "Mr Smith?" None other than H. V. Kaltenborn himself. It's his first role in pictures, and is the rare occasions when he actually worked from a script.

Eddie Garr, now heading the bill at the Flatbush Theatre, thinks vaudeville is finally back, and he's ready for more of it. He's been touring for several seasons since his last Broadway show, filling in with night club work between theatre dates, and thinks audiences are ready for the return of big time variety. He says too many comics using blue material hurt vaudeville, but the new breed of comedian doesn't need to go off-color for laughs.

On the run from Ace Hanlon, Red Ryder gets a job as a ranch hand -- where his first assignment is do something with a horse called "Mankiller." These cowboys don't mess around.

Jane Arden finally gets herself and Jim off that ship, and the Coast Guard cleans up the smugglers. On to the next assignment.

George Bungle tries to clean out a stove flue, and covers himself and the entire apartment in soot. He then decides that it would be best for him to go to a movie before Jo gets home. Yes, you're probably right.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And here's the Controversial Christmas Seal.

Well, this angel does not have four wings and is not covered with eyes all around, so we know that it doesn't guard God's domain. And it doesn't have six wings, that we can see anyway, so it doesn't stand watch around the Almighty's Throne. It's got wings, so it can't be just an ordinary run of the mill angel. And it's not a Los Angeles Angel, because it doesn't have bulky forearms that can't get around fast enough on the curveball. So I dunno. Maybe the lady has a point.

 

[Fading Fast]

...A 65-year-old Astoria woman was killed yesterday when a dumbwaiter rope broke, causing the dumbwaiter to fall down the shaft and hit her on the head. Mrs. Elizabeth Niemann died of a fractured skull at a Long Island City hospital.....

When we were looking for an apartment to buy a few years back, we saw some that still had working dumbwaiters even though the basement kitchen had long since been done away with. Most apartment building, though, had shut them down and all that you saw was the old, small dumbwaiter door in the kitchen.

Anything is possible, but it seems odd that it hit her on the head as she would have had to be leaning into the shaft, which is - QED - not a smart thing to do.

...Motion picture technical unions will get their 10 percent pay raise after the studios agreed to AFL demands, heading off a strike that could have shut down the entire movie industry. The 23,000 workers who will receive the wage hike are mostly carpenters, set builders, and painters earning an average of $900 a year.....

Inflation adjusted, that's annual pay of ~ $16,600 or ~$18,300 after the raise in 2019 dollars.

I just read a few articles and, while a perfect comparison is hard, it seems that similar jobs in Hollywood studios today pay a "median average salary" of $59,500 - $77,000. Heck of a lot better than $18,300.

...The 13,000,000 beacon at the newly-renamed LaGuardia Field will be lit for the first time this coming Tuesday night by cosmic rays captured by the Hayden Planetarium. The impulses will be gathered and captured by delicate apparatus at the Planetarium, converted into electrical impulses, and sent to the airport over a special telephone line, where they will close the switch to light the beacon.....

Maybe not in '39, but that sounds like a lot of work in a not-interesting effort: captured cosmic rays sending an electrical impulse to throw a switch at LaGuardia. Again, though, maybe it all seemed very cutting edge in '39 (but the real electricity hoopla was half a century earlier); seems like a big tadoo about nothing today.

...He's Making Charlie McCarthy Look To His Laurels! (You mean he sits on some guy's knee and makes sexually-charged comments to movie actresses? Wow.).....

Now, now Lizzie.

Separately, but somewhat related, I can't stand ventriloquism. Never got it; can't stand it.

... (I wonder if Lincoln at least beat the point spread? Somebody check with Morris Lasky.)....

Now, now Lizzie

Separately, but somewhat related, quite the late-game comeback by Yale in "The Game" this past weekend.

...

....

About $41 in 2019 dollars - imagine what a Goodman and Armstrong top ticket would go for today.



And no "Mary Worth" today? What mean-girl thing is Leona up to when we're not watching?

