The Era -- Day By Day

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

I'm trying to figure out exactly what army Warbucks is a general in -- that uniform matches no known configuration of an American, British, Soviet, Chinese, Free French, or any other Allied nation's uniform that I can find. In fact, the closest match I can find is the uniform of a New Jersey State Police trooper.

View attachment 476688

So, "General," what do you know about the Lindbergh baby?

Some thought given and not facetious comment but Irish Republican Army chief Michael Collins wore
similar tunic fastened by a Samuel Browne belt, topped by a cap, twin holstered revolvers at the sides.
This New Jersey State policeman looks a soldier. And, an aside General Schwartzkopf's father, also with
first name Norman commanded the New Jersey State Police during the Lindbergh tragedy. I recall having
officer school cadet study of Desert Shield/Desert Storm campaign and echelon commanders' bios.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Hah," hahs Sally. "Whatta chump! Imagine usin' slugs in a gum machine! I ask ya!" "Din'ney get ya brutteh oncet f'doin'nat?" queries Joe. "Soit'nly not!" huffs Sally. "He was *sellin'* slugs. What people done wit'm was non'a his business!" "He awrways did have a knack f'handlin' moichendise," agrees Joe. ""At's why," declares Sally, "t' Awrmy is putt'n'm inna Quawrtehmasteh Cowrps!")

Today's Army is the best-behaved Army in American history, according to a new report on drinking among soldiers issued by the Office of War Information. The fifteen-page document discussing the use of alcohol on and around all sectors where there are large troop concentrations reveals that the modern soldier goes for beer and whiskey, but only on a moderate basis. The report is seen as a rebuke to drys who have called for prohibition to be enforced on and around Army posts. The present Army, says the report, drinks far less than the doughboys of 1917, due largely to the Army's "healthy and sensible arrangement of serving 3.2 percent beer in the camps." In the last war, the report notes, the camps were bone dry. "As a result," the document states, "bootleggers did a thriving business." The report concludes that the availability of 3.2 beer in camps encourages "mild relaxation," minimizes the use of hard liquor, and is easily controlled by military authorities. But there was no indication that beer sales on post encourages abstainers to take up drinking, because soda pop remains the most popular beverage in all camps, and 57 percent of soldiers drink no alcohol at all, not even on paydays. The majority of those who do drink alcohol imbibe nothing stronger than beer.

Two expanding Allied wedges in the Japanese beachhead near Buna are threatening today to isolate enemy forces still holding out near the western end of the main Japanese air strip. An enemy fortification consisting of thirteen bunkers was reduced yesterday by Allied fire in a triangular section southwest of the Buna Mission which fighting had previously bypassed.

The steadily increasing oil requirements of the Armed Forces will mean no immediate resolution to the worsening oil shortage in the Eastern district. Economic Stabilization Director James F. Byrnes made that clear last night following a long conference with Government officials and railroad executives who had explored every possible avenue for increasing Eastern shipments of gasoline and fuel oil. Byrnes warned that, so far as civilian consumers are concerned, the only real option for the forseeable future is to "maintain what we have."

A new Government order banning the production and sale of sliced bread will not eliminate pressure for an increase in ceiling prices, warned leaders of the baking industry today. The cost savings to be realized under the Office of Price Administration's edict banning sliced bread, assert the bakers, will be offset by increased costs of fats used in the manufacture of any type of bread. The OPA order also increases the ceiling prices of various types of flour, effective January 4th, with the cost of family flour to rise 40 to 75 cents per barrel depending on the specific area of the country, and bakers' flour rising 25 to 84 cents per barrel, again depending on location.

A city-wide 4 AM curfew will be enforced on New Year's Eve, with all drinking establishments, from fine hotels and nightclubs to neighborhood saloons forbidden from serving any further drinks after the first stroke of that hour. Strict enforcement of fire and safety codes declared by Mayor LaGuardia in the wake of the Cocoanut Grove disaster in Boston will mean that "money is no object" patrons demanding immediate seating in crowded establishments will be turned away without recourse. Inspectors of the Department of Housing and Buildings, and the Fire Department will patrol all restaurants, clubs, hotels, and bars thruout the night, and have been ordered to shut down and empty any establishment caught operating over licensed capacity or otherwise violating the safety of its merrymakers "for the sake of a few extra dollars." It is noted that most war plants will operate as usual on New Years Day, and thus no all-night operating licenses will be issued to any establishment -- and any nightspot found serving drinks after the curfew will lose its license.

