The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

"Cloak-and-suit house" is a rather 1910s New Yorkism for a wholesale/retail menswear company. With the ongoing collapse of the New York garment trade, there have been a lot of bankruptcies in that business lately, mostly of small-time family or small-partnership operations. So to dismiss someone as a "cloak-and-suit operator" would be to call them a petty nickel-and-dime merchant, which is the sense that Hizzoner is using the term here.

I was shocked to see that Warner Baxter was making so much money in 1938. He's a fine actor, and I always like to see him, but his best days were behind him in 1938. He must've had a very good agent. I also wouldn't have figured on Claudette Colbert being quite so high on the scale.

I hope that poor old Bundles Mary has at least once decent relative, and that someone is going to take over caring for the stray dogs and cats.

I get the feeling that Leona hasn't thought thru this plan very well. Either that or she *wants* to be found out, because no publicity is bad publicity.

 

[Fading Fast]

"Cloak-and-suit house" is a rather 1910s New Yorkism for a wholesale/retail menswear company. With the ongoing collapse of the New York garment trade, there have been a lot of bankruptcies in that business lately, mostly of small-time family or small-partnership operations. So to dismiss someone as a "cloak-and-suit operator" would be to call them a petty nickel-and-dime merchant, which is the sense that Hizzoner is using the term here.

I was shocked to see that Warner Baxter was making so much money in 1938. He's a fine actor, and I always like to see him, but his best days were behind him in 1938. He must've had a very good agent. I also wouldn't have figured on Claudette Colbert being quite so high on the scale.

I hope that poor old Bundles Mary has at least once decent relative, and that someone is going to take over caring for the stray dogs and cats.

I get the feeling that Leona hasn't thought thru this plan very well. Either that or she *wants* to be found out, because no publicity is bad publicity.

Colbert, clearly, wrung every drop of a dollar there was out of the "It Happened One Night" towel. Sometimes, all it takes is one movie. And it doesn't always make sense. I could see many others in the Colbert role and IHON is still a great movie; but only Rosalind Russell could have done what Rosalind Russell did to make "His Girl Friday" the movie it is, but her career didn't seem to bounce at all from it.

I still think Leona's best move would be a return to her discarded society boyfriend bin - she could probably pull something out of there to regain her old life. Barring that, instead of half hiding in some demimonde nightclub, why not see what currency a fallen society deb has in Hollywood or radio or publicity or something? She's going to be exposed, so she might as well maximize the monetization and control it herself. That or it's going to be "all the young girls love Alice, tender young Alice they say..."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Revelations by bookkeeper H. W. Carver to the Amen Office will be presented to both of the grand juries working on the investigation of corruption in Brooklyn, with Assistant Attorney General John T. Amen stating that information provided by Carver during an interrogation yesterday was so serious and important that it will require two grand juries to fully sift the statements made. Carver, who as bookkeeper for the Mill Basin Asphalt Company, is already under indictment on charges of bribing a city insurance fund official, has promised to "tell all that he knows" about irregularities in city contracts and the rigging of company records to avoid obligatory payments. In addition to his work for the Mill Basin company, Carver is reported to be connected with several other firms that have had questionable dealings with the city. Meanwhile, bail for Carver has been increased to nearly $47,000, with Amen expressing the fear that if Carver is released, he might be kidnapped or killed to prevent him from revealing all that he knows.

US Assistant Attorney General O. John Rogge made his first appearance at the Federal Building today to take up his duties alongside US Attorney Harold Kennedy in the prosecution on seditious conspiracy charges of seventeen members of the Christian Front, arrested in Brooklyn last week. Mr. Rogge stressed that he is not supplanting Mr. Kennedy on the case, and views his position as advisory rather than supervisory, emphasizing that the investigation itself remains under the direct supervision of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Mr. Rogge is well known for his work breaking up the late Huey Long's former political machine in Louisiana after the Kingfish's assassination in 1935.

State legislators today rejected pleas by a taxpayer organization for more time for a full a public review of Governor Herbert H. Lehman's proposed 1940 state budget. The public hearing on the package will go forward as scheduled on February 6th. Assembly Speaker Oswald D. Heck declared in rejecting the petition that the two weeks between now and the original scheduled date offers ample time for study and review of the budget.

The city Board of Elections in Manhattan today received objections to nominating petitions on behalf of Communist Party congressional candidate Earl Browder, arguing that the documents contain technical errors relating to the specific congressional district, and to the description of the party symbol required to appear on the ballot. The party has sought to replace its traditional hammer-and-sickle emblem with the letters "CP" in keeping with a state law banning political symbols associated with any foreign government. The objections also contend that the Communists are not a legitimate political party but a "dues paying secret society." Browder, convicted this week on passport fraud charges, is free on bail pending appeal, and is a candidate to replace recently-deceased Congressman Sirovich in the 14th District. The objections to Browder's nomination petitions were filed by former Democratic Representative John O'Connor and former Alderman Lambert Fairchild.

A fire of undetermined origin today leveled the Mardi Gras Theatre on Surf Avenue, in a three-alarm blaze that threatened the heart of the Coney Island entertainment district. The wooden-frame theatre building, one of the first built in the Coney Island area, was reported ablaze shortly after 7 AM, and in addition to the four Coney Island companies, firemen from Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, and Flatbush responded to the alarms. The fire blocked the main entrance to the BMT terminal at Surf and Stilwell Avenues, but there was no damage to the terminal itself and trains ran on schedule.

A doll-house sized model of the Bergen Street police station was used today in the defense of Police Lieutenant Cuthbert J. Behan, charged with theft in the removal of more than 7200 pages of station house arrest records from the precinct in 1938. Assistant Attorney General Amen, who is prosecuting the case, had used photographs and plans of the building to argue that a man could navigate the interior of the building without being seen by the desk officer in the muster room, but Behan's defense attorney Hyman Barshay had the model constructed by his cousin, a local architecture student, to demonstrate his client's movements on the day the papers vanished. Barshay argues that his client went directly home after his shift that afternoon, and that he chatted for some time with a colleague from the precinct who can support his statement.