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Sunday Mary Worth usually focuses on comedy-relief antics with Mary's grandson Dennie and her "male companion" Bill Biff. This week, Dennie figures out a way to keep up with his piano lessons by imagining the bass hand and the treble hand as opposing teams, with Middle C the fifty yard line.

She doesn't actually haul off and belt the kid in the next panel, but you could be excused for thinking so.

I also missed commenting on the Sunday edition of Dan Dunn, in which Dook takes Kay for a Ride...

Hey kids, comics! Good clean wholesome fun!

 

[Fading Fast]

...A $30-a-week clerk was unwittingly tied to a $2,500,000 mortgage for the purchase of a Park Avenue apartment building in a mail-fraud scheme perpetrated by the now-defunct New York Title and Mortgage Company. 60-year-old William Cooper was a clerk for the firm in 1930-31 when he was called into the office, tossed a sheaf of papers, and told "Here, Willie -- sign this." Cooper told a Manhattan Federal Judge today that he had never owned the property at 895 Park Avenue, nor had he knowingly signed the mortgage papers. He said it was a routine practice for the company to require him to sign "all sorts of papers." Cooper reacted with surprise when told by the judge that he owns the property and owes the money for the loan. Cooper is presently employed as a porter at the London Terrace....

On the way to a meeting today, so time was limited, I walked by our friend 895 Park - the one the $30/week clerk bought in '30 with a $2,500,000 mortgage - and have to say he is looking very nice. These are only quickly taken side picks, but this is the Park Avenue facing side:

And not a bad investment for $2,500,000 for the entire building as just one apartment in the building is now listed for $15,000,000 and another for $13,000,000

 

[LizzieMaine]

I hope we find some closure on this story. I kinda doubt poor Willie was able to keep up with the payments.

 

[Fading Fast]

I hope we find some closure on this story. I kinda doubt poor Willie was able to keep up with the payments.

I bet his heirs agree with you.

 

[Fading Fast]

I hope we find some closure on this story. I kinda doubt poor Willie was able to keep up with the payments.

Kidding aside, clearly, he was used in some sort of financing / property transfer scheme - let's just hope he didn't get charged with something in the legal disposition.

 

[3fingers]

Inflation adjusted, that's annual pay of ~ $16,600 or ~$18,300 after the raise in 2019 dollars.

I was wondering how in the world they survived on 900 a year. Even back then I'd think it couldn't have been a cheap place to live. 75 a month wouldn't last long.

 

[3fingers]

A 21-year-old youth will face charges of operating a gambling ring

I was not aware that 21 was considered a youth in those days.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Pretty much every reference you come across in the Eagle to a 21-year-old male refers to him as a "youth." In the sports page. they're usually called "kids" or "boys." This seems to have been standard usage for the Era. Even 24-year-old bail-bond racketeer Abe Frosch is usually described as "youthful."

The main dividing line between "youth" and "man" seems to be if the subject was married. A 19 year old boy who is married might be referred to as a man, but a 21 year old who is single is a "youth." Even if that "youth" was arrested for "procurement."

 

[LizzieMaine]

My grandfather, a married man with two kids, earned $475 in 1939. They lived in a house with no electricity or running water, with only a small coal stove for heat.

That was up here in Maine, but there were plenty of tenement-type apartments in any American city that fit that description in 1939. Los Angeles, once you got away from the glittery neighborhoods, was a shockingly grubby place to live in the Era, and the poverty ran very deep. One reason there was so much crime in the cities -- not just routine stickups, but bootlegging, drug-dealing, rackets and con games -- was because it was the only way a lot of people could survive.

 

[Fading Fast]

My father and his mother (his father died when he was very young) lived in a tenement from the '30s on - my grandmother still lived in it when I was a young kid in the '60s. It was right out of a movie. It was long, narrow, cramped and ancient with all the electrical wiring either exposed or behind "molding" stuck onto the wall. The bathroom and kitchen lightbulbs hung from a wire down from the ceiling with a socket at the end - i.e., no fixtures, just a cord, socket, bulb.

