The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Butch is done fooling around with air raid wardens, now it's time to get some serious work done.

Freshie the Fish, representative of the piscene aristocracy, uses religion as a cloak to sell his fellow fish as fuel for the machine of consumption. I had no idea H&H was so astute.

Well, at least he didn't accept a five-cent cigar.

See kids? When you deal in bootleg tires, always remember to grind off the serial number!


Of course he's sore. He works the night shift.

"By the way, have you been following 'Harold Teen' lately? Hilarious isn't it?"

"Doubtless your fellow countrymen will welcome your return."

"I asked you a question. CAN YOU???"

"Reading 'Gasoline Alley,' huh? What chumps!"

We've never heard anything about Moon and Kayo's parents, but I bet they're selfless missionaries doing good in a faraway land.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

If you're afraid of goats, IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR!

 

[Fading Fast]

(It's got to get better sometime, but not, I guess, today. Although I think I might be cheered up a bit by the sight of 5-9 230 lb. sewing-machine bandit Benjamin Rockower scrambling across the rooftops. And didn't they used to call Max Golob "Maxie the Jerk?" )
...

I caught the wonderfulness of that imagery as well. Kudos to the Eagle putting it in there without crossing a line.

When I saw this headline "Kern Blames Flynn Affair for Ouster," I just assumed it was going to be a Hollywood story.

...

Soviet troops have "almost completely destroyed" Germany's 48th infantry division in a bloody two-day battle for Sychevka, strategic rail city midway between Rzhev and Vyazma, reports from the front stated today. The capture of Sychevka creates a new Soviet threat against the German garrisons occupying the two larger cities along the rail line. The destroyed 48th Division consisted largely of Poles, many of whom deserted wholesale to the Soviets when the fighting began. 1500 dead Germans lay scattered on the battelfield as the Soviets secured the city.
...

Like the Ukrainians, the Poles haven't caught a break from history in a long time. Being sandwiched between Germany and Russia is just not a good place to be.

...

Thirty-two of the city's fifty-one plumbing inspectors are under suspension today as the result of an inquiry by Commission of Inspections William B. Herlands into widespread graft in the Department of Housing and Buildings. The Herlands report, recently submitted to Mayor LaGuardia, alleges that sworn confessions from a hundred contractors supplied sufficient evidence to suspend the inspectors, and it is possible that more suspensions may occur. In his broadcast yesterday over station WNYC, the Mayor stated that the suspended inspectors were charged with accepting gratuities from pluming contractors ranging from $3 to $25. The Mayor called the thirty-two accused men "greedy" and "chiselers" who did not appreciate good city jobs. "We'll not stand for it," he vowed. "Not even the acceptance of a 5 cent cigar. They can't do it. The city pays them, and pays them well."
...

This story is evergreen in NYC. And the City does try. After we did renovation work on our apartment, a City inspector came by. It was hot as blazes that day and I offered him water or a soda, which he said he couldn't take as it would be a bribe under their rules. He also wouldn't shake my hand as he said I could pass him money that way. The second inspector, who came later, said the handshaking thing was silly and shook my hand. Despite all that, every decade or so, a "City Inspectors Charged in Bribe Scandal" story will hit the headlines.

...


(A Sturges picture about the discovery of ether? Um, are you sure?)
...

I had the same, "what the heck," thought and checked on IMDB just to make sure some oddball movie hadn't slipped past my radar. Nope, I think the Eagle just messed up.

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Funeral services for Tony Sarg, notable artist, cartoonist, and creator of marionettes, will be held tomorrow in Cincinnati. Mr. Sarg, creator of the giant grotesque balloon figures featured each year in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, died Saturday night at Manhattan General Hospital, of pneumonia, which set in following an appendectomy last month. Mr. Sarg, who was also a noted author of childrens' books, and who hosted a popular attraction at the World's Fair, was fifty-nine years old.
...

One of my favorites of his work:

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(I've had to walk to the grocery store in a blinding blizzard to buy cat food, and there was never any such drama as this.)
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It's one way to close the Colonel storyline though.

...

(You can tell she's a professional, because she's wearing a suit.)

No kidding, talk about not embracing your role - a well-coiffed and dress woman hanging out in waterfront bars. Nope, nothing suspicious here.

Meanwhile, let's check in on Kay, "Ohhhhh Harrington!" Oops, sorry Kay, we'll come back at a more-convenient time.

