The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

...

("I tell ya, Leo, I can do it," pleads a desperate Fred Fitzsimmons. "Just gimme th' ball!" "It's Hig," replies Leo, biting off the words, his eyes gazing at a point far past the horizon, as a disappointed Fred Fitzsimmons sinks to his seat on the bench.)
...

I get not starting him, but bring him in, in relief. Besides that he'd pitch well, the entire team would get a lift.

Can't believe they closed to 1.5 games. I come to this page first each day now. Tomorrow, I'll be looking at the results through the fingers I'll be holding up in front of my eyes (I have no pride left).

...

(READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AND THEY DIDN'T SAY A THING ABOUT THE DOG.)
...

The print was too small and fuzzy - it gives me a headache when I read a long article that way - so I'm glad I didn't push it as the dog was the thing that most interested me.

...

(Comics' sure signs of an old coot -- a corn cob pipe and a Civil War hat.)
...

I guess we'll learn if ghosts can see Scarlett when she's invisible. And if they can, they are going to be none too pleased with her after this quip, "But that's ridiculous, there's no such thing as ghosts."

...

Well ISN'T THIS COZY.
...

"I'm just going to grab a bunch of hay to make a pillow."
"Ouch, that's my hair!"
"Oops, sorry Frizzletop, honest mistake."

...

And that's why Suzie Q left town with no forwarding address.
...

Considering all the boyfriends Suzie Q had, perhaps she's "visiting a cousin" for the next nine or so months as teenage girls used to visit out-of-town cousins more often in those days.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("No no no no no no no no," stammers Joe. "It ain' oveh yet. It CAN'T be oveh." "It's oveh," grumbles Sally, her face dark and drawn as she meaningfully chops a carrot. "No no no no no no," insists Joe. "Lookit, I founanutteh papeh onna train..."

("See, t'ey ain' got nuttin' 'bout....wait. 'Remembeh t' Dodgehs when t'ey led by ten full games...'" "It's oveh," reiterates Sally, slamming her knife on the table with terrifying finality. "T'ey could play anno'teh week," creaks Joe. "Not even a week. T'ree moeh games. T'at's all." "It's oveh," pronounces Sally, and Joe knows, at last, that this is so.)

The United States Marines, often outnumbered ten to one, have beaten off the biggest Japanese attack since they invaded the Solomons nearly six weeks ago. For two days the Japanese attacked with everything they had, by land, sea, and air. They lost many hundreds of dead, and at least 39 planes. Their hand picked assault troops, who were supposed to have won back the airfield which is the key marine position, have been driven back into the jungle, and the Allied positions remain secure.

The Administration and the farm block began the showdown phase of their Senate battle over farm prices in the anti-inflation bill, with informal polls showing the Administration position holding a slight edge. Senator Prentiss M. Brown (D-Mich.), leader of the Administration forces, predicts the President's version of the bill will pass today or tomorrow, but farm bloc leader Sen. Elmer Thomas (D-Okla.) said that, regardless of the final vote, the farm bloc has "made its point," which he said was calling the public's attention to the "serious potential shortage of food if farm prices are restricted." Only three days remain before the President's "you do it or I will" deadline for action on the measure.

A Forest Hills man is being held without bail, accused of striking his 17-year-old son over the head with a heavy ashtray following the youth's refusal to sign a paper pleading to exempt his father from the draft. Thirty-eight-year-old Louis R. Goldin of 90-07 110th Street was arraigned yesterday in Ridgewood Felony Court on the basis of a complaint signed by his son Stanley. The complaint charged that the elder Goldin had called the boy, who lives with his mother in Brooklyn, and asked him to visit. When Stanley arrived, his father presented him with a document for Selective Service, in which the boy was to testify that he was dependent on his father. "You never did anything to me," retorted Stanley. "Why should I do anything for you?" At that, police say, Goldin struck his son with the ash tray, inflicting a gash that required hospitalization. Goldin then "relented," the boy testified, and extended his hand. When Stanley took the hand, he stated, Goldin then used his other hand to punch him in the face. Bail was refused for Goldin when it was learned that he had a previous police record, including convictions for burglary and for impersonating a police officer. Magistrate Jenkin R. Hockert further noted that Goldin also faces an open charge on an unspecified matter in Woodbury, New Jersey.

(Otto Preminger and Milton Berle in a script by Claire Boothe Luce? Welcome to the zeitgeist.)

(Stalingrad -- Hero City of the World.)

("Wait'll you see our $150 hex bolt special!")

Fuel oil rationing for home heating is expected to officially begin on October 15th, with homeowners who have been unable to convert their burners for coal expected to face a day of colossal headaches and backaches. Applicants for heating oil rations should expect to bring the following information to their ration boards: the amount of oil in their tanks as of October 1st -- recommended by the OPA to be at least 25 gallons, the amount of oil burned last year, and the total square footage of their home, excluding laundries, sun porches, garages, and hobby shops. It is anticipated that fuel oil rationing will prevail this winter in at least thirty states.

("It says right t'eah," protests Joe. "T'ey didn' lose. It ain' oveh! T'EY DIDN' LOSE." "MacPhail neveh retoint my cawls," growls Sally. "T'at BUM." "BUM!" agrees Leonora, dashing her beets to the floor. "Eight games inna row t'ey won!" insists Joe. "T'at SHOWS t'ey didn' lose. JUS' TWO MOEH GAMES! At's AWL I ASK!" "I hope t'ey bust MacPhail t'buck private," mutters Sally. "Make'm spenna whole wawr peelin' p'tatehs." "Bummm bye," summarizes Leonora.")

