The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

("Whatta dope," sneers Joe. "Whatta reguleh bozo. Namin' a innocen' kid afteh 'at rat HItleh inna fois' place. I t'ink we done'a right t'ing wit' Leonora. Leo an' Nora. Half afteh Durocheh, an' half afteh ya Ma. An' neit'eh one of'm's eveh even been in jail, yet." "What?" "Nut'n.")
....

Good to see that some extreme stupidity was unacceptable in '43. We've clearly lost that skill today.

The mugging of the British merchant seaman is bad advertising for America's biggest small town.

...

Blonde Billy Boze, who thought she could succeed where others have failed, goes to court in Reno, Nevada today to become the sixth ex-wife of 49-year-old asbestos heir Tommy Manville. "Tommy says I'm still the number 1 girl in his heart," declared Miss Boze to reporters, revealing that Manville will meet her plane upon her return to New York, and that they plan to "paint the town red." "I'm sure Tommy won't marry again," added Miss Boze, "but I'd marry him again if he asked me." The two were wed last spring, after Manville proposed to her at a night club table. The two had never met before that night.
...

And we see why inheritances rarely survive past the third generation.

...

(It's astounding to me that the National League let this Philadelphia situation go on as long as it has, but you can't argue that it hasn't been good for the Dodgers. Without Camilli and Higbe, they wouldn'tve won the pennant in '41, and it's unfortunate that channel to ready talent will now be closed off. Hey Mr. Rickey, shoulda grabbed Etten when you had the chance.)
...

"Branch, old limb."

...

("So much better than those dumpy old maids over at the Martha Washington. Oh, sorry, Mrs. Worth...")
...

Or you could just switch rooms and really solve the problem.

...

(LOOK AT LEAST YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR GETTING WORK. WHY POOR WOLF WAS AROUND YESTERDAY LOOKING FOR ANYTHING WE HAD AND I HAD TO TURN HIM AWAY. JUST SAYING.)
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And let's not forget that the poor turtle from "Sparky Watts" is on relief now.

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"Wait, you mean I have to turn the loaf OVER? WAR IS HELL!"
...

And this is supposedly the same generation that walk six miles in the snow to and from school (uphill both ways), yet it needs marks on its bread to know where to slice it?

Tangentially related, when were those giant bread slicing machines that you see in older bakeries invented? They are fun as heck to watch in action.

...

And the guy's just an assistant cook at Camp Upton.
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"The first dead man on Omaha Beach must be a sailor" - The Americanization of Emily

The public needs heroes, real or manufactured.

...

Comes now the denouement...
...

The old man goes into semi-retirement; Harold marries Joan and they fight with Cynthia for control of the business, while they all live in the same big house. Basically, "Harold Teen" becomes the progenitor to the TV show "Dallas," but manufacturing war widgets instead of pumping oil out of the ground.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The industrial bread-slicing machine was invented in 1928, and was used by a few regional bakeries until Continental Baking made a big splash with it with "Wonder-Cut bread" in 1930. From then on every major baker got into the act. The OPA ban on pre-slicing has more to do with faster staleness in pre-sliced bread, and thus more waste, than with the equipment, although that's no longer being manufactured either.

So pre-sliced bread has really only been a thing for most people for about a decade, more or less. HOW QUICKLY THEY FORGET.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Yeah, just trying to figure out what kind of common household poison you might store in a bathroom that could be easily mistaken for baking soda, and I'm really not coming up with anything. Talcum powder? Tooth powder? Plaster of Paris? If you've got powdered cyanide in your bathroom, or, I dunno, cocaine powder maybe, then you've probably got a lot of questions you're going to have to answer.)

The continuing shortage of fuel oil may force the temporary closing today of many of the city's public buildings. Addressing a group of 300 Civilian Defense volunteers at City Hall this morning, Mayor LaGuardia noted that many such buildings exceeded their January quota for fuel due to the extended cold spell, and since fuel rations may not be pooled, it may be necessary, as a last resort, to shut those buildings down. The Mayor specifically mentioned Queens Borough Hall, the Bronx County Court House, Hunter College, and a number of local police and fire stations, Sanitation Department garages, Parks Department recreation buildings and public comfort stations, public libraries, and local courthouses.

Meanwhile, the city's laundrymen have announced they would prefer to shut down for a month rather than comply with the Petroleum Administration for War's edict calling for an across the board reduction of 40 percent in the amount of fuel oil used by commercial laundries. The Laundry Owners Association of New York City issued a statement today declaring that it is "not possible" for them to spread out their oil consumption to span the entire period of the curtailment order, which expires April 1st, and the alternative would be to give their customers "40 percent less service." The Mayor has arranged a conference for today at City Hall between the laundrymen and PAW officials to discuss the matter further.

