The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I don't know about Sophie Boychuck, but if anybody ever called my Aunt Edie a "pumperette," she'd have shoved the nozzle in their ear and filled them up with Sky Chief.

And then the kids say "the hell with all this" and get married in the backyard by a notary public.

And if there's one thing we know about desperate criminal ganglords, it's that they stay on the square with the draft board.

It *can't* be his gun! His gun shoots out a flag that says "BANG!"

Please welcome our special guest today, Magistrate Charles Solomon.

"Ohhhhhh yeah, Smilin' Jack. I remember him. What a pill he was!"

There's just so many places this gag can go.

Don't do it, Caniff. I'm warning you right now.

Pretty loose zoning in this neighborhood, I must say.

"Auntie Priss?" Is that any way to talk to the nice lady?

 

[Fading Fast]

...

Reader John Louis McFadden recommends a solution to the current Bennett vs. Mead debate in the Democratic Party: why not "Square Deal Bob" Moses for Governor? "I am quite sure," he suggests, "that the patrons of Jacob Riis Park and Jones Beach State Park will make the endorsement unanimous."
...

Thank God that idea didn't take off.

...

Herbert Cohn says director Sam Wood makes pictures that -- Kings' Row for example -- aren't good because they lack depth. "Pride of The Yankees," however, while lacking depth, *is*, like many others of Wood's movies, good.
...

That's on the harsh side.

...

(Couldn't think of a way out of it, huh?)
...

A young future show runner of the TV series "Dallas" was probably a fan of "invisible Scarlett" and recalled this cheap deus ex machina several decades later when he needed to "erase" a season of a hit TV show.

And in the Daily News...

I don't know about Sophie Boychuck, but if anybody ever called my Aunt Edie a "pumperette," she'd have shoved the nozzle in their ear and filled them up with Sky Chief.
...

That surgery story is wild enough to be out of a movie, especially with the surgeon crashing his car on the way to the hospital.

The author of "Kitty Foyle" reads about the gas-pump girl and thinks, see, it can happen.

...


Don't do it, Caniff. I'm warning you right now.
...

If Normandie gets pregnant, would that make Pat and Terry related?

...

"Auntie Priss?" Is that any way to talk to the nice lady?

"What, no special greeting for me? And where's my room?"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Terry met Normandie when he was twelve years old and she was seventeen, so that would make him, let's see now, twenty and her twenty-five.

DON'T DO IT CANIFF, I'M WARNING YOU.

And if it turns out April didn't make it out of Hong Kong alive, I'M REALLY WARNING YOU.

 

[Fading Fast]

Terry met Normandie when he was twelve years old and she was seventeen, so that would make him, let's see now, twenty and her twenty-five.

DON'T DO IT CANIFF, I'M WARNING YOU.

And if it turns out April didn't make it out of Hong Kong alive, I'M REALLY WARNING YOU.

Coo, coo, ca-choo Mrs. Robinson...

 

[PrivateEye]

Never mind the Bucky Dent game, the fall of the 1974 Red Sox is still a raw gaping wound to me. Seven games up on August 23rd, and I got tickets to the game against Baltimore on September 22nd, confident I'd be seeing a team on the verge of clinching, if it hadn't already done so.

The only thing I remember about that game is that it was cold, and the Sox lost, and it didn't matter, because they were mired in third place. Never again would I ever have confidence in a summer lead.

Bill Buckner was the low point for me.

Oddly enough, it hasn't been the same since they won a few.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My mother was in the next room sleeping during the Bill Buckner game, but she told me to wake her up if it looked like they were going to win. I woke her up, all right, but only by swearing profusely at the TV set when they brought Stanley in.

As for the post-2004 Sox, recall that when the Dodgers finally won, they left town two years later. So it could be worse.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("It BETTEH rain," fumes Sally. "I can't sleep out onna fieh escape 'cause I gotta be in wit'ta baby, an' I'm dyin f'm t' heat. Annen I wenna make a bot'l, anna milk's sperlt 'cause t'ice is all melted. An' I go downa canny stoeh an' calla ice comp'ny anney say sorry, t'trucks ain' runnin' cause t'ey can't get gas, an' t'ey on'y got one hoss wagon, an' t'ey havin' trouble wit'it 'cause t'one guy t'ey had knew how'ta woik t' hoss just got drafted. So I got no ice, no milk, a fussy baby, an' I ain' slep' in two days!" She takes a deep breath and glares at Joe. "How was YAW night?" "Um," replies Joe, "um, fine.")

Former British War Secretary Leslie Hore-Belisha today added his voice to those calling for the immediate opening of a Second Front in Europe. "If a successful front could now be opened, victory for the United Nations would be a near prospect," the former secretary declared in a speech emphasizing the dire military situation in Southern Russia. "For a year," he continued, "the Red Army has been buying time with space. The warning is clear. Effective Russian power to continue resistance should not be overestimated. At any moment she may have to meet an attack by Japan from the East."

("As soon as the WAACs get settled, they will replace the chefs." Because no weapon is more deadly than an Army stewpot.)

