The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

German sources acknowledge that flames are visible from forty miles away following smashing British raids on the great northern shipping port of Hamburg and industrial sites along the Ruhr. British naval attacks were also confirmed against German positions at Boulogne. The German DNB news agency stated that an attempted British assault on Cherbourg was driven off.

Meanwhile, tightly packed formations of German warplanes patrolled above the oil fields of Rumania today, with at least sixty-eight planes, some of them Rumanian, confirmed over the capital city of Bucharest. It is anticipated that Rumania and Great Britain will break off diplomatic relations within a matter of hours.

The demand for a new Supreme Court building broadened today into a call for a full redevelopment of Downtown Brooklyn, creating a civic center suitable for the city's largest and most populous borough. With an appropriation of $50,000 for preliminary studies, it is anticipated that a committee of civic and business leaders will develop a plan which, when implemented, will give Brooklyn her rightful place within the important communities of the nation.

("Ainnat swell?" says Joe. "Wonnaif'eyevehgonnadosumpin' 'bouttem holes innapavement oveheah on Stillwell Aveneh." "I hoidaboudda acciden' 't'otha day," says Sally. "Li'l goil anna puppy felldownaoneat'em holes, they haddacallacopstapullumout.")

Borough President John Cashmore today declared that Brooklyn labor unions are united in support for plans to build a new super-drydock on the borough's waterfront. A six-man committee of labor leaders today met with Mr. Cashmore at his office to endorse his campaign to convince naval authorities to construct the new $10,000,000 facility here.

Verdicts totalling $55,000 were awarded today to two Brooklyn families in a lawsuit growing out of an accident at Bushville, New York in 1938 in which one woman was killed and another seriously injured by falling hay bales knocked off a truck. Mrs. Sadie Hausman Laskey, a mah-jong and bridge instructor, was killed in the accident when a speeding beer delivery truck swerved in front of a truck piled with hay bails, causing that truck to overturn and sending hay bales flying thru the air. One of them killed Mrs. Laskey instantly, and another injured her friend, Mrs. Sadye Kasdin of 643 Hawthorne Street. The operator of the hay truck and the Endicott Beverage Company, owner of the beer truck, along with the drivers of both vehicles, were named as defendants in the lawsuit.

(What? I have no idea. "Columbus Sailed The Ocean Blue in Fourteen Hundred and Ninety Two?" "Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet?" "Chases Dirt?" What kind of a dopey contest is this?)

A former $27 a week cashier for the Literary Guild, mail-order book club, is suing her ex-employer for defamation of character stemming from unfounded charges that she embezzled $80,000 from the company. Mrs. Katherine Cuccaro of Dumond, New Jersey was acquitted on charges of grand larceny and forgery last summer, and charges in her lawsuit that Guild officials falsely accused her of the crime in order to cover up for the guilt of an unnamed person. A former Guild bookkeeper was convicted of third-degree forgery in connection with the case and is now serving a two-to-four year sentence in Sing Sing Prison. Mrs. Cuccaro alleges that the convicted bookkeeper received $10,000 of the total amount stolen, with the balance kept by the employee she accuses Guild officials of shielding.

A spokesman for the Russell Sage Foundation declared last night in a meeting sponsored by the Brooklyn Good Neighbor Committee that there is no need for immigrants to totally abandon their native culture in order to become "good Americans." Speaker Allen Eaton told the rally at Long Island University that the real danger in insisting on full cultural assimilation of immigrants is that "we may lose some of the cultural contributions they may give to American life. Our Immigrant citizens are not a different lot that constitutes a special menace or a special problem -- they are a normal part of our vast and varied population with the same aspirations and the same problems as the rest of us."

The waters surrounding New York City will be entirely free of pollution within the next ten years -- providing current plans for the construction of new treatment plants are brought to realization. So declared Seth G. Hess, chief engineer and executive secretary of the State Sanitation Commission, in a speech to members of the Brooklyn Engineers Club. There are presently 70 waste treatment plants in operation from Bear Mountain to Long Island, with seventeen of them built in just the past year. "In 1920," Mr. Hess observed, "pollution was so severe that it absorbed all the oxygen in the East and Harlem Rivers, causing odors and other nuisances." But, he noted, the construction of modern treatment facilities has brought such an improvement that shad fishing is once again an important resource.

Alice Marble excels at tennis, but she's interested in all sports -- as you'll learn when you tune in to her new radio program over WNEW. Every Friday night at 7:45 Miss Marble will offer her predictions for the weekend in college football, and will, on occasion join in to offer play-by-play accounts of games broadcast over the station. "I admit I'll be sticking my neck out," says Miss Marble. "But I have to admit I know football."

(Don't be so catty, toots. Don't you know she's an expert on hair restoration techniques?)

The big game on the local college football scene will be up at the Polo Grounds tomorrow when the Manhattan Jaspers face Boston University. BU hasn't played a game in New York in sixteen years, and is unbeaten on the season so far. Also worth noting, Columbia will meet Dartmouth. On the national stage, the marquee contest will be Notre Dame versus Georgia Tech.

In schoolboy football, a crowd of 35,000 is anticipated at Ebbets Field for a big doubleheader tomorrow afternoon, as two of the most storied rivalries on the local gridiron come to the fore. The first game will pit Brooklyn Tech against Manual Training, with the nightcap sending out Erasmus Hall against James Madison to determine Flatbush bragging rights. The latter game will be the very first game in the history of New York City high school football to be booked under the lights.

(Hey, now, I've *been* to the New Yorker, and I don't remember any ice rink. The lobby was kind of chilly though.)

(You just blew your chance at an endorsement tie-in with Sheffield Farms.)

(George is an experienced time traveler who has interacted with actual space aliens and supernatural beings. You'd think he'd have a better class of friends.)

(Next: Dennie becomes a hard-boiled junior detective with Bill as his bumbling sidekick.)