And in the Daily News...

Butch is done fooling around with air raid wardens, now it's time to get some serious work done.
...

All 27 were on vacation at the same time and agreed to do the work on the Foley estate. The gall of these corrupt politicians is stunning even when we keep seeing it.

...

Well, at least he didn't accept a five-cent cigar.
...

But does he have an antique Belgian courtyard at his summer mansion at Lake Mahopac and, if so, who built it?

...

Of course he's sore. He works the night shift.
...

I don't know why "Oh Min!" is so funny all the time, but it is.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Andy's Ted Williams lope in panel one is also a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Part of it's just the wilfully bizarre art style that Gus Edson inherited from the late Sid Smith, but I think even by the standards of the Gump universe Andy must be seen as an astonishing physical specimen. I hope that when he finally leaves behind this vale of tears, his skeleton is donated to a natural-history museum, where he can be with his pal Rameses for eternity.

That's a gorgeous drawing you can look at all day and still not see everything that's there. Tony Sarg was one of those popular-culture figures who seemed to be omnipresent in his own time, but except for people like us, he seems to be completely forgotten today. A revival and serious appreciation of his work is long overdue.

I feel sorry for all the people who have defense-critical building projects going on and who all of a sudden can't get a plumbing inspector.

Hey, maybe Bill got wise to the Colonel, and figured this would be the best way to get rid of him with as little fuss as possible. Oh wait, it's Bill. Never mind.

I hope we're going to see Dan and Irwin get jacked in an alley by a couple of waterfront characters, or I'll be very disappointed in Mr. Marsh. I had an aunt who lived in Red Hook for a while, and family lore is that she never left the apartment the whole time she was there.

 

[Fading Fast]

Andy's Ted Williams lope in panel one is also a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Part of it's just the wilfully bizarre art style that Gus Edson inherited from the late Sid Smith, but I think even by the standards of the Gump universe Andy must be seen as an astonishing physical specimen. I hope that when he finally leaves behind this vale of tears, his skeleton is donated to a natural-history museum, where he can be with his pal Rameses for eternity.

That's a gorgeous drawing you can look at all day and still not see everything that's there. Tony Sarg was one of those popular-culture figures who seemed to be omnipresent in his own time, but except for people like us, he seems to be completely forgotten today. A revival and serious appreciation of his work is long overdue.

I feel sorry for all the people who have defense-critical building projects going on and who all of a sudden can't get a plumbing inspector.

Hey, maybe Bill got wise to the Colonel, and figured this would be the best way to get rid of him with as little fuss as possible. Oh wait, it's Bill. Never mind.

I hope we're going to see Dan and Irwin get jacked in an alley by a couple of waterfront characters, or I'll be very disappointed in Mr. Marsh. I had an aunt who lived in Red Hook for a while, and family lore is that she never left the apartment the whole time she was there.

When NYC was at its worst, Red Hook - I heard at the time and have read since - was a lawless war zone like parts of the Bronx were. Even in Manhattan, and well into the '80s when I lived here, you took your life in your hands to go into (now trendy, like Red Hook) Alphabet City in broad daylight.

I agree completely with you about Sarg. The good news is the museum/curator biz needs "revivals" and to "find" old forgotten artist to keep its gig going, so chances are, at some point, he'll have a moment again.

 

[Fading Fast]

I forgot to mention this exchange from the Jinx Falkenburg movie, "Cover Girl," we talked about yesterday.

It is between two executives, one male and one female, at a Manhattan based publishing company:

Her: "Is this one (girl they might put on the cover) worth going to Brooklyn for?

Him: "Where on earth is that?"

Her: "I think you take a bridge to get there."

For years now, Brooklyn has had a "cooler" and "hipper" vibe than Manhattan, but this exchange tells you something about the state of the two boroughs back in the '40s and, perhaps, something about the different views we might see in the Eagle versus the Daily News.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Brooklyn was, much to the chagrin of Mr. Schroth and other loyal Brooklyn patriots, something of a national punchline in the 1940s, depicted as a strange, provincial place where people talked funny, beat up umpires, and couldn't possibly appreciate the sophistication of Manhattan. All a contestant on a radio quiz show had to do was say "I'm from Brooklyn," and the studio audience would reflexively laugh.