("And over here is where Abe Frosch likes to sit, reading the paper, drinking coffee, and doing other perfectly innocent activities. All perfectly innocent, you understand.")

United Mine Workers president and CIO head John L. Lewis predicts that if President Roosevelt runs for a third term in the White House, he will be "ignominiously defeated." Speaking before a UMW convention in Columbus, Ohio, Lewis declined at this time to make any official endorsement in the 1940 race, but did accuse the Democratic Party of "failing to keep faith with labor," and predicts that unless such accord is reached, the Republican Party will prevail in the key states of Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York in the coming election.

The Senate Banking Committee today reached agreement on an increase of $100,000,000 in capital of the Export-Import Bank to permit a non-military loan to the government of Finland. The Committee emphasized that such a loan could not be used for the purchase of any form of military equipment nor could it be used for any purpose that violates international law as interpreted by the US State Department.

Meanwhile, the latest military communique from Finland claims that another Soviet push northeast of Lake Lagoda has been repulsed. The reports further state that Soviet troops along the Mannerheim line, cut off from their supply lines, are now eating horse meat.

(And it's longer packaged in second-hand beer bottles!)

Two Sanitation Department employees who hit a pedestrian while joyriding on a garbage truck face grand larceny charges in Felony Court. 53-year-old William Barthold of Ridgewood and 34-year-old Ellis Nash of 259 Conklin Avenue decided to "play a joke" this Monday on garbage collector Joseph Scalza of 582 Cleveland Street by stealing his truck from in front of his house and driving off in it. The two traveled down Cleveland Street for two blocks, hit sixty-year-old Mrs. Esther Tannenberg of 109 Amboy Avenue, and failed to stop until witnesses who saw the accident and blocked the truck at the intersection of Sutter Street and Ashford Avenue. Barthold and Nash jumped off the truck and tried to run away.

Opening tomorrow at Loew's Metropolitan, it's Nelson Eddy and Ilona Massey in "Balalaika," with co-feature "The Secret of Doctor Kildare."

The Eagle Editorialist praises the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce for its efforts to burnish the borough's image in radio and motion pictures, calling attention to Major Bowes' salute to the borough tomorrow night as a fine example of drawing attention to Brooklyn as more than "New York City's sleeping room." Other radio programs and motion pictures would do well to follow the Major's example.

"Bundles Mary" died last night at Kings County Hospital of complications from malnutrition and heart disease. Miss Katherine Powers, whose only joy in life came from distributing scraps of food to stray dogs, cats, and birds around her Sterling Place neighborhood, had received last rites from the Rev. Gerard Murray of St. Augustine's R. C. Church after she was brought to the hospital in a coma early yesterday. Father Murray stated that Miss Powers had admitted no one to her apartment since the death of her sister fifteen years ago, and that she lived in constant fear that others were plotting against her. Miss Powers refused to drink any water except that drawn from the taps at the church, and Father Murray stated that she often came there to fill bottles. Bankbooks for accounts exceeding $40,000 were found among piles of trash and old clothes in Miss Powers' apartment. A cousin, Miss Josephine Powers of 241 E. 23rd Street, reported that Katherine Powers' side of the family "kept to itself," and she declined to discuss them further.

The Rangers continue on a torrid tear, beating the Americans 5 to 3 at the Garden, and further securing their hold on first place in the National Hockey League. The Boston Bruins remain two points out of first, with the Toronto Maple Leafs dropping behind to five points out of second.

Bidding for free agent Benny McCoy is now at the $40,000 level and climbing. The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Browns have been banned from bidding on McCoy by Commissioner Landis, because those clubs "meddled" with McCoy before he was authorized to consider contract offers. McCoy's former club, the Detroit Tigers, is also prohibited from bidding on his services.

"Gimlet-eyed sitting room Napoleon." Ah, Josephine, you do have a gift for le mot juste.

Show business ain't all roses in the dressing room, kid.

Charlie Cheapthug here must have an iron grip to do such damage with just one arm.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News,

Sooner or later, Bertie Wooster will get involved with these people, and poor Jeeves will have to get him out of it with a plot involving two elephants, a bottle of Angostura bitters, a cow-shaped china creamer, and a pair of fawn-colored spats.

Let's see now. Nick Gatt is pulling the strings here with John Tecum, his family and friends, Annie is pulling Nick Gatt's strings, and from the looks of it all, Sandy the Dog is pulling Annie's strings. Wheels within wheels within wheels.

"Drat it, man, who must I see to get things done around here? Where is this Mr. Frosch I've been reading about?"

I hate to spoil this festive occasion by bringing it up, but y'know, there's a lot of Chinese resistance fighters who are really depending on those guns.

Well now. It's good to see Manny from the Pep Boys branching out into new roles. Will we see Moe and Jack too?

Nah, we can't risk Mamie. She's the only one in this family that works regular.

Your sister feels the same way but she's scared to death to say so.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Two Sanitation Department employees who hit a pedestrian while joyriding on a garbage truck face grand larceny charges in Felony Court. 53-year-old William Barthold of Ridgewood and 34-year-old Ellis Nash of 259 Conklin Avenue decided to "play a joke" this Monday on garbage collector Joseph Scalza of 582 Cleveland Street by stealing his truck from in front of his house and driving off in it. The two traveled down Cleveland Street for two blocks, hit sixty-year-old Mrs. Esther Tannenberg of 109 Amboy Avenue, and failed to stop until witnesses who saw the accident and blocked the truck at the intersection of Sutter Street and Ashford Avenue. Barthold and Nash jumped off the truck and tried to run away.....

In addition to all the serious charges these two so rightfully deserve, can they also charge them with being too stupid to live?

... "Gimlet-eyed sitting room Napoleon." Ah, Josephine, you do have a gift for le mot juste....

That is one fired-up woman. I think it's less about protecting her daughter - whom Jospheine is annoyed with, right now, for being an idiot - and more about exposing HO for the fraud that he is.

