The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

I grew up surrounded by pipe and cigarette smoke, and I was eighteen years old before I realized what clean air actually smelled like. But pot smoke is 1,000,000 times worse, and when I'm standing in front of the theatre busking up traffic on a pleasant summer night and a cloud of it goes ambling by, it's all I can do not to vomit right there on the sidewalk. I try to resist, because it would be bad for business.

I once rode a night bus from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh sitting next to a man sucking on the worst stinking black rope of a cigar that ever was made, and I'm still amazed that I didn't choke to death right there somewhere around Harrisburg.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("He lost his trousers honorably." And after the war, there's a job waiting for him at Roulston's.)

Britain switched its bombing offensive from battered Italy to Germany last night, as hundreds of four-motored planes rained demolition and incendiary bombs on war factories in the Stuttgart area. Targets attacked included three submarine engine factories, the great Bosch Magneto Works, the Daimler-Benz Airplane, Tank, and Truck Engine Works, a locomotive factory, plants engaged in the manufacture of rubber, precision instruments, cotton goods, machinery, and chemicals, and the strategically-important Stuttgart freight yards and railroad junction. Loss of ten planes in the raid indicated that a fleet of considerably more than 200 planes took part in the first raid on Germany since the smashing attack on Hamburg on November 9th. British planes also hit enemy supply ships in the English Channel and freight trains in Northern France.

The British 8th Army smashed thru Agedabia, 95 miles south of Benghazi today, and drove Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's fleeing Afrika Korps toward the defile at El Aghelia, 75 miles to the southeast. A communique from the headquarters of Gen. Sir Bernard Montgomery indicated that British troops are also pounding toward El Aghelia where the enemy is expected to make a final stand.

Frontline dispatches from New Guinea indicate that the ring drawn by American troops around the Japanese base at Buna is within a mile of the village at two points and that the main enemy airfield there is under attack. Allied forces are also reported to be closing in on Gona, 15 miles to the north.

A Chinese aviator and a Soviet exchange student, both women, spurred a huge throng on to greater war bond and stamp purchases today during a noontime Women At War Week rally on the steps of Borough Hall. More than $275,000 in purchases were made by the crowd. Chinese flyer Lee Ya Ching and Soviet student Olympiada Tronov, now enrolled at Columbia University, were greeted with loud cheers by the throng, but the biggest demonstration was reserved for Dodger broadcaster Walter "Red" Barber, who served as master of ceremonies for the rally, and auctioned off a baseball signed by the entire Brooklyn club. That precious trophy went to an unidentified young woman, who pledged a $2500 bond purchase. That was the largest individual pledge of the afternoon, topped only by a group pledge of $12,200 made by members of the Independent Order of Brith Abraham.

("Hey!" says Butch. "Where can I get one of those medallions?")

A Brooklyn soldier has been awarded the Order of the Purple Heart for heroism at Port Moresby. Private First Class Morris Moskowitz was one of four soldiers who, on August 9th, braved the flames of a crashed fighter plane to rescue the pilot and crew before returning to extinguish the fire. The citation accompanying the award noted that Private Moskowitz and his buddies saved many lives by preventing the plane and its cargo from exploding.

Mayor LaGuardia announced yesterday that the city will sell O. C. D. approved stirrup pumps directly to the public at a price of $1.91 plus shipping. Following the announcement by the Mayor on his weekly Talk To The People broadcast over WNYC, a protest was raised by Henry Modell, owner of a citywide chain of four sporting goods stores which sells the pumps at a retail price of $3.10 each. Modell insisted that he is barely making a profit on the sale of the pumps which, he asserted, cost him $2.20 each at wholesale.

The Mayor also urged the Army and Navy to issue uniforms now to boys about to enter the service after graduating from high school. This, he declared, would help their families by saving them the cost of a graduation suit, and would aid the nation in the conservation of materials that would otherwise be needed to manufacture those suits.

A much-rationed citizenry sipped its one cup of coffee today with little apparent grumbling. Although bulk coffee sales to the public are now suspended until 12:01 AM next Sunday, restaurants and other institutions are permitted to buy needed supplies thruout the week.

Emergency applications for "S" gasoline rations for commercial vehicles will be taken by the Brooklyn OPA at a special service center set up in the rotunda at Ebbets Field from 9 AM to 4 PM today, tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday. Truckers are urged only to apply for this supplemental ration only if their present S ration is expected to run out before December 1st, when the new "T" ration will be issued. The Ebbets Field registration center is the only location in Brooklyn where emergency applications will be accepted.

(He isn't wrong. He *still* isn't wrong.)

The Eagle Editorialist salutes the Girl Scouts of Brooklyn, who have stepped forward as an organization and as individual members to do their part in the war. The organization's new nationwide membership drive to recruit another 500,000 girls deserves commendation and support.

(That explains all those uniforms with a "reet pleat.")

("MacPhail has been keeping out of the newspapers down here, something new for him." He has no time for your nonsense, Parrott, not while he's plotting a daring commando mission to steal Hermann Goering's ashtray.)

(Wonder what the Board of Medical Ethics will have to say about THIS.)

(Bathing suit? Cape? All she needs is a pair of knee-high boots and she'll be ready for her own comic book!)

("JUST IN TIME, MEN! I CAUGHT THIS LITTLE FAT THUG RED-HANDED! TAKE HIM AWAY!")

("A sick dog?" sighs Daddy. "Where's my rifle?")

("Coffee nerves? Well, you'll soon get over that.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And incidentally...

("You got t'toikey yet?" queries Joe. "You know I gotta wait," sighs Sally. "A toikey ain' gonna keep t'ree days innat ice box." "Can'cha put it out onna fieh escape?" suggests Joe. "It's col' enough out." "Yeah," frowns Sally, "an' some bum clim's up an' swipes it." "Nobody swiped t'at ham you won 'at time at Bohack's." "'At's cause you ate t'whole t'ing in one day. I ask ya!" "Well, I hope you c'n get one be'foeh it's too late," warns Joe. "You know how t'at brutteh a'yez eats." "Mickey is a fightin' man," insists Sally. "He's gotta eat t'keep uppiz strengt'." "Fightin' witta pile a' patatas." "What?" "Nut'n.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Radios, furnishings, and what not?" It's not Modell's that should worry -- it's Davega!