Independent gasoline dealers in the city today expressed fear that the big chain stations will begin a price war that will drive them out of business. "The big companies can undersell us by a cent or two on the gallon for a month or two," said Louis Kimmel of the Gasoline Merchants of Brooklyn and Queens, Incorporated. "Then after they've driven the little fellow out of business they'll raise their prices again." Kimmel urged consumers to "be fair to the local dealers who tried to be fair to them during the trying days of temporary rationing. It will be to their eventual disadvantage if we are forced out of business for the sake of the few cents they might save at the start."

OPA officials in Washington announced a further tightening of tire rationing restrictions for delivery trucks. After July 28th, no tires, either new or recapped, will be allowed for beer and soft drink delivery trucks, or for other trucks carrying products deemed "non-essential."

In Pennsylvania and portions of Western New York State, at least ten persons are known dead in floods which swept the upper reaches of the Allegheny River, leaving hundreds homeless. At Olean, N. Y., a dam burst causing a ten-foot wall of water to surge thru the downtown area causing thousands of dollars in property damage, and claiming the life of a six-year-old boy who drowned when the auto in which he was riding with his mother was swept off the road and into a creek.

The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is "gravely concerned" by an edict issued by James C. Petrillo of the American Federation of Musicians protesting the use of amateur talent on the air. The AFM has gone on record as protesting a broadcast by the National High School Orchestra from the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan, drawing in turn a rebuke from camp president Joseph Maddy and from Senator Arthur Vandenburg (R-Michigan.) FCC Chairman James Fly has also expressed his concerns over an AFM order restricting the making phonograph records or electrical transcriptions by union musicians after July 31st, unless manufacturers agree to new provisions for royalty payments on recordings used over the air.

The shift of married men with dependents from Class 3 to Class 1 under revised Selective Service regulations is expected to cost Brooklyn defense plants some of their key men. New York City Selective Service head Col. Arthur McDermott emphasized today that the automatic deferment of men with dependents into Class 3 "no longer exists," and warned that when the supply of qualified men without dependents has been exhausted by local boards, it will become necessary for those boards to take men formerly deferred. Men engaged in war work are also under the shadow of induction, with Col. McDermott noting the case of one man, the general manager of a Brooklyn firm engaged 100 percent in war work, was taken into the Army after his local board determined that his father could replace him in his job. In another case, a skilled toolmaker was taken because the draft board determined that other skilled men could be trained for his job. That case is still under appeal, but it is indicative of the present situation.

("Yeah," sighs Joe, poking at his brisket sandwich, "I'm havin' a swell day.")

(Pollock writes a whole column without once mentioning "Star and Garter." He must've gotten a thorough talking-to. And note, incidentally, that that particular show, the hottest thing on Broadway at the moment, does not have an ad in the Stage Plays section. In fact, I don't think the Eagle has ever accepted an ad for it there. Come now, Mr. Schroth, Bobby Clark is not *that* smutty.)

(And our theme song for today --

)

(#MeToo1942)

(DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF SLAUGHTER WAS IN THE ARMY!!!!!!!!)

Football Dodgers coach Jock Sutherland, now in the Navy, had a personal reason for joining up, say his close friends. The Grid Flock boss wants personal vengeance against the Nazis for bombing the Scottish town where his aged mother lives.

A 21-year-old film actress, recently the subject of a publicity buildup as "Venezuela's gift to the movies" has been revealed as "a pure-blooded American Indian who has never been out of the United States." Olive-skinned Burnu Acquanetta had worked in New York as a Powers Model presented as "a typical Latin-American Girl," but an investigation of her application for membership in the Screen Actors Guild found her unable to produce the required identification documents, and she finally confessed that she was actually a member of the Arapahoe Indian tribe, born in Ozone, Wyoming.

(Is this Angel Varden's long lost sister, or what?)

(Sure, good thing he doesn't keep a gun under there too.)

("What's that, Dan? Another dig? Remember, Dan, how it used to be? When we were pals? Remember? It's like I don't even KNOW you anymore!")

("Poodle?" He looks more like a pug.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Palsey" Walsey of Deal, New Jersey, with a roulette table in his game room and a cash register at the bar. Who needs fiction?

I mean, really.

"An' since he's goin' on a trip anyway, why, it'd be a kindness for us to sorta -- help him along?" "ARF!!"

*snif.*

Finish your sentence, Friz. We want to know your thoughts.

All right, where is she? What happened? We can take it. Yes. We can take it.

Coming soon: Sgt. Nina Clock, WAAC.

"Seeza Maboiks" means "Better a duck than a turkey."

"Hmmm. Fifty shares of stock in Distilled Liquors, Inc, signed by some guy named Richard Whitney. Wonder what that's all about?"

"All right, whatever. Now we need a chump to sell it to. Anybody know anyone like that?"

 

[Fading Fast]

...

OPA officials in Washington announced a further tightening of tire rationing restrictions for delivery trucks. After July 28th, no tires, either new or recapped, will be allowed for beer and soft drink delivery trucks, or for other trucks carrying products deemed "non-essential."
...