... Show business ain't all roses in the dressing room, kid.....

Leona should take control of her story and its profit potential or Lupeen will. She's been knocked back on her heels, but we know she's got plenty of b*tch in her; now would be a good time to get over the comedown and use her well-honed "feistiness" to her advantage.

...
Charlie Cheapthug here must have an iron grip to do such damage with just one arm.

It had to take some time (and patience) to draw Charlie Cheapthug's (nice one Lizzie) cross-check-ish pattern on his overcoat. That's a lot of little lines.

At twelve years old, I was probably 5'10" and 120lbs, if a big adult man gripped my shoulder with one hand like that and wanted it to hurt, I have to admit, it would have.

...
Sooner or later, Bertie Wooster will get involved with these people, and poor Jeeves will have to get him out of it with a plot involving two elephants, a bottle of Angostura bitters, a cow-shaped china creamer, and a pair of fawn-colored spats.....

Best part of this story is Princess Baba marrying Bob Gregory, a British wrestler.

I get where you went with this story Lizzie, but for me, I kept thinking of "The Prisoner of Zenda."

... View attachment 208038
I hate to spoil this festive occasion by bringing it up, but y'know, there's a lot of Chinese resistance fighters who are really depending on those guns.....

And let's not forget, Cheery just became Singh-Singh's best wife-option for this trip.

 

[LizzieMaine]

582 Cleveland Street on the far eastern end of Brownsville, home of the unfortunate Mr. Scalza, who no doubt will be hard pressed to explain why he left the keys in his garbage truck. Looks like just the kind of neighborhood where you want to go tearing down the street in a stolen vehicle.

 

[vitanola]

One, does anyone know what exactly this means ""This is not the settlement of a bankruptcy in a cloak and suit house.”

Cloak and suiters tended to have poorly capitalized businesses which would frequently be unable to pay their bills. Such bankruptcies were common, every day business transactions, whilst the negotiations to unify the subway system were far more complex.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

The Eagle Editorialist complains that "The Grapes of Wrath" will probably not play in Brooklyn for weeks or months, and wonders if the real reason first-run pictures don't open in the borough simultaneous with their Manhattan openings is that Manhattan theatre owners know they couldn't make a profit without the support of Brooklyn patrons, "nationally known for the support they give to the movies." Meanwhile, small cities and towns nationwide get top film attractions before Brooklyn, a city of nearly three million people.....

For those looking to have a 1940 Brooklyn movie-going experience, today on TCM:



THE GRAPES OF WRATH(1940)

• THE GRAPES OF WRATH SATURDAY, JANUARY 25 @ 12:00 PM (ET)
  

 

[LizzieMaine]

Despite opposition from United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis, forty-seven union locals attending the UMW convention in Columbus, Ohio today approved resolutions demanding that President Roosevelt be drafted for a third term. The resolutions, representing miners in nine states, went before the full convention a day after Lewis openly broke with the New Deal, and stated that if the President does run for a third term, he will be defeated.

The UMW convention also passed resolutions condemning the Dies Committee, and calling for peace between Lewis in his capacity as leader of the CIO, and American Federation of Labor president William Green.

William Green, meanwhile, today denounced Harry Bridges, CIO leader of longshoremen on the Pacific Coast, as an "alien Communist," and accused the National Labor Relations Board of wiping out AF of L longshoremens' unions in favor of Bridges' organization. Green also criticized Dean James N. Landis of Harvard Law School and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, who concluded following an investigation that Harry Bridges is not a Communist, and that therefore efforts to deport the union leader to his native Australia should be dismissed.

The State Legislature was urged today in a special report to take action to stem the exodus of industry from the state of New York. The bipartisan document claims that high taxes are pushing business firms to relocate, and that labor unions must expel Communists from membership and ban Communists from becoming members in order to make the state more hospitable to industry.

The editors of "Equality" magazine, monthly publication opposed to racial and religious prejudice, are calling on the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States to formally repudiate Father Charles E. Coughlin and to denounce the "Christian Front" for "abusing the authority of the Church as a cloak behind which their sinister work has been carried on." The editors contend that leaders of the Front are "abusing that authority to recruit innocent Catholics into their organization and then bending them to their terroristic and insurrectionist aims."

Police Lieutenant Cuthbert J. Behan was accused today from the grave as his department trial in connection with the theft of thousands of arrest and bail bond records from the Bergen Street precinct house continued. The prosecution read a sworn statement by the late Patrolman James J. Sweeney, who killed himself last year after testifying against Behan, in which Sweeney stated that he saw Behan in the station house early on the morning of October 15, 1938 -- the day the papers were discovered missing. Sweeney's statement placed the time of the encounter as 4 am, and further stated that Behan called Sweeney later in the day to tell him to mention the encounter to no one, because "some one" might be involved.

Register of Deeds James McGuinness, the man who first named Greenpoint "the garden spot of the world," is dealing with a matter with implications far beyond the boundaries of his beloved neighborhood in trying to resolve a proposed land transfer that would put property in Brooklyn under the formal ownership of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. At issue is a deed presented by the Clinton Street Corporation in the names of Hitler, of Berlin, and Stalin, of Moscow, which McGuinness is reluctant to enter into the books without consultation from high Federal officials. McGuinness telephoned the office of Attorney General Robert Jackson in Washington for advice and was told to take the matter to Asssistant Attorney General John Rogge, who is in the borough dealing with the Christian Front case, but McGuinness declined that option, insisting that he wants to talk to "the main squeeze." McGuinness refuses to identify the specific address of the property involved in the matter, or the persons behind the Clinton Street Corporation. McGuinness has been in international hot spots before -- he was Kings County Sheriff when Congress considered a bill demanding that he, in that capacity, take steps to seize and impound the French liner "Normandie" and the British liner "Queen Mary" in payment of defaulted war debts. "I kept us out of war that time," declares the Sage of Greenpoint, "and I'll do it again this time."

