The Era -- Day By Day

[Harp]

Homicide rules roost with bridal abduction, juvenile prosecutable intent, and political
shenanigans leading listed felonies. During the fracas these circas always had adultery,
Reno files, lots of alimony and estate matters to salivate over.

Charlie chortles unspoken truth but Milt's typically all-tease-no-strip sketches lead
chaste conclude loosened knot finis. Like watching wall paint dry.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Yeh," replies Bink Scanlan, leaning nervously into the telephone. "It's me. Look, I gotta prawblem, 'n yawr t' on'y one I trus' t' help me wit' it. Yeh. It's about Fat-- it's about Frank Leary. Yeh. I been t'inkin' 'bout t'em t'ings you said, an' I'm scaiet. He's a rut'less gangsteh, an' i'm afraid f' my life. An' look, I know wheh he is. Yeh, him 'n 'na ol' lady bot'. No, I ain' gonna tell ya oveh t' phone. It ain' safe heeh. Look, heeh's how it is. I'm gonna meet'choo at t' Dragon's Den, you know t'at place? Chop Suey jernt on Flatbush, right neeh t' Patio T'eateh. Yeh. Friday at half pas' two inna aftehnoon. We'll have t' place t'w ouehselfs. Yeh. Two t'oity shawrp. What? I dunno, I awrways get it wit' chicken. Yawr t' wizze'd, ask t' spirits if t' beef is any good. Awright. Don' be late." With a deep breath, Bink hangs up the receiver. "T'at awright?' she asks. "It'll do," nods Sergeant Brosnan. "Don't much like chop suey," observes McManus. "Too salty." "Try the chow mein," suggests Brosnan, just as Joe enters, scowling deeply at the sight of the detectives. "I got nut'n moeh t'tell t' two'a yez," he glares. "You hungry?" questions Brosnan. "That was a good sandwich the other day," agrees McManus. 'Two of those Specials," requests Brosnan. "Easy on the salt," adds McManus...)

("Heeh's what we'eh gonna need," announces Sally, peeling a sheet from her tablet and handing it to her seatmate. "Ask ya husban' if he's got'tis stuff down in 'is woikshawp." "One numbeh 72 drill," reads Alice. "Twen'ny five feet 'a numbeh 16 bell wieh. One 12 quawrt galvanized pail. One roll'a friction tape. T'ree stand'ed size sash weights..." "T'ezza few ot'eh t'ings," continues Sally, "but we c'n pick'm up at t' drug stoeh on t' wawk home. Do t'ey still have chlorofawrm innem half-pint bot'ls?" "Um," ums Alice. "I do'wanna hafta buy a whole pint," sighs Sally, "if I don' need it...)

("Hosanna Herring is the treat that -- Is good for you and good for your cat -- Smoky goodness and salty too -- Ho-ho-sanna is the fish for you!")

(Check his head too, while you're at it.)

(See what you avoid when every relative you have died broke?)

(His pants aren't THAT fancy.)

(Hey, he could still beat Billy Conn!)

(Hey, you know what would make "Little Orphan Annie" a truly great strip? THIS CAT.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"There must be some misunderstanding."

"Oh yeah????" -- Solly Pincus.

"Rabbits? What rabbits?"

I've been out of the theatre business for almost two years now, but I still wake up in a cold sweat from dreaming about it...

"Hey! IT'S THE WRONG KEY!"

A voice that unnerves and upsets the listeners is always an asset in radio.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. I want to see Andy's new superhero identity. THE BLUE GOOSE!

Ahhhh, the ritual continues....

Life is nothing more than an endless series of petty negotiations.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Worker...

"All right, Mr. Rickey," puffs Mr. Mann, dropping the heavy bundle on the desk. "Here they are. One hundred copies of the Daily Worker. But I don't see..." "Summon a messenger," chortles Mr. Rickey, lighting a fresh cigar. "Have them delivered to Mr. James Powers at the Daily News. Collect." "I tried to warn you," mutters Mr. Parrott. "On reconsideration," chuckles Mr. Rickey, "Mr. Parrott, YOU may deliver them to Mr. Powers." 'Um," ums Mr. Parrott. "And you may retain," proclaims Mr. Rickey, "whatever gratuity he may offer." "Yes sir," sighs Mr. Parrott....

 

[Fading Fast]

"...Yawr t' wizze'd, ask t' spirits if t' beef is any good..."

A very Alice-like line, but Bink shares a similar sense of humor just with less naiveté. (Spellcheck conveniently provided the accent. Everyday AI pays bigger and bigger dividends for all the investment. Otherwise, I'd have had to hold the "E" key down for a few seconds – the horror!)