("Whassis stuff," queries Joe, hot biscuit in hand, eyeing a shiny white lump on the plate before him. "It don' look like butteh." "It ain't butteh," shrugs Sally. "Y'tink I c'n get butteh, ev'nat t'em prices? You go downa Bohack's n' stan' on line awl day." "Sigh," sighs Joe. "An' again I ask -- whassis stuff? Oleo? What, y'din' mix inna coleh t'ing?" "It ain' oleo," sighs Sally. "Ask f'oleo, an'ney laugh atcha." "Well, what izzit t'en?" insists Joe, poking suspiciously at the lump with his knife. "Oink oink," shrugs Sally. "LAWRD?" gapes Joe. "Like, LAWRD f'm a can'nat sez onna front '"L-A-R-D spells LAWRD?" "You've ate woise," replies Sally, with a shake of her head. "An' ya prob'ly gonna eat woise'nat befoeh t' wawr's oveh. So y'might's well get to it. Or eacha biscuit dry, whateveh." Hesitantly, Joe, pokes a small piece of the substance onto the end of his knife, and takes a reluctant nibble. "Hey," he pronounces, "t'is ain' allat bad. Hey, t'at was a pretty good idea you come up wit'." "Yeah, well don' get useta it, lawrd goes onna ration nex' mont'." "Wawr," sighs Joe, "is hell.")

Brooklyn has been labeled one of the four most dangerous seaports in the world for the visiting sailor, according to a new book just published by a Navy doctor. Just released by the publishing firm of Whittlesey House, "Ship's Doctor," by Dr. Rufus W. Hooker, cites Brooklyn as one of the worst ports in the world for the risks it poses to seamen, especially when it comes to muggings and gang activity, alongside such notorious ports as Singapore, Liverpool, and Santos, Brazil. Dr. Hooker has been around the world more than 20 times during his naval career, and has traveled more than a million miles. His comments on the hazards of our local port were echoed yesterday by mugging victim Thomas Peters, a forty-year-old British seaman, who has been twice torpedoed and rescued, and who told police that he would "feel safer at sea than he does in Brooklyn."

An educational campaign to explain the new point rationing system will begin in the city's schools and newspapers on February 21st, before the new War Ration Book No. 2 is distributed starting on March 1st. Schools will teach students how to shop under point rationing, with the expectation that they will pass that education on to their parents, and a series of newspaper advertisements explaining OPA declaration forms will appear nationwide, in the largest joint advertising program ever mounted by the food industry. Food producers will meet in New York within the next ten days to go over final arrangements for the rationing program.

The Board of Education has accepted a check for $3092 drawn against the Teachers' Retirement Fund as the first move toward restitution for a shortage of funds found in the books of the General Organization of New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst more than a year ago. The sum represented the total pension account of Max L. Cohen, former economics teacher at the high school, who last March pleaded guilty to larceny and forgery in Kings County Court after a probe of the shortage revealed the embezzlement. Cohen is presently free on bail pending sentence. A total of $18,000 was discovered to be missing from school accounts over the course of the investigation.

(Sally's clearly not the only one who thought of lard.)

The Eagle Editorialist endorses the National War Service Act recently introduced in Congress, noting that the idea of conscripting civilians into war work is "drastic and radical," but no more so than what British civilians already have to face. "Certainly it should be worthwhile," asserts the EE, "to surrender some of our liberties temporarily to win this war, for if we do not win, those liberties will be lost indefinitely."

("Bonds and taxes, bonds and taxes, that's the way to beat the Axis!")

(If it wasn't well known that Gerry Nugent was a hapless former shoe salesman who inherited his Phillies shares when his wife's father died, I'd have to think the ball club was some kind of vast underworld money laundering scheme. No players, no ballpark real estate, no farm system, no cash flow to speak of -- and yet he kept going for more than ten years. It's a pity Col. O'Dwyer doesn't work for the Commissioner's Office, he'd get to the bottom of it.)

The American Grandmas Association has begun awarding "M" pennants to grandmothers who achieve outstanding records working in war production, and the first has gone to Mrs. Esther Schniderman of 357 Avenue P. Mrs. Schniderman recently set a record for production of flying suits, turning out 60 in one day. In addition to her war job, Mrs. Schniderman cares for two sons and a grandchild and rises at 5 AM every day to get breakfast and go to work.

("So what's *your* racket, kid? If you're interested, I know somebody can get you a chorus tryout in 'Star & Garter.")

("Wait'll ya see what I can do with BOTH arms!")