Hence the formation of the Society For The Prevention of Disparaging Remarks about Brooklyn, and Mr. Schroth's constant campaigns for civic pride. As Sally and Joe might say, "Washin'ton is t'capital of t' U-nined States -- but Brooklyn is t' capital of America!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

(There was a lot of skepticism of atrocity stories among American readers in the wake of the first World War, which explains why so many people were so willing to dismiss the accounts coming out of Nanking in 1937. It's not so easy now. And Mayor LaGuardia is the Larry MacPhail of mayors.)

Forces on the Bataan Peninsula under the command of General Douglas MacArthur are preparing for a "Nazi-style" assault by Japanese troops that may be more savage than any they have before crushed over the past thirteen weeks of their amazing resistance. Military officials now predict that Japanese Lt. General Gomoyuki Yamashita, fresh from the conquest of Malaya and Singapore, will unleash a full-scale assault in the Phillipines at the earliest opportunity. Yamashita, sent to replace Lt. General Masaharu Homma, who committed hari-kiri to escape the disgrace of his military failure, has no doubt been instructed by Tokio to crush MacArthur and his men at any cost.

Burmese revolutionaries have allied themselves with Japanese forces against the British, according to reports from London. The alliance is reported to have been discovered when the British sloop Hindustan surprised a landing party made up of Burmese soldiers under the command of a Japanese officer at the mouth of the Rangoon River on March 6th. The reports state that it is uncertain if Japanese claims of "raising three Burmese armies" are correct.

Soviet forces are furiously pounding on Nazi fortifications surrounding the strategic city of Orel, and Soviet guerillas have penetrated the German stronghold at Smolensk to burn Nazi warehouses filled with food, clothing, and war materiel. The Berlin radio confirmed today that Yukknov, 115 miles from Moscow, has fallen to the Russians, stating that "the front at this point had to be adjusted to a depth of 44 miles."

A sanity commission established by order of Governor Herbert H. Lehman has ruled that "Mad Dog Killers" Anthony and William Esposito are sane, and will therefore die in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison for the 1941 murder of payroll clerk Alfred Kaufman during a criminal rampage thru midtown Manhattan. The commission concluded that the Esposito brothers suffer from a "hysterical condition" brought on by a "fear of death," which is likely to continue for as long as the men remain in their present situation.

(I wonder if Burton Turkus ever considered a career in music?)

("'At remin's me," says Sally. "Leonora needs moeh diapehs." "Y' don't mean t'tell me," replies Joe, peeking over the wall of cotton hanging from a rope bisecting the kitchen. "T'ese ones we been usin' was MINE," replies Sally. "An' t'ey gettin' kin'a -- sheeah. Loookit -- t'is ain' a diapeh, it's a gauze bandage. B'sides, diapehs might go onna ration, an' we don' wanna get stuck." "What if ya cut up t'em ol' flannel shoits a' mine?" suggests Joe. "Hey," says Sally, "I could do t'at." "Yeah," says Joe. "Leonora be t'on'y kid in town wit' diapehs wit' a pocket!")

(Helen's too nice to tell these people off, but I'm not. And "an auld plaid shawl?" Hey MacTavish, you're an immigrant too.)

(Bonds and Taxes, Bonds and Taxes, That's The Way To Beat The Axis!)

(C'mon, Hughie, don'tcha know when the cops show up, you hide in a laundry cart. Oh, and somebody sign Dressen up for remedial Spanish.)

("Das Handtuch Hoch....")

(Page Four!)

(They say that just before you freeze to death, hallucinations set in.)

(

(I bet this is exactly how it happened to Peter Panto,)

 

[Fading Fast]

(There was a lot of skepticism of atrocity stories among American readers in the wake of the first World War, which explains why so many people were so willing to dismiss the accounts coming out of Nanking in 1937. It's not so easy now. And Mayor LaGuardia is the Larry MacPhail of mayors.)
...

This Foley appears to be exactly the person you think of when you think of dirty city politics as he defends himself from sunny and warm Florida for using city materials and employees to have, and thank Page Four for this wonderful description, an antique Belgian courtyard built at his summer mansion at Lake Mahopac. This will be a fun one to follow.

...

Forces on the Bataan Peninsula under the command of General Douglas MacArthur are preparing for a "Nazi-style" assault by Japanese troops that may be more savage than any they have before crushed over the past thirteen weeks of their amazing resistance. Military officials now predict that Japanese Lt. General Gomoyuki Yamashita, fresh from the conquest of Malaya and Singapore, will unleash a full-scale assault in the Phillipines at the earliest opportunity. Yamashita, sent to replace Lt. General Masaharu Homma, who committed hari-kiri to escape the disgrace of his military failure, has no doubt been instructed by Tokio to crush MacArthur and his men at any cost.
...