"Remember, kids -- it's a riot! Just grab the stuff and run!"

Better have another little talk with Driftwood.

"Haw! Haw! That Harold Teen is such a chump!"

You know, he really doesn't look at all like Bim. Hey Millie, what's this about you and Cousin Juniper?

"OH YEAH??" But she means it in a friendly way.

Sure, kid, give your real name. That'll make it so much easier later.

"Nobody Loves A Corporal But His Mother..."

So now they're the FAMOUS Slither Sisters. Never discount the skill of a good press agent.

Never underestimate a Pullman porter with a frying pan.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

("Hey!" says Butch. "Where can I get one of those medallions?")
...

Absolute puritanism is no more becoming (or effective) in government than it is in religion. Kudos here for the churches being less absolute.

...

The Mayor also urged the Army and Navy to issue uniforms now to boys about to enter the service after graduating from high school. This, he declared, would help their families by saving them the cost of a graduation suit, and would aid the nation in the conservation of materials that would otherwise be needed to manufacture those suits.
...

[copy and paste] There is no detail too small for Butch; prioritizing is not his superpower.

...

(He isn't wrong. He *still* isn't wrong.)
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One of my favorite things I've seen in NYC (and you see a lot if you live here awhile) is Pope Benedict walking into the Park East Side Synagogue in NYC in 2008 to give a speech - the first time a Pope had ever visited a synagogue in the US.

I lived right around the corner from the synagogue and saw the streets lined with cheering fans (and police snippers on nearly every rooftop) as the Pope went by on his way to the synagogue.

It was a moving and powerful moment. Of course, it didn't solve the problem, but it was a meaningful statement from the Church and from the Jewish community. As a life-long agnostic who has never practiced any religion, it is one of my favorite religious moments.

...

(Bathing suit? Cape? All she needs is a pair of knee-high boots and she'll be ready for her own comic book!)
...

One wonders if "Invisible Scarlet's" ratings have been slipping.

Invisible Scarlet: "I don't do cheesecake!"
Editor: "Then we might have to cancel your strip."
Scarlet: "Do you like this swimsuit? If not, I could try on a bikini."

And incidentally...

("You got t'toikey yet?" queries Joe. "You know I gotta wait," sighs Sally. "A toikey ain' gonna keep t'ree days innat ice box." "Can'cha put it out onna fieh escape?" suggests Joe. "It's col' enough out." "Yeah," frowns Sally, "an' some bum clim's up an' swipes it." "Nobody swiped t'at ham you won 'at time at Bohack's." "'At's cause you ate t'whole t'ing in one day. I ask ya!" "Well, I hope you c'n get one be'foeh it's too late," warns Joe. "You know how t'at brutteh a'yez eats." "Mickey is a fightin' man," insists Sally. "He's gotta eat t'keep uppiz strengt'." "Fightin' witta pile a' patatas." "What?" "Nut'n.")

Joe, do you really want to got there with the brother thing a day before Thanksgiving - it could be a long Thursday.

"I ask ya!" I was so close the other day.

...

"Remember, kids -- it's a riot! Just grab the stuff and run!"
...

I don't remember seeing a Hearns ad before. It looks like the News picked up a new advertiser. It's not a name I know - so it probably closed or was bought out at some point - but it looks like another discount/bargain department store.

...

Better have another little talk with Driftwood.
...

Kudos to Gray, he isn't subtle, but he also isn't sugarcoating this or avoiding the subject all together as many were doing. Again, why can't he practice non-surgical medicine?

...

You know, he really doesn't look at all like Bim. Hey Millie, what's this about you and Cousin Juniper?
...

Sure, that would be wrong, but deep down, would you really blame her?

...

"OH YEAH??" But she means it in a friendly way.
...

If I'm Nina, and the first two people I meet at my new job have the names "Troll" and "Canker," I'd be wondering.

I think we found someone with a longer neck than Goofy's; now we just have to see if her head swivels like his does.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hearns in 1942 is in the midst of a long, slow decline. It once had four stores -- midtown, the Bronx, Jamaica, and Newark -- but the latter two are long gone, and the others are not exactly flush. The midtown store will fall victim to the same mid-1950s department store fadeout that will also claim, alas, Loeser's and Namm's, but the Bronx store, by some unfathomable miracle, will last until 1979.

If the clientele shown today's ad is any indication, Hearns is to Manhattan as Namm's is to Brooklyn -- a store for the masses more than the classes. (Although I think Namm's shoppers seem happier.)

 

[Fading Fast]

So, do the papers publish tomorrow?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep. Today is Monday in 1942, so Thanxgiving is on the 26th, or 2022's Saturday. Both papers will publish on the 26th -- the Eagle suspends on Christmas, New Years, and the 4th of July, but otherwise holiday editions are published. Sally still has three days to get in line at Bohack's for a turkey.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yep. Today is Monday in 1942, so Thanxgiving is on the 26th, or 2022's Saturday. Both papers will publish on the 26th -- the Eagle suspends on Christmas, New Years, and the 4th of July, but otherwise holiday editions are published. Sally still has three days to get in line at Bohack's for a turkey.

Pretty stupid of me not to remember that it's only Monday in '42, especially since I look forward to '42's Sunday edition every Tuesday.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("But we didn't know.")

French colonial troops in North Africa today exacted a first payment for Benito Mussolini's stab in the back of stricken France in 1940, ripping an Italian force to pieces in one of the fiercest fights yet in the developing Tunisian campaign. Reports to Allied Headquarters in North Africa today stated that an Italian column attacked the French in a superior force in North Central Tunisia, under cover of a strong force of German Stuka dive bombers, only to receive "a terrific beating" from the French colonials. Allied Spitfire fighter planes roared into the fight and downed several of the Stukas, while anti-aircraft guns accounted for others.