(Are you SURE you want to put Irwin in a gun turret? What if he gets stuck?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

First Wynn Murray, now Sheila Barrett? All my favorites are in Page Four trouble. If Minnie Pious shows up here next, I dunno what I'll do. And in other news, John Barrymore announces his plan to convert to Episcopalianism.

They had conspiracy theories in 1940 too.

Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before....

"All my life I've wanted to be a patient in a sickbed. I want to celebrate, bring me some oatmeal!"

The DL has had just about enough of this.

In 1940, everybody knows Morse code.

Say "Moses who will lead the masses out of the morass of melancholia" three times fast.

C'mon, Snipe -- show him how.

Chauffeur fight! Chauffeur fight!

"But you don't understand -- you have the wrong address! The Clutterbutts live down the street -- *my* name is Clara Clusterfutz!"

 

[Fading Fast]

...("Ainnat swell?" says Joe. "Wonnaif'eyevehgonnadosumpin' 'bouttem holes innapavement oveheah on Stillwell Aveneh." "I hoidaboudda acciden' 't'otha day," says Sally. "Li'l goil anna puppy felldownaoneat'em holes, they haddacallacopstapullumout.")...

"'Li'l goil anna puppy felldownaoneat'em holes, they haddacallacopstapullumout.,"

... Mrs. Sadie Hausman Laskey, a mah-jong and bridge instructor,...

Is that a paying job?

...
(What? I have no idea. "Columbus Sailed The Ocean Blue in Fourteen Hundred and Ninety Two?" "Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet?" "Chases Dirt?" What kind of a dopey contest is this?)...

Absolutely stupid contest. Are they, maybe, saying that there usually is a slogan inside those circles and you just have to remember it? That's a wild guess as nothing makes sense. I'm thinking, maybe, the director of marketing who got fired from Childs got hired at Loft. All that said, I'm good for two boxes of the Old Dutch Style chocolates.

....A former $27 a week cashier for the Literary Guild, mail-order book club, is suing her ex-employer for defamation of character stemming from unfounded charges that she embezzled $80,000 from the company. Mrs. Katherine Cuccaro of Dumond, New Jersey was acquitted on charges of grand larceny and forgery last summer, and charges in her lawsuit that Guild officials falsely accused her of the crime in order to cover up for the guilt of an unnamed person. A former Guild bookkeeper was convicted of third-degree forgery in connection with the case and is now serving a two-to-four year sentence in Sing Sing Prison. Mrs. Cuccaro alleges that the convicted bookkeeper received $10,000 of the total amount stolen, with the balance kept by the employee she accuses Guild officials of shielding....

This is a good story; I hope they keep following it. I could see some version of it being the reason for the pending failure of Wump & Co.

...[
(Don't be so catty, toots. Don't you know she's an expert on hair restoration techniques?)...

No kidding. Now he's even making the women bald. What is it with Lichty and hair?

... (George is an experienced time traveler who has interacted with actual space aliens and supernatural beings. You'd think he'd have a better class of friends.)...

Really, you want to be George's friend?

... (Next: Dennie becomes a hard-boiled junior detective with Bill as his bumbling sidekick.)...

Reveal too small, so T+Nine Days

...
(Are you SURE you want to put Irwin in a gun turret? What if he gets stuck?)

Eh, so what?

I'm just glad they have a gun turret.

... First Wynn Murray, now Sheila Barrett? All my favorites are in Page Four trouble. If Minnie Pious shows up here next, I dunno what I'll do. And in other news, John Barrymore announces his plan to convert to Episcopalianism....

The story of the little boy who ran into traffic is horrible; it's still heartbreaking eighty years later. My God, how must his seven-year-old brother feel?

...
Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before.......

Smartly prescient call.

...[ "All my life I've wanted to be a patient in a sickbed. I want to celebrate, bring me some oatmeal!"...

Maybe she knows Mamma from "The Gumps." Didn't Mamma sling hash - isn't that her big secret?

... The DL has had just about enough of this....

If you replace "kissed" with "had sex with"* in panel three, as I believe Caniff wants to say, it makes sense. Arrogant, but makes sense. And, yes, DL looks about ready to shoot both of them.

*Dude would have used a crude term for it.

... C'mon, Snipe -- show him how...."

Come over to my house for diner tonight and, afterwards, we'll work on your confidence young man.

... View attachment 269522 "But you don't understand -- you have the wrong address! The Clutterbutts live down the street -- *my* name is Clara Clusterfutz!"

Good plan except that Harold didn't think through the important last step.

Oh, and again, "Pipdyke" really!?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've been looking at that Loft ad all day trying to figure out exactly what the point is, and I just don't get it. They better give some hints in future ads or I'm going to be really sore. And I imagine poor Joe will lie awake every night trying to make sense of it.

Speaking of Childs, they haven't had an ad for weeks now. Just goes to show ya.

That accident is one of those moments you just wish everybody could have done things just a slight bit differently. If the cop had seen the kids and signaled the trolley a moment later, if the motorman had started right when he was signaled to, if the truck driver had been just a tick less impatient. A lot of lives upended in one second of time.

I'm getting sick of all the negative campaigning in this election. Hopefully in the future people will learn to discuss the issues in a civil and intelligent way.

There is a crazy item buried in the News saying that Larry MacPhail is scheming to buy the Boston Bees. The Eagle has nothing to say about this, and you'd think if it was legit they'd have it all over the front page. But not a word. Very mysterious.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A German torpedo boat flotilla was reported fighting a naval engagement today off the Isle of Wight with British light naval forces. Informed sources state that the German flotilla encountered British submarines, destroyers, and torpedo boats, and that the outcome of the engagement is unknown.

Royal Air Force planes last night attacked oil plants, factories, docks, and airdromes in Germany, despite unfavorable weather conditions, and returned safely to their bases. Kiel, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Wessermunde, Wilhelmshaven, and ports all the way from Rotterdam to Cherbourg were hit in the raids. Meanwhile, German heavy guns shelled the coast of Dover as British planes and guns brought a blazing assault against German invasion ports along the French coast.