Japan's trade agreement with the United States expires today, Tokio time, and the Japanese Foreign Office is reportedly confident that a new accord will be reached. Japanese authorities blame China for coming between Japan and the United States, with resolution of "the China Question" at the center of the larger issue of Japanese-American trade.

Finnish communiques state that all-day and all-night attacks by Russian forces along the fronts northeast of Lake Lagoda were repulsed with significant Soviet losses. Meanwhile, Finnish reports also state that a visiting British delegation indicated that greater financial aid is being supplied to Finland by the British government than had previously been believed.

A 15-year-old boy from Oceanside was killed by gas while apparently attempting a chemistry experiment in his bedroom. Walter Kuck, Oceanside High School honor student who came to this country with his family from Germany two years ago, was found wearing pajamas and a rubber bathing cap held over his face by a pair of airplane goggles, near a tube connected to the kitchen gas stove. Before the body lay an open copy of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," the Robert Louis Stevenson novel about a scientist who transformed himself into a horrible being. The boy had reportedly build a fully equipped laboratory in his basement and had an extensive library of scientific books.

The city could be forced to ration water this spring and summer unless significant rainfall comes soon. So warns Commissioner of Water Supply, Gas, and Electricity Joseph Goodman, who notes that such a drastic step has not been required in the city in more than thirty years.

(Who needs water anyway? DRINK MILK.)

This week at your A&P SELF SERVICE SUPER MARKET -- they're still trying to move those leftover Christmas turkeys at 25 cents a pound.

Pork and sage make a savory menu in winter! Try this recipe for Stuffed Pork Chops:

"Gertrude" writes to Helen Worth to agree with her recent advice about anonymous letters, noting that the woman she thought was her best friend turned out to be behind "cowardly and malicious" letters she received, and that she acted so hastily on the basis of those letters that she "destroyed the only thing [she] had to look forward to."

Opening today at the Patio, Bette Davis and Errol Flynn in "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" and Leslie Howard in "Intermezzo."

Herbert Cohn went over the bridge to see "The Grapes of Wrath" at the Rivoli, and emerged very impressed, calling it "a picture that refuses to pull punches." Some of the "livid lines" are gone of course, but the essence of John Steinbeck's prose remains intact. Henry Fonda gives an intense performance as Tom Joad, and with "complete understanding" of the character, a trait that is common to the entire cast.

Opening this noon at the Flatbush, the Dead End Kids in person head the vaudeville bill, joined by the Milt Herth Trio, "The Female Artie Shaw" Ann Dupont and her Men of Music, comedian Don "Popikoff" Tannen, and other great acts. Matinees 25 cents for adults, children for a dime!

"Humane" writes to the editor denouncing the recent public slaughter of a pig before students of a Westbury, Long Island school, calling it "hardly an educational spectacle." "I know that public education has rejected the 'three R's' for many queer fads, but it seems that taking the lives of animals to amuse our elementary and high school students is a grave mistake."

"Twixteen." Boys, you disgust me.

Henry Armstrong "annihilated" Pedro Montanez in a nine-round welterweight bout at Madison Square Garden last night, and Armstrong may go up against Al Davis for the title -- if Davis can beat a felonious assault rap for slapping around one Hal Mirsky. Davis is currently out on $1500 bail pending resolution of that charge.

New York Giants secretary Eddie Brannick suggests that Commissioner Landis could streamline the free-agent frenzy surrounding Benny McCoy by imposing a limit on bids when he declares a player available. One veteran baseball man suggests that Brannick's idea is hardly workable, since it would make it easy for the Yankees, with their deep pockets, to pick off any free agent they want.

Major Bowes salutes Brooklyn tonight on his Original Amateur Hour, and special phone lines will be operating to allow residents to vote on contestants. Phone MAin 3-1000 to vote for your favorite acts, with the lines remaining open half an hour after the end of the broadcast. Brooklyn talent is expected to be well represented on the program, airing at 9pm over WABC.

So hiring a private eye to investigate Oakdale isn't a bad idea, but jeez, Jo -- don't you think you could do better than Uncle Willie Mullins?

I'm shocked, shocked to find a man named "Louie Bonetti" involved in a shady nightclub. What is this world coming to?

Dan, you priceless chump. Betcha Tracy wouldn't let himself get bushwacked like that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

You didn't learn anything in Hollywood, did you?

Some people will swallow anything.

And the very next day, little Tommy Brown was "on a plane to South America."

On the other hand, what kind of cop is Tracy if he lets Random Moustache Guy in with the baby unsupervised?

Ah, it was Mazie here that got Baby her waitress job, which burned up Della because Baby was a better waitress than she was, which caused Della to frame Baby for shoplifting, which caused Bim to hire Ferrett, who fell in love with Della, and clearly nothing was going to be done to stop all this nonsense, so Mazie had to get involved so we could get on with the story. See how simple?

Okay then, Mister Ryan, smart guy, what's your plan now?

And young Skeezix learns a valuable lesson about how the world really works.

And besides, Willie, don't you have your hands full with this Bungle business?

Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick....

 

[Fading Fast]

...Register of Deeds James McGuinness, the man who first named Greenpoint "the garden spot of the world," is dealing with a matter with implications far beyond the boundaries of his beloved neighborhood in trying to resolve a proposed land transfer that would put property in Brooklyn under the formal ownership of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. At issue is a deed presented by the Clinton Street Corporation in the names of Hitler, of Berlin, and Stalin, of Moscow, which McGuinness is reluctant to enter into the books without consultation from high Federal officials. McGuinness telephoned the office of Attorney General Robert Jackson in Washington for advice and was told to take the matter to Asssistant Attorney General John Rogge, who is in the borough dealing with the Christian Front case, but McGuinness declined that option, insisting that he wants to talk to "the main squeeze." McGuinness refuses to identify the specific address of the property involved in the matter, or the persons behind the Clinton Street Corporation. McGuinness has been in international hot spots before -- he was Kings County Sheriff when Congress considered a bill demanding that he, in that capacity, take steps to seize and impound the French liner "Normandie" and the British liner "Queen Mary" in payment of defaulted war debts. "I kept us out of war that time," declares the Sage of Greenpoint, "and I'll do it again this time."...