Police shut down a puppet performance at the Brooklyn Museum yesterday after a mob of angry mothers, demanding to be seated, swarmed the doors. Three radio cars were summoned to the scene after a mob of about 500 persons, mostly mothers with their children, smashed a glass door and tried to force their way in to see the performance of "Hansel and Gretel" by a marionette troupe. The riot was reported to have begun when two of the women became involved in a shoving match after it became clear that most of the crowd would have to be turned away. The museum hall where the show was held had a capacity of only 100 persons. Six policemen remained on the scene for a subsequent performance, where another 200 persons were turned away.

("Lotta crazy people innis town," sighs Sally. "Awrmos' as bad as Ebbets Feel," agrees Joe. "Wasn' even'at good a show," adds Sally.)

(FIve Star Final is sort of a cross between pinball and Skee Ball, so you know Butch isn't going to like it.)

(Nobody's heart is really in it this year.)

Noel Coward's stirring drama of England at war has been chosen the best film of 1942 by the New York Film Critics. Eighteen motion picture reviewers representing all of the city's daily newspapers awarded top honors to "In Which We Serve," following a closed-door vote Monday night at the Algonquin Hotel. James Cagney earned honors as the year's best actor, for his performance in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy," with Agnes Moorehead named best actress for her role in Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons." John Farrow was named Best Director for "Wake Island," and a special award of merit went to the documentary of Soviet Russia at war, "Moscow Fights Back." The awards will be presented on Sunday January 3rd at the Film Critics' party at the Barberry Room, with the ceremonies to be broadcast over WJZ and the Blue Network at 4:30 pm.

("Or at least a couple cans of Spam...")

The last British ambassador to Germany died in his sleep last night at the age of 60. Sir Neville Henderson was on the scene at Munich in 1938 and subsequently wrote the best-selling book "Failure of a Mission," a chronicle of the events leading up to Prime Minister Chamberlain's failed strategy of appeasement, and in which he discussed the Nazis with "uncomplimentary frankness." In a speech two years ago, Sir Neville listed Adolf Hitler at only number 3 on the list of Nazis he would personally liquidate if he could. "If I had a rifle with two bullets," he declared, "I would shoot Himmler, and then Ribbentrop -- and then I would brain Hitler with the butt of the gun."

The stars of radio's "Can You Top This?" will preside over an all-star birthday party for the British War Relief Society on January 6th at the Towers Hotel. The program's famous panelist of expert joke-tellers, Harry Hirschfield, Senator Ford, and Joe Laurie Junior, their audience representative Peter Donald, and moderator Roger Bower will participate in a stage version of their program, where members of the audience will be invited to tell their favorite jokes, and the panelists will then compete to "top" them. All of the audience jokes, according to Mrs. Thomas H. Roulston, the chairwoman of the committee, will be submitted by Brooklynites, and should be mailed to her in advance at her office at 161 Pierrepont Street no later than next Monday.

(It's always interesting to see Billy Werber's name come up, but he shouldn't be surprised if he ends up blacklisted by the owners. They don't like a player who thinks too much.)

Branch Rickey has been selected as Baseball's Executive of the Year for 1942 by the Sporting News, St. Louis baseball paper. Mr. Rickey, having evicted Larry MacPhail's moosehead from 215 Montague Street, now presides as head of the Dodgers, but the honor was given for his work building the Cardinal squad that squeezed the Flock out of the pennant last summer and went on to take an upset win over the Yankees in the World Series. In other awards, the Sporting News selected Cardinal pilot Billy Southworth as Manager of the Year, and Ted Williams of the Red Sox, who won the American League's Triple Crown before departing for military service, as Player of the Year.