Six persons drowned in a basement air raid shelter in London last night after a Nazi bomb severed a water main, demolishing the house and filling the cellar with water.

All Britons are being urged to leave the Rumanian capital of Bucharest after German troops began flooding into the city. Truckloads of German soldiers with fixed bayonets arrived in Bucharest giving the impression of a Nazi occupation of the city.

A two year old girl found wandering alone near Avenue O and E. 56th Street has been reunited by her parents. Blonde and blue-eyed Lenora Nicholson was found by Patrolman Carl Olosson of the Vanderveer Park precinct, weeping and unable to give her name or address. Meanwhile, her distraught mother Anna Nicholson of 2022 E. 55th Street was canvassing the neighborhood for her missing child, and reported her disappearance to police at the Empire Boulevard station, who after many anxious hours accomplished the reunion.

In a Columbus Day address, New York Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti, a Democrat, warned against racial prejudices arising from the European War, and asserted that any attacks against Republican Presidential nominee Wendell Willkie on the basis of his German ancestry "deserve the condemnation of any right-thinking citizen of this country." Speaking in Columbus Circle this morning, the Lieutenant Governor declared "No American is a better American than any other. No American should be made to suffer discrimination or social prejudice because of his racial origin."

The Negro Republican leader of Kings County today denounced the Roosevelt Administration for perpetuating the segregation of the Armed Forces in order to curry favor with Southern voters. George E. Wibecan made his statement in response to an announcement by the War Department that "white and colored troops" will continue to serve separately in the Army and Navy under the new conscription law. "What would this chief executive say," said Mr. Wibecan, "if he realized there are thousands of Negroes in the National Guard throughout the country who are light-skinned enough to pass for white men? It is pitiful that a man must masquerade in this manner in order to be allowed to defend his country like any other American citizen."

A French monument to the valor of her Negro troops during the World War has been destroyed on order of the Nazi government. The bronze grouping of Negro soldiers surrounding the French tricolor stood on the Avenue du Chalons in Rhiems, and was blown up today on order of Nazi authorites who declared the sculpture "an insult to the white race."

(If Joe and Sally go, they'll take the subway.)

(I didn't know Maw Green was married.)

Four representatives from the Eagle will be featured in the premiere of a new radio quiz program, "Battle For The Boroughs," heard tomorrow at 3:30 pm over WOR, and hosted by Dodger broadcasters Red Barber and Al Helfer. Barber will captain the Brooklyn team, consisting of Eagle managing editor Andrew Bernhard, city editor Harold Twain, Sunday Trend editor Vi Brown, and women's editor Gertrude McAllister. Helfer's Manhattan team will include four representatives of Manhattan dailies. Brookyn borough president John Cashmore and City Council president Newhold Morris will serve as judges. Next week, representatives of Namm's, Abraham & Strauss, Loeser's, and Martin's will compete against a team representing Manhattan department stores.

("If a man cares to carry it that far" = "Don't bother.")

The Eagle Editorialist pays respects to today's observation of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar. "The devout observance of this holy day exerts a profound influence on the Jewish community here, and hence on the borough as a whole."

The EE also condemns the use of "ringers" on the Sanitation Department baseball team. "What chance has a team of simon-pure amateurs against an aggregation invigorated by the breezes of the salt bay, a team with muscles hardened by workouts on Sanitation Department scows?"

(But then again, how many real "simon pure amateurs" are left in the world?)

("Football!" sneers Sally. "Phooeyonnit. Petey's got better anklestalookat'nennyat'ese bums.)

It will be easier to see where the Football Dodgers are headed in this year's National Football League race after their clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ebbets Field tomorrow. Pittsburgh isn't the strongest team in the league, but it's strong enough to show up the Football Flock if coach Jock Sutherland hasn't thoroughly addressed the weaknesses the local squad has shown over its first three games of the season. Lack of a really strong quarterback is the biggest of those weaknesses, and Sutherland hopes Rhoten Shelley will prove the solution. Shelley hasn't much speed, but he's better at calling plays than Dick Kish, who failed to make the grade last week.

James Madison is the favorite over Erasmus Hall in tonight's traditional Columbus Day game between the two Flatbush high schools at Ebbets Field, being played for the first time under the lights. But, the smart money observes, Madison has been the favorite every year since 1936, and has lost every time.

The National Hockey League season begins in less than a month with the Rangers and the Americans both set to open during the first week of November. The 1940-41 schedule, released today, show the Blueshirts opening on the road against Toronto on November 2nd and at home against Detroit on November 16th, while the Starshirts kick off their schedule at Detroit on November 3rd and at home against Chicago on November 14th.

(This is not Eve Arden of the movies, and in fact Miss Eunice Quedens had no idea that *this* Eve Arden was already rampant in the land when she selected the name for herself. The SAG does not permit two performers to use the same stage name, but Miss Arden of the $50,000 Legs carries an AGVA card, not a SAG card. At least I presume she carries it. Somewhere. And for that matter, however much Ann Sheridan dislikes being called "The Oomph Girl," I suspect she dislikes Miss Fox here being called it even more.)

(Comic Strip Physics: with feet like that, shouldn't Slappy be impossible to knock over? Wouldn't he just rock back and forth like one of those inflatable punching clowns?)

(George and Jo spend much of their waking lives complaining about neighbors and relatives, so you'd think they'd view this fish as a gift of divine providence.)

("Get a haircut and a shave while you're at it, you greasy ba***rd. Here, there's a straight razor in the drawer, I'll do it for you. Bend down and give me your neck.")

(If only the RAF had Irwin, the war would be over by now.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

It's all about the Family Values today.