The bathroom was small - really small - and while my grandmother kept it clean, it had the grittiness that comes from (I'm guessing) at that time, seventy or so years of having the barest of repair work done and no "sprucing" up etc. To be fair, as opposed to some, the apartment had pretty good light and large windows, but of course, no air-conditioning and, I'm guessing, that electrical system wasn't going to support ac. I also remember a steep staircase that seemed to go on forever to get up to her apartment, but I had small legs at the time, so who really knows.

She lived there until the town she was in experienced the violence that many towns and cities did in the late '60s - literally right in front of her apartment. In the seventies, we'd drive by it and it looked really dilapidated, which my dad would say was not dissimilar to how it looked the day they moved in, in the '30s.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Occasionally you'll see mentions in the Eagle of "old law tenements," usually in stories dealing with people dying in fires or with Mayor LaGuardia planning to tear them down to build improved housing. The "old law" was passed in 1879 and set certain minimum standards for ventilation requiring every room to have at least one window that opens to outside air -- that was the only code requirement for such housing.

Property owners came up with a standardized plan that created a dumb-bell shaped structure with a tiny "airshaft" gap between buildings -- the absolute minimum space needed to allow for the required windows, but not enough for anything else. These buildings all had four three-room apartments per floor, heated by wood or coal stoves, and the layout, coupled with the flue-like airshafts, made them perfect firetraps.

Over 80,000 of these buildings were built between 1879 and 1901, when the State of New York passed a new, far stricter law that banned new construction of the "Old Law" type buildings. But there was no requirement to remove or renovate the old buildings, so they continued on -- when LaGuardia became Mayor in 1934, he made the elimination of the 60,000 remaining "old law tenements" a priority, thus the emphasis of his administration on new public housing projects. But despite that, hundreds of these buildings still exist.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Reports from Leningrad suggest that Soviet troops are ready to move against Finnish forces massed on the Finnish-Russian border if those forces are not withdrawn. The reports follow an incident along the border in which Finnish artillery is reported to have wounded or killed thirteen Red Army soldiers. The incident in turn spurred an ultimatum from Moscow to the Finnish government demanding that the border garrisons be withdrawn to "prevent a repetition." The reports come as the Soviet press is strongly critical of the Finnish government, condemning Premier Aimo Cajander for his "crocodile tears," and likening him to "a dirty snake" and "a small beast of prey."

Finnish authorities deny that their troops fired on the Russians, and have not removed the garrisons. In a response to the Soviet demands, Foreign Minister Eljas Ekko is preparing a statement which is expected to tell the Soviets to withdraw their trooops from the border. A Finnish spokesman called this statement a "friendly proposal" which sets no time limit for compliance.

A statement from a press agency generally believed to reflect the view of the German foreign office appears sympathetic to the Russian side of the Soviet-Finnish controversy, stating that a "first-class power" has a right to seek to secure for itself access to the sea "by amicable arrangement" with its neighbors. The Germans have thus far kept a strictly neutral stance in the negotiations between Russia and Finland.

A German pocket battleship sunk a British armed merchant cruiser today south of Iceland, even as King George VI officially signed an order imposing a full blockade on German exports. The actions come on the heels of the deadliest weekend of the war so far, in which 22 ships were sunk and 350 persons killed.

Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt has offered to appear before the Dies Committee to testify concerning charges of Communist influence over the American Youth Congress. Mrs. Roosevelt and the AYC's chairman, Alfred M. Lillenthal are expected to rebut Chairman Martin Dies' contention that the organization is under Red control.

Two hundred men were escorted across the picket line today at the Dodge main plant of the Chrysler Corporation, as four thousand strikers hissed. The replacement workers, "most of them Negroes," were brought into the plant completely surrounded by a cordon of police, under the sponsorship of the AFL-affiliated United Automobile Workers Union, an organization favored by Chrysler over the CIO-affiliated United Auto Workers, to which the striking workers belong. As the cordon entered the plant, a UAW representative declared over a loudspeaker, "Let them in, boys! They can't build cars, and they know it!" About forty of the replacement workers left the plant immediately after entering it, claiming they were turned away because they didn't have employee badges.