If it's not one thing, it's another.

...
(Who needs water anyway? DRINK MILK.)....

The young society woman in the lower right pic ⇧ bears a striking
resemblance to our own Leona Stockpool ⇩ (aka Leona Smith).

I'm just saying - maybe Leona has already found a way to leverage her former life and good looks as a model for milk ads?

..."I know that public education has rejected the 'three R's' for many queer fads, ...

Wow, so that was a complaint as far back as 1940.

... if Davis can beat a felonious assault rap for slapping around one Hal Mirsky. Davis is currently out on $1500 bail pending resolution of that charge....

And all I'm thinking about is the corruption and kickbacks that we know from other parts of the paper are going on in the bail system in NYC.

... So hiring a private eye to investigate Oakdale isn't a bad idea, but jeez, Jo -- don't you think you could do better than Uncle Willie Mullins?...

Also, Jo might want to organize her thoughts a bit first so that she can give the PI helpful information.

... I'm shocked, shocked to find a man named "Louie Bonetti" involved in a shady nightclub. What is this world coming to?...

The shady nightclub with a corrupt and "connected" owner / manager appears in many movies of the era. "It all Came True" with Bogie and "Marked Woman" with Bette Davis are just two of many examples.

"Marked Woman" with Bette Davis as Leona Stockpool.

... Dan, you priceless chump. Betcha Tracy wouldn't let himself get bushwacked like that.

It's almost as if the editors wouldn't use the original title of the strip: Dan Dumb. Seriously, how did this guy make it to detective...still alive.

...

You didn't learn anything in Hollywood, did you?....

"I later learned the track has no bookmakers, but takes all bets through the pari-mutuel system." Seriously, you didn't know that? I kinda doubt that was an obscure fact as I'll bet the track - which put the bookies out of businesses by monopolizing the gambling take - advertised its pari-mutuel system quite loudly.

... Okay then, Mister Ryan, smart guy, what's your plan now?.....

In fairness to Pat, sometimes, the best plan is simply to live to fight another day.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Would Leona Stockpool drink Grade B milk? Don't even think of it.

"Three R's" education was considered obsolete and inadequate by the end of the 19th Century. Not only did none of today's back-to-basics crusaders ever actually experience such an education, neither did their grandparents -- "progressive education" was very much a thing in the US by the middle of the 1910s. But that said, live pig-slaughtering was not a standard part of the usual mainstream curriculum.

Bette makes an excellent Leona. Why didn't we get a "Mary Worth's Family" movie?

"Dan Dunn" makes sense when you think of its hero as a Don Quixote figure who read too many crime pulps and, using a badge he got in a box of Cracker Jacks, sallied forth to fight the villians himself as a self-appointed "special operative." Irwin, of course, makes a fine Sancho Panza, although I doubt Kay would appreciate the comparison with Dulcinea.

The more you learn about Jackie Coogan's rather checkered life, the sorrier you feel for the poor sap.

 

[Fading Fast]

Would Leona Stockpool drink Grade B milk? Don't even think of it.

"Three R's" education was considered obsolete and inadequate by the end of the 19th Century. Not only did none of today's back-to-basics crusaders ever actually experience such an education, neither did their grandparents -- "progressive education" was very much a thing in the US by the middle of the 1910s. But that said, live pig-slaughtering was not a standard part of the usual mainstream curriculum.

Bette makes an excellent Leona. Why didn't we get a "Mary Worth's Family" movie?

"Dan Dunn" makes sense when you think of its hero as a Don Quixote figure who read too many crime pulps and, using a badge he got in a box of Cracker Jacks, sallied forth to fight the villians himself as a self-appointed "special operative." Irwin, of course, makes a fine Sancho Panza, although I doubt Kay would appreciate the comparison with Dulcinea.

The more you learn about Jackie Coogan's rather checkered life, the sorrier you feel for the poor sap.

The curse of the child star. After working in a private bank for years, it became very clear to me that being born into a wealthy family is also no joy quite often. That's true much, much more often than you'd think.

My upbringing was on the frugal side - we had the basics, food, shelter, necessary medical care, but not much more. So, I assumed these "rich" kids would have had great upbringings, but not so much for a lot of reasons that we all know about from the stories, but when - as I did - you saw the wreckage up close, you (at least I did) become much happier with your start in life.

I like Dan Dunn as Don Quixote - a figure I had all but no real understanding of when I first read the book in high school. But as you get older and bumped around by life, his "crazy" makes a lot more sense to you.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Two gunmen today invaded the home of a Long Island Masonic official and escaped with the proceeds of the annual LongI Grotto Ball. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Luca of 86 Greene Avenue, who live on the third floor of an old brownstone house in the quiet Hill section of Brooklyn, were tied up by the two robbers who made off with $675 in cash earned by the lodge benefit event held last night at the Astor Hotel in Manhattan. The two "well dressed young men" gained entry to the Luca apartment by claiming they were "sent by Judge Froessel," a Queens jurist known to the Lucas as a high Masonic officer. The robbers tied Mr. Luca to his own bed and Mrs. Luca to a kitchen chair, using scraps of torn bedsheet, before fleeing with the cash. The robbery occured at approximately 9:30 this morning.

Dissatisfaction with a recent ruling by the American Federation of Labor involving the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has caused members of the IBEW local representing workers at the Brooklyn Edison Company to withdraw from the national organization and form their own independent union. More than 500 members of IBEW local B-325 representing workers from Brooklyn and Queens crowded into the American Legion hall on Pierrepont Street for the emergency meeting, with a unanimous vote to resign from the IBEW and form the new Brotherhood of Consolidated Edison Employees. The breakaway union members cited poor representation of their local at the national level, and a specific decision by the national IBEW to grant approximately 300 jobs on a new Consolidated Edison project to members of an outside local. Meanwhile, members of a third union of Edison Company employees, the CIO-affiliated Amalgamated Utility Workers, charge that Consolidated Edison itself engineered and manipulated the rebellion, in order to keep dissatisfied IBEW members from turning to the CIO, which has called for a new collective bargaining election next month.