Separately, how funny would it be if McManus and Brosnan become regular customers of Big Joe's

*********************************************************

"Heeh's what we'eh gonna need," announces Sally, peeling a sheet from her tablet and handing it to her seatmate. "Ask ya husban' if he's got'tis stuff down in 'is woikshawp." "One numbeh 72 drill," reads Alice. "Twen'ny five feet 'a numbeh 16 bell wieh. One 12 quawrt galvanized pail. One roll'a friction tape. T'ree stand'ed size sash weights..." "T'ezza few ot'eh t'ings," continues Sally, "but we c'n pick'm up at t' drug stoeh on t' wawk home. Do t'ey still have chlorofawrm innem half-pint bot'ls?" "Um," ums Alice. "I do'wanna hafta buy a whole pint," sighs Sally, "if I don' need it...

Dear Lord.

*********************************************************

Check his head too, while you're at it.

Seriously, they should. But how far had medicine advanced for that in 1946? Without an MRI or CT scan what can you really know?

*********************************************************

Hey, you know what would make "Little Orphan Annie" a truly great strip? THIS CAT.

"It's important that we all ignore the crazy lady from Maine."

*********************************************************

"There must be some misunderstanding."

It seems like they shot the right guy, he just had the stolen wallet on him.

Interesting to see the clergy and Planned Parenthood holding hands at the start.

If you include the 5% savings on the coat, her outfit cost no more and no less than under the much vaunted price controls. In a year, I'll bet it will be lower.

*********************************************************

I've been out of the theatre business for almost two years now, but I still wake up in a cold sweat from dreaming about it...

No matter what it is, good or bad, time still flies by. Would you rather be back in it?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'll never set foot in the place again as long as I live. But I still find that I can't stop eating Milk Duds...

The more we see of Pete Reiser's determined path of self-destruction, the more I think there's something wrong with him. Relentless play is one thing, but losing your team two pennants because you can't stop running into walls isn't doing anyone any good.

 

[Harp]

^ I had a Milk Duds addiction until a Nestle's Crunch bar took hold. Later, switched to Hershey's
with almonds and M&M's peanuts. Still later, my real addiction, Playb*y swept tablestakes
away for some real eye candy.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Hey Ma," interrupts Willie. "Ya dropped 'is papeh." He unfolds the wrinkled sheet and scans the content. "Wow!" he exults. "C'n *I* help???" "Gimme t'at," sighs Alice, "an' eatcha breakfas'. Siddy, Sal gimme t'is las' night. It's stuff she needs f' some plan she's got. Wants t' know if you got t'is stuff?" Krause takes the sheet, absorbs its content, and glances at his wife. "It's a t'ing she's t'inkin'a..." Alice flusters. Krause glances down at the paper, and then flicks his eyes in the general direction of upstairs. He slowly shifts the cigar stump from one side of his mouth to the other, and looks again at Alice, who merely shrugs. "Neh," sighs Krause. "I'm sawry t' heeh t'at," exhales Alice....)

("You better talk to her," fumes Mr. Sobol, his tie loosened and sweat dotting his brow as technicians push scenery flats across Studio 3H. "That last run-thru was rotten. She just stood there like a lump. I asked her what was the matter, and she said she's got something on her mind..." "Bink?" snorts Rosa Capiello, fixing a broken lace on her skate. "Fois' time f' ev'yt'ing." "It isn't funny," admonishes Sobol, glancing up at the studio clock. "Bergen and his bunch are supposed to be here in half an hour, and you know who's coming with them? Every ten cent bigshot from J. Walter Thompson, that's who. They're picking at every little thing on this one, and I can't afford any slipups." He scowls across the stage at Bink, who leans against her cardboard coffee jar, twitching an unlit cigarette between her fingers. "Straighten her out," commands Sobol, "or I'll put my wife in that jar!!" "I metcha wife," mutters Rosa, as she rolls toward her partner. "Not a chaaance....")

("Whatteveh..." sighs Joe...)

("All except "Uncle Don," he's scaring the kiddies!")

(I'd love to see Violent Ray take on that stiff from "Scarlet O'Neill.")

(Whatever you do, don't open a hamburger stand.)

("Well, you're no Eddy Duchin!")

(Careful, a man of 85 shouldn't do strenuous work.)

(Aren't you cold?)

(At last, Trix has a master.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

What's Good For General Motors...

So Bing, how's your golf game?

Let's work on your catchphrase, kid...

Those who don't study the humanities...

"Let's stick around a while and see how far he takes this..."