Station WNEW has its first woman staff announcer, and she's no stranger to show business. Marilyn Cantor is one of papa Eddie's five famous daughters, and is the first of the quintet to stake out a professional career.

Radio listeners who miss out on their favorite daytime serials due to war work can hear them at more convenient times over WHN, which will broadcast the weepers by means of transcriptions provided under the auspices of the Office of War Information.

(Nertz. You'd be better off joining the Army.)

(Fortunately, the bullet bounced right off her steel-boned corset.)

(I once absentmindedly clipped a live wire with a pair of "insulated pliers" and the spark knocked me across the room. This should be good.)

(SEE I CAN DO COMEDY TOO!)

(I'LL SHOW YOU I'LL SHOW YOU ALL!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

And I can confirm that Ursula Parrott is no relation, by marriage or otherwise, to Harold Parrott of the Eagle. But I bet he's read some of her books.

A "jongleur" is defined as "an itinerant minstrel," or, in other words, a vaudevillian, here specified as being of the Gay 90s variety. Who says the Daily News isn't an educational paper? Hey Tommy, you can still catch up if you try.

Gangrene is too good for you.

"All right, but the least you could do is get rid of the uniform." "What, with clothes rationing just around the corner?"

It's not the meals, it's that chicory and molasses they pass off as coffee!

I don't imagine it's easy to use a map in a featureless desert. Better let Skeezix drive.

The camel deserves a raise. Hope he's got a good agent.

Tilda is usually the first to spot a con man. The war is sapping everybody.

My, what big arms you have.

Meanwhile, just rounding the next corner -- it's Lana!

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

I thought that lovely nurse had turned Dr Errol Flynn down. More confused am I now.
And the flight lieutenant deserves a gong for all he does with those two. Rouge will play him
to effectively isolate her enemy bargain suitor.

 

[Fading Fast]

("Hah," hahs Sally. "Whatta chump! Imagine usin' slugs in a gum machine! I ask ya!" "Din'ney get ya brutteh oncet f'doin'nat?" queries Joe. "Soit'nly not!" huffs Sally. "He was *sellin'* slugs. What people done wit'm was non'a his business!" "He awrways did have a knack f'handlin' moichendise," agrees Joe. ""At's why," declares Sally, "t' Awrmy is putt'n'm inna Quawrtehmasteh Cowrps!")
...

Based on what we know about Sally's brother (do we know his name?), the army should not put him anywhere near the quartermaster's unit.

... The fifteen-page document discussing the use of alcohol on and around all sectors where there are large troop concentrations reveals that the modern soldier goes for beer and whiskey, but only on a moderate basis....

Challenge.

...

Police shut down a puppet performance at the Brooklyn Museum yesterday after a mob of angry mothers, demanding to be seated, swarmed the doors. Three radio cars were summoned to the scene after a mob of about 500 persons, mostly mothers with their children, smashed a glass door and tried to force their way in to see the performance of "Hansel and Gretel" by a marionette troupe. The riot was reported to have begun when two of the women became involved in a shoving match after it became clear that most of the crowd would have to be turned away. The museum hall where the show was held had a capacity of only 100 persons. Six policemen remained on the scene for a subsequent performance, where another 200 persons were turned away.
...

Why are men always so quick to become violent. What? [Reads article again] never mind.

...

Noel Coward's stirring drama of England at war has been chosen the best film of 1942 by the New York Film Critics. Eighteen motion picture reviewers representing all of the city's daily newspapers awarded top honors to "In Which We Serve," following a closed-door vote Monday night at the Algonquin Hotel. ...

Take that you stupid Motion Picture Production Code.

...

The last British ambassador to Germany died in his sleep last night at the age of 60. Sir Neville Henderson was on the scene at Munich in 1938 and subsequently wrote the best-selling book "Failure of a Mission," a chronicle of the events leading up to Prime Minister Chamberlain's failed strategy of appeasement, and in which he discussed the Nazis with "uncomplimentary frankness." In a speech two years ago, Sir Neville listed Adolf Hitler at only number 3 on the list of Nazis he would personally liquidate if he could. "If I had a rifle with two bullets," he declared, "I would shoot Himmler, and then Ribbentrop -- and then I would brain Hitler with the butt of the gun."
...