The Air Force debate has been going on since Billy Mitchell was court-martialed fifteen years ago, and it's going to continue for quite a while to come.

How do you build something like this without being noticed by anyone? Is the Dan Dunn Universe somehow bleeding into our own?

"The Big One?" I can tell you right now, Dude is not going to stand for anybody else being called that.

Wipe off your specs there Gammy, and get a closer look.

Workin' hard or hardly workin'?

Ohhhhh, wait'll the Army gets ahold of you two.

Ever wonder why Andy grew that ridiculous moustache? Now you know.

Someday, Harold will be a two-fisted action hero battling spies and saboteurs. But not today.

Mamie in panel two -- yeah, try sitting like that sometime and see how long you can hold it.

 

[Fading Fast]

A German torpedo boat flotilla was reported fighting a naval engagement today off the Isle of Wight with British light naval forces. Informed sources state that the German flotilla encountered British submarines, destroyers, and torpedo boats, and that the outcome of the engagement is unknown.

Royal Air Force planes last night attacked oil plants, factories, docks, and airdromes in Germany, despite unfavorable weather conditions, and returned safely to their bases. Kiel, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Wessermunde, Wilhelmshaven, and ports all the way from Rotterdam to Cherbourg were hit in the raids. Meanwhile, German heavy guns shelled the coast of Dover as British planes and guns brought a blazing assault against German invasion ports along the French coast.

Six persons drowned in a basement air raid shelter in London last night after a Nazi bomb severed a water main, demolishing the house and filling the cellar with water....

These Day-by-Days really highlight how hard England was fighting - and not just defensively - for well over a year before America even got in the war.

...In a Columbus Day address, New York Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti, a Democrat, warned against racial prejudices arising from the European War, and asserted that any attacks against Republican Presidential nominee Wendell Willkie on the basis of his German ancestry "deserve the condemnation of any right-thinking citizen of this country." Speaking in Columbus Circle this morning, the Lieutenant Governor declared "No American is a better American than any other. No American should be made to suffer discrimination or social prejudice because of his racial origin."...

My Dad was half German and he got in a few tussles at school in the late '30s because of that. No one seemed to care that his father was born in Cleveland, to, yes a German immigrant. Also, his mom was a Connecticut Yankee and he had uncles (on both his mother's and father's side) who fought for the USA in WWI. But when prejudice takes off, it rarely lets facts get in the way.

...The Eagle Editorialist pays respects to today's observation of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar. "The devout observance of this holy day exerts a profound influence on the Jewish community here, and hence on the borough as a whole."...

Trading volumes usually dip a bit even to this day, but back in the '80s and '90s, when Wall Street was much-less computerized and was, also, made up of private partnerships versus, today, large public companies, the commute would be noticeably lighter, the offices noticeably emptier and trading volumes down significantly on Yom Kippur.

...
(This is not Eve Arden of the movies, and in fact Miss Eunice Quedens had no idea that *this* Eve Arden was already rampant in the land when she selected the name for herself. The SAG does not permit two performers to use the same stage name, but Miss Arden of the $50,000 Legs carries an AGVA card, not a SAG card. At least I presume she carries it. Somewhere. And for that matter, however much Ann Sheridan dislikes being called "The Oomph Girl," I suspect she dislikes Miss Fox here being called it even more.)...

Really glad you cleared that up as my mind was flipping through the movie-actress Eve Arden's films and I couldn't remember one where her legs stood out. She's a very good actress, but sexy legs (or anything) isn't what comes to mind when you think of her.

As to Ms. Sheridan - a fine actress with wonderful comedic timing - she made the mistake of fighting a great branding. Later in her career, when she had more control, she all but unsexed herself in some of her movies. You don't have to be gratuitous, but use everything you got as those are not easy careers to get or keep.

... (George and Jo spend much of their waking lives complaining about neighbors and relatives, so you'd think they'd view this fish as a gift of divine providence.)...

"Idear," a little Joe and Sally speak sneaks in.

... ("Get a haircut and a shave while you're at it, you greasy ba***rd. Here, there's a straight razor in the drawer, I'll do it for you. Bend down and give me your neck.")...

T+Ten Days.

Is Mary ready now to ask Leona for a Bonetti connection? Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

... It's all about the Family Values today.....

The Boylen sidewalk-and-car-chase scene reads like a screenplay. Lucile Watson would be perfect as the fist-throwing grandmother as Carole Lombard would be as Boylen herself. I'd swear that Lombard has already played a similar character. Can't you just see Lombard running down the street after her baby and getting knocked on her butt by Watson?

...
How do you build something like this without being noticed by anyone? Is the Dan Dunn Universe somehow bleeding into our own?....

And Prohibition's been over for six years. This is, I'm guessing, all about tax avoidance.

... The Big One?" I can tell you right now, Dude is not going to stand for anybody else being called that.....

I'd say he's covering up for, um, certain deficiencies, but they way he rocked Raven, he seems to be able to back up his bravado.

Also, it seems we have a new shooter joining the fray - it's hard to keep track of all the factions. Heck, Pat and Terry are still out there working on a rescue attempt and now we have this new guy.

 

[LizzieMaine]

President Roosevelt enunciated a policy of total defense of the Americans against any total attack from any segment of the world last night, and pledged the US naval and air forces to the defense of all the western hemisphere. The President's address, one of his most momentous declarations on international conditions and foreign policy, was prepared for broadcast to every nation of the hemisphere. In the broadcast, the President declared that this country, as in 1798, insists on the peaceful use of the Atlantic and Pacific for trade and commerce, and that the American nations are united in their determination to resist the threats of dictators, and in their rejection of the doctrine of appeasement. The President also renewed assurances that Great Britain will receive all aid short of war.

A heavy new bombing attack upon the German-held French coast was opened tonight by British warplanes in the light of a bright Fall moon. Heavy explosions could be heard from the region of Boulogne across 22 miles of Channel water, and German ground guns cut the sky with a flaming barrage.