Biggest Dodger fan in the show business? It's got to be bandleader Harry James, who never misses a game at Ebbets Field whenever his business brings him to New York. He and Durocher are old pals, and the hot trumpet man is known to blow out of rehearsals on a moment's notice so as not to miss a game. He even named his dog "Flatbush Flanagan," after the swing tune of the same name dealing with an enthusiastic Dodger rooter. James and his band take over the spot on the Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday cigarette broadcast over WABC being vacated next week by the departure of Glenn Miller for the service.

("But if it doesn't work out," adds Nurse Myopia, "I'm free tonight.")

("See? A fake beard! Nobody'll ever recognize me!")

(Ah! Dan's only PRETENDING to be a chump! Right, Irwin?)

("Oh wait, did I say that out loud?")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

You just can't get good help.

You poor saps have no idea.

Even the Boys from Marketing are doing their bit.

"Ma, what's a hop head?"

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Can it be that the stork also brought Bim a spine?

I hope Bustin' Babs doesn't hear about this.

Does Pop know what he's getting into with this family?

Y'know, Emmy, you really ought to invest in some shower curtains.

***Sigh.*** Wait till next year....

 

[Fading Fast]

...

("See, t'ey ain' got nuttin' 'bout....wait. 'Remembeh t' Dodgehs when t'ey led by ten full games...'" "It's oveh," reiterates Sally, slamming her knife on the table with terrifying finality. "T'ey could play anno'teh week," creaks Joe. "Not even a week. T'ree moeh games. T'at's all." "It's oveh," pronounces Sally, and Joe knows, at last, that this is so.)
...

The finality is hard, but the entire last month has been crushing. I would never have thought 1942 sports could feel this real in 2022.

What kind of paper is the Brooklyn Citizen?

The "100 Bookies Seized..." article is such a wonderful 1940s Brooklyn (and the USA) thing: "...police broke into the fourth floor offices of the George Curtis Publishing Company...and took over a switchboard, which they alleged, relayed horse-racing result to horse-rooms in neighborhood candy stores and back-hall flats all over the borough."

...

A Forest Hills man is being held without bail, accused of striking his 17-year-old son over the head with a heavy ashtray following the youth's refusal to sign a paper pleading to exempt his father from the draft. Thirty-eight-year-old Louis R. Goldin of 90-07 110th Street was arraigned yesterday in Ridgewood Felony Court on the basis of a complaint signed by his son Stanley. The complaint charged that the elder Goldin had called the boy, who lives with his mother in Brooklyn, and asked him to visit. When Stanley arrived, his father presented him with a document for Selective Service, in which the boy was to testify that he was dependent on his father. "You never did anything to me," retorted Stanley. "Why should I do anything for you?" At that, police say, Goldin struck his son with the ash tray, inflicting a gash that required hospitalization. Goldin then "relented," the boy testified, and extended his hand. When Stanley took the hand, he stated, Goldin then used his other hand to punch him in the face. Bail was refused for Goldin when it was learned that he had a previous police record, including convictions for burglary and for impersonating a police officer. Magistrate Jenkin R. Hockert further noted that Goldin also faces an open charge on an unspecified matter in Woodbury, New Jersey.
...

It's going to be an awkward Father's Day in that family next year. Kidding aside, there are some truly terrible parents in the world.

...

("See? A fake beard! Nobody'll ever recognize me!")
...

One-Eye is counting on the smell of the gasoline masking the smell of the spirit gum.

Well now, lucky for us Stamm happened to catch Scarlet in her underwear as it was critical to the advancement of the story.

...

("Oh wait, did I say that out loud?")

If these two idiots are representative of what the Abwehr is sending over, then we have little to worry about from German spies in America.

...

You poor saps have no idea.
...

Where's Punjab and the rug when you need him?

...

"Ma, what's a hop head?"
...

We've talked about it before, but it's amazing how adult some of these comicstrips were, especially TT&P. Are there any statistics of the age breakdown of the readers of comics back in the '40s? If there are accurate records, I'm guessing the number of adults (% of the total readership) is much larger than one would first think.

...

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
...

"Dick, is that your hand?"
"I think Junior is asleep, Fizzletop."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Baseball in the 1940s can be brutal both for the players and the fans. There's no second chance, no playoffs, no wildcard sneaking into the World Series thru a side door. If you don't finish first, you go home, and to have it end in a situation where you can win eight games in a row bringing it to 104 and you still go home is like -- well, running at full speed into a cement wall.

The Citizen is a shabby little paper that's the last survivor of several dailies that competed with the Eagle from the late 19th Century into the early 20th. It only has a circulation of about 30,000 -- compared to the Eagle's more than 125,000 -- and it doesn't really have much of a personality or distinctive point of view compared to the Eagle's "paper of record" status for the borough, and its position as the voice of the old-line Protestant establishment. Most of its content is off the UP wire, but it does have a few good reporters who sometimes will pick up on things the Eagle misses --

Dressen would be the most logical choice to replace Leo, since he's basically the brains behind the throne, but I could get behind Camilli as manager, especially since he seems to be on the downgrade as a player. But I'm curious about the "some players" who are "scheduled to be released?"