British Eighth Army forces have entered Agedabia, 90 miles beyond Bengazi on the Libyan coast, a Middle Eastern headquarters communique reported today. Contact is being maintained with the Germans, who are continuing their withdrawal toward El Aghelia, 70 miles to the southwest, and only 475 miles from Tunisia. Meanwhile in the interior desert, British forces occupied the important Jalo Oasis, 150 miles south-southeast of Agedabia, following its abandonment by Nazi troops. In Bengazi, occupying British forces have taken full command after driving out the dregs of Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. Heavy looting of the city by the retreating Nazis was reported, with even furniture and cutlery from private apartments taken or destroyed.

The 21-year-old mother of four acquitted last night in Bronx County Court of the murder of her husband is now planning a court fight to regain custody of her children. Mrs. Anna Harrington indicated today that she plans to file suit against her foster mother, Mrs. Florence Kelly Carmarata, who presently has custody of the children, aged from 1 to 5, and has asked her attorney to file a writ of habeas corpus for the four youngsters. Thruout the just-concluded trial, Mrs. Harrington denied that she shot her husband Alman Harrington to keep him from discovering that she had spent $3 out of the house money to buy a present for her foster father. Mrs. Harrington argued that Mr. Harrington had tried to take the gun out of the house, and that she had struggled to take it away from him for fear he would get in trouble. During that struggle, she maintained, the gun went off.

Soldiers at Fort Hamilton will be dining in fine style on Thanksgiving Day. The menu for the troops, released today, is as follows: Fruit salad, hearts of celery, stuffed olives, sweet mixed pickles, roast young turkey, oyster dressing, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, Virginia ham, snowflake potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, buttered corn, peas and carrots, hot Parker House rolls, pumpkin pie, mince pie, assorted layer cakes, apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, assorted candies, mixed nuts, ice cream, hot tea, fruit punch, coffee, cigars, and cigarettes. "Want to enlist?"

("Y'get t' toikey yet?" queries Joe. "Nahhh, I went t' Bohack's, anna A&P, an' Roulston's, an' Safeway, an' ev'ywunnuv'm hadda line out t' heah," replies Sally. "Meatless Tuesday, y'know. Ev'ybody buyin' up toikeys an' chickens an' ducks an' ev'y utta kin'a boid. Don' worry, t'ough, I c'n get one t'marra. What c'd go wrong?" "I ask ya," shrugs Joe.")

The Federal Communications Commission has begun an investigation of radio commentator Cal Tinney on the basis of a complaint from former Brooklyn Magistrate Joseph Goldstein, charging Tinney, a humorist in the Will Rogers manner, with making remarks in his broadcasts "deriding and belittling the efforts of American officials who are prosecuting the war" and alleging that Tinney's comments have "thwarted and impeded our war efforts and given aid, solace, and comfort to our enemies." Some time ago complaints against Tinney were made by two members of Congress, and the FCC requested that station WOR in New York and station WIP in Philadelphia, two stations which originated the Tinney broadcasts, provide full transcripts of his commentaries for official examination.

The Putnam Avenue trolleys will return to service on Sunday, with the twenty-six buses that had replaced them to be withdrawn to garages for storage until they are required on other lines. The retirement of those buses, universally disliked by passengers for their swaying motion and the tightness with which riders were packed, will aid the city in achieving compliance with Office of Defense Transportation orders that gasoline and rubber consumption be reduced by 15 percent.

Ten men, including one from Brooklyn, were arrested and charged today in a city-wide sweep cracking down on the black market. The Brooklynite, Harry Cohen of 70 E. 52nd Street, is charged with reselling empty egg crates at ten cents a piece over the stated OPA ceiling price of 12 cents each. The firm that sold Cohen the crates, Samuel Dunkel & Company of Manhattan, one of the largest wholesale dairy concerns in the city, was charged with selling used crates to Cohen at the new-crate price.

A Brooklyn man is among five arrested by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of distributing lewd and obscene materials near high schools and military camps. David Brotman of 136 Lewis Avenue was among a group of distributors sought for some time on the basis of complaints by church and civic organizations. The investigation led, not only to the arrests, but to the seizure of more than four tons of indecent books and photographs at a warehouse in Manhattan, most of which were reported to have been printed by the Nu-Craft Company in the Bronx. The five defendants were accused of circulating more than eight million copies of such material to schoolboys and soldiers.

(All right now! Everyone is finally getting with the program, and it looks like H&H will take the prize for the fourth consecutive year. Although, I must admit to curiosity as to what Thanksgiving at Leon & Eddie's would be like. Will Tommy Manville be there?)

The Eagle Editorialist calls delays in getting the huge mountains of Brooklyn scrap that have lain uncollected since last summer "a disgrace," and points out that even the Eagle itself strongly proclaimed the importance of "getting the scrap in before snow or sleet covered it." It has already snowed a little, and sleet storms will not be unusual from now on. "But the scrap remains in huge irritating heaps." The EE notes reports that Boy Scouts are facing "caustic comments" from householders who refuse to contribute to further drives, and that calls for "patience and fortitude" require "a great deal too much of both to stomach this kind of inefficiency."

("Oh yeah? Well, baldness don't make *you* 4-F, ya know!")

The containers of coffee once so common in Brooklyn offices have become suddenly scarce, with most of the restaurants, delicatessens, and drug stores that normally provide container service having discontinued it due to the coffee shortage. A survey of establishments by the Eagle in the Borough Hall neighborhood found conflicting answers -- while several shops indicating that they are "no longer allowed" to send out containers of coffee, one doughnut-and-hamburger emporium replied that it is allowing container sales -- as long as the purchaser also buys doughnuts or some other item as well. While there is as yet no OPA order banning the sale of coffee in take-out containers, most restaurants responding to the survey indicated that they are restricting coffee sales to one cup per customer.