1. Hitler
2. Himmler
3. Mengele

If we continue to build out the list, we'd need to be aware that it would take a very big bullet to get through Goring's fat, but we should shoot Goebbels before Goring anyway.

And in the Daily News...

And I can confirm that Ursula Parrott is no relation, by marriage or otherwise, to Harold Parrott of the Eagle. But I bet he's read some of her books.
...

Like Harold, I've read several of Ms. Parrott's books - a few were turned into movies. They are fun romantic page-turners, but most valuable today for, like these papers, a contemporaneous glimpse into the era.

In one of her novels, a female advertising exec works out by running on her office building's rooftop running track. I remember this because, one, you don't read a lot about people working out in that era, two, you almost never read about them running as a way to work out and, three, I was amazed that an office building, back then, would have a track on its roof for just such a purpose.

But considering that Ms. Parrott is 40 and "seeing" a 22 year old, she obviously knows how to keep herself in shape.

As to the Blythes, we know they won't be vacationing at Cape Cod this (or any) summer. Massachusetts is looking very small minded with this one.

...

The camel deserves a raise. Hope he's got a good agent.
...

"On a select basis only, I'm taking on new clients. Ask him to send me two head shots and one shot each of his humps. If I'm interesting, I'll send him over my 'standard' contract."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sally's brother is Pvt. Michael Wilbert Sweeney, formerly inmate no. 3552... "HEY!" yells Sally. "JUDGE GOL'STEIN EXPUNGED T"AT! MICKEY SAID SO!" His middle name comes from the Dodger manager who won a pennant in the year of his birth.

That puppet-show riot reminds me of a very similar incident that we had several years ago at, in fact, a puppet show. People came from fifty miles away to see the performance, the house was jammed to full capacity with mothers and yelling kids, and I had to lock the doors in the faces of a large throng that couldn't get inside. I'll never forget the feral snarls on the other side of the glass, of middle-class parents denied, and I was thankful that we have double-thick panes in the door.

I don't know what it is about puppet shows, but we've steered clear of them since.

"The Divorcee," an excellent Norma Shearer picture, is an adaptation of "Ex-Wife." Spicy stuff, even by 1930 standards, but sanitized quite a bit from the book.

Private Bryan, before his induction, played guitar with the Benny Goodman band, so he isn't some random small-timer character. I suspect this story will be very interesting to follow.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(And as 1942, Broadway's Year of the Strip-teaser, comes to a close, we look forward to 1943, Broadway's Year of the Gum-Slug Guy.)

The "Victory Tax," a new 5 percent Federal deduction from every paycheck over $12, goes into effect as of midnight, introducing the new principle of "tax collection at the source" which Congressional leaders advocate for the regular Federal income tax for adoption during 1943. The Victory Tax is "already in operation for all practical purposes," according to Internal Revenue Commissioner Guy T. Helvering, applying to all salaries and wages due to be paid after midnight tonight, regardless of when they were earned, unless the salary is drawn or the paycheck prepared before the midnight deadline. If the pay period ends today and the salary is drawn or the paycheck prepared tomorrow, then the Victory Tax deduction must be made.

Paced by light tanks, the right arm of the American pincer movement against the Japanese beachhead near Buna in New Guinea was rolling the enemy back toward Gariopa Point today. On the left, General Douglas MacArthur's American units had expended their wedge so much that they had control of several hundred yards of beach between Gariopa Point and the Buna Mission.

(Arlene Francis as a Russian Girl Guerilla? How could anyone not go see that???)

(Joe's working, and Sally will spend New Year's Eve dozing by the radio. Neither is any particular hurry to see what 1943 has in store.)

The Eagle Editorialist anticipates that 1943 will bring "a year of great suffering," but also "great promise." 1942 has, in his view, been "a good year" in spite of its "tragic implications," having brought a display of that spirit "which has sustained the nation in every crisis," as well as "that common sense which we like to believe is one of our characteristics as a people."

