The Era -- Day By Day

Adolf Hitler's armies marched into Paris today at the peak of an offensive designed to break the Maginot Line and achieve the "final destruction" of the Allied armies in France. German tanks rolled down the Champs-Elysses, leading columns of marching troops along thoroughfares which last felt the tread of German boots almost seventy years ago following Bismarck's triumph in the War of 1870. The French Army was reported retreating southward while the government of Premier Paul Reynaud awaits response from President Roosevelt to the Premier's "last appeal" for aid from the United States, made in a broadcast last night.



Meanwhile, German authorities are denying a report from "trustworthy sources" that U. S. Ambassador to France William C. Bullitt has been placed in "protective custody" by Nazi occupation forces in Paris. Bullitt had remained in the French capital during the invasion by special permission of the US Government, and it was he who informed the German Government that France would make no military defense of Paris. President Roosevelt, asked about the Ambassador's status at a press conference today responded only with a counter-question -- "Could the ambassador be protected against what, and whom?" The US Embassy in Berlin reports that it has no word on Bullitt's fate.

President Roosevelt repeated today that "all possible help" is being extended to the Allies, and pointed to Hitler's past record in responding to a statement by the Nazi Fuehrer dismissing the possibility of a German invasion of the Western Hemisphere as "grotesque." The President said that the Chancellor's remark "brought up recollections," and that he could offer specific places and dates going back a period of years if required.

In London, the fall of Paris has prompted the Churchill government to go "all out" with its resources, and to offer the United States a "blank check" for the purchase of anything that can be used to convey or fire explosives. The funds for such purchases were to have been dispersed over a period of years, but are now to be used at once.

(Just the thing to ride while wearing your Davega bathing suit.)

The lead defense attorney in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy trial is accusing a prominent New Jersey rabbi and the vice president of the New York Central Railroad of plotting to "smear and destroy" the Front by bringing about the original arrests of the suspects in the case. Attorney Leo Healy claimed that Rabbi Benjamin Plotkin of Newark and rail executive Jacob Aaronson conspired against the Christian Front as revenge for its refusal to support involvement by the United States in a war against Germany. Healy also called Rabbi Plotkin a Communist.


Before 50,000 spectators, a bevy of radio microphones, and a pair of television cameras, the
battleship North Carolina slid into the East River yesterday in a ceremony marked by strict military security. Everyone attending the event, from the workers who built the ship to the wealthy dignitaries on the reviewing stand was subjected to careful scrutiny, as more three hundred Marines and two hundred plainclothes detectives patrolled the grounds of the Brooklyn Navy Yard for the occasion. The ship is approximately seventy-five percent complete, with extensive fitting-out yet to be finished before it will be ready for commissioning into active duty in September 1941.

Brooklyn's leading Catholic newspaper is denouncing a series of full-page advertisements that appeared this week in the metropolitan press. The dioscean weekly "The Tablet" accused the sponsors of the ads, The Committee to Aid The Allies led by William Allen White, of fomenting "a man-created hysteria," and announced it will respond to those advertisements, and to President Roosevelt's "partisan stand and belligerency" in his radio address this week with a front-page editorial under the title "America Beware!"


(Very soon, dear boy, you'll be making "$21 a day once a month.")



Ducky Medwick flapped into Brooklyn yesterday in high style, along with fellow ex-Cardinal Curt Davis, and will be officially unveiled at Ebbets Field this afternoon as the Dodgers take on their arch-rivals in the National League pennant race the Cincinnati Reds. Dodger fans are already nailing the 1940 pennant to the flagpole, but Tommy Holmes warns that while Medwick is a slugger with a gaudy batting average, he is not a replica of "the high flying Superman of the air waves," and that no matter how well he performs as a Dodger, the Flock is not likely to play at its current .698 pace for the rest of the season. Pennants are won, he emphasizes, by consistent performance over the course of a long season, and it's still too early in the campaign to be hoisting the flag.