Youthful king of the Brooklyn bail bond racket Abraham Frosch took the stand today in the departmental trial of police Lieutenant Cuthbert J. Behan, and told the court that while he had posted many bonds under fictitious names with Behan, he couldn't remember if he'd ever paid the Lieutenant any cash. Frosch told Assistant Attorney General Deacon Murphy, chief prosecutor in the case, that he has known Behan for three years, and readily identified more than a score of fictitious bail bonds on which Behan had freed prisoners held at the Bergen Street station. When pressed on the question of cash payments to Behan, Frosch would only state that "maybe I did, but maybe I didn't."

Three brothers were indicted today in Manhattan Federal Court on a narcotics smuggling charge of a scale unseen since the days just after the World War. Henry, George, and Charles Neiditch, otherwise known as the "Newman Brothers," are accused of moving approximately $25,000 worth of illegal drugs into the United States per month between 1934 and 1938, merchandise with a retail value in excess of $15,000,000.

Assistant US Attorney Harold Kennedy has advised Kings County Register of Deeds Peter McGuinness that there will be no international ramifications involved with the deeding of property on Clinton Street to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin by the 541 Clinton Street Corporation. The move appears to be a tactic by the owners to forestall foreclosure proceedings on the property by the Dime Savings Bank in default of a $3300 mortgage. With no international obstacles to the filing and sealing of the deed, the creditors will now be required to name Hitler and Stalin as defendants in foreclosure, and to serve them in person with such notice.

(Kind of a fixer-upper, but someday Red Hook will be an up and coming neighborhood...)

An eyewitness to the assassination of Long Beach Mayor Louis P. Edwards described the scene today in Nassau County Court. Real estate manager Frank J. Coombes told the court he saw Police Patrolman Alvin Dooley shoot the Mayor and heard him say "I just shot the Mayor, the Jew...take me to police headquarters." Coombes also testified that Dooley added "I don't give a damn if I burn for it." Coombes testified that he accompanied Dooley to the station house, where he saw Dooley pull out a bottle of whiskey and offer the desk sergeant a drink after declaring "I just shot the ______ mayor and that stool pigeon Walsh. Here, have a drink on me!" Patrolman James Walsh, the Mayor's bodyguard, was shot and wounded in the attack but has recovered from his injuries.

President Roosevelt has advised Americans desiring to go abroad to fight for Finland that they stand no risk of losing their citizenship -- as long as they don't swear an oath of allegiance to Finland in doing so. Finland may not, however, conduct official recruiting operations within the United States.

SPRING IS LESS THAN EIGHT WEEKS AWAY.

An enigmatic personal ad: "WELL WISHING FRIEND who wrote physician about lawsuit. Now is the time. Immediate assistance needed. Communicate at once with him."

The City of Flint is finally back in American waters, months after its capture by Germans as a contraband ship generated an international incident. The battered little freighter sailed past the Virginia capes today en route to Baltimore. Two officials of the United States Lines boarded the vessel today carrying a long-awaited payroll -- the crew hasn't been paid since the ship was captured in early October.

Two Brooklyn "Robin Hoods" who stole a truckload of smoked fish and distributed it for free to poor residents of Brownsville and Greenpoint pleaded guilty to petty larceny today before Judge Franklin Taylor, who reduced the charge against 39-year-old Robert Tomlinson and 30-year-old Joseph Tucker from grand larceny. The two, while "in a prankish mood," drove off in a fish truck owned by Aaron Weiner of 280 Metropolitan Avenue, and handed out its contents to the neighborhood poor before deciding to take a share to the Bowery in Manhattan. Their plans were interrupted when the truck struck a railing on the Williamsburg Bridge and the two men were arrested.

SPRING REALLY IS EIGHT WEEKS AWAY.

More than 27,000,000 persons heard Major Bowes salute Brooklyn last night over more than 100 stations affiliated with the Columbia network. The Major in designating Brooklyn as his "honor city" for the week called it "The Greater City's Greatest Borough," and touted many local industries and cultural attractions in telling of Brooklyn's accomplishments. The broadcast very much pleased the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce as part of its "Sell Brooklyn" campaign.

DINING AND DANCING

(And Sally says to Joe, "We ain't Dined an' Danced in ages." And Joe says "Yeah, an' 'at's 'cause they raided that jernt we used to go to. Whattaya gonna do?" And Sally says "There's other places. You just do'wanna dance 'cause ya look like a bag a' wet wash when ya do it." And Joe says "Oh yeah? Toin on th' radio.")

"The Shop Around The Corner," now showing at Radio City Music Hall, is a "bright Lubitsch farce," says Herbert Cohn, who made the trip over for the premiere. Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart are a delightful screen couple in the fun and frothy entertainment.

Two City Councilmen are proposing that the city "resolve the chaos surrounding milk distribution" by opening its own municipal milk plant. Councilmen Harry W. Laidler and Salvatore Ninfo are floating the idea of a city-run milk operation over the objection of Commissioner of Markets William F. Morgan, who sees such a project as unnecessary and costly, but the two Councilmen argue that a municipal milk plant would allow distribution of milk on a far more efficient basis than the current profit-driven system.

The Rabbi of Union Temple, oldest Jewish congregation on Long Island, is a serious hobbyist. Dr. Sidney S. Tedesche speaks fourteen languages, is a first-class amateur photographer, and has an enormous collection of books in all the languages he speaks. He recently mastered the Assyrian tongue, and wrote his PhD dissertation at Yale entirely in Greek. Of his photography, Dr. Tedesche says he only fools around with taking photos of the "old ladies" in his congregation, but Mrs. Tedeschi complains he's turned their home into a nest of tanks and jars with all his developing and printing equipment.