As far as comic reading goes, everybody reads the newspaper strips, and every daily newspaper with any sense carries comic strips because everybody reads them. Even comic *books* in 1942 have a substantial adult readership -- they're the best-selling publications at Army PX magazine racks -- and some of them sell millions of copies a month, unthinkable compared to what they sell today. Comics are a part of the national conversation in 1942 in a way that's hard to imagine now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Willkie in China? Maybe Terry's got a chance after all!)

American fliers were believed today to have achieved air supremacy in key spots in the Pacific that will enable them to to expand their scope of operations soon. Two naval communiques reveal that Army, Navy, and Marine fliers, working as a team, have slugged the enemy at both ends of the broad Pacific battlefront, in the Aleutians and in the Solomons, destroying 49 Japanese planes in four days. In the Aleutians, shore installations on Kiska Island were bombed twice, with six seaplanes destroyed on the water and a seventh shot down, two submarines strafed, one transport or cargo ship strafed and fired, and an estimated 150 Japanese killed or wounded. In the Solomons, 42 aircraft were destroyed and three others damaged, one cruiser hit and left burning, one large transport bombed, fired, and probably sunk, with a bomb hit on another cruiser, and gun emplacements strafed.

Ministry of Information sources in London deny German claims of the sinking of three Allied troop transports in the North Atlantic. The denial in a British communique of reports broadcast by the Berlin radio came twenty-four hours after the Germans made those broadcasts, again and again, and each time in more detail.

A survey of Brooklyn real-estate firms indicated today that apartment dwellers need have few qualms about heating as the winter approaches -- with a consensus indicating that those tenants now requesting heat are already getting it. "We've turned on the heat whenever the tenants have asked for it," stated a spokesman for one of the borough's largest real estate companies, declaring that "there are ways of conserving oil and coal that don't freeze people." One building superintendant, Philip Anaston of 9 Prospect Park West, estimated that by careful operation of the two boilers there he could use from 75 to 100 tons less of coal than the 300-odd tons used in previous years. "For one thing," he noted, "one boiler is enough to use during mild spells." The Weather Man noted that last night's low temperature was 44 degrees, recorded at 5:05 AM, with temperatures expected to rise steadily today into the 50s -- but he warned that there is "a chance of a frost" tonight.

(Sometimes there's hope for humanity after all.)

The six-year-old girl found last week in the waiting room at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan has been identified as Gertrude Louise Miller of New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. That identification was made to authorities at Bellevue Hospital by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Harbold of New Cumberland, who stated that they have been the girl's foster parents from June 1937 until September 6th of this year, when, they stated, a woman identifying herself as the girl's mother, Mrs. Ruth Miller Gootkin, of New Haven, Connecticut, took her away. Police in New Haven are questioning Mrs. Gootkin's father, Charles R. Miller, in an attempt to locate woman, or her husband, Sydney Miller, but thus far have found neither.

The State President of the Affiliated Young Democrats told a meeting of the Bright-Hattan Civic League in Brighton Beach last night that the way for Brooklyn to soothe the wounds left by the collapse of the Dodgers would be to elect native son Attorney General James Bennett governor. Harold R. Moskovit declared that Mr. Bennett will carry forward from Albany the social gains won by other great Democrats such as President Roosevelt, former Governor Alfred E. Smith, and incumbent Governor Herbert Lehman.

("HMPH," hmphs Gypsy Rose Lee. We're MUCH classier than THAT." "Speak for yourself," leers Bobby Clark, with a puff of his cigar and a wiggle of his cane.)

(Well, assuming they pick it up...)

A board made up of representatives of Selective Service, probation officers, the Army, and the courts was proposed today by County Judge Samuel J. Leibowitz to give individual attention to the cases of convicted felons now considered ineligible for military service due to their criminal records. The adverse public reaction to the deferrment by Local Board 199 of Johnny "Bath Beach" Oddo, whose convictions range from vagrancy to homicide, led Judge Leibowitz to propose his panel, after a request for his discharge was refused by the Brooklyn Board of Judges on the grounds that taking Oddo into the Army would "contaminate decent American boys." Judge Leibowitz acknowledged in his proposal that the Army doesn't want to "become a penitentiary," but on the other hand, "there may be men in Sing Sing who would make acceptable soldiers. Each case calls for individual study."

The Eagle Editorialist declares that "after 48 hours of tasting the ashes of disappointment," he is coming around to the point where he can "talk baseball with detatchment," and he therefore takes the stand that the Dodgers are, still, a great baseball team, with their greatness demonstrated by the way in which they "played out the string to the end." There is no dishonor in such a defeat, "and it brings all the more honor to the Cardinals." And, he declares, "it's time someone took the measure of the Yankees," and he encourages all Brooklyn to join him in cheering on the St. Louis squad to a World Series victory.

(These are tough times to be an 18 year old boy.)

The Italian-born publisher of a Brooklyn-based pro-Fascist newspaper, stripped of his citizenship, now faces internment as an enemy alien. Fifty-seven year old Domenico Trombetta, publisher of the Fascist propaganda weekly Il Grido della Stirpe, and former member of the Central Council of the Fascist League of North America, was arrested at his home at 5654 9th Street in Park Slope by Federal agents, and taken to Ellis Island pending a hearing before an Enemy Alien Board. Trombetta was naturalized in 1924, but has been a consistent supporter of the Mussolini regime, and his citizenship was revoked on the basis of his having sworn his oath of allegiance with "mental reservation." In 1932, Trombetta was acquitted of a murder charge following a clash between Fascists and Anti-Fascists at the Shrine of Garibaldi in Staten Island that left a Brooklyn house painter dead. Trombetta's paper was reported to be "pro-Fascist, anti-New Deal, anti-British, and anti-Semitic."