("Ivory meetings" -- gatherings of baseball executives where players are bought, sold, and dealt as though they were rare elephant tusks. Meanwhile, Gerry Nugent would sell the Phils "gladly?" I bet he would.)

Lafayette High School and their arch-rivals from the Bronx of James Monroe High will meet tomorrow afternoon at Ulmer Park to decide the P. S. A. L. city soccer championship. Lafayette coach Si Yudell has a longstanding grudge with Monroe High, having led teams against it five times since 1931, first as coach of the New Utrecht High School team, and then, since last year, as head of the Lafayette squad. So far the record stands at two wins for Yudell, two for the Monroemen, and one tie.

The H. C. Bohack Company, Brooklyn grocery store chain, reports a 32 percent increase in net earnings for the year ending October 30th, with a net profit of $448,133. The company presently operates a total of 441 stores across Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, a decrease of 23 over 1941.

("Might as well have the game as the name." Dr. Ballard is a rattle-brained hepcat.)

(All right, well, superheroes ARE a huge fad in 1942, so there really is no reason why Scarlet shouldn't adopt this getup as her regular outfit, BUT STILL. Aren't you cold??)

("Aw, can't we roll in 'em first? Just once?")

(SEE SEE? PRETTY GOOD, HUH? ALL YOU NEED IS A PRESS AGENT!)

(All right, I admit I have no idea at all where this is going. No idea at all.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Honestly, I had no idea you needed a permit to exhibit toy squirrels."

C'mon, buddy, why aren't you in the Army?

"Better signal for a turn -- uh oh."

THAT'S RIGHT, THE RECORDER OF DEEDS -- ONE OF AMERICA'S UNSUNG HEROES!

"They gotta have someplace clean to flick their ashes!"

Sure, haze the new kid.

I guess he did learn something from Hu Shee after all.

Panel Four -- the top of his head blows right off.

Sorry, Plushie -- you have no friends.

Dawns now the long-anticipated age of "Harold Teen -- Two Fisted Action Hero!")

 

[Fading Fast]

("But we didn't know.")
...

Modern historians and our culture - books, movies, documentaries, museums, podcasts, etc. - have rightfully done a very good job of telling the story of the Holocaust, but seeing it in a 1942 newspaper like that still sends chills up your spine as we now know, if anything, it was worse than reported at the time.

It's nice to see equal pay for equal work 1942 style in play.

...

The 21-year-old mother of four acquitted last night in Bronx County Court of the murder of her husband is now planning a court fight to regain custody of her children. Mrs. Anna Harrington indicated today that she plans to file suit against her foster mother, Mrs. Florence Kelly Carmarata, who presently has custody of the children, aged from 1 to 5, and has asked her attorney to file a writ of habeas corpus for the four youngsters. Thruout the just-concluded trial, Mrs. Harrington denied that she shot her husband Alman Harrington to keep him from discovering that she had spent $3 out of the house money to buy a present for her foster father. Mrs. Harrington argued that Mr. Harrington had tried to take the gun out of the house, and that she had struggled to take it away from him for fear he would get in trouble. During that struggle, she maintained, the gun went off.
...

Juries sometimes (rightfully) decide that murder is justified.

...

A Brooklyn man is among five arrested by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of distributing lewd and obscene materials near high schools and military camps. David Brotman of 136 Lewis Avenue was among a group of distributors sought for some time on the basis of complaints by church and civic organizations. The investigation led, not only to the arrests, but to the seizure of more than four tons of indecent books and photographs at a warehouse in Manhattan, most of which were reported to have been printed by the Nu-Craft Company in the Bronx. The five defendants were accused of circulating more than eight million copies of such material to schoolboys and soldiers.
...

Gambling, black-marketeering, run-of-the-mill holdups, bank heists and, of course, jewelry robbery we see all the time, but this type of crime - which you know is going on (and was at the core of the insanely confusing plot of the movie and book "The Big Sleep") rarely makes it to the papers. Then again, the comicstrips themselves straddle the line of 1942 "decency."

...

(All right now! Everyone is finally getting with the program, and it looks like H&H will take the prize for the fourth consecutive year. Although, I must admit to curiosity as to what Thanksgiving at Leon & Eddie's would be like. Will Tommy Manville be there?)
...

As you note, they cut it close with the advertising, but H&H wins again. Purely from memory, but I think Wong's Garden was in second place last year, too.

...

Lafayette High School and their arch-rivals from the Bronx of James Monroe High will meet tomorrow afternoon at Ulmer Park to decide the P. S. A. L. city soccer championship. Lafayette coach Si Yudell has a longstanding grudge with Monroe High, having led teams against it five times since 1931, first as coach of the New Utrecht High School team, and then, since last year, as head of the Lafayette squad. So far the record stands at two wins for Yudell, two for the Monroemen, and one tie.
...

I don't want to admit the amount of money I would have lost had I been able to bet that those high schools in '42 didn't even have soccer teams.

...

("Might as well have the game as the name." Dr. Ballard is a rattle-brained hepcat.)
...

I give the guy some credit. He saw a way to make out with a Hollywood star and took it. As he implied, he's gots some game.

...

(All right, well, superheroes ARE a huge fad in 1942, so there really is no reason why Scarlet shouldn't adopt this getup as her regular outfit, BUT STILL. Aren't you cold??)
...

The pictorial evidence argues that she isn't, even when invisible.

...

(SEE SEE? PRETTY GOOD, HUH? ALL YOU NEED IS A PRESS AGENT!)
...

[Screaming into the phone] "You're fired! How do you dare to even call yourself a press agent." [slams the phone down and, now, thinking to himself] "How do I find out who stupid Bo's press agent is? Annie's smart." [Out loud] "Annie, you got a sec?"

...

(All right, I admit I have no idea at all where this is going. No idea at all.)