The hockey world is abuzz with news that Eddie Shore, the game's most explosive star, has been traded to the Americans by the Boston Bruins. The specific terms of the deal are unclear, but it is expected that a "fumbling right wing" named Eddie Wiseman and about $5000 cash will head to Boston as New York's end of the trade. Shore has been loudly unhappy with the Bruins this season, and he is unlikely to be much happier playing for the last-place Amerks, but coach Red Dutton thinks Bad Eddie will come to heel and contribute over the final portion of the season. Shore is a major investor with the minor-league Springfield Indians, and the Bruins were unhappy with his insistence on playing with that club as well as Boston this season. Indications are that Shore will continue to insist on playing for Springfield whenever he is able to do so as a member of the Americans.

"That DETECTIVE I hired." It's just possible that Jo has realized this may all make Oakdale look more glamorous than ever.

C'mon now. Bobbie is "the best dance director in the business" and all he's got is a hokey pirate routine that was passe in 1925? Poor Leona looks like she's slinging smoked fish into the back of a truck in Brownsville.

Why does all the dialect in this strip sound like something out of "Red Ryder?"

 

[LizzieMaine]

And from the Daily News...

Not the first time little Jacqueline Bouvier will get her name in the Daily News....

There's got to be an easier way to annoy a bank...

"Nick closed him up." Good old wholesome, upbeat Annie.

"Oh, and Mama, by vote of the family we're letting you go and putting Mazie in your place. You can pick up your check at the desk on the way out."

Okay, so all this started when Pat and April got separated from Terry and the rest of their party by an attack from the "Invaders." Among those in that party was The Dragon Lady and her men, and she must still be fairly close to the area. Aside from being an absolutely ruthless pirate chieftan and anti-Invader terrorist, The Dragon Lady also has a severe case of All That for Pat. Prediction: the Cap'n is going to be in a very deep stew if said Dragon Lady shows up and Pat has been harmed. So yeah, you better start thinking hard there, old man...

See, Tracy? It's just that easy. If Manny Pep here can think of it, why not you?

And this is how, fifty years from now, Wilmer Bobble will be elected to the United States Senate.

Y'know, there's something rather sweet about the fact that a crude, cigar-chomping poolroom tough like Moon would crawl over a counter to get at a bowl of jelly beans.

What's the matter, Lena? Your conscience finally kicking in?

 

[Fading Fast]

...Three brothers were indicted today in Manhattan Federal Court on a narcotics smuggling charge of a scale unseen since the days just after the World War. Henry, George, and Charles Neiditch, otherwise known as the "Newman Brothers," are accused of moving approximately $25,000 worth of illegal drugs into the United States per month between 1934 and 1938, merchandise with a retail value in excess of $15,000,000....

$15,000,000 in 1940 = ~$274,000,000 in 2020 dollars. That is no small drug operation the brothers Newman were running.

...The City of Flint is finally back in American waters, months after its capture by Germans as a contraband ship generated an international incident. The battered little freighter sailed past the Virginia capes today en route to Baltimore. Two officials of the United States Lines boarded the vessel today carrying a long-awaited payroll -- the crew hasn't been paid since the ship was captured in early October....

I had all but forgotten about that ship. That happens with news stories today, too, where something gets big coverage for awhile and, then, despite not being resolved, it drops out of the papers only to come back, seemingly out of nowhere, at a future date.

To some extent, the street protests in both Hong Kong and France are like that today where they get daily coverage for awhile and, then, it stops only to pick up again at a later date, but the protests never stopped, just the news coverage. I always feel that there's an agenda at work behind the scenes, but can't say I know what it is.

T...
SPRING REALLY IS EIGHT WEEKS AWAY....

I've heard the term before, but what does "pre-inventory" sale mean? Are they saying that if they don't sell the fur coats now, they'll have to take them off the sales floor and put them into inventory over the summer, so it's a "pre-inventory" sale?

..."The Shop Around The Corner," now showing at Radio City Music Hall, is a "bright Lubitsch farce," says Herbert Cohn, who made the trip over for the premiere. Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart are a delightful screen couple in the fun and frothy entertainment....

Wonderful movie and it's better than its popular remake "You've Got Mail."

...The Rabbi of Union Temple, oldest Jewish congregation on Long Island, is a serious hobbyist. Dr. Sidney S. Tedesche speaks fourteen languages, is a first-class amateur photographer, and has an enormous collection of books in all the languages he speaks. He recently mastered the Assyrian tongue, and wrote his PhD dissertation at Yale entirely in Greek. Of his photography, Dr. Tedesche says he only fools around with taking photos of the "old ladies" in his congregation, but Mrs. Tedeschi complains he's turned their home into a nest of tanks and jars with all his developing and printing equipment....

Speaks fourteen languages, that's fourteen!

... "That DETECTIVE I hired." It's just possible that Jo has realized this may all make Oakdale look more glamorous than ever...."

"...there's his oily voice now." God she hates this man.

... C'mon now. Bobbie is "the best dance director in the business" and all he's got is a hokey pirate routine that was passe in 1925? Poor Leona looks like she's slinging smoked fish into the back of a truck in Brownsville....

Yes, but, she looks better than anyone who's really slinging smoked fish into trucks in Brownsville. It's that, plus her "pedigree," that's going to break this story wide open. The "titillation" that the upper, middle and lower classes of New York are going to get by seeing a pretty, fallen society deb - scantily clad in a chorus line - is going to be quite a story and quite profitable (tacky, out-dated number or not).

... View attachment 208546
Not the first time little Jacqueline Bouvier will get her name in the Daily News.......

Hmm, the odd thing is that I've read, many times, that little Jacqueline grew up at 740 Park (some say the most "prestigious" building in NYC - certainly one of the most expensive). My guess is they moved around as the family clearly had its issues. (In Jackie's time on the left and today on the right.)

... There's got to be an easier way to annoy a bank......

The focused and motivated human mind can get quite creative.