A 28-year-old aerial photographer from Manhattan, who was jailed for parading in a rented Army colonel's uniform, will have a chance to have a uniform of his own -- that of an Army private. Ted Alvin Lundberg was given a suspended sentence after he was found guilty of impersonating an officer of the Armed Forces, on the promise that he would enlist in the Army. Lundberg told Federal Judge T. Blake Kennedy that he would be "happy to do so."

("MCDONAL'!" roars Sally. "T'at BUM! Ya know what he seddame? He says "go home an' noisse ya baby!" If ya haddim t'sell HOT DAWGS, he wou'n know howta lay'em inna ROLL! MCDONAL'!!!! HA!!!!" "If t'ey hieh you," queries Joe, "c'n I be manageh?" "I dunno," scowls Sally. "Tell me t'is -- who wouldja trade t' t' Pittsboigs. T'at Hoiman is getttin' OL', and we need a betteh secon' baseman." "Um," umms Joe. "Maybe I betteh not be manageh, I got whatcha cawl a vital wawr job...")

The Bushwicks will face a team of major and minor league all stars in a doubleheader at Dexter Park next Sunday. Scheduled to appear so far are George Case, fleet footed, base-stealing-king outfielder of the Washington Senators, pitcher Johnny Podgjany and outfielder Danny Litwhiler of the Phils, first baseman Elbie Fletcher of the Pirates, catcher Hal Wagner of the Athletics, and shortstop Billy Jurges, captain of the Giants. One or two other major league stars will likely also appear, with one of them an outstanding National League pitcher. Owner Max Rosner indicates that, as in the past, the Bushwicks management will keep fans posted inning-by-inning on the score of the World Series game.

The scores of all World Series games will be announced every fifteen seconds by the New York Telephone Company's talking clock service, at MEridian 7-1212. This system, introduced last year, will continue to announce scores for one hour after the completion of each game, and will serve to reduce congestion at newspaper office switchboards which customarily occurs during the Series.

(Mr. Hoover can certainly be proud of the strict professionalism of all his agents.)

("The cigar's too much? How about this pipe?" "Nooooo, I don't think so.")

("PIgtails and breeches?" Well, she isn't reading "Popular Science.")

("AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG TO THE...do I smell supper?")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Ann Sheridan! Is she still around?

YES! EXACTLY THIS! THANK YOU! SOMEBODY FINALLY UNDERSTANDS!

"America's sweetheart!"

War is Heck.

What if Bim isn't really a world-famous billionaire industrialist, but everybody just humors him because he's such a likable old loon?

And maybe it'll even be a solution to the housing shortage!

Wait'll you meet the little one.

"I bring you drug, Terr-ee! Now we play nurs-ee, yes? I geef you shot! Roll up sleeve like big boy!"

"Sorry, kids, we didn't know this haystack was occupied!"

Ahh, selective hearing.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

Medwick: "scheduled for release?"

 

[Fading Fast]

...

The State President of the Affiliated Young Democrats told a meeting of the Bright-Hattan Civic League in Brighton Beach last night that the way for Brooklyn to soothe the wounds left by the collapse of the Dodgers would be to elect native son Attorney General James Bennett governor. Harold R. Moskovit declared that Mr. Bennett will carry forward from Albany the social gains won by other great Democrats such as President Roosevelt, former Governor Alfred E. Smith, and incumbent Governor Herbert Lehman.
...

I'd now vote against Bennett simply because of this insultingly craven and pandering appeal.

...

("HMPH," hmphs Gypsy Rose Lee. We're MUCH classier than THAT." "Speak for yourself," leers Bobby Clark, with a puff of his cigar and a wiggle of his cane.)
...

That has to be the youngest picture I've ever seen of Gregory Peck.

...

A board made up of representatives of Selective Service, probation officers, the Army, and the courts was proposed today by County Judge Samuel J. Leibowitz to give individual attention to the cases of convicted felons now considered ineligible for military service due to their criminal records. The adverse public reaction to the deferrment by Local Board 199 of Johnny "Bath Beach" Oddo, whose convictions range from vagrancy to homicide, led Judge Leibowitz to propose his panel, after a request for his discharge was refused by the Brooklyn Board of Judges on the grounds that taking Oddo into the Army would "contaminate decent American boys." Judge Leibowitz acknowledged in his proposal that the Army doesn't want to "become a penitentiary," but on the other hand, "there may be men in Sing Sing who would make acceptable soldiers. Each case calls for individual study."
...

Perhaps those upset aren't familiar with the definition of the word homicide.

...

The Eagle Editorialist declares that "after 48 hours of tasting the ashes of disappointment," he is coming around to the point where he can "talk baseball with detatchment," and he therefore takes the stand that the Dodgers are, still, a great baseball team, with their greatness demonstrated by the way in which they "played out the string to the end." There is no dishonor in such a defeat, "and it brings all the more honor to the Cardinals." And, he declares, "it's time someone took the measure of the Yankees," and he encourages all Brooklyn to join him in cheering on the St. Louis squad to a World Series victory.
...

Nope, too soon.