Actor Tom Mix, cowboy hero of movies and radio, was killed last night in an auto crash near Florence, Arizona. The actor died when his automobile went out of control and overturned while the performer was enroute to Phoenix, where he was to act as advance agent for a circus with which he was engaged to perform. The accident occured at a detour skirting a road construction site, and left Mix pinned beneath the overturned vehicle. He was found there by two passing highway department employees, and according to the county coroner, Mix was killed instantly. Mix was the colorful star of scores of western thrillers in the days of silent pictures, and in recent years has performed often in circuses. He has also lent his name to a popular radio program, but his character on that program was impersonated by another actor.

A pamphlet attacking Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie's German ancestry has been repudiated by the chairman of the Colored Division of the Democratic National Committee after it was issued to speakers under the authority of that committee. Boston lawyer Julian D. Rainey, chairman of the Colored Division, says that while his office submitted material to Democratic National Committee publicity chairman Charles Michelson for use in a pamphlet, he insists that none of that material contained any criticism of WIllkie's ancestry. The pamphlet, as issued, cites Willkie's "whole background" as German, and points out that Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" declares that "Negroes are lower than apes." The Chairman of the Republican National Committee's National Planning Board, Negro Division, George E. Wilbercan, earlier also denounced the pamphlet, and called it an "act of desperation."

The director of Selective Service for New York City today warned theological students that he will be cracking down on any of them who carry out their recent declaration that they will refuse to register for the draft. Colonel Arthur V. McDermott responded sharply to the declaration by students at Union Theological Seminary that they will not cooperate with conscription by promising to crack down on them "without delay." "The trouble with these young men," stated the Colonel, "is that their intellectual conceit is exceeded only by their immaturity of judgement," further observing that most of the students involved are already exempt from the draft under the terms of the new conscription law.

(Talking furniture? Must belong to the Bungles.)

Mayor LaGuardia will tour three states in the East to speak on behalf of President Roosevelt as the election campaign moves into its final weeks. The Mayor's appearances in Newark, Pittsburgh, and Boston will be conducted under the auspices of "The National Committee of Independent Voters for Roosevelt and Wallace." The Mayor promises in his speaking tour to "nail immediately" every "misstatement and demagogic statement that is made," and declares that he will take a firm stand on the side of National Defense. "One cannot be brave down here in lower Manhattan," he said, "and a pacifist the same day in the Bronx."

(I have a Kalsomine ceiling in my spare bedroom, and everything I've ever put on it has peeled. I'd love to try this stuff, but they really need to change their obnoxious initials.)

(The Bond bakery on Flatbush Avenue, was a notable landmark -- on a good day, they say, the aroma from baking bread wafted all the way to Ebbets Field, just three blocks away. It's also four blocks in the other direction from the Patio, if you want to pick up a fresh loaf or two on your way to the movies.)

Old Timer Charles Mayhood lives in Jamacia now, but he grew up in Greenpoint -- where he remembers two things vividly. The odor of the Fleischmann's distillery, where neighborhood cows got drunk from spilled mash; and the illegal cockfights that flourished in those days, mostly in an abandoned brewery on Laurel Hill.

The Eagle endorses Borough President John Cashmore for election to a full term in that office, noting that he has performed admirably in the difficult position of succeeding the late Raymond V. Ingersoll early last March. The record will show that Cashmore worked hard and long to take steps to preserve the borough's sugar industry, and he is right now in the forefront of plans to attract the Navy's super dry-dock to the Brooklyn waterfront.

Manual Training handed Brooklyn Tech the upset of the schoolboy football season so far, defeating their arch rivals 13-0 yesterday at Ebbets Field.

("But whathappen'ta Erasmus?," yells Sally, alumna of the Class of '31. "They prolly got lost onnaway t'da ballpark," mocks Joe, who never got past 8B, and can't stand all that high school rah rah stuff anyway.)

In local college football, Columbia made easy work of Dartmouth, 20-6, Fordham beat Tulane 20-7, and NYU lost 47-13 to Syracuse. On the national stage, Notre Dame flashed a strong ground attack combined with passing power to edge out Georgia Tech 26-20.

The Football Dodgers face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ebbets Field this afternoon. Up at the Polo Grounds, the Football Giants open their home season against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Maramen haven't lost a game on their home field since 1938.

Tommy Holmes names his Major League all star team for 1940: Johnny Mize of the Cardinals, 1B -- Joe Gordon, Yankees, 2B -- Stan Hack, Cubs, 3B -- Luke Appling, White Sox, SS -- Ted Williams, Red Sox, RF -- Joe DiMaggio, Yankees, CF -- Hank Greenberg, Tigers, LF -- Frankie Hayes, Athletics, C -- and for pitchers, Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer of the Reds and Bobby Feller of the Indians. The paucity of National Leaguers on this squad is indicative of the fact that even though the Reds pulled out a win in the Series, the American League must still be acknowledged as the superior circuit.

The young man whom all observers expect to replace Frankie Crosetti at shortstop for the Yankees next year has been elected Most Valuable Player of the American Association. Diminutive Phil Rizzuto starred for the Kansas City Blues this year with a .347 batting average and a glove of remarkable dexterity. It will be recalled that Rizzuto, a Brooklyn native, tried out at Ebbets Field upon graduation from high school, but was turned away as too small. "Get a shoe shine box," advised then-Dodger-manager Casey Stengel.

The man who will take no nonsense from theological students makes the front of Trend this week...

That old theatrical standby "Charley's Aunt" returns to Broadway for the first time in fifteen years, and forty-seven years almost to the day from its premiere, when it opens Thursday at the Cort Theatre. Jose Ferrer will star in the venerable farce as the college boy who masquerades as his fluttery aunt "from Brazil, where the nuts come from."

Newlyweds Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier are on the air tonight over WABC at 730 as the Gulf Screen Guild Theatre presents Noel Coward's "Private Lives."