Medwick himself is delighted to be a Dodger, with his spanking new uniform all fitted and ready to go, and predicts he'll hit .350 for the season. He had always hit well at Ebbets Field while in Cardinal raiment -- until his former Redbird buddy Leo Durocher took over as Brooklyn manager, and trained his pitching staff to focus on the Duck's weaknesses. Since 1938, Medwick has barely hit .250 at Ebbets Field, but he promises that will change.


Overshadowed by Medwick's arrival is the fact that the Dodgers will face a hard one-two-three pitching punch from the Reds over the coming series, with Bucky Walters, Paul Derringer, and Junior Thompson lining up for mound duty.

Cleveland Indians owner Alva Bradley is meeting today with key players on his team after a player insurrection against manager Oscar Vitt. Pitcher Bob Feller and first basement Hal Trosky have been named as leaders of the rebellion, with ten other players who were not named also identified as participants. Bradley met with eleven of the rebellious players in his Cleveland office, with Trosky meeting with him by telephone. The players are demanding Vitt's immediate dismissal, declaring that they "couldn't win for" Vitt, and accusing him of "insincerity," and of subjecting players to "caustic public ridicule." Vitt denies the charges, stating that he had "no reason to believe any member of the club has any enimity toward me." The rebellion follows a disastrous Eastern trip in which the second-place Indians dropped eight of thirteen games, and is believed to involve most of the veteran members of the team.

Radio's Amos 'n' Andy are now entertaining their third generation of radio listeners in a career dating back to 1928, and for the first time they're both celebrating Father's Day. Freeman "Amos" Gosden has long been a father, but now partner Charlie "Andy" Correll has a child, with his first daughter, Dorothy Alyce Correll, having been born this past February. "This is my first Father's Day," smiles Andy. "It's a new sensation and has aroused many new thoughts."

(Ding ding ding!)

(The part of Gov. Swiller will be played, in a rare dramatic turn, by Mr. James Durante. "Ev-ry-body wants to get into de act! Ah-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha! Umbriago!")

(The Head Hood is immediately electrocuted by a huge spark as the shorted antenna leads blow out the output stage of his transmitter in a spectacular high-voltage blast. The reek of transformer oil fills the room as the acrid smoke shrouds his fallen body. Oh, and Dan got shot.)

And in the Daily News...

Of course he likes his liquor -- Earl and water don't mix.





"Oh, and give Nick Gatt a call while you're at it. I just want to chat, that's all."

It's impossible not to hear Bette Davis's voice in panel two: "What A DUMP!" Which is a whole new reading on Jerome.

*snif*


Who's worse, Tula or Wilmer? Or are they in fact merely two segments of a single vast tapeworm-like entity feeding off Skeezix?

Things are tough all over.

Harold's gonna get his picture in the paper: UNKNOWN CHUMP CRASHES CELEB SHIP

I wouldn't have figured Emmy to go in for the sporty play-shoe craze. Those are pretty sharp!

LizzieMaine said:

... (Just the thing to ride while wearing your Davega bathing suit.)...

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As noted yesterday, Davega seems like one of those stores where anything that it can get a deal on can pop up at any time.

LizzieMaine said:

...[ (Ding ding ding!)...

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Kudos Lizzie - spot on call. IRL, George and Sugarfoot will be scheming to violate that trust one to two seconds after the "much-beloved" Uncle Zip slips the surly bonds.

LizzieMaine said:

... (The part of Gov. Swiller will be played, in a rare dramatic turn, by Mr. James Durante. "Ev-ry-body wants to get into de act! Ah-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha! Umbriago!")...

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. Based on the drawings, I could see Alan Hale in the role of the Gov. (despite his happy sidekick image, he could play mean well) and Harry Davenport as Boss McRafter

Hale left and Davenport right

LizzieMaine said:

... (The Head Hood is immediately electrocuted by a huge spark as the shorted antenna leads blow out the output stage of his transmitter in a spectacular high-voltage blast. The reek of transformer oil fills the room as the acrid smoke shrouds his fallen body. Oh, and Dan got shot.)

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"Dan's mighty arms." Oy Vey.

LizzieMaine said:

... Of course he likes his liquor -- Earl and water don't mix....