(BURMA???? No, it can't be, we didn't hear "St. Louis Blues.")

("Number One Hero Dog" is about to meet his match.)

(Hmph. BILL wouldn't be such a jerk.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Wasn't there another guy a year or so back with this same lurk-in-elevators MO? Maybe self-service elevators aren't such a good idea.

(Miss Schultz is also a prominent radio commentator, from that first generation of great overseas broadcasters that includes Murrow and Shirer, and yet, she is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the same breath as them. She should be -- and Shirer himself thought so: "No other American correspondent in Berlin," he declared, "knew so much of what was going on behind the scenes as Sigrid Schultz.")

The Surveillance State.

"Uncle Malcolm, why are you wearing a fake bald head wig?"

Ah! Lord Whatshisface is a world-famous FLEA TRAINER!

I have the sinking feeling that our dear boy is about to spend his 22nd birthday in a field hospital.

"Look at the teeth on the little joker." Tsk, Mr. Caniff.

"How would YOU ever know what a sensible person would believe!" Well, she does have a point.

"Harold, I am your father."

Meet Myrtle the Mover. "Hiya, Frizz!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

A sentence that has never before appeared in any language anywhere: "The Browns will win the pennant next year!" I submit that Mr. Sewell bringing "St. Lousi" in third last year, in a season where the war had not yet made itself fully felt, is somewhere on the miracle scale between the 1914 Braves and the raising of Lazarus.

 

[Fading Fast]

(Yeah, just trying to figure out what kind of common household poison you might store in a bathroom that could be easily mistaken for baking soda, and I'm really not coming up with anything. Talcum powder? Tooth powder? Plaster of Paris? If you've got powdered cyanide in your bathroom, or, I dunno, cocaine powder maybe, then you've probably got a lot of questions you're going to have to answer.)
...

It will be interesting to see if there's any followup to this poison story.

I'm guessing that when the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children asked which children wanted to be selected to leave the Mittel's home, every kid's hand went up, even little Hitler's, umm, I mean Theodore's.

...

("Whassis stuff," queries Joe, hot biscuit in hand, eyeing a shiny white lump on the plate before him. "It don' look like butteh." "It ain't butteh," shrugs Sally. "Y'tink I c'n get butteh, ev'nat t'em prices? You go downa Bohack's n' stan' on line awl day." "Sigh," sighs Joe. "An' again I ask -- whassis stuff? Oleo? What, y'din' mix inna coleh t'ing?" "It ain' oleo," sighs Sally. "Ask f'oleo, an'ney laugh atcha." "Well, what izzit t'en?" insists Joe, poking suspiciously at the lump with his knife. "Oink oink," shrugs Sally. "LAWRD?" gapes Joe. "Like, LAWRD f'm a can'nat sez onna front '"L-A-R-D spells LAWRD?" "You've ate woise," replies Sally, with a shake of her head. "An' ya prob'ly gonna eat woise'nat befoeh t' wawr's oveh. So y'might's well get to it. Or eacha biscuit dry, whateveh." Hesitantly, Joe, pokes a small piece of the substance onto the end of his knife, and takes a reluctant nibble. "Hey," he pronounces, "t'is ain' allat bad. Hey, t'at was a pretty good idea you come up wit'." "Yeah, well don' get useta it, lawrd goes onna ration nex' mont'." "Wawr," sighs Joe, "is hell.")
...

I don't think the reporter of this article understands how blackmarkets work.

My, I assure you, not-fancy grandmother had a fondness for real butter that came out of WWII rationing.

...

Brooklyn has been labeled one of the four most dangerous seaports in the world for the visiting sailor, according to a new book just published by a Navy doctor. Just released by the publishing firm of Whittlesey House, "Ship's Doctor," by Dr. Rufus W. Hooker, cites Brooklyn as one of the worst ports in the world for the risks it poses to seamen, especially when it comes to muggings and gang activity, alongside such notorious ports as Singapore, Liverpool, and Santos, Brazil. Dr. Hooker has been around the world more than 20 times during his naval career, and has traveled more than a million miles. His comments on the hazards of our local port were echoed yesterday by mugging victim Thomas Peters, a forty-year-old British seaman, who has been twice torpedoed and rescued, and who told police that he would "feel safer at sea than he does in Brooklyn."
...

That is not good for our favorite city's reputation.

...

(BURMA???? No, it can't be, we didn't hear "St. Louis Blues.")
...

Well, she has the right number of working blouse-buttons for Burma, zero. Also, while I hate to admit it, for the right amount of money, I could see Burma, umm, playing for the wrong team in this war. Burma seemed to mainly believe in Burma.

And in the Daily News...