(Somebody really needs to report Mr. Ryder for child endangerment.)

(To be fair to Eddie, every musician knows that the "We Want Cantor" chord progression -- da-DUH DAH-duh -- is the most common musical sequence in the world.)

(Hey Bill, isn't there something better you can be doing with your time?)

(Sorry, Irwin, turns out there ARE two parachutes, but we gotta give one to the dog.)

(Actually, George kinda likes the feeling of those shocks.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Hey, at least the kid doesn't play with guns.

Conspiracies to the right of us, conspiracies to the left of us...

Girl with the Straight Stringy, how I feel your pain.

Woodstock, Illinois is where Chester Gould lives, so we can assume that Tracy is based in Chicago. Must be pretty chilly for these boys at this time of year.

Ha! SHOWGIRL! Called it!

Interesting fact: before Dr. Thor turned to Mad Science, he built this really big still in a warehouse in upper Manhattan.

One thing a Caniff story is never short of is colorful screwballs. Singh Singh got Jerry Colonna's moustache, so Chopstick here had to settle for his catchphrase.

You know, Pop must really be a good-hearted old soul to put up with these twerps.

For over ninety years, Walt's annual walk in the woods was a fall tradition in "Gasoline Alley" -- usually with Skeezix, but sometimes with one of the other kids. But the present artist dropped the tradition a few years back, reasoning that you couldn't expect a 130-year-old man and his nonagenarian son to go hiking. It made sense, but I was sad nevertheless to see it end.

There's no thing like a sure thing.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(The Bond bakery on Flatbush Avenue, was a notable landmark -- on a good day, they say, the aroma from baking bread wafted all the way to Ebbets Field, just three blocks away. It's also four blocks in the other direction from the Patio, if you want to pick up a fresh loaf or two on your way to the movies.)...

Hostess/Wonder Bread had a factory near where I grew up and for half a mile or so around it, the air had a wonderful baked-bread or cake smell to it (it changed depending, I assume, on what was being baked that day). Surprisingly though, there was no "factory" store (believe me, I checked), so you still had to buy its goods in a supermarket or convenience store. I moved out decades ago, but am pretty sure I read that the factory closed. It was also cool to see the army of Hostess/Wonder Bread trucks parked in neat rows in front of the factory.

...
(To be fair to Eddie, every musician knows that the "We Want Cantor" chord progression -- da-DUH DAH-duh -- is the most common musical sequence in the world.)..

Kinda makes you curious about Cantor's car horn though, doesn't it?

...
Woodstock, Illinois is where Chester Gould lives, so we can assume that Tracy is based in Chicago. Must be pretty chilly for these boys at this time of year.....

Point of order: Tracy spent about five minutes over that pipe banging away, so, in that five minutes, the following had to happen: the water company employee had to hear the noise, think about it, decide to call the police, then, the police had to take and process the call, assign it to someone, drive or walk over, get to the pipe in the plant, listen to the pipe, get the paper and write the message down. That's an awful lot that had to happen in five minutes.

...
(Sorry, Irwin, turns out there ARE two parachutes, but we gotta give one to the dog.)..

I'm thinking crash landing, but yes, Wolf > Irwin.

...[
Hey, at least the kid doesn't play with guns.....

Nothing against Mary Martin, but you'd have thunk that Greta Garbo or Carole Lombard or the Oomph girl herself, Anne Sheridan (kicking and screaming), or some other more-famous star would have topped the list.

And my God, some of these people really should not be allowed to marry.

...
Girl with the Straight Stringy, how I feel your pain.....

What I learned dating is that the majority of girls with straight hair want wavy or curly hair and vice versa. So every morning, across America, straight-haired girls spend time waving, curling, etc., their hair as curly haired girl spend time blowing, ironing or whatever their curls straight.

I think I'm with my straight-haired girlfriend now, in part, because she likes having straight hair. It takes a lot of angst out of life. And none of this includes the one-off issues of weather-related "poofing" or "falling," or some other similar event that can undo an entire morning's effort. Lastly, I learned that the cost of addressing any of this - products, appliances, trips to the salon - is a non-negotiable point. It costs what it costs and that's all there is to it.

...
One thing a Caniff story is never short of is colorful screwballs. Singh Singh got Jerry Colonna's moustache, so Chopstick here had to settle for his catchphrase.....

Caniff understands story construction very, very well. He's always upping the conflict, creates (mainly) well-developed (and, as you note, screwball) characters and keeps the sexual tension almost always at a boil. Also, note how equal (in the context of the day) he treats women. Raven and the DL are fighting side by side with and, sometimes, better than the men. They are also smart and able to exchange barbs with and often trump them. The DL, in my time reading the strip, has outplayed everyone. With LOA in beatification mode, T&TP is the most-sophisticated strip running by far.

...
You know, Pop must really be a good-hearted old soul to put up with these twerps.....

There's a show on Amazon, "Sex Education," whose core story (there's a lot swirling around, as always) is a high school kid providing sex advice to his peers for a fee. Basically, the show's taken Shadow's idea and brought it into the 21st century. Almost nothing is new.

 

[Haversack]

The Mission district in San Francisco used to be full of food processing factories. Back 20 years or so, I used to live between a Continental Baking, (Wonder Bread), bakery, and the Anchor Steam Brewery. When the wind was from the west, the smell of fresh baked bread filled the neighborhood. When it came from the east, the odor of the wort cooling in the open-air, top-floor tanks wafted around. Some of the more pleasant smells of industry. (Along with all the coffee roasters down on the waterfront.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Urgent interlocking negotiations" are reported to be underway today among Russia, Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Greece, with powerful Soviet troops massing on the Rumanian frontier as the Balkans await moves by Germany, Italy or both in the wake of Germany's military entry into Rumania. A Turkish-Greek-Yugoslav defensive alliance pledged to resist any act of aggression by the Axis powers is reported to be in the process of formation, and in diplomatic quarters it is reported that Russia and Turkey are negotiating in both Moscow and Ankara. Observers note "signs of Russian alarm" resulting from the arrival of German troops in Rumania, and further reports that German troops will soon be sent into Bulgaria.