"Murderous thugs try to use Pop Jenks' soda fountain to rob a bank and now this," fumes Harold Teen.

...

(Pollock writes a whole column without once mentioning "Star and Garter." He must've gotten a thorough talking-to. And note, incidentally, that that particular show, the hottest thing on Broadway at the moment, does not have an ad in the Stage Plays section. In fact, I don't think the Eagle has ever accepted an ad for it there. Come now, Mr. Schroth, Bobby Clark is not *that* smutty.)
...

You could almost substitute streaming platform for producers and TV shows for plays and write the same article today.

Even if only being mentioned indirectly, Gypsy Rose Lee can't stay out of the news in 1942.

Richard Greene? Huh? Well, he is on IMDB, but really?

...

A 21-year-old film actress, recently the subject of a publicity buildup as "Venezuela's gift to the movies" has been revealed as "a pure-blooded American Indian who has never been out of the United States." Olive-skinned Burnu Acquanetta had worked in New York as a Powers Model presented as "a typical Latin-American Girl," but an investigation of her application for membership in the Screen Actors Guild found her unable to produce the required identification documents, and she finally confessed that she was actually a member of the Arapahoe Indian tribe, born in Ozone, Wyoming.
...

Very little is new.

...

("What's that, Dan? Another dig? Remember, Dan, how it used to be? When we were pals? Remember? It's like I don't even KNOW you anymore!")
...

"I gotta talk to the folks over at "Little Orphan Annie," they bring in new characters all the time. Surely they could use a crack investigator with the war on and all. Plus, I like kids and dogs. Yeah, that's it, if I'm not wanted here anymore, I'll just find work elsewhere [sniff]."

...

All right, where is she? What happened? We can take it. Yes. We can take it.
...

You can feel Caniff is getting ready to bring back a few key characters.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(The St. George? Pfffft. Hold it at Ebbets Field, with a boxing ring set up right at second base. Leo can be the guest referee. And I can't be the only one wondering just why they won't let poor Mrs. Block play bingo.)

Strong Senate opposition developed today to the corporation tax rates approved by the House, as the Senate Finance Committee prepares to begin hearings on Thursday on the 1942 revenue bill, featuring surcharges intended to increase Federal revenue by $6,720,900,000 per year. Finance Committee chairman Sen. Water George (D-Georgia) called the 45 per cent increase in corporate tax rate "too steep," and warned that "it may affect production." Senator George further argued that not all corporations have increased their profits due to wartime contracts, asserting that some have actually lost money in the conversion from civilian to defense production. Senator Robert A. Taft (R-Ohio) declared that rather than supporting any corporate tax increase, he favors an overall lowering of corporate taxes -- although he stressed that he has no issue with the raising of the tax ceiling on individuals to 90 per cent for the highest bracket.

Hearings in an appeal to the Interstate Commerce Commission by eleven railroads operating in New York State for a ten per cent increase in commuter fares continue today at the Hotel St. George before Commissioner J. Haden Aldredge. Walter S. Franklin, vice president of traffic for the Long Island Rail Road testified this morning that commuter fares on his line have not increased since 1918 despite constantly-rising operational costs. Franklin acknowledged that LIRR revenues have increased due to the war and to gasoline and rubber rationing, but he insisted that the increase is not more than about 12 per cent above past years. He further asserted that the LIRR consistently operates its commuter service at a loss, operating with defecits every year but one since 1934, leaving it to the LIRR's parent, the Pennsylvania Railroad to make up the shortfalls.

A 39-year-old police patrolman who was demoted from detective in May after an "an unauthorized five-day absence from work" caused by shooting himself has been dismissed entirely from the force. Joseph F. Downey of 334 Covert Avenue had been a member of the police department for twelve years, and was last attached to the Gates Avenue station.

The son of the general manager of the Sun Oil Company last night married a former gasoline-pump attendant employed by one of the firm's filling stations. Walter C. Pew Jr. married Sophie Boychuck at the office of a Philadelphia Justice of the Peace who was unaware of the couple's identity until he read their papers. The bride's father is an unemployed cloth cutter, and her mother works in a Philadelphia restaurant. The new Mrs. Pew has discontinued her employment in the filling station.

(A Prince? Well, at least he's not a Count.)

In St. Louis, soldiers at Jefferson Barracks have been denied their favorite snacks, with a military edict placing hot dog, hamburger, and ice cream stands off limits to servicemen. An Army medical officer stated that the order was issued after several men collapsed during training exercises from heat prostration, "caused by poor nutrition."

A 55-year-old naturalized American citizen has been charged with acting as an unregistered agent of Vichy France. John Leonard Musa of Manhattan was arrested when he attempted to negotiate a job for himself with the General Bronze Company, a Long Island City defense contractor. Before seeking that job, Musa is reported to have lived in a Manhattan hotel on funds received for services rendered from Gaston Henry-Haye, Vichy ambassador to the United States, for whom he is accused of acting as "a propagandist and agent."

("Where we gonna hang sump'n like t'at?" wonders Joe. "What wit'tall t'at stuff you got hangin up onna wall an' onna window t'ere. Prob'ly gonna hafta move soma' t'em pitchehs of -- um -- neveh mind.....")