Wasn't there another guy a year or so back with this same lurk-in-elevators MO? Maybe self-service elevators aren't such a good idea.
...

As crazy as this sounds, there are still some high-rise buildings in Manhattan, to this day, that have elevator operators. I'm not exaggerating one bit and the number is not small.

...

"Harold, I am your father."
...

...

Meet Myrtle the Mover. "Hiya, Frizz!"

"Small children?"

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Both Terrence and Harold fade to pale this afternoon with the engaged young lady's accidental poisoning.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("It's like a stylish and very ridiculous hat." *licks finger and draws check mark in the air.*)

Government officials are studying means of liberalizing the allowances and allotments plan for dependents if and when married men with children are drafted into the armed forces, it was learned to today. They are not contemplating revisions of the present scale of allowances, but rather provisions that would take care of "hardship cases," -- families of soldiers and sailors unable to get along on the amount allowed under the present system. It was revealed that officials of the armed services charged with administering the allowances and allotments system have been conferring with Social Security Administration officials, and while no new legislation is contemplated, it is understood that the first step will be determining the probable number of families requiring higher allowances, and calculating the cost involved.

Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles warned today against "postwar rivalries" among the United Nations which, he said, may ruin all plans for a sound and stable peace. Speaking today at the opening ceremonies of United Nations Month, under the auspices of the Office Of War Information at Rockefeller Center, the Undersecretary stated that "there could be no surer road to disaster, no surer means of bringing about unmitigated havoc in the future, than for the United Nations to enter the postwar era as rivals and opponents in their commercial and financial policies, rather than as collaborators in a common task of seeking and achieving international economic stability and well-being." He added, "together we can solve this gigantic problem, opposed to one another, not one of us would profit. All would share the consequences of a general ruin."

Brooklyn's Pennsylvania Avenue Courthouse, which houses both Municipal and Magistrates' Courts has burned its fuel oil ration too fast, and may be forced to close when the present supply is gone. That is expected to happen within the next fourteen days, according to City Fuel Oil Administrator Edwin A. Salmon. The courthouse has, according to Salmon's report, received 6082 gallons of fuel oil, although its quota thru the end of March was only 5649 gallons. The courthouse is on a list of 50 city buildings, including 10 other courthouses, facing shutdowns due to a lack of heating oil, and the city indicates that it will not appeal to the OPA for extra rations for any of its buildings, but it is also noted that the city will seek extra rations to keep its fleet of fireboats in operation. Meanwhile in the state capital, Governor Thomas E. Dewey and officials of the petroleum industry met today to discuss plans to make fuller use of the New York State Barge Canal to bring further supplies of fuel oil to the metropolitan area.

("Whassat stuff, anyway," inquires Joe, eyeing the brown paste Sally is attempting to spoon into a reluctant Leonora. "Strained liveh," sighs Sally. "She don' like it no more'n she likes beets," observes Joe. "It's good fawr 'eh," insists Sally. "Got lotsa iyun innit." "Whas' it taste like?" queries Joe, gazing longingly at the spoon. "You ain' gettin' any," snaps Sally. "I ain' had liveh in I dunno how lawrng," exhales Joe. "Awrmos' f'got what it tastes like. I bet you could spread it onna slicea bread, it'd make a swell san'wich." "You c'n eat out at t'plant cafeteria," declares Sally. "Aw," demurs Joe. "I'm tie'hd a' Spam. Ev'y day wit' t'Spam. Spam cutlets. Spam hash. Spam stew. Spamboigehs. How'm I s'posta be pr'ductive on nut'n but Spam? I ask ya!" "Awwwwright," eyerolls Sally. "Open up!" "EHHHHH!" chokes Joe. "Now I remembeh what liveh tastes like.")

In New Dehli, India, a bomb explosion, a student strike, and a sympathetic fast were reported today as Nationalist leader Mohandas K. Gandhi entered the third day of his fast at the Aga Khan's palace at Poona, where he is interned. Two peddlers and a porter were killed when a bomb detonated on a railroad station platform at Cawnpore. At a Lahore college, students went on strike in protest against Gandhi's continuing detention, and in Dehli, eleven persons were arrested for taking part in an illegal demonstration. Students at various Indian universities adopted resolutions urging the intensification of the Nationalist campaign for mass civil disobedience without violence or sabotage. At Wahrda, Gandhi's usual headquarters, a member of the imprisoned leader's personal entourage, Professor Bhan Sali, announced that he has begun a fast of his own. Gandhi himself, meanwhile, is reported to be "doing well" on his diet of water mixed with fruit juices.