("At least I didn't drink after 3AM!")

A pioneer in the popularization of jazz music twenty years ago has drawn a prison sentence for receiving stolen goods. Forty-year-old James Manichini, who used to perform under the name of Teddy Lang in his days as the leader of the Original Alabama Five, was sentenced yesterday by Judge Samuel Leibowitz to go to prison "until the balmy weather returns in the spring," after which time he is to be transferred to a state sanitarium for treatment of tuberculosis. Minichini, who since leaving music has operated a small candy store, was charged with "fencing" a small gold locket, a gold chain, and a ring which he knew to be stolen.

The last surviving defendant in the famous Hall-Mills Case of 1922 has died at the age of 70 at his home in New Brunswick, New Jersey. William "Willie" Stevens was, with the exception of the "Pig Woman," Jane Gibson, the most colorful figure in the notorious trial of four persons for the murder of the Rev. Edward Wheeler Hall and Mrs. Eleanor Mills, choir singer in Rev. Hall's church. Stevens was, with the other three defendants, acquitted of the killings, despite testimony from the "Pig Woman," who claimed to have seen him standing over the two bodies on a lonely road at midnight. Stevens, said to be an "elderly eccentric with the mind of a child," who liked to wear a fireman's helmet and set bonfires in his yard, was not the weak link the prosecution hoped him to be, appearing on the witness stand with a big walrus moustache and answering questions in a loud, precise, Chesterfieldian voice. No one was ever convicted of the murders.

(Spring Training in Massachusetts? Never mind the Red Sox, wear Muk-Luks.)

("Hey!" says Greta Garbo. "Now *that's* an idea!")

("Oh yeah?? Well that's coming out of your security deposit!")

(That's what you get for hiring thugs who used to work for the Skull.)

("I DON'T REALLY SLEEP IN A CELLAR FOLKS! YOU SHOULD SEE MY ESTATE OUT AT LAKE MAHOPAC! ANTIQUE BELGIAN COURTYARD AND EVERYTHING!")

(Slappy says "SPARKY NEVER TREATED ME LIKE THIS!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"We meant to get back sooner." C'mon, toots, you're a much better writer than that.

There's a New World Coming -- very slowly.

You deserve to die horribly. Fortunately, Gould being Gould, there is no doubt that you will.

Let's work the dynamics of this out quick, the DL is waiting over the ridge with an army of 200,000.

Don't believe everything you hear on the radio, kid.

"You're not going to -- quit, are you? Please don't quit."

"War is Heck."

Good for you, Skeez. Don't take up smoking.

Well, whatever they're up to, at least they took the time to answer the phone.

Every once and then Harold has a moment of self-awareness.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and...

If you really MUSt go out tonight.....

 

[Fading Fast]

(And as 1942, Broadway's Year of the Strip-teaser, comes to a close, we look forward to 1943, Broadway's Year of the Gum-Slug Guy.)
...

"But how often have you heard about a fellow with a record like his getting a break?"

Maybe the reason judges don't often give "a fellow with a record like his...a break" is it might not be a break for his next victim.


Lizzie, you and Manville's sixth wife share something in common: she suggested he gets a "hobby other than blondes" and, earlier this week, you recommended stamp collecting.

...

A pioneer in the popularization of jazz music twenty years ago has drawn a prison sentence for receiving stolen goods. Forty-year-old James Manichini, who used to perform under the name of Teddy Lang in his days as the leader of the Original Alabama Five, was sentenced yesterday by Judge Samuel Leibowitz to go to prison "until the balmy weather returns in the spring," after which time he is to be transferred to a state sanitarium for treatment of tuberculosis. Minichini, who since leaving music has operated a small candy store, was charged with "fencing" a small gold locket, a gold chain, and a ring which he knew to be stolen.
...