The heat wave brought out hundreds of thousands of bathers to Coney Island yesterday, meaning a busy day in court for Magistrate John F. X. Masterson, who handed out $5 fines to twenty-six persons who pleaded guilty to changing their clothes under the Boardwalk, and $2 fines to 30 persons guilty of playing ball on the beach. Six homeowners were fined $25 for allowing bathers to change clothes in their houses, with the Magistrate warning that it is illegal to provide changing facilities or storage lockers without a permit from the Health Department. Along with these cases, 47-year-old Abe Basavitz of Manhattan was fined $10 for "acting as a lookout" for his wife who was peddling pretzels on the beach. It was Basavitz's second offense.

("The Borscht Vessel Song?" Am I the only one who actually wants to hear this?)

(That's what you get for buying one of those Willys Americars.)

The German immigrant who made millions publishing racing tip sheets and later served a term in Federal prison for tax evasion died yesterday at the age of 61. Moses L. Annenberg died in St. Marys Hospital in Philadelphia less than two months after he was released on parole. A former circulation director for the Hearst newspapers, Annenberg became wealthy as the publisher of the Daily Racing Form and the New York Morning Telegraph, read by millions of racetrack habitues, and subsequently purchased the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Messalia (Ohio) Independant. Annenberg also published a number of magazines, including Radio Guide, Screen Guide, and Movie Guide, the picture magazine Click, and several detective story magazines. In 1939 he was found guilty of evading $1,217,196 in Federal taxes for the year 1936, and was sentenced to three years in the Lewisberg Penitentiary. Authorities also calculated that he had evaded taxes for 1933, 1934, and 1935 totaling more than $5,500,000, but he was not charged on those years.

The Dodgers will kick off another Red Cross blood drive at Ebbets Field tomorrow night, with the entire team donating a pint per man, along with club executives and staff. Pledges will also be made by members of the visiting Cincinnati Reds, along with former Dodgers now with the Pittsburgh Pirates, players from the International League, umpires, sportswriters, and members of the Brooklyn Football Dodgers. Broadcaster Red Barber of WHN will be the master of ceremonies for the drive, and will recruit members of his vast radio audience to contribute to the campaign.

(F'GAWDSAKE! DON'T LET REISER PLAY AGAIN UNTIL HIS HEAD IS HEALED! Remember what happened to Medwick! And when he does come back MAKE HIM WEAR A CAP LINER IN THE OUTFIELD!)

(Careful now, Bill -- that's how the old lady signals the U-Boats.)

(Point of order -- if it's pitch dark, are you really invisible?)

("Oh yeah, Dan, I remember that feeling. You get over it.")

(If life is a roaring river, George is a twig.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

It's been a while since we had a grisly murder story, but not a long enough while.

Cold Case Department reporting for duty. A "sandhog" is a laborer who works underwater in a caisson drilling tunnels or setting pilings. In the 1930s it was considered one of the most hazardous jobs a worker could do. And it's certainly reassuring to know that Mr. Rosoff never heard of the bum.

Careful what you ask for, toots.

(No B card for you!)

Yeah, buddy, that's right. Call me A DUCK will ya?

Awwww. Back in the old neighborhood, Skeez and Trixie used to do this all the time.

A couple of people in fact, eh kid?

Ew, no thanks. And do something about that face!

Yep, Page Four all the way.


"Betting slips??? What kind of place was kindly old Pop running here???"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and speaking of which...

The war's opening up all sorts of new opportunities.

 

[Fading Fast]

(The St. George? Pfffft. Hold it at Ebbets Field, with a boxing ring set up right at second base. Leo can be the guest referee. And I can't be the only one wondering just why they won't let poor Mrs. Block play bingo.)
...

I'd make book that Ms. Bjornstad isn't Brooklyn's only female bookie. I bet there are dozens or even more if every one of them could be counted.

We could use a 22 degree drop in the thermometer right now in 2022.

...

The heat wave brought out hundreds of thousands of bathers to Coney Island yesterday, meaning a busy day in court for Magistrate John F. X. Masterson, who handed out $5 fines to twenty-six persons who pleaded guilty to changing their clothes under the Boardwalk, and $2 fines to 30 persons guilty of playing ball on the beach. Six homeowners were fined $25 for allowing bathers to change clothes in their houses, with the Magistrate warning that it is illegal to provide changing facilities or storage lockers without a permit from the Health Department. Along with these cases, 47-year-old Abe Basavitz of Manhattan was fined $10 for "acting as a lookout" for his wife who was peddling pretzels on the beach. It was Basavitz's second offense.
...

"Well, Judge, in our defense, technically, she and I didn't change our clothes under the boardwalk, since we put the same clothes back on after we were, uh, umm, finished."

"You can't do THAT in public either and the fine for it is bigger."

"Ooh! Well, then, we'll just pay the clothes-changing fine, Judge, if that's okay with you?"

"Pay your fine and get out of my courtroom."

...

"Betting slips??? What kind of place was kindly old Pop running here???"