...
("MCDONAL'!" roars Sally. "T'at BUM! Ya know what he seddame? He says "go home an' noisse ya baby!" If ya haddim t'sell HOT DAWGS, he wou'n know howta lay'em inna ROLL! MCDONAL'!!!! HA!!!!" "If t'ey hieh you," queries Joe, "c'n I be manageh?" "I dunno," scowls Sally. "Tell me t'is -- who wouldja trade t' t' Pittsboigs. T'at Hoiman is getttin' OL', and we need a betteh secon' baseman." "Um," umms Joe. "Maybe I betteh not be manageh, I got whatcha cawl a vital wawr job...")
...

Joe has survival skills.

And in the Daily News...

Ann Sheridan! Is she still around?
...

Heck, it's under a year, can't they try for an annulment and get it taken off the record books?

...

"I bring you drug, Terr-ee! Now we play nurs-ee, yes? I geef you shot! Roll up sleeve like big boy!"
...

"I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon/
With another girl to take my pain away"

- "Dead Flowers" by the Rolling Stones, released in 1971

Very little is new.

Oh, and...

Medwick: "scheduled for release?"

They are good arguments, but one of the points of a 154 game season is for luck to even out. To be sure, whenever it comes down to the wire, even after 154 games, you can find breaks that went against you. I'm more sympathetic to the "breaks" and "luck" argument in a single game or even a series.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("WHAAAAT?" roars Leland Stanford MacPhail. "Only a LIEUTENANT colonel??? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! DON'T YOU KNOW I STOLE THE KAISER'S ASH TRAY? MAKE ME A FULL BIRD COLONEL OR I SWEAR TO YOU, YOUNG MAN, I WILL WRECK THIS PLACE! I ALMOST PUNCHED JOHNNY MIZE IN THE FACE, AND I STARED DOWN THE WHOLE BROOKLYN UNIT OF AMERICA FIRST, SO I ASSURE YOU I'LL NOT HESITATE TO WHIP ANY IMPUDENT PUPPY WHO GETS IN MY WAY! WHERE'S MCDONALD?? MCDONALD! GET THAT MAN'S NAME! MCDONALD!!!!")

Major General Lewis B. Hershey, director of Selective Service, anticipates the day where it may be necessary to conscript every man, woman, and child in the United States for some sort of war work -- predicting that even school children may be required to labor four or five hours a day "in farm work or some other useful work." Speaking to a conference of 2000 business executives at the annual meeting of the American Management Association at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan, General Hershey warned against carrying on with "a philosophy of abundance." "We can't understand that there can be a shortage of anything," he noted. "We don't know how many men we will have to mobilize to whip Germany and Japan. The fighting and producing groups must be mobilized in every way possible to get maximum results." General Hershey urged businessmen seeking exemptions for vital war workers to seek the fewest number possible, the absolute minimum to meet their needs, and he denounced civilians who refuse to offer their services voluntarily for war work. "Don't ask 'what should I do?'," he declared. "There will be far less criticism for your mistakes than there will be for your inactivity."

(You know, Boys, some day this will come back to haunt you.)

The 22-year-old mother of the strange, frail 6-year-old girl found abandoned in Grand Central Terminal this week was paroled today in the custody of her legal counsel after a hearing in Manhattan Federal Court on a charge of child abandonment. Mrs. Ruth Miller Gootkin of New Haven, Connecticut, mother of Gertrude Louise Miller, was "entirely blameless" in the incident, argued attorney James D. C. Murray, and referred the court to a "full statement" made by the child's grandmother. The girl's grandfather, 50-year-old Charles R. Miller, also of New Haven, is being held on the same charges on $750 bail, for hearing on Friday. The girl remains at Bellevue Hospital, where she is to undergo a full psychiatric and physical examination. The blonde, blue-eyed child is unable to speak, and has mystified doctors with her inability to respond to treatment. Police state that Mrs. Gootkin and her father brought Gertrude to New York on September 19th to "find a home or hospital for her," and that Miller sent Mrs. Gootkin home, promising to "take care of all arrangements." Miller testified that he told Mrs. Gootkin that he had left the child in the terminal while he went to telephone a hospital, and when he returned, the girl had disappeared. Gertrude had been in the care of foster parents in New Haven, who first identified her from a newspaper photograph.

Subway readers will get a break in the next few days when a new type of silverized reflector bulb goes into service aboard trains of the IRT and the BMT, doubling the light available over the bulbs currently in use. Board of Transportation officials, in ordering 100,000 of the new bulbs, hope that their use will curb a flood of complaints from riders since subway dimout rules went into effect. The job of installing the new bulbs in all cars on the IRT and BMT lines will take about a month. The new bulbs will not be installed on the Flushing or Astoria lines of the IRT since those lines mostly operate above ground.

Despite a threat that typewriters in civilian use will be requisitioned by the Government if they are not voluntarily sold to the Government, Brooklyn business concerns today appear to be holding onto their machines, according to the borough manager of the War Production Board. WPB manager Emile Zola Weinberg indicated that the agency's drive for voluntary sale of 20 percent of Brooklyn's typewriters for government use "has failed 100 percent." His office has begun recanvassing local firms which had previously declared they had no typewriters to spare. "Even when one of the WPB canvassers put the matter in straight patriotic terms," Mr. Weinberg said, "he was met by a blank stare." Canvassers reacted with frustration, with one telling a businessman "you only stand to lose one typewriter. Some people have given three sons." Mr. Weinberg warned that unless there is compliance with the current canvass, "the requisitioning will begin."