Nothing could be more 1940s than a former jazz musician from the Roaring Twenties now, in '42, operating a candy store that's really a front for a fencing business of stolen jewelry (the latter being a big criminal activity back then) who will serve jail time, first, and then be sent to a sanitarium for treatment of tuberculosis. We say it all the time, but candy stores really were some of the most interesting places in Americain the '30s and '40s.

...

The last surviving defendant in the famous Hall-Mills Case of 1922 has died at the age of 70 at his home in New Brunswick, New Jersey. William "Willie" Stevens was, with the exception of the "Pig Woman," Jane Gibson, the most colorful figure in the notorious trial of four persons for the murder of the Rev. Edward Wheeler Hall and Mrs. Eleanor Mills, choir singer in Rev. Hall's church. Stevens was, with the other three defendants, acquitted of the killings, despite testimony from the "Pig Woman," who claimed to have seen him standing over the two bodies on a lonely road at midnight. Stevens, said to be an "elderly eccentric with the mind of a child," who liked to wear a fireman's helmet and set bonfires in his yard, was not the weak link the prosecution hoped him to be, appearing on the witness stand with a big walrus moustache and answering questions in a loud, precise, Chesterfieldian voice. No one was ever convicted of the murders.
...

It's always nice to see my hometown mentioned in these papers.

...
(Spring Training in Massachusetts? Never mind the Red Sox, wear Muk-Luks.)
....

That's kinda crazy. If the Dodgers do the same, we know Donald Blythe won't be attending any games there.

And in the Daily News...

"We meant to get back sooner." C'mon, toots, you're a much better writer than that.
...

Come on, they were just having dinner, hopefully, with the shades drawn.

Had I stolen the equivalent today of $73,000 from my father, ran away and, then, spent it on a luxurious lifestyle, there would be no "overjoyed to learn he is safe" comments coming from my parents.

...

You deserve to die horribly. Fortunately, Gould being Gould, there is no doubt that you will.
...

Yes he does and, you are right, Gould will eventually see to it, but let's consider the short-term strategy. He doesn't want to be recognized, so he will now be a man hobbling along on a broken leg with a dog's sweater wrapped around his entire face - nothing conspicuous about that.

...

Let's work the dynamics of this out quick, the DL is waiting over the ridge with an army of 200,000.
...

Wasn't the Japanese solider shot and badly injured and wasn't that why Flip was carting him around in the camel? If so, how did he miraculously get better so that he can now escape?

...

Don't believe everything you hear on the radio, kid.
...

Excuse Mr. Radio Announcer Sir, exactly what army is "General" Warbucks serving in?

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Rouge is right, she's wounded. And the other is also. If he thinks a problem over she'll prove delay.
Xavier Cougat's band did an amazing 'Perfidia' later.

 

[Farace]

Yes he does and, you are right, Gould will eventually see to it, but let's consider the short-term strategy. He doesn't want to be recognized, so he will now be a man hobbling along on a broken leg with a dog's sweater wrapped around his entire face - nothing conspicuous about that.

I could swear, when I was a kid in the ‘60s/early ‘70s reading Dick Tracy in the daily paper (The New Haven Register) on the living room floor, that there was a story line where Pruneface made a reappearance, to everyone’s surprise.

 

[Farace]

I could swear, when I was a kid in the ‘60s/early ‘70s reading Dick Tracy in the daily paper (The New Haven Register) on the living room floor, that there was a story line where Pruneface made a reappearance, to everyone’s surprise.

And, after doing some digging, it appears that Pruneface did make a reappearance, but not until the early ‘80s. My mind was probably mixing memories of Pruneface with The Pouch, another Tracy villain who appeared in 1971, who had been an enormously fat man who lost weight, leaving large folds of skin in which he installed snap closures, giving him several places to hide items.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The subsequent proprietors of "Tracy," following the quiet, uneventful death of Chester Gould, have become well known for resurrecting thought-to-be-dead, known-to-be-dead, and so-dead-we-saw-the-bodies-dead villians. Consider the case of tire bootlegger B-B Eyes, who earlier this year we saw sent to his death when dumped off a garbage barge while trapped in an old tire. Well, about ten years ago he made a sudden reappearance, explained that he'd had an oxygen tank hidden in that old tire all along, and set himself up in business bootlegging DVDs. And that's not even the most yeah-right example.