How else could he afford to carry all those kids on the cuff for all those years?

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Naturally, you have to have witnesses," said half of Valley Stream.)

President Roosevelt and his legislative leaders decided today on a further canvass of the administration's existing powers to cope with the threat of runaway inflation before asking Congress for new legislation, House Speaker Sam Rayburn announced today. The Speaker noted that a second conference between the President and legislative leadership later this week "is more than probable." Rayburn told a press conference that a prior meeting "surveyed the whole inflation question and discussed every factor that enters into the cost of living," with an emphasis on determining exactly what powers are available to the President in dealing with the situation.

More than fifty giant bombs of 4000 pounds each were among the explosives dropped by RAF bombers on the German industrial city of Dulsburg, the Air Ministry confirmed today. A fleet of heavy bombers struck deep into the industrial sector of the Ruhr district, numbering 300 planes. "Really good fires" were reported started in Dulsburg itself and in its dock area.

("There are already too many fiddlers here." Sorry, Mr. Kreisler, it's illegal to practice the "Liebesleid" under the Boardwalk. And put your shirt on.)

Long lines of truckmen extended today around the 44 Court Street office of the Brooklyn War Price and Rationing Board today despite the fact that ration board workers labored until 2 AM in an effort to catch up with the flood of applications for "S" gasoline ration books for trucks. With the coupon-based permanent rationing program taking effect at midnight, most gasoline stations in the borough are dry, but OPA officials in Manhattan announced that dealers will be able to receive new supplies of gasoline for the next 48 hours even if they have not yet secured registration cards. Registration of dealers began today at Brooklyn Technical High School, DeKalb and Fort Greene Avenues, and will continue thru tomorrow. Officials at the Brooklyn board indicated confidence that the distribution of "S" books will be completed today.

Seven months of war with Germany, Japan, and Italy has cost the United States an average of 195 men killed or wounded each day. The casualty total of 44,143 is already approximately 12 percent of the casualty total reached over the United States' seventeen-month involvement in the First World War.

At Madison Square Garden last night, 20,000 persons packed the hall to hear speakers denounce Fascist atrocities in Europe and the mass persecution of Jews. Messages from prominent figures in political and religious life were read, including expressions of support for the victims of Nazi oppression by President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Wendell Willkie, Methodist Bishop Francis J. McConnell, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and Mayor LaGuardia. Governor Herbert H. Lehman told the rally he does not support the much-discussed idea of establishing a special Palestinian Jewish army to fight Fascism under the Jewish flag, but urged instead that Palestinian Jews fight alongside their American and British friends and brothers "in the cause of democracy, freedom, and security."

(The most vital weapons in this modern war are the telephone and the mimeograph, not necessarily in that order.)

(Jerry Colonna was an excellent jazz trombonist before he took up comedy. I've always wondered how he managed to play without that moustache getting in the way.)

(For over a decade, NBC listeners woke up every morning to a fifteen-minute recital by the prominent Japanese xylophonist Yoichi Hiraoka -- until, that is, December 8, 1941. Mr. Hiraoka was a musician, not a spy, or an agent, or even particularly interested in politics. But he lost his broadcast, which contained no content other than music, and that was that. Although he could have been interned as an enemy alien, he was not. He stayed in the US, played recitals for war bond sales, and went home to Japan after the war to help with the rebuilding. Then he came back to the US in 1963, and eventually became a citizen. I don't know why this cartoon made me think of Mr. Hiraoka, but it did.)

Kaiser Wilhelm arrived as a selectee at Camp Upton yesterday, or at least that's what the classifiers in the Reception Center thought when reviewing the new private's induction card. He then noticed a comma, and all was made clear. Kaiser, Wilhelm is a carpenter from Patchogue.

(Yes, by all means let's ensure that Reiser watches the game from the sidelines, especially since he's probably still seeing double.)

The New York Black Yankees defend a nine-game winning streak tonight against the Bushwicks at Dexter Park. The Yanks, considered one of the finest clubs in Negro baseball, buttressed recent statements that many colored players could make the grade in the major leagues by cleaning up all opposition on their recent tour of New England.

(SHE'S A SPYYYYYYYYYYYY! Hey, maybe this'll be a Dan Dunn crossover!)

(Well, all he has to do is turn out the light again and swing his arms.)

(Little known Hollywood fact: when Spanky McFarland outgrew "Our Gang," he took over the role of Irwin Higgs.)

(On the other hand, it's lasted longer than I thought it would.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Thanksgiving at the Rooney household will be just a bit uncomfortable this year.

Great! Now do "Star and Garter!"

"Anson??"

Yeah, but you need snazzy uniforms too. Where'd Daddy get his?

We'll change the rules just for you.

That's nothing, so did Ed Wynn's last show.

"Mut'teh-daughteh dress," snorts Sally. "See 'at dress Leonora's got on? T'at WAS my dress!"

Tubby little thing, wasn't he?

"Anyway, I don't know what I'd do without Dexedrine."

Did you ever even manufacture anything?

 

[Fading Fast]

...