" Lt. General Masaharu Homma, who committed hari-kiri to escape the disgrace of his military failure"

There is something dramatic and engaging about that.

...

(Bonds and Taxes, Bonds and Taxes, That's The Way To Beat The Axis!)
...

Bald, fat and in his underwear. Lichty does not have a favorable view of his own gender. The underwear does nicely match Loeser's $2.69 polka dot dresses though.

...

(I bet this is exactly how it happened to Peter Panto,)

Do you think secret agent Dan Dunn has noticed that this woman has the exact same posture and odd body proportions as Kay. I think Marsh only knows how to draw one woman.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Too often, life in New York is merely an squalid succession of days; whereas in fact it can be a great, living, thrilling adventure." -- Fiorello H. LaGuardia.

He doesn't look chubby. Just how old is this photo?

I bet the meetings of the State Medical Board are a lot of fun.

It's his impeccable deductive skills that make Tracy the crimefighting juggernaut that he is. Oh wait, that's Pat Patton.

Clearly little Chester inherits his brains from his mother.

"My cringing one!"

"Sigh, I guess you're right. Wanna neck?"

A dollar a year and worth every cent.

You know, you could just push the couch.

Well, isn't that how Jack Benny started?

 

[Fading Fast]

And in the Daily News...

"Too often, life in New York is merely an squalid succession of days; whereas in fact it can be a great, living, thrilling adventure." -- Fiorello H. LaGuardia.
...

Kern either has these guys nailed to the cross or Kern is insane. His story with dates and the coverup (stolen stones replacing the ones used on Foley's job, municipal employees getting paid by Foley's gardener after the fact) is too specific, so it's either pretty close to the truth and will be proved or Kern is insane. To be sure, we know the Mayor didn't go down in this scandal (and you can see his way out already), but others should fall.

And in the Daily News...
...

He doesn't look chubby. Just how old is this photo?
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Sometimes I think the News just prints Warner Bros. scripts as if they were real-life stories. This reads more like John Garfield escaping in a movie than something that actually happened.

And in the Daily News...
...

It's his impeccable deductive skills that make Tracy the crimefighting juggernaut that he is. Oh wait, that's Pat Patton.
...

"I talked the doc into taking off the cast..."

It's not suppose to work that way. Who is his doctor, doctor Dubb?

And in the Daily News...
...

"My cringing one!"
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So many small-time losers hitched their sails to the "new world order."

...

You know, you could just push the couch.
...

And scratch the floor? That's why you need those felt slidey things on the bottom.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I kinda hope Rockower gets away, because he's certainly earned it. These are either Warner Bros. cops, or the template for "Car 54 -- Where Are You?"

I bet Tracy just got the cast off so he'd have an excuse to sit around the office in those snazzy boxer shorts. Eatcha heart out, Chief.

I remember Mr. Kern's name coming up before back when the Rapp-Coudert Committee hearings were going on, where he played very much the gadfly role in the proceedings. This was well before the shakeup in the Civil Service Commission, but I suspect the publicity he got didn't endear him to the Mayor, and he may very well be justified in feeling that he was unfairly torpedoed. He does not, in any case, appear to be the sort of man who would be especially inclined to keep his mouth shut about things he might know.

Dan's new ladyfren not only looks like Kay in a wig, she also looks like Veeda in a different wig. It's a small world.

Speaking of Norman Marsh, I came across an interesting tidbit concerning him -- it seems that Chester Gould absolutely loathed him, considering "Dan Dunn" a cheap swipe of "Dick Tracy, and when Marsh was in line to sell a new cowboy adventure strip he'd created to the Tribune-News syndicate, Gould conspired with Harold Gray to prevent that from happening -- Gray induced his cousin Ed Leffingwell to submit a Western strip called "Little Joe," which Gray and Gould then talked up as the best thing ever to come along, and the syndicate bought that strip instead, leaving Marsh fuming on the sidewalk.

Aside from denying us the very real excitement we could experience from a Norman Marsh horse opera -- picture Red Ryder without the highbrow flourishes -- "Little Joe" had a healthy run of over thirty years. And I bet no one ever suspected that Ed Leffingwell, and later his brother Bob, had an uncredited assistant writing and drawing most of the strip for much of that time.