... "Oh, and Mama, by vote of the family we're letting you go and putting Mazie in your place. You can pick up your check at the desk on the way out."...

... View attachment 208551 Okay, so all this started when Pat and April got separated from Terry and the rest of their party by an attack from the "Invaders." Among those in that party was The Dragon Lady and her men, and she must still be fairly close to the area. Aside from being an absolutely ruthless pirate chieftan and anti-Invader terrorist, The Dragon Lady also has a severe case of All That for Pat. Prediction: the Cap'n is going to be in a very deep stew if said Dragon Lady shows up and Pat has been harmed. So yeah, you better start thinking hard there, old man......

This is some seriously good story telling - tied, in real time, into complex world events - in a reasonably restrictive format.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think the "pre inventory sale" means they want to move all that stuff out of the store before they do inventory on the fur department at the close of the season. I'm kind of curious now about exactly what a store does with merchandise like furs when the season is over -- I can't imagine it would be inexpensive to put a bunch of coats into cold storage until next fall, by which time they'd be out of style anyway. Do they dump them at a loss on the discount market, which in 1940 is a bunch of guys named Solly in walkups on Pitkin Avenue who cut the labels out and sell everything "wholesale direct to you?"

No doubt kindly Dr. Tedesche is a fascinating gentleman to talk to but I bet he drives his poor wife right up the wall.

I really like the art in today's Mary Worth -- Miss Connor has perfectly captured Leona's awkwardness and the complete chintziness of the whole dance number, and the complete disinterest of the columnist and his pal at the table. "Mary Worth" today is a very difficult strip to read for the utter ridiculousness of its stories, the dopiness of its characters, and the bland genericness of its art, but in 1940 it really was quality work.

The remarkable thing about Terry is that Mr. Caniff never set foot in China in his life. Everything he knew about the country, its people, its politics, and its specific situation at the moment came from deep and incessant research and reading. He was also the very first popular-culture figure to take up the cause of China against the Japanese invasion, even though Capt. Patterson, the publisher of the News, fought him on that at every turn, not wanting, I suppose, to offend advertisers who dealt in Japanese imports. He actually started once to write a grown-up novel based on the characters and situations in the strip, and it's a real regret that he never finished it.

 

[Fading Fast]

I think the "pre inventory sale" means they want to move all that stuff out of the store before they do inventory on the fur department at the close of the season. I'm kind of curious now about exactly what a store does with merchandise like furs when the season is over -- I can't imagine it would be inexpensive to put a bunch of coats into cold storage until next fall, by which time they'd be out of style anyway. Do they dump them at a loss on the discount market, which in 1940 is a bunch of guys named Solly in walkups on Pitkin Avenue who cut the labels out and sell everything "wholesale direct to you?"...

Even into the '80s - and before "discount" stores and "outlets" were the business they are today - the Lower East Side (in haphazardly organized and quite dusty stores and with some old-world hucksterism at work) sold "last season's clothes at half off!", so maybe some wound up there as well.

...No doubt kindly Dr. Tedesche is a fascinating gentleman to talk to but I bet he drives his poor wife right up the wall.....

Yes and yes would be my guess too.

...I really like the art in today's Mary Worth -- Miss Connor has perfectly captured Leona's awkwardness and the complete chintziness of the whole dance number, and the complete disinterest of the columnist and his pal at the table. "Mary Worth" today is a very difficult strip to read for the utter ridiculousness of its stories, the dopiness of its characters, and the bland genericness of its art, but in 1940 it really was quality work.....

The artwork in "Mary Worth," at this time, is stunning: the scenes are incredibly alive and the skilled drawings portray people with nuanced emotions and realistic body English. It's really quite amazing.

...The remarkable thing about Terry is that Mr. Caniff never set foot in China in his life. Everything he knew about the country, its people, its politics, and its specific situation at the moment came from deep and incessant research and reading. He was also the very first popular-culture figure to take up the cause of China against the Japanese invasion, even though Capt. Patterson, the publisher of the News, fought him on that at every turn, not wanting, I suppose, to offend advertisers who dealt in Japanese imports. He actually started once to write a grown-up novel based on the characters and situations in the strip, and it's a real regret that he never finished it.

Heck, look at what Emily Dickinson did even though she hardly ever left her house. Some artists just seem to "get it" by research and understanding without having to experience it all first hand.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Here's the best example I could find online of an original piece of Dale Connor's artwork -- a Sunday page from December 1940:

(A pox on who ever cut out the missing panels.)

From the looks of this, Miss Connor works with brushes rather than a pen for the figures -- and the technique, seen up close, is gorgeous -- note the varying thickness of the line, and the light way it's just wafted down on the paper. Note also there's no mechanical aids to shading -- no Benday dots, no Zip-a-tone, no Craftint paper. The shading on Bill's coat is brushed on by hand -- and brushed on perfectly.

And I don't think I've ever seen another cartoonist with as great a skill for mixing realistic figures with more cartoony ones -- and making it work. Usually the artist has to commit to one approach or the other, but Dale is giving us three here -- Mary and Dennie are straight realism, Bill and Sunny are just slightly exaggerated, and Grandpa is full-on foot-stompin' cartoony. And they all mesh -- they all look like they belong in the same scene. Caniff is another artist who has that skill -- look how he draws Singh-Singh compared to Captain Blaze -- but there aren't too many others, then or now, who can do it that well.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, it looks like the paperboy threw today's Eagle a little too hard, and it bounced off the front door and back into the street, where it was run over by a stolen garbage truck driven by two sanitation workers playing a joke on their pal. So we don't have an Eagle in the files for today. But I did go down to the Out of Town Newsstand and was able to find, at least, today's comics in other papers ---

Portrait of an oily brazen man backed into a corner. Nice medals, though. That must've been quite a rummage sale.

#metoo, 1940 style. And Bill has the snazziest delivery truck in town.

"To the house where we trailed those hoodlums after they tried to bomb us the other night." The syntax, it pains.

The Eagle will be back tomorrow. I called the circulation desk and complained.