The new Tracy is nevertheless worth reading most of the time. The current writer loves to bring in guest apperances by characters from other News-Tribune strips -- Annie, whose own strip came to an end in 2010, forty-two years after the passing of Harold Gray, has made frequent appearances to the point where she's almost a recurring regular. Harold Teen, Shadow, and Lillums all made a guest apperance looking as though they'd stepped right out of 1937, except Shadow now wears earbuds instead of earmuffs, and even poor super-supercentennarian Walt Wallet was rescued by Tracy after he wanderd off from his home. One reason I like to look in on the strip now and then is to see if Moon Mullins, Smilin' Jack, or Uncle Bim have shown up yet.

I have very vivid memories of being badly disturbed by "The Pouch" when he showed up in his first run. Gould was still drawing the strip at the time, and it had gotten far more bizarre than what we see in 1942. Imagine an incredibly obese man who loses hundreds of pounds but still has loose flaps of skin hanging all over his body. He then has little metal snaps surgically implanted in those folds to create pouches he uses to hide secret documents. You'd think the iPhone would've driven him out of business, but he is still, alas, very much around.

 

[Fading Fast]

The subsequent proprietors of "Tracy," following the quiet, uneventful death of Chester Gould, have become well known for resurrecting thought-to-be-dead, known-to-be-dead, and so-dead-we-saw-the-bodies-dead villians. Consider the case of tire bootlegger B-B Eyes, who earlier this year we saw sent to his death when dumped off a garbage barge while trapped in an old tire. Well, about ten years ago he made a sudden reappearance, explained that he'd had an oxygen tank hidden in that old tire all along, and set himself up in business bootlegging DVDs. And that's not even the most yeah-right example.

The new Tracy is nevertheless worth reading most of the time. The current writer loves to bring in guest apperances by characters from other News-Tribune strips -- Annie, whose own strip came to an end in 2010, forty-two years after the passing of Harold Gray, has made frequent appearances to the point where she's almost a recurring regular. Harold Teen, Shadow, and Lillums all made a guest apperance looking as though they'd stepped right out of 1937, except Shadow now wears earbuds instead of earmuffs, and even poor super-supercentennarian Walt Wallet was rescued by Tracy after he wanderd off from his home. One reason I like to look in on the strip now and then is to see if Moon Mullins, Smilin' Jack, or Uncle Bim have shown up yet.

I have very vivid memories of being badly disturbed by "The Pouch" when he showed up in his first run. Gould was still drawing the strip at the time, and it had gotten far more bizarre than what we see in 1942. Imagine an incredibly obese man who loses hundreds of pounds but still has loose flaps of skin hanging all over his body. He then has little metal snaps surgically implanted in those folds to create pouches he uses to hide secret documents. You'd think the iPhone would've driven him out of business, but he is still, alas, very much around.

Comicstrip retconning.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Happy 1943, so to speak! The Eagle is roosting today, but the News is as ever, so....

As Mr. Jolson so aptly puts it, "You ain't seen NOTHIN' yet!"

"Wherez'at Kodak we us'ta have?" wonders Joe. "T'is izza yeeah Leonora wins t' beautyful chil' contes'." "You been lookin' f'tat Kodak f't'ree yeeahs," sighs Sally. "I keep tellin' ya, y'lost it at t' Woil's Faieh. Y'lost'it at t' Twenny T'ousan Legs unneh t'Sea, r'memebeh?" "I neveh wen' inneah, ya know," mutters Joe. "I wonneh if t'at contes' would take a drawrin'? Hey, Sal, y'got beets on ya nose." "Happy new yeeah t'you, too," replies Sally.

Sandy can't hear you, he's gone to enlist.

Ah, nothing like plenty of good British corned beef. Good SALTY British corned beef. In the desert.

How did a man as oblivious as Flip ever get to be a colonel? Well, OK, they made Larry MacPhail a colonel, but that's a different kind of situation.