In Reno, Nevada, a Cafe Society playboy from New York now serving as an Army private is claiming that a sudden case of amnesia caused him to boast in hotel lobbies of being a "heroic Air Force captain who shot down 63 Japanese planes." Private Jacob L. "Jakie" Webb, a descendant of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, is in custody at an air base near Reno, facing court martial on charges of impersonating an officer and bringing disgrace on the uniform of the U. S. Army. Webb, who is assigned to a "casual detachment" at Fort McDowell, California, has been absent without leave for seven days, and was reported to have, during that time, made himself "a fixture in divorcee society," parading thru lobbies in a dashing Air Force captain's uniform decorated with an impressive collection of ribbons including the Distinguished Service and Distinguished Flying Crosses. The manager of Miller's Hotel in Reno told authorities that Webb had been claiming to be "fifth in his class at West Point, where he was a classmate of the late Colin Kelly," and further claimed to be "one of five surviving pilots of the Flying Tigers of China." He had also claimed, according to the hotel manager, that the Chinese Government had given him a $6000 cash award and had sent him to Reno to rest after "several months of combat in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea."

An entire family from Brooklyn Heights has signed up for classes to learn how to be machinists. The Earle family of 126 Willow Street, consisting of securities salesman Russell E. Earle, his wife, and their two daughters, enrolled this week for a 12-week course at the Pratt Institute School of Science and Technology, where they will learn machine shop techniques, including metal and woodworking, foundry practices, and the operation of heavy drill presses, lathes, and metal forging equipment. They will also learn welding, heat treatment of metals, and the shaping of machine tool steels. Upon graduation, they will qualify for industrial jobs in war plants. Mr. Earle is the brother in law of the well-known Brooklyn City Councilwoman Genevieve Earle.

("Hey buddie -- wanna buy some gas coupons?")

Reader Bernard Ginsberg writes in to express his disgust at the comments made by Judge Leslie E. Still after Errol Flynn was acquitted last week on statutory rape charges: "I have enjoyed this case and I think you have." Mr. Ginsberg declares that a case in which a man was facing life imprisonment and two girls were subjected to an embarrassing examination "was no spectacle to be enjoyed by those who have to determine the merits of the case. They were not attending a show." The EE expresses full agreement with Mr. Ginsberg, calling Judge Still's comment "disgraceful."

("Mrs. Luce, I presume?")

The widow of magician Harry Houdini, who last week declared that she had abandoned belief in spiritualism after her husband failed to communicate with her beyond the grave, has joined him in death. Mrs. Houdini, aged 67, died last night at Needles, California, while aboard a train en route for New York, to which she had hoped to return one last time before dying. "I love to think I will meet Harry in heaven," she told reporters at a bedside news conference last week. "That's the way were taught -- but we never know."

(You know what some smart guy ought to do? He ought to buy the Phillies and then stock them with the cream of the Negro Leagues. There's this guy runs a minor league operation in Milwaukee who would be perfect for a setup like that. How about it, Mr. Veeck?)

(She's just bitter because she didn't win Miss Rheingold.)

("Yeah! I've got this candy store in East Flatbush...")

(Jeez, she really IS Burma!)

(If this turns into a black-market meat story where they go out and kill a milk-wagon horse, I'll be very impressed.)

("Oh, and son -- don't do anything stupid.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News....

Skelton owes his entire career to Edna, who, as his writer and agent, essentially created his entire stage persona.
She did not, however, write that traffic-light gag.

"Hmph," from her prison cell hmphs Madeline Webb. "He's no relative of mine!"

Shoulda waxed it.

Harry Carey? You mean the cowboy actor? Well, I mean, with the lassoo, I thought...

"Aw gee, Ma, I don't need this! I'm gonna be a riveter!"

"She was the best court stenographer in the whole district until that day she went on a killer rampage with a letter opener. Oh, my face, my face..."

Actually the family name is Von Slitherwitz, but they changed it for business purposes.

It should surprise no one that Andy is the kind of guy who'd be impressed by a flea circus.

"Did I mention it's my birthday in two days? I hope you guys aren't planning a surprise party."

"But sir -- I mean, Mr. McNutt says we all have to work a 48-hour week! YOU CAN'T PUNCH OUT NOW!"

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

"Gypsy Pose Lee???" Is Margie Hart working as a linotypist now?