("WE HEAR YOU KNOCKING -- BUT YOU CAN'T COME IN!")

An 18-year-old girl born of Japanese parents has been refused admission to Hunter College because her parents are living in Japan. Mutzu Suzuki, who is by birth an American citizen, and who has declared her intention to claim her rights as such, was denied admission by the Board of Higher Education because her parents are not residents of New York City, and therefore, since she is a minor, her legal residence is with them -- in Japan. State law requires that all students at the four city colleges -- Hunter, City, Brooklyn, and Queens -- be legal residents of the city. Board chairman Dr. Ornway Tead denied any influence of nationalistic prejudice in the case, insisting that "it was not a question of her being Japanese. Whether her residence were in Greenwich or Tokio would make no difference."

(Just wait, next there'll be women gynecologists.)

645 arrests have been made in the past 48 hours under Mayor LaGuardia's crackdown on gambling in the city, according to an announcement by Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine. The charges range all the way from operating gambling establishments to "obstructing the sidewalks while reading racing forms." 318 arrests have been made for card-playing, 195 for dice games, 27 for operating policy games, 24 for obstructing sidewalks, 14 for maintaining places for gambling, 8 for being "common gamblers," 5 for maintaining betting-wire rooms, and 3 for possessing slot machines. Plainclothes men continuing touring the city in their search for gambling activity.

("Hey, less go out an' see t' Bushwicks Sunday," suggests Joe. "Yeh," agrees Sally. "I got woids f't'at Higbe." "Uh-oh," adds Leonora.)

The Columbus Red Birds, top farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals, won the Little World Series yesterday, the American Association pennant winners defeating the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League in the fifth game of the series by a score of 4-2. The victory marks the second consecutive minor league crown won by the Red Birds.

(The neo-burlesque craze on Broadway shows no sign of abating -- "Strip For Action," however, is not a revue in the style of "Star and Garter" or "Wine Women and Song." Instead, it's a nice respectable book show by the authors of "Life With Father," dealing with a burlesque troupe touring to entertain at Army camps. ALL PERFECTLY INNOCENT AND RESPECTABLE. Well it is!)

("It's that -- look, wash your face, will you? You're getting makeup all over the pillowcases.")

(COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE!)

(Even by the standards of this strip, Joan is an idiot.)

(FACE EATING BO! FACE EATING BO! FACE EATING BO!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"JAIL BLONDE WAIF'S MOTHER -- SOON TO BE A MOTHER AGAIN." Some of these headlines could be country and western songs.

I mean, what if DiMaggio runs headlong into a concrete wall?

""Course, you'll have to be trained by my chief drill sergeant -- Hey, Driftwood! Got some new fish for ya!"

Rigor mortis!

"You could always call him -- ahem -- Andrew."

"I considered joining the Junior Commandos too, but I don't own a blackjack."

Actually, that could explain a lot.

It's always important to keep your accounts straight.

You have no idea, son.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

I bet Pollock won't be so catty.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

Let's see if we can help the Mayor locate at least one bookmaking joint. The proprietor of a "cigar store" has a cage in the back where he cashes checks for "persons in the neighborhood." And when held up by three gun-toting robbers, he fights them off despite receiving what appears to be a fractured skull from taking several blows from the butts of their guns. What honest tobacconist needs a cage to cash checks? Also, this guy fights more like, oh I don't know, a mobster than the owner of a small store. The Mayor might want to send someone over to look in the back of that store, just sayin'.

...

Major General Lewis B. Hershey, director of Selective Service, anticipates the day where it may be necessary to conscript every man, woman, and child in the United States for some sort of war work -- predicting that even school children may be required to labor four or five hours a day "in farm work or some other useful work." Speaking to a conference of 2000 business executives at the annual meeting of the American Management Association at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan, General Hershey warned against carrying on with "a philosophy of abundance." "We can't understand that there can be a shortage of anything," he noted. "We don't know how many men we will have to mobilize to whip Germany and Japan. The fighting and producing groups must be mobilized in every way possible to get maximum results." General Hershey urged businessmen seeking exemptions for vital war workers to seek the fewest number possible, the absolute minimum to meet their needs, and he denounced civilians who refuse to offer their services voluntarily for war work. "Don't ask 'what should I do?'," he declared. "There will be far less criticism for your mistakes than there will be for your inactivity."
...

Explain how the Overton window works?

...

("WE HEAR YOU KNOCKING -- BUT YOU CAN'T COME IN!")
...

In 2009, E.L. Doctorow published a novelized version of Homer and Langley's story. Comments on the book here: #8,623

...

645 arrests have been made in the past 48 hours under Mayor LaGuardia's crackdown on gambling in the city, according to an announcement by Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine. The charges range all the way from operating gambling establishments to "obstructing the sidewalks while reading racing forms." 318 arrests have been made for card-playing, 195 for dice games, 27 for operating policy games, 24 for obstructing sidewalks, 14 for maintaining places for gambling, 8 for being "common gamblers," 5 for maintaining betting-wire rooms, and 3 for possessing slot machines. Plainclothes men continuing touring the city in their search for gambling activity.
...

"...8 for being 'common gamblers'..." Huh?

"...14 for maintaining places for gambling..." They can get that number to 15 if they'll just talk to a tobacconist now at St. Vincent's Hospital with a headache.

...

"You could always call him -- ahem -- Andrew."
...