A semi-official Nazi informant reported today that German "shock troops" are now serving in Africa in units under the command of Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani. Refusing to disclose either the number of those troops or their exact classification, the informant noted that they are "looking forward cold-bloodedly to the coming African campaign." Those troops, according to the informant, are there to serve as "guinea pigs" gaining experience that will enable German forces to operate in the African tropics in the future without risk to their health.

Communist Party presidential nominee Earl Browder will have his conviction on passport charges reviewed by the U. S. Supreme Court. Browder was convicted on January 22nd by a Federal jury in Manhattan of using a passport bearing a false name, and was sentenced to a fine of $2000 and four years in prison. He immediately appealed the conviction, but it was upheld in the New York Federal Circuit Court. The case will be argued before the high court, with a decision expected several weeks after the arguments are completed. The Supreme Court has also agreed to waive the conviction of Welwel Worszower, alias Robert William Weiner of New York, on a similar charge. Worszower obtained a passport in 1936 under his assumed name, and claimed to have been born in Atlantic City, while having earlier told the Government that he came to the United States from Russia in 1914.

Former Tammany Hall operative James J. Hines is on his way to Sing Sing Prison today after a Manhattan General Sessions Court judge ordered him to begin his sentence under his 1939 conviction on corruption charges. Hines was found guilty of using his political influence to protect the policy racket operated by mobster Dutch Schultz, and has been free on $25,000 bail pending the resolution of questions raised in a certificate of reasonable doubt. Today Judge Jacob Gould Scherman Jr. granted the State's motion to dismiss that certificate and remanded Hines to the Sheriff for the execution of his sentence. Hines was taken immediately to a waiting car for the trip upstate, where his career in the "numbers game" will be capped by a new number -- that of Convict No. 98,719.

Two men were killed early this morning in Jamacia when their automobile was struck by an oncoming Long Island Railroad express train. The car containing Fifty-six year old Charles Press of 337 Central Avenue in Lawrence and thirty-six-year-old Mark Quaytman of 59 Columbus Avenue in Cedarhurst crashed thru the grade-crossing gates at the New York Boulevard crossing near the Cedar Manor station, into the path of the fast-approaching train. While the locomotive itself was damaged in the crash, no members of the crew were injured. Railroad officials are investigating.

(I wonder what brand is "the Non-Smoker's Cigarette?" My father smoked Chesterfields, and I tried to get him to stop by taking them out of the pack, dipping them in a bottle of bleach, and then returning them carefully to the pack and back to his jacket pocket. I was three years old at the time, and even then did not believe The Boys.)

Twenty-three prominent members of the City Fusion movement that put Mayor LaGuardia in office defied the Mayor's endorsement of President Roosevelt by declaring their support for Republican nominee Wendell Willkie. In a statement of support for the GOP candidate, the group criticized the President's "alliance with discredited political gangs that control some our large cities." Among those signing the statement were Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, Commissioner of Markets William Fellowes Morgan, and Mrs. Henry Breckinridge, for several years the co-leader of the Women's Division of the Mayor's campaign.

A Washington D. C. newspaper artist will serve five to ten years in Sing Sing prison for the shooting of his wife's girlfriend on June 6th. Twenty-six year old John Mayo was sentenced today by Judge Franklin Taylor in Kings County Court after pleading guilty to the shooting of Lilabell Andrews, who was living at the time with Mrs. Mayo in an apartment at 131 Joralemon Street. The defendant was ruled to be sane following a psychiatric examination.

(Bond Bread says "Oh yeah?" Wonder says "Yeah!" Bond says "Ya wanna go?" Wonder says "Le's go!")

Charlie Chaplin's long-awaited parody of Adolf Hitler, "The Great Dictator" will open tomorrow in Manhattan at both the Capitol and the Astor Theatres, replacing "Gone With The Wind" at the latter house. There is as yet no indication of when the film will play in Brooklyn.

At the Patio, see Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff in Preston Sturges' political comedy "The Great McGinty," paired with Jon Hall and Frances Farmer in "South of Pago Pago." (The latter title will go well with the fish in the lobby.)

(Point of order: there is no such thing as "too much ice cream.")

Movie cowboy Tom Mix makes his last personal appearance in Hollywood today, lying in state in a mortuary chapel garbed in his Ranger coat and white riding breeches, his familiar diamond-studded gunbelt buckled at his waist. Only the ten-gallon hat was missing. The hard-riding veteran of the silent screen, who died in a car wreck in Arizona on Saturday, will be buried on Wednesday at Forest Lawn Cemetery where Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks and Jean Harlow are also buried. Mix's longtime neighbor Mary Pickford was among those present as the actor's body arrived back in Hollywood by air yesterday, and said that she believed Mix would have wanted the end to come "just as quickly as it did."

Fine quarterbacking by Rhoten Shelley and skilled passing by Ace Parker put the Football Dodgers out front early and kept them there, for a 21-0 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday at Ebbets Field. The Football Flock remains in second place in the National Football League's Eastern Division, trailing only the Washington Redskins. Next Sunday, the Dodgers travel to Chicago to face the Bears.

Madison High School is considering the prospect of an undefeated season after whipping Erasmus Hall Saturday night at Ebbets Field, in New York's first-ever scheduled schoolboy game under the lights. The 16-0 drubbing gave every indication that the Madison boys won't lose at all this year.

Bucky Walters and Jimmy Wilson showed why they played such a vital role in the Reds' world championship season in leading an all-star squad to a 2-1 win over the Bushwicks to close out the 1940 baseball season at Dexter Park. Walters held the locals to four hits, and got a couple of hits himself, while the 40-year-old Wilson caught the full game and went two-for-three at the plate.