It's not quite "Up, Up, and Away.."

And you know very well the first thing you do in a new place is yell.

And so it continues...

Of course, she means it with love...

You don't dare bring Cap'n Blaze back just to show him on his deathbed. Uh, do you?

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Not only that, they aren't even all that lucky.

 

[Fading Fast]

Whatever you do, don't open a hamburger stand.

Just for perspective, in today's terms, Ella's potential $1,000,000 inheritance would be worth ~$17,000,000 and her $15,000 test would be about $260,000.

********************************************************

Careful, a man of 85 shouldn't do strenuous work.

She should jump out of there and beat the cr*p out of him for all those "Fluffy Ruffles" comments.

********************************************************

You don't dare bring Cap'n Blaze back just to show him on his deathbed. Uh, do you?

I guess they don't want the public to know that Caniff is being pushed out, but are the non-T&TPs-carrying newspapers covering the story? This is one of the most popular of all comic strips; it is a news-worthy event.

*********************************************************

Not only that, they aren't even all that lucky.

"Mad Men" did an episode on the "They're Toasted" slogan. TBH, I don't remember much about it as I saw it when it first ran which is now (sadly) +/- 15 years ago, but I assume they were riffing on this in some fashion. I assume this was in the Daily Worker, not the Daily News, not that it really matters?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep, that's from the Worker. The mainstream papers, receiving as they do a lot of tobacco advertising, are notably silent on the story.

I haven't seen anything about Caniff's coming exit yet in any of the papers we get, but I have to imagine that we'll see some kind of something somewhere as the end approaches. However, it was announced in "Time" almost two years ago --

The Press: Fun in Chicago

As Marshall Field long ago discovered, there are other ways of fighting Colonel Robert McCormick besides broadsides from the editorial page. Last week, Chicago Sunman. Field raided Tribuneman...

time.com

 

[Fading Fast]

Yep, that's from the Worker. The mainstream papers, receiving as they do a lot of tobacco advertising, are notably silent on the story.

I haven't seen anything about Caniff's coming exit yet in any of the papers we get, but I have to imagine that we'll see some kind of something somewhere as the end approaches. However, it was announced in "Time" almost two years ago --

http://[URL][URL]https://time.com/archive/6898305/the-press-fun-in-chicago/

[/URL][/URL]

Thank you for that.

So, Lizzie, have you given any thought to if you're going to be able to (and have the time to) post Caniff's new strip in January for us here? Considering all you do to get these up daily, the right answer is to tell me to GTH, but I thought I 'd ask as it could be fun to see what Caniff does launching a new strip.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Steve Canyon" will begin January 13th, with its New York outlet being the Daily Mirror, Hearst's tabloid competitor to the News. We don't have access to the Mirror (and Sally wouldn't stand for it if we did,) but there are papers at our Out Of Town Newsstand that will carry it, and I think something might be arranged....

 

[Harp]

The Press: Fun in Chicago

As Marshall Field long ago discovered, there are other ways of fighting Colonel Robert McCormick besides broadsides from the editorial page. Last week, Chicago Sunman. Field raided Tribuneman...

time.com

A maternal granduncle was Chicago Tribune editor post-McCormick 1950s.
I've got to find Male Call somehow. From having read GI rag trade, I presume Milt took
all the curves fast and furious.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Male Call" was originally a special version of Terry focusing entirely on the activities of Burma. Captain Patterson of the News took umbrage at this, so the lead got a fast dye job and a new name...

 

[Farace]

"Mad Men" did an episode on the "They're Toasted" slogan. TBH, I don't remember much about it as I saw it when it first ran which is now (sadly) +/- 15 years ago, but I assume they were riffing on this in some fashion.

If I remember correctly, they came up with “It’s toasted” as something to brag about, and another character stated that all tobacco is toasted, which elicited the reply that none of the others were saying anything about it.