I'll send in a dollar if they'll name him "Humphrey."

...

You have no idea, son.

It was okay when Ed told the same joke every Sunday, but now he doing it during the week too. It's wearing thin.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Isn't it about time Harold got drafted? Skeezix has been in the service for months now, Terry might as well be, but our boy Harold seems to be -- well -- slacking it. I demand that Covina Local Board No. 1 mount a full investigation immediately.

 

[PrivateEye]

The finality is hard, but the entire last month has been crushing. I would never have thought 1942 sports could feel this real in 2022.

I know I'm late, but I've been traveling.

Couldn't agree more. With my Sox out of contention, I've been following this every day, and it has felt more real than I could have imagined.

And frankly, I'm worried about Sally, it's a long winter...

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Bushwicks play into mid-October, usually, but after that, it's anybody's guess. Dodger football is a second-rate proposition with Ace Parker gone, and there will be no Brooklyn Americans hockey to take up space on the sports page, so I expect that Mr. Holmes and Mr. Parrott will have to keep busy with off-season Dodger gossip. There will, at least be no shortage of that.

Meanwhile, there's no time like the present to sign up for a league over at Freddie Fitzsimmons Bowling Lanes.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("HAH!" hahs Sally. "T'at f' YOU, Misteh Coopeh!" "I don'gettit," sighs Joe. "You -- rootin' f't' YANKEES? It ain' right." "T'enemy of my enemy," sniffs Sally, "is my enemy. HEY BONHAM! STICK AT' SLAUGHTEH RIGHT INNA HEAD!")

The home front today becomes that much more geared to a total war economy, as Federal curbs on automobile speed and meat consumption go into effect. As of today, the speed limit nationwide is reduced to 35 mph on all roads and highways, in an effort to further reduce consumption of rubber, and all used tires and inner tubes are now frozen in the hands of their present owners pending the establishment of a full rationing program for these goods. On the kitchen front, consumers are requested to limit their consumption of meat to 2 1/2 pounds per person per week pending the start of coupon rationing. For the final quarter of 1942, meatpackers will be restricted to deliveries of no more than 80 percent of the beef and veal shipped over the same period in 1941, with pork limited to 75 percent, and mutton and lamb to 95 percent.

Rationing of fuel oil in 30 eastern and midwestern statesand the District of Columbia goes into force today on a coupon basis, although the coupons have not yet been printed and distributed by the OPA. Until those coupons are available, homeowners are permitted to sign promissary notes agreeing to turn in coupons within fifteen days of their issue. Consumers who refuse to sign such notes are forbidden from purchasing fuel oil. Homeowners are assured by medical experts that temperatures may be reduced as much as ten degrees from the "comfort zone" into the "discomfort zone" without ill effect.

It was also announced that six types of men's rubber boots and work shoes will be rationed beginning on Monday.

The Senate's anti-inflation bill "will do the job" of curbing the rising cost of living, according to Senator Prentice M. Brown (D-Michigan,) but he disputes claims by the farm block that the compromise achieved yesterday was "a victory for the farmers." Senator Brown, sponsoring the compromise bill, says he will seek to adjust differences over a provision for government loans on crops at 90 percent of parity -- a provision which could, it has been estimated, raisinig living costs by $650,000,000 thru an increase in the cost of meat. A bitter eight-day battle between the Administration and the farm block ended last night with the senate voting 82 to 0 in favor of a heavily-amended version of the original bill, with neither side admitting that it had given in. Originally, the farm states had sought a new formula for computing parity prices that would have included all labor costs -- including those of the farmer, his family, and his hired hands. But the Administration's compromise replaces that clause with a compromise directing the President to give "adequate weighting" to increases in farm labor costs since January 1, 1941 in fixing maximum farm prices.

A Manhattan air raid warden hung himself early today in the wardens' post located at 119 Washington Place. 40 year old George Wittowsky, an English instructor at City College and a former lawyer, had sought to enlist in the armed forces, according to friends, but he had been barred by poor health. His body was found this morning by the post commander, Thomas Hallock of Sector 3, 6th Precinct, who discovered Wittowsky on the floor with a noose of twine around his neck. Police say Wittowsky apparently hung himself from pipes on the ceiling, but the twine broke, dropping him to the floor.

("The machine on which this story was written was manufactured before that date." Yeah, Schroth, you cheapskate.)

("Strip For Action" would be even funnier IF IT HAD A PENGUIN IN IT. SEEZA MABOIKS!)

(I wonder if Gypsy was in...ah. Well, *that* certainly would have been worth the money. )

New York's first radio station is all grown up today. Station WJZ is celebrating the 21st anniversary of its birth in a closet of the old Westinghouse meter factory, from where it played an Edison record of Anna Case singing "Annie Laurie" as its first broadcast feature. Ed East of "Breakfast In Bedlam" kicked off the celebration at 7 this morning, with an on-air cake cutting. First piece went to station manager John H. McNeil. now presiding over a station that's known nationwide as the key station of the coast-to-coast Blue network.

While Red Barber, Mel Allen, and Bill Corum broadcast the World Series over WOR and the Mutual chain on behalf of a razor-blade manufacturer, Don Dunphy is also at the microphone. But you won't hear him -- his broadcast is going out over the BBC for the enjoyment of American troops overseas.