More than fifty giant bombs of 4000 pounds each were among the explosives dropped by RAF bombers on the German industrial city of Dulsburg, the Air Ministry confirmed today. A fleet of heavy bombers struck deep into the industrial sector of the Ruhr district, numbering 300 planes. "Really good fires" were reported started in Dulsburg itself and in its dock area.
....

No wonder Germany looked like a giant pile of rubble after three more years of this. It is absolutely amazing that Germany held on as long as it did.

...

Kaiser Wilhelm arrived as a selectee at Camp Upton yesterday, or at least that's what the classifiers in the Reception Center thought when reviewing the new private's induction card. He then noticed a comma, and all was made clear. Kaiser, Wilhelm is a carpenter from Patchogue.
...

That's pretty funny.

...

(Yes, by all means let's ensure that Reiser watches the game from the sidelines, especially since he's probably still seeing double.)
...

Least surprising bit of news all day: "Fitz is a terrific snorer."

...

(Little known Hollywood fact: when Spanky McFarland outgrew "Our Gang," he took over the role of Irwin Higgs.)
...

Especially as drawn by this new guy.

"If the prisoner looks suspicious we'll 'persuade' him to talk, Irwin!" Ah, but for the good old days when constitutional rights didn't get in the way of "solid" police work.

Thanksgiving at the Rooney household will be just a bit uncomfortable this year.
...

I didn't know this Mae West story before today, but somehow, it isn't surprising.

This was marriage number three of only four for Ms. Crawford - an average batting score for Hollywood.

...

That's nothing, so did Ed Wynn's last show.
...

Having seen the documentary "March of the Penguins" more times than I care to admit, I get how important this is for Clarissa.

...

Did you ever even manufacture anything?

Right today, there are many private equity and venture capital investors who would love to make this deal with the founders of "the next hot tech company" they invested in, except that there is no money left.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(The Road to Stalingrad is the living embodiment of "you ain't seen nothing yet." And this Bennett-Mead situation is a fascinating demonstration of how the Tammany machine has run off its track.)

Butchers across Brooklyn generally agreed today that ceiling prices must be placed on farm products right at the source of supply if a serious citywide meat shortage is to be avoided. Ceiling prices at the farm level will not bring prices down, the butchers argue, but they will ensure that packers can purchase, process, and package meat for sale without incurring a loss, and thus ensure that supplies keep moving to the household buyer. Price forecasts suggest that the time is soon approaching where consumers will pay as much for the cheapest cuts of meat as they now pay for the best. Some retailers in the borough report using city-dressed meat only, and indicate there are ample supplies of beef, pork, and lamb now "undergoing the seasoning process" to last approximately one month before consumers will notice supply problems unless distribution bottlenecks are solved. A spokesman for the Armour packing company stated that his firm was expecting three carloads of Western beef this week, but "so far not one pound has appeared. We don't know just what to expect." A butcher in Brownsville agreed, observing "one day you can buy a carload of meat, the next day you can't even get a pound." Another retailer, representing a well-known Brooklyn Heights market, pointed out "there's a ceiling on the packer and a ceiling on the slaughterer, but no ceiling on the farmer. The farmer's price has advanced $2 per hundredweight on the hoof and the result is that the packer and the slaughterer can't make money and maintain their ceiling."

In London, Labor Party leader Aneurin Bevin failed in the House of Commons today to compel the British Government to reveal plans for a second front in Europe. Sir Stafford Cripps emphasized that it is impossible to disclose such plans either publicly or in a secret Commons sessioon. Bevin was unsatisfied with this explanation, declaring that "demonstrations are going on all over the country. The working people have agitated everywhere and newspaper propaganda goes on day after day. There must be some way of satisfying the public mind."

In Jackson, Michigan a convict serving a life term for murder leaped to his own death from a prison water tower after chopping a 65-year-old prison engineer to death with a hatchet. 46-year-old William Tomczik was serving a sentence for the murder of a junkyard worker three years ago, a killing committed following a $3 dispute over a repair bill. Tomczik ran amok in the prison powerhouse last night, killing engineer Andrew Faust and then holding guards at bay with a knife as he rampaged thru the power plant. He climbed the tower as guards pursued, and after he was forced out of the water tank he climbed to the top of the reservoir tossed down the knife and hatchet, and plummeted 160 feet to the ground below.

"Prince? Oh, that's too formal. Call me Al."

Ice cream vendors lightened the mood today outside the Court Street offices of the Brooklyn ration board as for the fourth straight day truckers and taxicab drivers circled the building, waiting to receive the "S" ration books necessary for them to continue their work. Peddlers with refrigerated carts served refreshments to the operators of trucks and cabs who are entitled to the special supplemental ration coupons but who have yet to receive them due to a backup in the processing of applications. Ration workers noted with frustration that the line is being slowed by the presence of many persons not entitled to receive the S ration, including motorcyclists and owners of motor boats. It was further noted that many persons, observing the line, joined it under the impression that they would receive rations for tires and sugar.