No kidding, it's a hot mess and has been since we started following it. It could go away tomorrow and I wouldn't care less. How 'bout giving the turtle from "Spark Watts" his own strip or, even better, Senga a strip as a war "comfort girl" or some such similar situation as that had to be her future. That latter would be timely, but as we saw today, it might upset the FBI.

..

"Better signal for a turn -- uh oh."
...

Oooh, that's harsh, Lizzie. But I was wondering where he's getting all the gas for this pondering-the-meaning of-his-life drive.

...

Sure, haze the new kid.
...

The letter to Penthouse practically writes itself.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(See, the buses are good for something after all. If the Pants Bandit had jumped aboard a trolley, they never would've caught him.)

American and Australian troops were battling hand to hand today with Japanese desperately trying to hold the inner defense ring of their dwindling Buna-Gona beachhead in Northeast New Guinea. Enemy casualties were reported heavy as the Allied troops assaulted a heavily-fortified defense line, and their progress was temporarily slowed as they systematically silenced one cleverly concealed machine gun after another, overpowered other prepared positions, and cleaned numerous concealed Japanese snipers from from camouflaged nests in coconut palm trees.

Retailers were urged today to dispense with most of the "frills" of the holiday shopping season, including gift-wrapping, style shows, acceptance or exchange of returned purchases, and many other customer services now considered "excess baggage" in wartime. The order from Price Administrator Leon Henderson calling for the curtailment or elimination of such trade practices is designed to cut retailing costs and relieve merchants of "a tough situation" under rigid price ceilings. The order allows retailers to eliminate such services without reducing retail prices to the consumer.

Police will focus their attention on raiding "professional bingo games" under an order issued to borough police commanders and inspectors by Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine. The order is intended, as indicated by the Commissioner in a statement to reporters, to eliminate all bingo in the city with the exception of games run by churches. Although fraternal organizations were not specifically named as being targeted under the anti-bingo campaign, but one prominent game in Brooklyn was announced today as discontinued. The Brooklyn Elks Club at 150 S. Oxford Street, where about 500 women played bingo last night, today posted a sign announcing the cancellation of the games. Those asking why bingo was being dropped were directed by Elks officers to "ask Mayor LaGuardia." Motion picture operators who had offered bingo as an added attraction were reported to "not be generally worried" about the order, since most of them have already discontinued the games. In Queens, Deputy Chief Inspector James McCooey told reporters that his interpretation of the Commissioner's order is that police will ignore games run by churches, lodges, and charitiable groups "if it is certain that the sponsoring organization uses all of the proceeds for worthy purposes." But, he added, action will be taken against professional bingo promoters who offer to run games for a church or some other such organization, in exchange for forty percent of the take. Police recently visited bingo games at several Moose lodges and American Legion halls in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx, but allowed most of the games to continue.

("'Ja get t'toikey?" enthuses Joe. "We'll have jus' enough time b'foeh I go ta woik to eat! Hey, why you lookin' like t'at?" "You remembeh t'at suspendeh button t'at popped off ya pants las' week? sighs Sally. "T'one y' coud'n find? Well, Leonora foun' it." "Ah," ahs Joe. "Yeah. An' she swallehed it. I wen' to give 'eh some ipecac, but inna bot'l t'ipecac was all dried up. So I wen' downeh drug stoeh, an' t'ey was all outa ipecac. So I figgehed I'd call Ma an' ask if SHE had any ipecac, but inna drug stoeh t'phone boot's was allfulla bums puttin' down bets on football games, so I wen' oveh to Schriebstein's an' fin'ly got onna phone an' Ma wasn' home, prob'ly was oveh meetin' Mickey at Penn Station. So I enned up takin' Leonora to t'hospital an' we set inna waitin' room awl day, until t'ey fin'ly took 'er in an' give her some ipecac. An' by t'time we was fin'ly done, most of t'groc'ry stoehs was closed, an'na ones t'at was open was all outa toikeys. But heah's ya button." "Ah," sighs Joe as he reaches to catch the button. It bounces off his palm and rolls again into obscurity.)

Hero Cabbie Leonard Weinberg, who still carries a bullet in his neck from his encounter with the Mad Dog Esposito brothers in midtown Manhattan two years ago, is pleased to have received a scroll from Mayor LaGuardia last Saturday recognizing him for his role in stopping that criminal rampage, but says what he'd really like to have is a job. Weinberg said yesterday that he almost asked the Mayor to help him find work, but thought better of it. The Mayor had earlier arranged employment for him as a security guard at Radio City, but he found the pay insufficient and left in hopes of finding something better. He operated a liquor store in Forest Hills for a time, but when he could not meet his debts he sold out. Weinberg says he has tried to get a war job, but the slug in his neck causes him to fail the medical examinations. If something doesn't come along soon, Weinberg says he'll have no choice but to go back to driving a cab, but he would prefer something in the sales line.

An order from the War Production Board will halt all distribution of heavy and whipping cream to household consumers, retailers, restaurants, hotels, and other institutions, an order issued in order to conserve fluid milk and to ease the manufacture of cheese and butter, and help to relieve "the most critical butter shortage in ten years." Table cream such as that used in coffee will remain available under the order.

(Childs! But where's the Whimsical Chef?)

The Eagle Editorialist deplores the recent defeat of the anti-poll tax measure in the U. S. Senate due to the filibustering efforts of Mississippi Sen. Theodore G. Bilbo. "By trading on the traditional American hesitation to curb free speech, a minority was able to prevent the majority from expressing its will," but "no amount of breast-beating can change the fact that the poll tax bloc used un-American methods to keep a substantial percentage of Americans from the use of the ballot."

(Sure, an apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it doesn't much help the dentists.)

(NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Rickey may be a baseball genius, but he knows absolutely nothing about public relations. FITZ MUST STAY!)

("I'm not just aiming for Page Four, kid -- I'm talking a whole two-page spread in the Sunday News!")

("Don't stop! Do the baseboards next!")

(And please welcome our special guest today, "slow-burn" comedy favorite Edgar Kennedy!)