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Good one Lizzie. I'm not impressed with English jurisprudence on this one so far. And regarding the baby, it seems that all it took was one night of, um, passion - youth and all. That's the crusher for the Earl as, even if he gets a divorce, he'll still be tied to the charming Miss Meyrick the rest of his life.

Re the Artist and the wife: If Hollywood could figure out a way around the code, there are a couple of scenes for a movie all written in that small article. I'm beginning to believe rich people, for their own sakes, should not be allowed to marry.

Good "The Neighbors" today - very true to life.

LizzieMaine said:

... It's impossible not to hear Bette Davis's voice in panel two: "What A DUMP!" Which is a whole new reading on Jerome....

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Spot on Lizzie, a perfect BD line (go to 20 seconds in).

LizzieMaine said:

... Things are tough all over....

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What happened to the background in panels three and four? It looks like those weird movie stills they made back then where the actors would be dressed in costume but against an all-but-blank background that clearly wasn't from a scene in the movie, like this:

LizzieMaine said:

... View attachment 241664 Harold's gonna get his picture in the paper: UNKNOWN CHUMP CRASHES CELEB SHIP...

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I'm so exhausted from worrying about Harold that anything that prevents him from marrying Senga is okay by me. And Senga, hiking up the skirt on the boat out, trampy to the bitter end.

I think Mr. Caniff eliminated the background in panel three because between the large balloons and the small figures, a full background would have been too busy. Likewise with the crowded fourth panel -- there's so many figures there, a full background would have caused them to get lost.

Note, by the way, how distinctive those figures in the last panel are. You can buy every one of them as an individual person with a particular set of experiences and a distinct point of view -- even though you'll probably never see any of them again. It's that kind of subtle work that's really hard for a cartoonist to carry off.

I think when Harold's picture makes the paper he'll be mistaken for a wanted criminal or a missing heir, and we'll be off on a new adventure. If he can manage not to fall off the dock chasing after the boat.

It seems that Davega will one day be bought out by and absorbed into Modell's. I would have figured "Crazy Eddie's" would be more their speed.

LizzieMaine said:

I think Mr. Caniff eliminated the background in panel three because between the large balloons and the small figures, a full background would have been too busy. Likewise with the crowded fourth panel -- there's so many figures there, a full background would have caused them to get lost.

Note, by the way, how distinctive those figures in the last panel are. You can buy every one of them as an individual person with a particular set of experiences and a distinct point of view -- even though you'll probably never see any of them again. It's that kind of subtle work that's really hard for a cartoonist to carry off.

I think when Harold's picture makes the paper he'll be mistaken for a wanted criminal or a missing heir, and we'll be off on a new adventure. If he can manage not to fall off the dock chasing after the boat.

It seems that Davega will one day be bought out by and absorbed into Modell's. I would have figured "Crazy Eddie's" would be more their speed.

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I would not have guessed Modell's, but in the '80s, Modell's was a bit of a "sloppy" store - stuff haphazardly displayed and no great logic to what it carried other than (to my memory) it was pretty much all sports-related stuff. Crazy Eddies would have been perfect for Davega. You can't get more New Yorker "let's make a deal" than Crazy Eddies - Davega would have fit right in.

I've alluded to it before, but in the '70s and '80s, NYC was full of sketchy stores that sold at least some fenced goods ("fell off a truck" and all that). And some of these were pretty large affairs - big stores (thousands of square feet), full of random merchandise here, there and everywhere, a lot of advertising (loud and always about a "deal") and pressure sales tactics (they were all over you from the minute you walked in - "whadaya need kid," etc.). In a way, figuring out how to play that game was part of growing up - part of going from being a Harold or Skeezix to a guy who doesn't get scammed.

We have a chain of stores up here called "Marden's" which is pretty much that same type of deal, emphasizing closeout/liquidated merchandise, fire-sale stuff, any kind of weird random thing you can imagine. I walked into a Marden's once and was confronted by an enormous pyramid of industrial sized jars of off-brand mayonnaise. with streaks of smoke on the label, and I wondered who, exactly, their target market was. Next time I went in there, the mayonnaise was all gone, so somebody was.