Nope, nobody ever suspected a thing.

 

[Fading Fast]

I kinda hope Rockower gets away, because he's certainly earned it. These are either Warner Bros. cops, or the template for "Car 54 -- Where Are You?"

I bet Tracy just got the cast off so he'd have an excuse to sit around the office in those snazzy boxer shorts. Eatcha heart out, Chief.

I remember Mr. Kern's name coming up before back when the Rapp-Coudert Committee hearings were going on, where he played very much the gadfly role in the proceedings. This was well before the shakeup in the Civil Service Commission, but I suspect the publicity he got didn't endear him to the Mayor, and he may very well be justified in feeling that he was unfairly torpedoed. He does not, in any case, appear to be the sort of man who would be especially inclined to keep his mouth shut about things he might know.

Dan's new ladyfren not only looks like Kay in a wig, she also looks like Veeda in a different wig. It's a small world.

Speaking of Norman Marsh, I came across an interesting tidbit concerning him -- it seems that Chester Gould absolutely loathed him, considering "Dan Dunn" a cheap swipe of "Dick Tracy, and when Marsh was in line to sell a new cowboy adventure strip he'd created to the Tribune-News syndicate, Gould conspired with Harold Gray to prevent that from happening -- Gray induced his cousin Ed Leffingwell to submit a Western strip called "Little Joe," which Gray and Gould then talked up as the best thing ever to come along, and the syndicate bought that strip instead, leaving Marsh fuming on the sidewalk.

Aside from denying us the very real excitement we could experience from a Norman Marsh horse opera -- picture Red Ryder without the highbrow flourishes -- "Little Joe" had a healthy run of over thirty years. And I bet no one ever suspected that Ed Leffingwell, and later his brother Bob, had an uncredited assistant writing and drawing most of the strip for much of that time.

View attachment 408527 Nope, nobody ever suspected a thing.

So we learn that comicstrips are a cutthroat business like every other business. All businesses have the same stories.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(It's never good form to faint in a police lineup. And "Varmints?" Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present our attorney for the defense, Mr. Red Ryder.)

Japan's new commander in chief in the Philippines, Lt. General Tomoyuki Yamashita, was believed today to be awaiting aerial reinforcements before unleashing an all-out aerial attack against General Douglas MacArthur's Bataan lines. War Department officials said Yamashita's 200,000 or more troops were without the heavy air support which aided them in the early weeks of the Philippine invasion due to the shifting of bombers, dive bombers, and fighters southwestward for the assaults on Singapore and Java. Yamashita is believed to be bringing back this air strength, perhaps even in greater force, for what may be a double-barreled assault on MacArthur's Bataan positions and the fortresses at the entrance of Manila Bay. Military observes say they expected a strategy different from that followed by Yamushita's ill-fated predecessor, Lt. General Masaharu Homma, who committed hari-kiri because of his failure to break the American-Filipino resistance.

("Well, actually," says some pedantic ensign in charge of debriefing the men, "sharks *are* fish." "I wonder," growls one of the seamen, "what kind of gum YOUR liver would taste like?")

The proposed construction of prefabricated housing for employees of the Sperry Gyroscope Company's plant in Lake Success, Long Island, has generated strong opposition from more than 250 homeowners in nearby developments. At a public hearing which jammed the town board room in Manhasset, residents of Hillside Heights, Hillside Oaks, Hillside Estates, Pilgrim Estates, and North Hyde Park Estates protested that the construction of "undesirable substandard houses" would reduce the value of their homes.

("Pfffft," snorts Joe. "Who needs'em? I wouln' live out t'ere if I neveh had ta ride a train again! It's woise'n livin' inna Heights." "Flatbush people wouln' do t'at," huffs Sally. "Midwood, maybe -- but not Flatbush.")

(I dunno, maybe it's just me, but doesn't making Namm Day a monthly thing instead of once a year kinda take away some of the magic?)

(Clifton Webb as a chorus girl isn't much of a stretch, and it was just another night's work for Kaye and Cantor -- but I'd pay hard cash money to see Karloff doing a high kick. And I'd always line up for a ticket to see Hal LeRoy, greatest eccentric dancer of his generation, and the movie embodiment of Harold Teen.)