 

[Fading Fast]

...
In Reno, Nevada, a Cafe Society playboy from New York now serving as an Army private is claiming that a sudden case of amnesia caused him to boast in hotel lobbies of being a "heroic Air Force captain who shot down 63 Japanese planes." Private Jacob L. "Jakie" Webb, a descendant of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, is in custody at an air base near Reno, facing court martial on charges of impersonating an officer and bringing disgrace on the uniform of the U. S. Army. Webb, who is assigned to a "casual detachment" at Fort McDowell, California, has been absent without leave for seven days, and was reported to have, during that time, made himself "a fixture in divorcee society," parading thru lobbies in a dashing Air Force captain's uniform decorated with an impressive collection of ribbons including the Distinguished Service and Distinguished Flying Crosses. The manager of Miller's Hotel in Reno told authorities that Webb had been claiming to be "fifth in his class at West Point, where he was a classmate of the late Colin Kelly," and further claimed to be "one of five surviving pilots of the Flying Tigers of China." He had also claimed, according to the hotel manager, that the Chinese Government had given him a $6000 cash award and had sent him to Reno to rest after "several months of combat in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea."
...

Again with the amnesia and, one assumes, a self-purchased officer's uniform.

...

(She's just bitter because she didn't win Miss Rheingold.)
...

Today, of course, top models do incredibly well, but there still is an army of work-a-day models in this city who earn just an okay living when they get regular work. It's amazing how many beautiful girls or girls with a particular look struggle to just survive as models here after having heard their entire young lives "you should become a model," only to get here to discover there are a whole lot of girls just like them trying to do the exact same thing in this city.

...

(Jeez, she really IS Burma!)
...

Me at 9pm tonight.

And in the Daily News....

Skelton owes his entire career to Edna, who, as his writer and agent, essentially created his entire stage persona.
She did not, however, write that traffic-light gag.
...

Joe should reach out to Ms. Kennatt at work one night to let her know that Sally and he would gladly lend her a hand if she needed help sometime.

...

Harry Carey? You mean the cowboy actor? Well, I mean, with the lassoo, I thought...
...

Looks like we are about to learn a bit more about Rogue's past and I doubt it's that she was a Florence Nightingale type.

....

"She was the best court stenographer in the whole district until that day she went on a killer rampage with a letter opener. Oh, my face, my face..."
...

Ms. Kennatt should keep this place in mind in case her $15 a week woman falls through.

Oh, and...

"Gypsy Pose Lee???" Is Margie Hart working as a linotypist now?

Albeit spelled amusingly wrong (perhaps Freudianly wrong), Gypsy is still managing to get her name in the press in '43.

It's fun to see Warner Bros. character actor regular Allen Jenkins pop up here.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Death bed proposals are propositions masked solemnity.
Rogue is apparently not without admirers or detractors as case may be. But whatever the strip-tease the pick up is welcome.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Best thing about the Private Webb story is that none other than Billie Boze Manville was the one to put the finger on him. IT'S A SMALL WORLD JAKIE.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"Skelton owes his entire career to Edna, who, as his writer and agent, essentially created his entire stage persona.
She did not, however, write that traffic-light gag."

No longer being a married man ultimately became the green light to Skelton being drafted. He and his studio fought his induction tooth and nail, but in 1944 (right after D-Day) he was ultimately drafted.

Red never saw combat and was involved in entertainment endeavors, until the stress of that became too much for him. Suffered a breakdown and spent most of his time in the army in a psychiatric hospital.

I'm always reminded of that every time someone posts his 1950's speech on the virtues of the Pledge of Allegiance (as amended in 1954). I have no issue with anyone's views on patriotism as they see it, but getting a condescending lecture on it from Skelton, John Wayne, and others who did whatever they could to avoid the dangers of combat when they were cannon fodder age themselves always hit a raw nerve with me. I don't tolerate the "do as I say, not as I do/ did" tack too well. Too many of that generation fought their war created demons in silence for years for that brand of soapbox performance to be endured.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Now you've done it, Jakie," chortles Joe. "Now t'ey'll get ya for'disgracin' t' pajamas' too." "T'ey oughta make t'at Billie Boze a secret op'rative," adds Sally. "Much bettehr'n Dan Dunn.")

Citing "the blunt fact" that there are not enough men working on New York State farms to supply food necessary for wartime demands, Governor Thomas E. Dewey told the National Republican Club last night that he will soon announce a program that will "utilize every able-bodied man, woman and child in harvesting and processing farm crops this year." In his first public address since taking office, the Governor, speaking before the club's 57th annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, declared that the state's entire civilian population should prepare to do farm work this year to assure an adequate supply of food for American fighting forces, our Allies, and those at home. The Governor indicated that he will go the air within the next ten days to announce the specifics of his program, which is expected to include localized mobilization of civilian labor in each of the state's 63 counties, and he added that he expects the men, women, and youths of the state to rally to meet the need for farm labor. "I am confident," he stated, "that when they know what they can do, they will need no orders or directives from anyone."