("Just stop prowling in my yard! Don't you know we've had a lot of trouble with Nazi spies?")

(Fortune telling's a tough racket, so who knows, door-to-door service might catch on.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Bouncing Hedwig Engemann," soon to be seen on Broadway...

Well, with the paving racket busted, something's got to take its place...

So much for Rouge.

Drug stores are where the action is.

"OPEN UP POLICE! It's been a long day, can we use your bathroom?"

Don't get your hopes up, kid -- she's going in the WAACs next week.

"I'm sure Andy and Min wouldn't mind sharing Tilda."

SAVAGE OFFICE POLITICS. And she's wearing a tie, and we all know what THAT's code for.

"Never, sir! I take off my trousers for no one!"

"Who, me? I'm just the conductor. TICKETS PLEASE!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and --

Mr. Schmid's enterprise is the largest condom factory in America, and with contracts to supply the military, business is booming.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

Retailers were urged today to dispense with most of the "frills" of the holiday shopping season, including gift-wrapping, style shows, acceptance or exchange of returned purchases, and many other customer services now considered "excess baggage" in wartime. The order from Price Administrator Leon Henderson calling for the curtailment or elimination of such trade practices is designed to cut retailing costs and relieve merchants of "a tough situation" under rigid price ceilings. The order allows retailers to eliminate such services without reducing retail prices to the consumer.
...

"We'll do it for the good of the war effort if you insist." [snicker, snicker]

...
("'Ja get t'toikey?" enthuses Joe. "We'll have jus' enough time b'foeh I go ta woik to eat! Hey, why you lookin' like t'at?" "You remembeh t'at suspendeh button t'at popped off ya pants las' week? sighs Sally. "T'one y' coud'n find? Well, Leonora foun' it." "Ah," ahs Joe. "Yeah. An' she swallehed it. I wen' to give 'eh some ipecac, but inna bot'l t'ipecac was all dried up. So I wen' downeh drug stoeh, an' t'ey was all outa ipecac. So I figgehed I'd call Ma an' ask if SHE had any ipecac, but inna drug stoeh t'phone boot's was allfulla bums puttin' down bets on football games, so I wen' oveh to Schriebstein's an' fin'ly got onna phone an' Ma wasn' home, prob'ly was oveh meetin' Mickey at Penn Station. So I enned up takin' Leonora to t'hospital an' we set inna waitin' room awl day, until t'ey fin'ly took 'er in an' give her some ipecac. An' by t'time we was fin'ly done, most of t'groc'ry stoehs was closed, an'na ones t'at was open was all outa toikeys. But heah's ya button." "Ah," sighs Joe as he reaches to catch the button. It bounces off his palm and rolls again into obscurity.)
...

"But heah's ya button and the bill from the hospital."

...

Hero Cabbie Leonard Weinberg, who still carries a bullet in his neck from his encounter with the Mad Dog Esposito brothers in midtown Manhattan two years ago, is pleased to have received a scroll from Mayor LaGuardia last Saturday recognizing him for his role in stopping that criminal rampage, but says what he'd really like to have is a job. Weinberg said yesterday that he almost asked the Mayor to help him find work, but thought better of it. The Mayor had earlier arranged employment for him as a security guard at Radio City, but he found the pay insufficient and left in hopes of finding something better. He operated a liquor store in Forest Hills for a time, but when he could not meet his debts he sold out. Weinberg says he has tried to get a war job, but the slug in his neck causes him to fail the medical examinations. If something doesn't come along soon, Weinberg says he'll have no choice but to go back to driving a cab, but he would prefer something in the sales line.
...

"Any idiot can face a crisis; it's the day-to-day living the wears you out." - Anton Chekhov

...

(Childs! But where's the Whimsical Chef?)
...

They had to let our favorite chef go with revenues down owing to meatless Tuesday.

Valley Stream Park Inn
Thanksgiving Dinner: $1.50
Children's Dinner: 85 cents
Dresscode: optional

...

(NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Rickey may be a baseball genius, but he knows absolutely nothing about public relations. FITZ MUST STAY!)
...

Most of us have seen the same thing at our work when a new boss or owner comes in and makes decisions that misses the value a person or team has - the intrinsic goodwill that person/team brings to the company - because they can't "feel" or "see" it the way the rest of who have been there a long time and know the nuances and particulars of the company and community can.

And in the Daily News...

"Bouncing Hedwig Engemann," soon to be seen on Broadway...
...

"...living under the tropic moon in a tent on the beach at Acapulco with three men and another woman."

"You see, there really is something about the tropics." - Van Mungo

Separately, the FBI might want to have a little talk with Mrs. June Colburn Fraser about her bathtub picture.

...

So much for Rouge.
...

We see it all the time, Caniff had no truck with "women can't do this" nonsense.

So, who's going to take the next run at deflowering Terry? Put your hand down Mrs. Colburn Fraser, you're still technically married.

Oh, and --

Mr. Schmid's enterprise is the largest condom factory in America, and with contracts to supply the military, business is booming.

Dear Sir,

I have much experience working with your product and have enclosed many reference to that effect.

By the way, is there an employee discount and does it start right away?

Sincerely,

Senga

 

[LizzieMaine]

(And so, at the Brooklyn Automat up on Willoughby Street we find Joe, Sally, Leonora, Pvt. Mickey, and Ma Sweeney grouped around a table, tucking enthusiastically into their holiday meal of turkey prepared by famous Horn & Hardart Chefs with all the trimmings. Total outlay for the proceedings, $3.50. "An'," whispers Joe, "I t'ink ya brutteh paid f'his wit' lead nickels." "Eat ya toikey," hisses Sally. "Don' stawrt nut'n." "Lookit," replies Joe. "He gimme one -- it bends!" "Prob'ly jus' onea'tem new wawr nickels," dismisses Sally. "Eatcha toikey, it's gettin' cold. Leonora, don' put t'at nickel inya mout', ya get lead perzonin' -- um, y'don' know wheah it's been...")