Meanwhile in Washington, Price Administrator Leon Henderson expressed his own frustration with the present gasoline situation, where shortages along the East Coast have left most filling stations shuttered. That situation, noted Mr. Henderson, "is so desperate in the East that any attempt to violate the rationing system will constitute an assault on a vital war measure, and will be dealt with accordingly."

("You ain' old enough to give no blood," declares Sally, as Leonora throws a spoonful of beets on the floor. "So I give two pints -- one f'me, an' one f'you. Now let ya Ma have some 'a t'em beets!" "What's wit'tat?" queries Joe. "T'ey run outa donuts downa Red Cross, an' I need my sugeh!")

Retired music teacher S. Reid Spencer of 100 Lefferts Avenue declared today that he "has three more legal moves to make" in his quest to silence the organ music emanating from nearby Ebbets Field. Having failed in the lower courts in his attempt to shut down the melodies performed by Miss Gladys Goodding at all Dodger home games, Mr. Spencer said that he is preparing to appeal his case to the city Supreme Court, and will simultaneously ask Secretary of State Michael F. Walsh to review the ball club's corporate charter to determine if it is legally allowed to conduct any other business than baseball. The third avenue would be a new nuisance complaint in Magistrate's Court, where he has previously failed to receive a verdict in his favor. Mr. Spencer complains that the music from the ballpark, three blocks from his home, disrupts his midday naps.

("Vera Vague" is Barbara Jo Allen, a talented young singer/comedienne who introduced the "Miss Vague" characterization, that of a screechy-voiced middle-aged "man crazy harridan" on Bob Hope's radio show, where, given the prominence also of Mr. Colonna, the inmates are clearly given the run of the asylum.)

The Eagle Editorialist maintains its belief that "Bennett can be elected and Mead cannot," and warns that if the present battle for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination continues to the convention, the result will be a party split that will ensure the election of Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey.

Reader Alex E. Prentz weighs in on the question of noisy children playing in the streets, warning that the real issue isn't whether they bother the neighbors, but whether they disrupt the sleep of night-shift war workers. "These workers -- and they hail from every neighborhood -- should receive cooperation."

(He's not exaggerating.)

A famous Brooklyn actress of an earlier era has died in Honolulu, Hawaii -- considered a casualty of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. Miss Mabel Montgomery, stage and film star of the 1910s and 1920s, had moved to Hawaii last year to join her husband, electrical engineer James Mooney, who was engaged in a project for the Government there. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor last December 7th, she suffered nervous shock from which she never recovered, and died Monday in a Honolulu hospital. To the end she considered herself an active performer, and maintained a paid-up card in Actors Equity to the very end.

("Caponella" is Roy Campanella, hard-hitting young star of the Baltimore Elite Giants. Mr. Parrott will, not too far in the future, I expect, learn to spell his name right. The speculation about the Senators and Phillies is not farfetched at all to the knowledgeable -- the Phillies, of course, are on the edge of destitution, and Mr. Nugent knows what integration would mean at the gate. And Washington has for years been dancing on the edge of the color line with its pipeline into Cuban ball. As for Brooklyn? While we know where Leo stands, the real question is where does MacPhail stand. Why not ask him?)

Michael James Getto is the new coach of the Brooklyn Football Dodgers, it was announced today by owner Dan Topping. Getto, a former All-American tackle, was considered to have the inside track to replace Jock Sutherland, now serving in the U. S. Navy. Getto has served as Sutherland's assistant coach and first lieutenant for the past two seasons, and before that had played under Sutherland for three years at the University of Pittsburgh.

(NOT ALL SCOTTISH PEOPLE ARE QUAINT TALKING GARDENERS YOU KNOW)

("But I got over it quick!")

(A Nazi biker gang? Well, at least it's something different.)

(And we wonder why George just seems to have given up on life.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"The Sons of the Prophet were brave men and bold -- and quite unaccustomed to fear. But the Prince took a fall when he gathered his all -- and sold to his wives a bum steer..."

No one can say the News isn't open to unpopular minority views.

"All right you yardbirds, GET BUSY!"

"Worse yet, it's really knocked off my game!"

And if you don't think Caniff would go there, well, you can't say it won't cross his mind.

"Anson." Hey. Anson! Hahahahahahahaha.

You can't win the war yourself, but it won't be for lack of trying.

Penguins mate for life. "Oh Min!"

So many startups end just like this.

"Mortimer who? Oh, that was just a fling. The poor man, did you know he was bald at 22?" "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?" "Settle down, Shadow."

 

[Fading Fast]

...

In Jackson, Michigan a convict serving a life term for murder leaped to his own death from a prison water tower after chopping a 65-year-old prison engineer to death with a hatchet. 46-year-old William Tomczik was serving a sentence for the murder of a junkyard worker three years ago, a killing committed following a $3 dispute over a repair bill. Tomczik ran amok in the prison powerhouse last night, killing engineer Andrew Faust and then holding guards at bay with a knife as he rampaged thru the power plant. He climbed the tower as guards pursued, and after he was forced out of the water tank he climbed to the top of the reservoir tossed down the knife and hatchet, and plummeted 160 feet to the ground below.
...