"Stairway? Oh, you mean the one with the poor little dead dog in it?"

"Just my luck I majored in French."

"Ohh, and THIS one! 'Big Profits in HOME TAXIDERMY!' Just in case it doesn't work out!"

Mr. Willard clearly had a large evening.

You can't escape your destiny, son.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And, before we forget....

It's no 1939, but 1942 has to be in the top five movie years ever.

 

[Fading Fast]

Happy 1943, so to speak! The Eagle is roosting today, but the News is as ever, so....
...

"Wherez'at Kodak we us'ta have?" wonders Joe. "T'is izza yeeah Leonora wins t' beautyful chil' contes'." "You been lookin' f'tat Kodak f't'ree yeeahs," sighs Sally. "I keep tellin' ya, y'lost it at t' Woil's Faieh. Y'lost'it at t' Twenny T'ousan Legs unneh t'Sea, r'memebeh?" "I neveh wen' inneah, ya know," mutters Joe. "I wonneh if t'at contes' would take a drawrin'? Hey, Sal, y'got beets on ya nose." "Happy new yeeah t'you, too," replies Sally.
...

Today, our culture would cheer on a 40-year-old woman sleeping with a 22-year-old boy, but it will be interesting to see, if we get a look at it, what the general opinion of this "affair" is in '42. Parrott's been married several times, is 40 and somewhat famous, so I have a felling she's going to be given an amount of slack that wouldn't be given to younger, single, not famous and never-married women. We'll, hopefully, see.

...

Sandy can't hear you, he's gone to enlist.
...

It is odd that she's addressing Sandy, but he's not in any of the frames. I don't think Sandy is the enlisting type. As we've seen, he wants a stunt dog used when he's got to get his toenails trimmed. Plus, he just started his talent agency and has even signed up a few clients, so he wants to see where that goes.

...

How did a man as oblivious as Flip ever get to be a colonel? Well, OK, they made Larry MacPhail a colonel, but that's a different kind of situation.
...

Rouge is making a parallel decision to the one the Germans made at the end of the war: the Germans wanted to become American not Russian prisoners, just like Rogue would rather face American military justice than the Japanese version.

...

You can't escape your destiny, son.

While exaggerated here, there had to be some truth to this as, with so many young men off to war, the young women probably did get more aggressive in pursing men. The laws of supply and demand apply to dating markets too.

And, before we forget..

..


It's no 1939, but 1942 has to be in the top five movie years ever.

No kidding, what a year for pictures. You could name the next ten best and they'd all be outstanding pictures too.

The only one I've never seen is "Joe Smith, American."

"The Invaders" was released in the UK (where it was made) as "49th Parallel," which is how it seems to be known today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Joe Smith" is a pretty good picture -- rather high-gloss for a B effort, but it's MGM, so that's to be expected. It's one of those ones that'll show up on TCM when you least expect it.

Just a quick note, too, to say that tomorrow's and probably Tuesday's postings will be a bit later than usual -- first thing in the morning I have to drive fifty miles to a car dealership to get some irritating steering problem fixed so I can get my car -- five months till it's paid off! -- thru inspection. Then I'll rent a car to drive home and should be back here late morning/early afternoon. Then Tuesday, probably, I'll have to take the rental car back and pick up my own car and etc. "Is This Trip Really Necessary?"

 

[Fading Fast]

"Joe Smith" is a pretty good picture -- rather high-gloss for a B effort, but it's MGM, so that's to be expected. It's one of those ones that'll show up on TCM when you least expect it.

Just a quick note, too, to say that tomorrow's and probably Tuesday's postings will be a bit later than usual -- first thing in the morning I have to drive fifty miles to a car dealership to get some irritating steering problem fixed so I can get my car -- five months till it's paid off! -- thru inspection. Then I'll rent a car to drive home and should be back here late morning/early afternoon. Then Tuesday, probably, I'll have to take the rental car back and pick up my own car and etc. "Is This Trip Really Necessary?"

Thank you for the heads up. Sorry you have to go through all that.