Warning that the United Nations must agree on their common war aims now, Wendell Willkie declared last night that he believes "every drop of blood saved thru expediency will be paid for by twenty drawn by the sword." Speaking to a Canadian Aid to Russia Fund rally in Toronto, Willkie maintained that the English-speaking nations, especially, must "speedily" come to a real understanding with Russia and China over postwar aims. "The war is either a grand coalition of peoples, fighting a common war for liberation," Willkie declared, "or it is nothing. It must either be a great pooling of all our energies, inspired by a united strategy, planned and fought on a global scale, or it will be lost." In a remark generally understood to refer to the situation in North Africa, where former Vichy French military chief Admiral Jean Francois Darlan is apparently receiving Allied recognition in exchange for his aid, Willkie said "I believe that the moral losses of expediency always far outweigh the temporary gains."

Bingo and Screeno will no longer be offered by theatres in New York City following an announcement by Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine officially banning the games from movie houses. About four hundred theatres offered Bingo or Screeno on at least a weekly basis, but spokesmen for theatres affected by the order applauded the Commissioner's action, noting that the games have become less profitable as patrons have begun losing interest, and that they have been intending to wind the games down anyway. One question yet to be resolved, however, is what will be done with the thousands of dollars on hand that had been held over from previous' weeks Bingo and Bank Night jackpots. About 300 New York theatres had already dropped the games prior to the Commissioner's announcement.

("HMPH!" hmphs Butch. "All I can say, Mr. Hogan, is that Thomas E. Dewey never had a problem with publicity!")

In Waukegan, Illinois, the cries of a chubby 3-month-old baby crammed into a suitcase gave away a childless woman who had kidnapped the infant "on a sudden impulse" from a baby buggy parked outside a store in the suburban town north of Chicago. The child, Gary Botsford, had been left in the buggy by his mother, 21-year-old commercial artist Mrs. Stewart Botsford, while she shopped inside the store, and was carried away by 29-year-old Mrs. Anne Tyrell Lussier, wife of an Army sergeant based at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Sgt. Alfred Lussier told police that his wife had left their home in Louisville to go to Zion, Illinios to "give birth to a child." Mrs. Lussier was arrested by Zion police who spotted her emerging from her sister's home in that town, carrying the missing baby in an open suitcase. When approached by Police Chief Alvin Reusch, she snapped the case shut, but the baby's cries forced her to admit what she had done. Her arrest ended a 24 hour search in which 3500 Waukegan school children, Civilian Defense volunteers, and police participated.

In Tel-Aviv, reports from newly-arrived refugees of the systematic slaughter of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe touched off a wave of spontaneous demonstrations, with speakers urging every man and woman to rise up to avenge the deaths. Refugees reported that the present anti-Semitic drives in Europe are intended to lead to the total extermination of the Jews on that continent.

A once-shabby loft on Bedford Avenue has been transformed into a bright, clean nursery for the children of war workers, and its operator Naomi Critchett, a young "Indian-Negro woman," calls it her way of doing her part for the war effort. Looking over the colorful Jack and Jill Nursery, it becomes evident that the soap, water, paint and percale that went into fixing up the facility were paired with a lot of courage, a fertile imagination, and love of children on the part of Miss Critchett, who received her training at the Pratt Institute and Columbia University, and has twelve years' experience in child care, psychology, and kindergarten work. Underprivileged children enrolled at the nursery will have lots of character-building fun, while learning arts and crafts "the proprietor comes by naturally from her Indian ancestors."

A 27-year-old Brooklyn infantile paralysis victim and his neighbors in the Kings County Hospital polio ward will be listening in to "Everything Goes," the Garry Moore program over WEAF, tomorrow morning at 9 for the premiere of a new song -- composed by that patient from his bed. Joseph Trapiani neither reads nor writes music, but he "has tunes running around in his head all the time." A student nurse at the hospital overheard one of his tunes, and wrote a letter to NBC president David Sarnoff suggesting that the network might send someone to write some of Mr. Trapiani's music down. A few days later, NBC staff arranger Fred Weper made the trip to Brooklyn to meet Mr. Trapiani, and reported to the network's musical director Samuel Chotzinoff that "he has something." Chotzinoff himself followed up with a personal visit, and transcribed Trapani's song "It Isn't My Eyes That Cry, It's My Heart," scheduled for its first broadcast tomorrow.

("Well," says Sally, scraping the last bit of pie off her plate, "Joe's gotta go t'woik, but whattcha say t'rest of us go take in a pitcheh? Lookit t' papeh heah -- we c'd go oveh t' city an' see t'at 'Casablanca.' "Cerrrtainly not," sniffs Ma. "T'at Bogarrt, he's a fonny-lookin' one. I got no taste f'him atall. And t'at Errol Flynn, why, you know what kind of a man HE is. It's been in all t'papurrs!" "How 'bout we go see a real show," suggests Mickey. "I heah t'ey let soivicemen inta "Stawr 'n Garteh f'free." "Let's go to the Patio," recommends Ma. "It's roit on t'way home, an' we don' have to stay f't whole show. T'at ooodious Errol Flynn. But now t'second feature, t'at one sooonds like a good show. 'Mexican Spitfieh's Elephant.' Ahhh, I looove a good animal picture.' "Efrn't!" agrees Leonora.)

(Keep 'em Flying!)

("Not a few of Mungo's after dark activities have been unfavorably scrutinized in the past." Well, yeah, but to be fair, the laundry cart thing happened in broad daylight.)

The most original act ice skating has seen in years will open at Madison Square Garden next Tuesday night, when Frick and Frack headline the 1943 edition of the Ice Follies. The off-balance antics of the two Swiss skaters, properly known as Werner Groebil and Hansreudi Mauch, are achieved by a special skating technique where the skate blades are inclined inward as the skaters lean their bodies in an exaggerated outward direction, giving the illusion that they are floating on air. Any skating instructor will tell you that this is an impossible feat to perform, but Frick and Frack would disagree.