A 19-year-old youth from Williamsburg led police on a two mile chase in a stolen car during which nearly a score of shots were fired. Stanley Dzeidzoch was arrested after police forced the car to the curb in front of 10 Ten Eyck Street, but not until a gunshot went thru a patrol car's window and another lodged in its roof. While patrolmen strugled with Dzeidzoch, a second man fled the scene. Dzeidzoch was not found to have a gun, and police are searching for the second man, who is believed to be armed. Police commandeered a bystander's car near South 5th and Hewes Streets as part of the chase, but the owner of that car quietly drove away during the melee preceeding Dzeidzoch's arrest.

Six men were arraigned today on Federal charges of operating an unlicensed still, following their arrest by agents of the Federal Alcohol Tax Unit during a raid on a one-story frame and stucco bungalow in Canarsie. Thirty-one-year-old Gaspar Mule, 50 year old Gaspare Mesana, 22 year old Gaspare Letizia, 37 year old Mario Valenti, 29 year old Vincenzo Valasuso, and 42-year-old Rosario Evalia, all of Brooklyn all pleaded innocent at their arraignment before United States Commissioner Jacob A. Visel in Brooklyn Federal Court. The still, described as being of the "continuous process" type, and 2000 gallons of mash, were seized by Federal agents during the raid.

Ceiling price regulations for bowling were revised today by the Office of Price Registration, with the rules adjusted to allow bowling alley operators who were not in business during the base period established for the determination of ceiling prices to take the maximum fees charged by their nearest competitor as their own ceiling price. Alley operators who cannot determine an effective ceiling price by any other means will be permitted to apply directly to the OPA for a ceiling price determination.

The President of the American Federation of Musicians is confident that his new proposal for the payment of a fixed licensing fee by every juke box operator in the country will help solve the impasse over royalties that has kept union musicians out of recording studios since last summer. James C. Petrillo announced the proposed juke box fee yesterday, stating that the fees would go into a union unemployment fund for musicians and would also be used to pay for free performances of live music for the benefit of the public. Petrillo mailed his proposal, which also includes per-recording fees paid for the making of phonograph records, to the eight major recording companies yesterday. The union leader stressed that the AFM proposals do not involve the broadcasting industry in any way. "We have no fight with them," stated Petrillo.

(I thought Sands Street was already off limits to sailors.)

(YOU HEARD ME ROOKIES! CLEAN PLATE CLUB!)

Prominent Administration foe Senator Gerald P. Nye (R-South Dakota) warned today of "food riots in the streets" by next winter "unless the position of the farmer changes immediately." Senator Nye asserted that "we've already got a food shortage only a few months after harvesting the record crops of 1942," and warned that "without adequate help and machinery, farmers will have to reduce their acreage," which, he contents, will trigger a food crisis over the winter months. Sen. Nye is a member of a new Senate investigating committee which, he says, 'will blow the lid off" Administration farm policies.

The executive secretary of the War Resisters' League stated today that more than 12,500 men have been registered as conscientious objectors so far during the present war. Secretary Abraham Kauffman noted that approximately 6000 of these men have been sent to civilian "public service camps," and approximately 6500 have accepted induction into the Army as non-combatants. Approximately 1400 have been sent to prison for violation of Selective Service laws, with several hundreds of these members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect.

("Lafayette Fresco "Chick" Thompson." You're making that up.)

Hard-punching Harlem welterweight Ray (Sugar) Robinson has been signed for a return bout against middleweight Jake LaMotta, a fellow New Yorker, in Detroit on February 26th. LaMotta broke Robinson's long undefeated streak last Friday night, beating him on points in a ten round bout. Robinson is presently training for a bout in New York next week against Sgt. Jack Wilson.

("Hmph," hmphs Sally. "I bet Gene Toiney don' even look like Gene Toiney." "I useta know a guy at t'pickle woiks looked like Gene Tunney," adds Joe. "He neveh won no contests t'ough.")

("Wait, no -- isn't this the Collyer Brothers' place?")

(I guess Scarlet must've sent Hippy up the river in an unseen adventure. Get it? "Unseen?" Heh.)

(That's right, Dan. Grin like an idiot. NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW.)

(Trix is the Wilmer Bobble of dogs.)

(The old biddy skulks in the shadows all over the city just so she can pop out and remonstrate the kid who delivers her papers. You've got to admire her dedication.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Stop complaining, it's good for your ankles.

Connie Mack says "HEY THAT'S *MY* LOGO!" And yes, the A's stink too, but not as much as the Phils. Nothing, not even the Gowanus Canal in August, stinks as much as the Phils.