The Eagle Editorialist expresses disbelief at allegations raised by former Civil Service Commissioner Paul Kern suggesting that Mayor LaGuardia himself is guilty of dishonesty in connection with the use of city labor and building materials at the personal estate of New York Democratic Committee Chairman Edward Flynn. "His whole record over eight years in the Mayoralty belie such charges." But the EE also chides the Mayor for his recent refusal to be interviewed by newspaper reporters, in favor of his weekly radio broadcast over WNYC. That broadcast "merely gets over the Mayor's point of view -- often sheer propaganda." The EE urges the Mayor to "get off his high horse and return to the democratic system of conduction public office to which Americans have become accustomed."

(Four more days to file!)

(Playing 77 games a year in a park that offers much to bring joy to the hearts of left-handed pull hitters, does it really make sense for the Dodgers to carry only two left-handed pitchers -- and NO left-handed starters? Does it, Leo? Does it, Larry? And hey, watch out for this Musical kid, or whatever his name is.)

(Yeah! And then rip it off real quick -- that'll SMART!)

(Better start a scrapbook!)

(Ehh, it could be deeper.)

("Und your code name will be 'Adolph.'" "Aw, I wanted to be 'Hermann.' Can't I be 'Hermann' this time." "No, Heinrich is 'Hermann' this time. Don't worry, NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Now just a minute, I thought she was 28 not 27.

Kids Today.

Tomorrow: The AMA firebombs Zee's house.

Minerva Gump, Private Eye!

Yeah, you go ahead and laugh, but I just had to pay $300 for a new tire because of this.

"Wahhhh! Why can't Mr. Ryan be my daddy!"

Damn right. Gas station attendants are the backbone of democracy.

Awright lovebirds, quit holdin' up the line!

"Certainly sir -- canned or powdered?"

"And I'll hit the tattoo shop too! NEW INK!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and --

The Rheingold goat could take this guy easy.

And probably this show-off too.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

The proposed construction of prefabricated housing for employees of the Sperry Gyroscope Company's plant in Lake Success, Long Island, has generated strong opposition from more than 250 homeowners in nearby developments. At a public hearing which jammed the town board room in Manhasset, residents of Hillside Heights, Hillside Oaks, Hillside Estates, Pilgrim Estates, and North Hyde Park Estates protested that the construction of "undesirable substandard houses" would reduce the value of their homes.

("Pfffft," snorts Joe. "Who needs'em? I wouln' live out t'ere if I neveh had ta ride a train again! It's woise'n livin' inna Heights." "Flatbush people wouln' do t'at," huffs Sally. "Midwood, maybe -- but not Flatbush.")
...

Long term, this is not a battle Long Island will win.

...

(I dunno, maybe it's just me, but doesn't making Namm Day a monthly thing instead of once a year kinda take away some of the magic?)
...

Indeed, it's an early version of the stores now that have "sales" practically every day.

Also, I thought, that's not a nice thing to say about the range, pause, pause, oh, that's the brand name .

...

(Clifton Webb as a chorus girl isn't much of a stretch, and it was just another night's work for Kaye and Cantor -- but I'd pay hard cash money to see Karloff doing a high kick. And I'd always line up for a ticket to see Hal LeRoy, greatest eccentric dancer of his generation, and the movie embodiment of Harold Teen.)
...

Yes, I doubt much arm-twisting of Webb was needed.

Fun Luise Rainer fact, she is the only actress to win back-to-back best actress Oscars (which, tellingly, has survived as a category despite "actress" as a word having all but disappeared otherwise).

...

(Better start a scrapbook!)
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It's seems like this time it is "The Bungles" that got its days flipped as today and yesterday seem out of order.

...

Minerva Gump, Private Eye!
...

One thing these two share, besides missing the obvious, is a love of patterns in clothes and furniture.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Hah!" hahs Joe. "Nice woik if y'can get it! I wonneh what police inspecteh it is t'at's gettin' free diapeh soivice!" Sally looks up from rinsing one of Leonora's in a dented pail in the sink and shakes her head. "It ain' t'at I can't sympat'ize.")