James Cagney: "Jack, I'm telling you, it's like they wrote the part for me."
Jack Warner: "Jimmy, you realize that's not a script?"
Cagney: "What is that row of highly paid screenwriters you're always complaining about supposed to be doing?"
Warner: "Good point, I'll get those bums right on it."

...

"Prince? Oh, that's too formal. Call me Al."
...

Q. What do you consider me?
A. An imbecile.

...

("Vera Vague" is Barbara Jo Allen, a talented young singer/comedienne who introduced the "Miss Vague" characterization, that of a screechy-voiced middle-aged "man crazy harridan" on Bob Hope's radio show, where, given the prominence also of Mr. Colonna, the inmates are clearly given the run of the asylum.)
...

Isn't that a picture, not of Flynn, but of Basil Rathbone who also starred in "The Adventures of Robin Hood?"

...

(And we wonder why George just seems to have given up on life.)

You're spot on. George has his issues, but he's getting a raw deal here as he's tried from the start to stay out of it.

...

And if you don't think Caniff would go there, well, you can't say it won't cross his mind.
...

It's like the opening scene to a "The L Word" episode. Caniff might have peaked in his war years T&TPs, but right now, he's a man who completely understands his medium - it's impressive to see.

...

Penguins mate for life. "Oh Min!"
...

It shouldn't be, but Andy sitting on Clarissa's egg is pretty darn funny. Both Min and Clarissa can do better though.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(This is one of those days when you just throw the paper on the table, sigh, and go take a long walk. There's a lot of awful here, but rather than address it all, I'll just point out that Eugene Talmadge is the man with whom the 20th century stereotype of the personally dissolute, morally depraved, utterly corrupt, loathsomely racist Southern politician reached its peak.)

British air and land striking forces are still punching at the Axis front after consolidating gains west of El Alamein, but late dispatches today said that while the enemy's line had been dented, it had not been broken. The deadly 88-millimeter guns which Nazi Field Marshal Erwin Rommel has used effectively in Libya and Egypt barred the way for Imperial armored units, after some advances had been made in two days of heavy offensive action supported by Allied air squadrons. Fighting on Thursday was in limited areas, as most of the British gains were made on Wednesday.

In a move believed to be without precedent the executive council of the AF of L unions operating at the Western Cartridge Company plant in East Alton, Illinois has asked the War Department to seize control of the company immediately to prevent a mass walkout of workers protesting unsafe working conditions in the factory. In identical telegrams to President Roosevelt and to War Production Board chairman Donald L. Nelson, AFL president WIlliam Green charges that Western is forcing employees to work around operating furnaces without proper ventilation, transferring workers from one job to another, and "generally agitating workers to the point where they are daily demanding to strike against the intolerable working conditions." Western Cartridge official Charles Hopkins calls the charges "just too ridiculous to merit comment."

A physician's error in administering a dose of morphine under the mistaken impression that it was cough syrup has cost the life of a 10 month old girl from Sea Cliff, Long Island. The infant, Barbara Pecan, died after she was injected by Dr. Mildred L. Oetjen of Glen Head, who was treating her for whooping cough at her parents' home. Two sisters and a brother of the infant also received the injections and are recovering. The morphine and the cough preparation were put up in identical vials, contained in identical green boxes. Dr. Oetjen realized the error after leaving the home for another call, and immediately turned around and rushed the children to North Country Community Hospital. Police stated that they found no evidence of criminal neglect in the incident, but an autopsy will be performed on the infant to determine the precise cause of death.

("Is This Trip Really Necessary?")

(Ahhhhhh, there was a time when Tommy Manville proposing again would be real headline stuff, but now he gets one line in a second-tier column. Just goes to show what happens when you overstay your welcome.)

(Mr. Schroth resists throwing in a Belgian paving-brick joke, which must've been very difficult.)

(Born Twenty Years Too Late.)

A 37-year-old Manhattan woman admitted yesterday in Coney Island Court that she kicked a policeman, but denied that she is a spy. Mrs. Margaret Gomez told Magistrate John F. X. Masterson that she was not "harassing" two British sailors on the Boardwalk early yesterday, she was merely trying to make conversation with them out of homesickness for her native England. A nearby American sailor, witnessing the incident, summoned a policeman who accused Mrs. Gomez of trying to obtain war information from the two British sailors. The patrolman told Magistrate Masterson that Mrs. Gomez kicked him in the shins and then punched him in the stomach. She is being held on $200 bail pending sentence on a disorderly conduct charge next week.

(You don't think of the Saturday Evening Post as a sports magazine, but its 1942 baseball coverage, between the Dixie Walker piece earlier this year and the blistering Durocher-inspired short story, has been fascinating. Mr. Werber's observations are always worth reading, and I look forward to tracking down a copy of this issue.)

("I haf fooled der Amerikaner schwein -- you notice I did not say 'dummkopf!'")

("We'll have SUCH a pillow fight!")

("He said STOP 'em -- not KILL 'em!" "Oh. Sorry.")

(George at long last reevaluates all of his life choices up to this moment and resolves to make sweeping changes that will....oh oh, an argument!)