Whew, he got his jacket back!

Dead. Man. Walking.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Beginning tomorrow and continuing thruout this story, DICK TRACY will appear exclusively on Page Four.

Friend of yours, Skeez? Nah, it COULDN'T be....

I mean, training fleas does require a great deal of patience, which will precisely suit him for life in this family.

A paper route? Kayo's bucking for his own strip.

There's got to be an OPA rule against this.

Gonna invite Lillums to the wedding?

 

[Fading Fast]

...

A 19-year-old youth from Williamsburg led police on a two mile chase in a stolen car during which nearly a score of shots were fired. Stanley Dzeidzoch was arrested after police forced the car to the curb in front of 10 Ten Eyck Street, but not until a gunshot went thru a patrol car's window and another lodged in its roof. While patrolmen strugled with Dzeidzoch, a second man fled the scene. Dzeidzoch was not found to have a gun, and police are searching for the second man, who is believed to be armed. Police commandeered a bystander's car near South 5th and Hewes Streets as part of the chase, but the owner of that car quietly drove away during the melee preceeding Dzeidzoch's arrest.
...

"Police commandeered a bystander's car near South 5th and Hewes Streets as part of the chase, but the owner of that car quietly drove away during the melee preceeding Dzeidzoch's arrest."

It was reported that the driver of the commandeered car was heard saying, "I'm getting out of here; I want no part of this" as he smartly drove away.

...

Six men were arraigned today on Federal charges of operating an unlicensed still, following their arrest by agents of the Federal Alcohol Tax Unit during a raid on a one-story frame and stucco bungalow in Canarsie. Thirty-one-year-old Gaspar Mule, 50 year old Gaspare Mesana, 22 year old Gaspare Letizia, 37 year old Mario Valenti, 29 year old Vincenzo Valasuso, and 42-year-old Rosario Evalia, all of Brooklyn all pleaded innocent at their arraignment before United States Commissioner Jacob A. Visel in Brooklyn Federal Court. The still, described as being of the "continuous process" type, and 2000 gallons of mash, were seized by Federal agents during the raid.
...

It's not just an Ozarks thing.

...

Prominent Administration foe Senator Gerald P. Nye (R-South Dakota) warned today of "food riots in the streets" by next winter "unless the position of the farmer changes immediately." Senator Nye asserted that "we've already got a food shortage only a few months after harvesting the record crops of 1942," and warned that "without adequate help and machinery, farmers will have to reduce their acreage," which, he contents, will trigger a food crisis over the winter months. Sen. Nye is a member of a new Senate investigating committee which, he says, 'will blow the lid off" Administration farm policies.
...

What seems to be going on is the gov't is clearly sending food to our Allies, but it doesn't want to tell the public that's why there are/will be food shortages. Otherwise, a "record crop" in '42 should be enough to supply the army and the Homefront, since the Homefront and army combined has the same number of mouths to feed as the old civilian population, so a record crop should be more than adequate. Or is so much being sunk by U-boats that there is a shortage? Something isn't adding up here. Yes, they are worried about having enough farm workers, but that seems like more of a next-crop issue.

...

("Hmph," hmphs Sally. "I bet Gene Toiney don' even look like Gene Toiney." "I useta know a guy at t'pickle woiks looked like Gene Tunney," adds Joe. "He neveh won no contests t'ough.")
...

They left out of the Gene Tierney contest that a vacant stare is a plus.

...

("Wait, no -- isn't this the Collyer Brothers' place?")
...

Good one, Lizzie.

I thought perhaps we were going to have a crossover story and the cab was going to drive up to "Uncle Malcolm's" castle.

"Well, right now we're playing a game and I need you two to call me 'Uncle Malcolm' in front of that little curly haired girl. What? Don't ask any impertinent question if you expect to receive any inheritance."

...

Whew, he got his jacket back!
...

Hopefully the jacket stayed in his family as Corkin's grandkid could get a pretty penny for it today and probably right here on Fedora.

...

Friend of yours, Skeez? Nah, it COULDN'T be....
...

The real horror will be if he outranks Skeezix.

...

A paper route? Kayo's bucking for his own strip.
...

And we know just the strip he could replace.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Harold is in a real fight now.
And if Corky is surprised so too is Cupid.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Today's posts will be delayed a bit while I take an unexpected and not especially desired trip to the dentist. Till I return, Happy Skeezix's Birthday!

 

[Fading Fast]

Today's posts will be delayed a bit while I take an unexpected and not especially desired trip to the dentist. Till I return, Happy Skeezix's Birthday!

Did he notice a stork flying away?

Good luck at the dentist. I, too, am off, in five minutes, to the dentist.