Brooklyn District Attorney-elect William O'Dwyer and his strongest opponent in the recent election, Chief Special Sessions Justice William R. Bayes joined in a call for Mayor LaGuardia to intervene in the situation at the Raymond Street Jail. Unfit for human habitation, the jail remains chronically overcrowded.

An escaped rhesus monkey that has been annoying Flatbush residents with its Peeping Tom activities was recaptured today behind a home on East 35th Street. For the past two days, the inquisitive monk has been repeatedly seen peeking in windows around 35th and 36th Streets, Linden Boulevard, and Church Avenues, and today police and the A.S.P.C.A. managed to bag the animal. He is being held at A.S.P.C.A headquarters, and if he is not claimed within two days he'll be turned over to the Prospect Park Zoo.

Summing up the defense today in the trial of German-American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, defense attorney Peter L. F. Sabbatino declared that the charges of forgery and grand larceny against his client were politically-driven, but at the same time distanced himself from the anti-Semitic beliefs of the Bund. Sabbatino suggested that the prosecutors in the case were seeking to curry favor with District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey, a vocal opponent of the Bund who had strongly denounced the organization during his gubernatorial campaign last year.

Those seeking jobs under the administration of incoming Brooklyn D. A. William O'Dwyer will be required to take a loyalty oath, and submit to fingerprinting. Those are two of the points appearing on a 23-question form to be completed by all applicants for positions in the D.A.'s office.

NO GENTLEMAN Coughs In Public! Smith Brothers Cough Drops are the ONLY cough drops containing Vitamin A!

250 delegates attending an Evangelical Youth Conference in Glendale swore an oath that they will not bear arms for the United States should the nation enter the current European war. The conference took place yesterday at the Glendale Evangelical Church.

YOU'LL ALWAYS BE CONSTIPATED unless you correct faulty living habits! Make your liver bile flow with OLIVE TABLETS.

There will be plenty of Nazi-made Christmas tree ornaments in American stores this holiday season. German glassmakers prepared an ample stock before the outbreak of the war, according to the US Commerce Department, and there will be an ample supply in the stores this year.

Arthur Pollock went into the City to see the 1940 edition of "Pins and Needles," and came away pleased. Most of the old favorite numbers -- "Sing Me A Song Of Social Significance," "Sunday In The Park," "Papa Lewis and Mama Green," etc. -- are still there, along with a good assortment of fresh material, highlighted by a rousing parody of the Odets-style social realist plays, "Paradise Mislaid," and the memorable new song, "It's Better With A Union Man." But a new parody of commercial radio, "Cream of Mush," isn't so hot.

If you missed out on that $1.25 dinner on Franksgiving at the Midwood Restaurant, Eddie will be serving it up again on the 30th.

Mr. and Mrs. Hyman Queen of 215 Dahill Road have been married for 65 years. Their secret? "Never worry."

The Football Dodgers went into yesterday's game never having beaten the Giants, and their record is intact.

Meanwhile, the Indoor Baseball Dodgers split its third doubleheader, this time against Boston. They play two more Wednesday night against Philadelphia.

The New York Americans finally won a game, beating Toronto 2-1, and then immediately lost their star, Art Chapman, to an emergency appendectomy. He'll be out for the season, and it looks like the A's will be too.

Over a dozen top bands will headline the Local 802 Annual Benefit sponsored by the American Federation of Musicians, tonight at 9pm over WQXR. WNEW will join the program at 10:30.

George is warned not to make Joie try to get his "sparklers" the hard way, and a voice from the shadows suggests that Joie himself might face a battle for them as well. George needs to just step back into the apartment, close the door, and go back to bed.

Bill Biff will play the role of coachman for Cousin Cinderella Sue, promising to pull her out of the party right at midnight -- just as Leona and THMIAE arrive. Sue is frantic. I MUSTN'T LET HER SEE ME!

(Dream on, kid.)

And while Dook babbles on about "that story book detective" Kay grabs the wheel and steers the car into a ditch. CRASH!