When I was in high school I worked in an old-fashioned pharmacy, the sort of place with a lunch counter around which a surprising amount of town business was conducted. I worked the front register, which was mostly selling candy and tobacco. My good friend’s father smoked Luckys, and he’d come in and say, “give me a pack of those breathing sticks,” having once explained to me that he had seen an old sci-fi movie where the Martians came to Earth, saw everyone smoking, and assumed cigarettes were required for humans to breathe. I have never found the movie he is referring to, maybe someone here knows what it is. Unfortunately he died not too many yea later from cancer.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Yeh," grins Rosa, between bites of her Beefwich. "I wawked right up t'wim an' I said, 'Misteh Boigen, it's a pleasheh t' meetcha. An' if y' can give me any perntehs 'bout my act, I'm awl eehs.' An'nen Chawrlie McCawrty says 'An'nat's not awl you're awl! !'" "He really said'at?" flushes Joe. "An'nen *I* said," chortles Rosa, "'I'd slap ya face f' t'at, 'cept I might chip ya paint!' An' hawnest t'gawd, Boigen bus ts right out laughin'. Chawrlie din' like it too much t'ough..." "Ah," ahs Joe, chuckling as he scrapes the grill. "I t'ink I made a good impression," declares Rosa, dabbing her lips with a napkin. "He gimmee 'is address in Hollywood, tol' me t' write 'im a letteh." "I t'ought he was married," frowns Joe. "Watch y'self wit' t'em Hollywood charactehs..." "Ahh," dismisses Rosa. "On'y fly inna oatmeal was Bink, she was lousy inna show. I give'r a good tawkin' to, an' it's like she wasn' even lissenin'. I mean, even less'n she usually does. Wheh is she anyways, I got a fresh piece'a my mind t'give 'eh!" "I dunno," shrugs Joe. "She wen' outa heeh 'bout twenny minutes ago. Neveh said wheh she was goin'." "Prob'ly t' go see t'at punk swami Zemo again," scoffs Rosa. "Butcha don' need no swami t' see HER futcheh....")

(2:40 pm. A nervous young woman in a trench coat enters the Dragon's Den, popular Chinese restaurant on Flatbush Avenue. The restaurant is empty but for two men dining quietly at a rear table, and a large man in a dark slouch hat and a voluminous overcoat. His beard bristles with impatience as he glances at his watch. "Sawry I'm late," exhales Bink Scanlan, making her way toward his table. He rises to acknowledge her, just as her feet slip on the polished tile floor and she tumbles toward him. "Sawry," she apologizes, grabbing onto his coat for support as she pulls herself upright. "Hmph," hmphs Zeno. "Awrdeh some food," Bink directs. "T'is is gonna take a while. I got a lot t'tell ya." "Very well," rumbles the prophet, snapping his fingers to summon an uneasy-looking waitress, who presents a pot of tea and two small cups. "Two chow meins," he commands. "With beef." "I c'n awrdeh f' myself," scowls Bink. "Go ahead," glares Zeno. "This order is for ZENO." "Chicken chop suey," mutters Bink, tipping the waitress an inscrutable wink. "Awright," she continues. "Ya lookin' f' Frank Leary. Whattaya willin' t' pay?" "Pay??" scoffs Zeno. "I understood that..." "Neveh min' whatcha undehstood," snickers Bink. "I know whatcha got in mind, y'know. Ya gonna scratch 'im jus' like ya done'at guy T'ud Wilentz out in Joisey?" "How'dYOY know...." blurts Zeno, just as the two men at the rear table rush forward. "POLICE OFFICERS!" bellows Sergeant Brosnan, as Zeno spits an obscenity and fumbles in his coat. "WATCH IT PETE," shouts McManus, aiming his service revolver at the mystic's head. Brosnan slams forward, sending the wizard crashing to the floor in a spray of tea and crockery, and before Zeno can regain his feet, McManus wrenches his arms behind his back and applies the handcuffs. "Alphonse Zenofsky," exhales Brosnan, "you're under arrest." "You got nut'n awn me," spits the swami. "Ever hear of the Sullivan Law, fat boy?" glowers Brosnan. "I -- I --" stammers Zeno. "WHAT gu n?" The detectives turn to Bink, who blandly shakes her sleeve over the table. A p istol clatters out. "He musta drawpped it," she shrugs, looking around with regret at the spilled tea....)

(If you expect to be in the running for the Thanksgiving Dinner contest, you've got to list your prices.)

(I have to go to the doctor next week, and this strikes a little too close to home.)

(What, no mention of Sukey? He's not as mouthy as Dressen, but he's every bit as smart.)


(Aw, this isn't one of those dumb radio shows, is it? Is this "People Are Funny?" Where's Art Linkletter??)

(You, in that dopey string tie? You think you have a chance?)

(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

("Love's Young Dream...")

(Strategies are subject to change without notice.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Jeezuz...

Coming events...

HAMburgers....

Tne first thing you learn when you decide to cut your own hair is to put papers down on the floor.

We could easily get another month of this. Cue the wacky music...

It's good to have friends.

Good ol' Blaze. I wish Pat would show up for one last game of checkers.

With powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men...

Hey, is that tunnel into the bank vault next door still down there?

One joy the twenty-first century will never know is that which comes from refusing to accept a collect call.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Worker...

There's a New World Coming...