The Eagle Editorialist praises the Board of Transportation for finally taking action to do something about the subway dimout by installing special light bulbs aboard cars of the BMT and the IRT -- but he reserves his final judgement on the matter until it can be determined if the illumination is really sufficient. "At least," he sighs, "the change acknowledges the complete failure of the existing arrangment."

The EE also considers the case of Johnny "Bath Beach" Oddo, well-known police character exempted from the draft due to his extensive criminal record "It might be possible," he suggests, "to create a special Army organization -- perhaps in the nature of a labor battalion -- which would be composed of men of Oddo's type."

(Awwwwwwww.)

War production at Sing Sing Prison will increase, according to Warden Robert Kirby, who says convicts have so far manufactured useful war goods out of 11 tons of scrap metal. The prison has so far released 36 officials and employees for service in the Armed Forces, and has also donated the use of its powerful escape siren as the official air raid warning for the town of Ossining.

(Ahhhh, Buddy Hassett, the latest in a long line of Men Who Would Be Gehrig.)

The Bronx middleweight who'll take on Sugar Ray Robinson at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night is a "real crowd pleaser," promise promoters of the 10 round feature bout. Jake LaMotta has lost only four of his 39 professional bouts, and each of those four decisions was so close it might have gone another way. Garden fans who saw LaMotta beat Jimmy Edgar a few weeks ago agreed that it was "the most exciting bout of the season." Robinson has won 35 straight bouts as a welterweight, and is moving into the middleweight class for lack of any other challengers to fight.

("KISS you? I was offering you a job!")

("Another body in a grease pit! If that don't beat all!")

(You're on thin ice around here, Irwin. Stop grinning!)

(WANT I SHOULD RIP HIS THROAT OUT? HUH? WANT I SHOULD?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

There is a lot more to the story of the Miller-Gootkins, and I'm not sure I want to know what it is.

"Please buy these. The place is starting to smell."

"Well, let me tell you what we do to spies and saboteurs. You know that cove out here...?"

Keep working your way down the list. How about "Zumwalt?"

Yeah, Ma, that happened months ago.

"Why couldn't I have been adopted by Walt Wallet?"

"That's CORPORAL Skeezix to you! Well, actually, Technician 5th Grade, but it's the same thing. Honest. Look, when we go out, I can put a piece of tape over the T -- no one will ever notice."

Little do they know that kindly Uncle Hy makes all his money as a ruthless gangland chief. Hey Pop, how's your protection money?

Yeah, you do that, Flip. He could use some pointers.

Hey, don't all sleazy boardinghouses have wall safes?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

"Huh," says Sally. "Slaughteh didn' run inta no wawl yet. Oh well, it's jus'a fois' game."

 

[Fading Fast]

...

The home front today becomes that much more geared to a total war economy, as Federal curbs on automobile speed and meat consumption go into effect. As of today, the speed limit nationwide is reduced to 35 mph on all roads and highways, in an effort to further reduce consumption of rubber, and all used tires and inner tubes are now frozen in the hands of their present owners pending the establishment of a full rationing program for these goods. On the kitchen front, consumers are requested to limit their consumption of meat to 2 1/2 pounds per person per week pending the start of coupon rationing. For the final quarter of 1942, meatpackers will be restricted to deliveries of no more than 80 percent of the beef and veal shipped over the same period in 1941, with pork limited to 75 percent, and mutton and lamb to 95 percent.
..

One wonders why mutton and lamb are allowed such a high number.

...

Rationing of fuel oil in 30 eastern and midwestern statesand the District of Columbia goes into force today on a coupon basis, although the coupons have not yet been printed and distributed by the OPA. Until those coupons are available, homeowners are permitted to sign promissary notes agreeing to turn in coupons within fifteen days of their issue. Consumers who refuse to sign such notes are forbidden from purchasing fuel oil. Homeowners are assured by medical experts that temperatures may be reduced as much as ten degrees from the "comfort zone" into the "discomfort zone" without ill effect.
...

Doctor Brady must have some quack idea about lowering the temperature ten degrees.

...

("The machine on which this story was written was manufactured before that date." Yeah, Schroth, you cheapskate.)
...

To be fair, those old, heavy pre-war metal typewriters (one of which I learned to type on in the 1970s) could last forever if they were properly serviced. They weighed more than a modern car and probably had more metal in them too.

...

(I wonder if Gypsy was in...ah. Well, *that* certainly would have been worth the money. )
...

Somebody either dramatically overpaid for Paulette Goddard's orchids at $50,000 or somebody all but stole Lamour's sarong at $20,000. I see an arbitrage opportunity.

...

The EE also considers the case of Johnny "Bath Beach" Oddo, well-known police character exempted from the draft due to his extensive criminal record "It might be possible," he suggests, "to create a special Army organization -- perhaps in the nature of a labor battalion -- which would be composed of men of Oddo's type."
...

Perfect example of an editorial writer coming up with an idea at his/her desk versus a real-world situation. That last thing the Army wants today are small, special, one-off projects to run, especially ones that will need close supervision. Everything for the Army is about scale right now, with one-offs needing to have an outsized and meaningful impact on the war effort or they just aren't worth the diversion.

...

("Another body in a grease pit! If that don't beat all!")
...

Well, I guess we can't blame the NYPD for not having figured this one out.
"Maybe it was an invisible girl?"
"Maybe you need a few days off."

And in the Daily News...

There is a lot more to the story of the Miller-Gootkins, and I'm not sure I want to know what it is.
...

Agreed on both points.