When Red Barber returned to New York after broadcasting the last game of the World Series in Cincinnati, he was greeted by his three-year-old daughter Sarah, who eagerly asked "Did the Dodgers win?" The youngster is an avid listener to her daddy's Dodger broadcasts over WOR -- as who isn't? Red and sidekick Al Helfer will return to the Ebbets Field microphone in 1941, and are presently hosting the new "Battle Of The Boroughs" quiz game over the same station.

("Squib Gloobly" would be a fine name for a villian.)

(Good rule to remember: If you think everyone but you is crazy, you probably are.)

(Well, at least he got a shave and a haircut.)

(How does he know it's detailed orders for an immediate attack on the canal if it's in code?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Hey, free publicity's the best kind.

"Automat Donut Week" already? But I haven't even finished my shopping!

OK, is there something going on we don't know about?

What, no donuts? Don't you know what week this is?

It's really gonna get hot in there now. Better take your pants off too.

Yeah, Dude, about that plane....

That's all right, Andy has the fastest-growing moustache in the world.

Over his bacon and flapjacks, Lippy Leo Durocher looks over the paper and muses over Skeezix's plight. "Poor kid," he mumbles thru a mouthful. "He's a -- a -- nice guy, that's what he is. But nice guys -- nice guys finish..." "Stop talking to yourself," interrupts Mrs. Durocher. "And don't get syrup on that shirt, silk shirts don't grow on trees you know."

That's how it is when you have a busy social calendar, it's so easy to lose track.

Yeah, this won't last.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Bond Bread says "Oh yeah?" Wonder says "Yeah!" Bond says "Ya wanna go?" Wonder says "Le's go!")...

"And 9 out of every 10 (actually 90.53%)" Really? The same ad that tells us to "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!!! to you grocer's right away" (note that the exclamation points increase by one with each "Hurry") believes that noting this less than 1% distinction is important.

...
(Point of order: there is no such thing as "too much ice cream.")...

From his grave, I just heard my Dad just shout "Amen!"

... (Well, at least he got a shave and a haircut.)...

Leona ⇨ Bonetti connection ⇨ problem solved. Just sayin'.

T+Eleven Days

... ]Hey, free publicity's the best kind....

It seems if your given or nickname - male or female - is Bunny, you have an increased chance of winding up in some sort of marital-dispute court case in your lifetime. Maybe that's why the name has pretty much disappeared.

The last paragraph of the "Record Crowds" story was what I was thinking all along - doesn't sound much like a country in a depression.

...
"Automat Donut Week" already? But I haven't even finished my shopping!....

Mock it all you want, but I was out the door before I finished reading the ad. I bought four; two have your name on them.

...
OK, is there something going on we don't know about?...

Looks like a burst of competitive fever in the Bread Wars (didn't know that was a thing, but apparently, it is). Perhaps bread's gotten jealous of all the attention milk usually gets.

... What, no donuts? Don't you know what week this is?....

Also, a belated kudos on the showgirl call.

I can't take much more of this wholesomeness. "Nick, comeback Nick, all is forgiven."

... It's really gonna get hot in there now. Better take your pants off too.....

Lizzie! Behave, this is a family paper. Although, if we're willing to go there, I'll note that Raven and the DL have been wearing the same clothes for some time now - they might be getting a bit ripe.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Headlines from the last five days...

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Lew Loyal" is the Tribune's attempt to get on board the comic book craze of 1940 -- he was a globetrotting teen adventurer, sort of a black-haired version of Terry Lee crossed with a slightly older version of Chester Gump and a male version of Little Orphan Annie. He appeared in a pull-out Sunday supplement separate from the regular comic section, and inspired a bit of merchandising and promotion aside from his adventures. The strip itself was pretty generic adventure stuff, but the format was unique enough to stick around for several years.

("Texas Slim and Dirty Dalton" was a comedy western strip drawn by Ferd Johnson, Frank Willard's longtime assistant/ghost, and was basically "Moon Mullins" on horseback.)

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

The Eagle had Wrigley's Gum the Chicago Trib had Life savers.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

At some of the popular beauty stores, I've gotten a lamp, a lap blanket, a hair styling kit, and some nail polish. And one store will some times have three options to chose from. With what is going on these days I am not sure if they are doing things like this these days. Plus I only go to a beauty supply store only due to the fact this store is the only one in town that has the item in stock or I could order it off the internet, to be honest I really do not like having to buy any thing from the computer, unless I can not find it at a local shop.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[LizzieMaine]

"De-icers" in the jargon of "Smilin' Jack" are young ladies who hang around airfields hoping to -- ah -- make connections with pilots. Downwind Jaxon could teach Dude Hennick a few tricks in that department.

The Bendix was the first modern-style automatic washing machine. They were too expensive for most homes, but they made possible the invention of the laundromat. A few of these appeared before the war shut down production of the machines, but after the war the Bendix really caught on for home use -- to the point where "Bendix" became, for a time, a common synonym for "washing machine."

Interesting that GWTW is concluding its downtown run in Chicago at the same time that it's closing at the Astor in New York. The Astor will open Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" next week, so I'll be interested to see if it also shows up in Chicago. Chaplin's politics are not popular in the Midwest.

"The Wholesome Thriftspread for bread" -- margarine, in Boys-speak.

Ah, Ayds Candy and the "Ayds reducing plan." That was a big, heavily advertised product -- until the mid-'80s.

I skipped the Battle Page in today's News to allow room for the H&H donut ad -- after all, priorities -- so it's good to see it enclosed here. Interesting the Tribune switches the positions of the columns versus the way they're laid out in the News so that the Republican side catches the reader's eye first.

I have a fine Forstmann's suit hanging in my closet, that I used to be able to wear until it mysteriously shrunk. Funny how that happens.