(Fish, meet barrel.)

(We thought Scarlet was an idealistic young woman with pure motives, but we know know she's just in it for the trolling.)

("Oh, and haven't you bet those numbers yet? Hey, why not combinate them?")

(NEWSPAPERS? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???)

(Dale says "Look, I just draw it .And I'm as confused as you are!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"A former girlfriend of Tommy Manville." Like *that's* an achievement.

What, already? Can't we digest the turkey first??

QUIT MUMBLING AND GET TO WORK!

Well aren't you resourceful!

Just once I'd like to meet a Gould villain who ISN'T too clever for his own good.

Well, it's not like anyone else in this strip is drawn realistically.

Ah, the old Alley gang. Walt, Nina, Avery, Amy, Doc, Phyllis, poor forgotten middle child Corky, Doc's wife Hazel, Amy's husband Bill, Avery's wife Emily, and Judy, who is no doubt already plotting how to slip bits of turkey to Lollipop, who is no doubt lurking under the table.

*snif*

I'd give full support to a spin-off strip where Emmy is a hard-boiled private eye fighting a relentless one-woman war on street crime.

You're a long way from the Sugar Bowl, kid.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh and --

"Look, dear! Santa brought you a welding outfit! Just like mommy's!"

 

[Fading Fast]

(And so, at the Brooklyn Automat up on Willoughby Street we find Joe, Sally, Leonora, Pvt. Mickey, and Ma Sweeney grouped around a table, tucking enthusiastically into their holiday meal of turkey prepared by famous Horn & Hardart Chefs with all the trimmings. Total outlay for the proceedings, $3.50. "An'," whispers Joe, "I t'ink ya brutteh paid f'his wit' lead nickels." "Eat ya toikey," hisses Sally. "Don' stawrt nut'n." "Lookit," replies Joe. "He gimme one -- it bends!" "Prob'ly jus' onea'tem new wawr nickels," dismisses Sally. "Eatcha toikey, it's gettin' cold. Leonora, don' put t'at nickel inya mout', ya get lead perzonin' -- um, y'don' know wheah it's been...")
...

Today, Joe would be the guy who brings up the recent elections at the Thanksgiving table.

If you just read the Eagle's front page the past week or so, you wouldn't think the war would have over two-and-a-half years to go.

...One question yet to be resolved, however, is what will be done with the thousands of dollars on hand that had been held over from previous' weeks Bingo and Bank Night jackpots. About 300 New York theatres had already dropped the games prior to the Commissioner's announcement.
...

Are there no more war bond available or war-relief charities accepting funds?

...

A once-shabby loft on Bedford Avenue has been transformed into a bright, clean nursery for the children of war workers, and its operator Naomi Critchett, a young "Indian-Negro woman," calls it her way of doing her part for the war effort. Looking over the colorful Jack and Jill Nursery, it becomes evident that the soap, water, paint and percale that went into fixing up the facility were paired with a lot of courage, a fertile imagination, and love of children on the part of Miss Critchett, who received her training at the Pratt Institute and Columbia University, and has twelve years' experience in child care, psychology, and kindergarten work. Underprivileged children enrolled at the nursery will have lots of character-building fun, while learning arts and crafts "the proprietor comes by naturally from her Indian ancestors."
...

Who's footin' the bill?

...
("Well," says Sally, scraping the last bit of pie off her plate, "Joe's gotta go t'woik, but whattcha say t'rest of us go take in a pitcheh? Lookit t' papeh heah -- we c'd go oveh t' city an' see t'at 'Casablanca.' "Cerrrtainly not," sniffs Ma. "T'at Bogarrt, he's a fonny-lookin' one. I got no taste f'him atall. And t'at Errol Flynn, why, you know what kind of a man HE is. It's been in all t'papurrs!" "How 'bout we go see a real show," suggests Mickey. "I heah t'ey let soivicemen inta "Stawr 'n Garteh f'free." "Let's go to the Patio," recommends Ma. "It's roit on t'way home, an' we don' have to stay f't whole show. T'at ooodious Errol Flynn. But now t'second feature, t'at one sooonds like a good show. 'Mexican Spitfieh's Elephant.' Ahhh, I looove a good animal picture.' "Efrn't!" agrees Leonora.)
...

While I'm sure many felt like Ma did, the movie-going public in general stayed with Flynn through it all. It's pretty amazing, but as we saw with the Mary Astor "sex-diary" scandal a few years ago, the public response to these "events" is unpredictable. Sometimes they kill a career and other times they don't.

...

The most original act ice skating has seen in years will open at Madison Square Garden next Tuesday night, when Frick and Frack headline the 1943 edition of the Ice Follies. The off-balance antics of the two Swiss skaters, properly known as Werner Groebil and Hansreudi Mauch, are achieved by a special skating technique where the skate blades are inclined inward as the skaters lean their bodies in an exaggerated outward direction, giving the illusion that they are floating on air. Any skating instructor will tell you that this is an impossible feat to perform, but Frick and Frack would disagree.
..

"Pshaw, that's gimmicky stuff." - Sonja Henie

...

(NEWSPAPERS? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???)
...

You might want to take a look at one of those newspapers.

...

(Dale says "Look, I just draw it .And I'm as confused as you are!")

The Eagle has a lot of other strips to choose from. Throw a dart and go with whichever one it lands on as there's every chance it will make more sense than this hot mess.

And in the Daily News...

"A former girlfriend of Tommy Manville." Like *that's* an achievement.
...

Heck, even being a former wife of Tommy Manville is not an achievement.

Who wrote Page Four's stories today, the writer of "Hugh Striver," as these stories were unnecessarily confusingly penned?

Oh and --

"Look, dear! Santa brought you a welding outfit! Just like mommy's!"

The Navy might be interested to learn how the toy manufacturer found a way for airplanes to take off from a battleship.

Of all the toys we saw today, I think Namm's bomb sight one looks like the most fun.