A hearing next Thursday on "suspicion of homicide by strangulation" is the next ordeal facing Madeline Webb, Eli Schonbrun, and John D. Cullen, who were ordered held without bail following their arrest and grilling in connection with the robbery-murder of Mrs. Flora Reich, wealthy Polish refugee, whose body was discovered Thursday in a Manhattan hotel room shared by Schonbrun and Miss Webb. The victim had been bound and gagged, and stripped of a $1500 ring. Assistant District Attorney Jacob Grumet charged in Manhattan Homicide Court that the "cold blooded" murder of Mrs. Reich was the culmination of a series of crimes in which the defendants figured, including the theft of several other items of expensive jewelry. Miss Webb, a 27 year old dancer and photographer's model, "became hysterical" during the arraignment before Magistrate Thomas A. Aurelio, screaming "you can't do this to me!" It is charged that Miss Webb acted as a "lure" to draw Mrs. Reich to the hotel for a luncheon date, where she was then set upon by the other defendants, and, after a fierce struggle, was robbed and killed. The ring, it was alleged, was removed from her finger using a pair of clippers brought to the scene for the purpose. Mr. Grumet indicated that he will lay out the full case before a grand jury today.

The sugar rationing system soon to go in effect in the United States will be more flexible and offer "less interference with personal liberty" than the rationing system now in effect in Britain. A statement by the Office of Emergency Management indicated that sugar will be rationed thru the use of printed stamps, and that purchasers will be allowed to use these stamps at retailers of their own choosing, as opposed to the British rationing system requiring shoppers to register with one retailer, and one retailer only, where their ration books will be accepted. The amount of sugar which may be purchased with a single ration stamp will be regulated by the Office of Price Administration, and that quantity may be adjusted from time to time depending on changing conditions.

(Yum.)

(There's more to Brooklyn than baseball.)

(Every meat packer in 1942 has their own version of Hormel's Spam. Armour has "Treet," Swift has "Prem," and now we see that Wilson's has "Mor." But no matter how you slice it, it's still Spam.)

Actor Howard Lindsay, star of Broadway's "Life With Father," writes in to take umbrage with Mayor LaGuardia's use of the Commissioner of Licenses as his agent in shutting down burlesque theatres, calling it a seizure of judicial power by the executive branch of the city government, "a technique that has been practiced very successfully in the totalitarian countries." Mr. Lindsay challenges the authority of the city government to determine what is and is not censorious matter, and wonders where the dramatic critics are in the face of this move that allows Commissioner Moss to "impose his taste upon them and all the citizens of New York."

(Three more days!)

A seventy-two year old East New York woman affectionately known around the neighborhood as "Grandma Yodofsky" was killed by a truck yesterday as she bent over to feed a group of pigeons. Mrs. Gussie Yodofsky was well known to her neighbors for her kindess in seeing to the needs of birds, and her daughter noted that she loved animals of all kinds.

A 72-year-old bachelor is being held today on $2500 cash bail, accused of throwing acid at a 40-year-old divorcee who had spurned his advances. Mrs. Anna Miller of 8835 23rd Avenue was burned on the legs in the attack by Maurice Roberts, a retired businessman, of 3807 Highland Avenue. Mrs. Miller told Magistrate John F. X. Masterson in Felony Court that Roberts had stated that he loved her and wouldn't let her marry anyone else.

(Look, maybe you guys just shouldn't go to Cuba anymore.)

Popular daily radio serial "The Guiding Light" returns to WEAF on Tuesday March 17th at 2:15 pm. When the Irna Phillips-penned program disappeared from the NBC schedule last December 27th, outraged listeners flooded the station, the network, and the sponsor with over 75,000 telegrams and letters demanding the program be returned to the air. At the time of its cancellation, "The Guiding Light" was the fifth-most-popular daytime serial.

(Hey, that's pretty good. Now do it while drinking a glass of water.)

(Friends? Pals?)

(Don't be so sure of that.)

(Got a warrant?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Look, is she 28 or 27? Can we please get to the bottom of this?

Well, let's see. Harvey out there in Queens was mixed up in the paving scandals, now we see all the squirmy things crawling out from under the wet rock that is Mr. Flynn in the Bronx. Hey Cashmore, got your books in order?

Zee is Brady CONFIRMED.

This guy looks a bit like Chester Gould, which makes me wonder about just how well he's handling wartime pressures.

You know, you could just get a dog.

"Be honest with me, daughter. Do I need to bring my shotgun?"

Big shot? Could that be -- Dude Hennick to the rescue?

Oh, Honey, you poor kid, don't you know you can't come between a boy and his bartender?

Navy officer or theatre usher?

This has so much potential.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

Well laaaah dee dah!