We also have a localized to the coast chain called "Reny's," which is a much smaller-scale version of this type of store -- you can get a lot of decent stuff at your neighborhood Reny's, and you can also get stuff that you never knew existed and probably shouldn't. Most of the Reny's stores are in abandoned supermarkets, closed JC Penney's shopping-plaza stores, and other similar repurposed locations, but no matter where the location is, it's packed right to the walls with random strange merchandise.

The ultimate, though, is a place called "Big Al's Super Values," which is in a town about forty minutes down Route 1 from here. Big Al is an old Brooklyn guy with an enormous beard and bulging eyes, who stars in his own TV commercials, and sells everything from fireworks to second-hand forklifts. He is, and I use the term sincerely, a larger than life personality.

LizzieMaine said:

I think Mr. Caniff eliminated the background in panel three because between the large balloons and the small figures, a full background would have been too busy. Likewise with the crowded fourth panel -- there's so many figures there, a full background would have caused them to get lost.

Note, by the way, how distinctive those figures in the last panel are. You can buy every one of them as an individual person with a particular set of experiences and a distinct point of view -- even though you'll probably never see any of them again. It's that kind of subtle work that's really hard for a cartoonist to carry off.

I think when Harold's picture makes the paper he'll be mistaken for a wanted criminal or a missing heir, and we'll be off on a new adventure. If he can manage not to fall off the dock chasing after the boat.

It seems that Davega will one day be bought out by and absorbed into Modell's. I would have figured "Crazy Eddie's" would be more their speed.

Click to expand...

Davega started out as a dealer in bicycles and talking machines, two businesses which complemented each other quite well, for the selling season for each item was during the other’s slow period. The firm was a big presence in the early Radio business, and by the mid-1920s carried full lines of appliances of all kinds. At this time their emphasis on bicycles and sporting goods faded, but it never entirely disappeared. Davega was also a principal jobber of talking machines, radio, and home appliances.

Davega's Flatbush store at 924 Flatbush Ave, just south of Prospect Park --



One of those great blocks where you can do or find just about anything.

vitanola said:

Davega started out as a dealer in bicycles and talking machines, two businesses which complemented each other quite well, for the selling season for each item was during the other’s slow period. The firm was a big presence in the early Radio business, and by the mid-1920s carried full lines of appliances of all kinds. At this time their emphasis on bicycles and sporting goods faded, but it never entirely disappeared. Davega was also a principal jobber of talking machines, radio, and home appliances.

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Good stuff. The sporting goods roots, probably, explains the sale to Modell's. I wonder if, when Davega was sold, the sporting goods part of the business went to Modell's and the appliance part went elsewhere? That happens sometimes.

LizzieMaine said:

Davega's Flatbush store at 924 Flatbush Ave, just south of Prospect Park --



One of those great blocks where you can do or find just about anything.

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Not something we don't know, but it says so much about the different times as two of the other stores in the pic are a hat store and now-out-of-business men's dress-shoes store, Florsheim (at one point, the largest selling of men's shoes in the county). When I first moved to NYC in the '80s, many streets like that still existed in Manhattan (in the not-fancy areas); today, not so much.

German forces have pierced the Maginot Line under heavy air cover, as Nazi troops continue their deep thrusts across Northern France. A communique from the German High Command states that the swastika flag flies over the Palace of Versailles, and more than 200,000 French prisoners have been taken along with "incalculable" booty. French positions have been pushed back to south of the Argonne Forest, says the communique, and all lines of retreat have been blocked.

Reports from the British news agency Reuters state that Allied army leaders in France are considering "strategic questions of great importance," and that the events of the next twenty four hours will reveal the nature of those decisions. An authoritative British source denies rumors that France will seek a separate peace with Germany. A French broadcast heard today in London states that a council of French ministers will meet this afternoon, at which Premier Paul Reynaud is expected to issue a statement concerning President Roosevelt's replyto the latest French appeal for aid. Official Britain, meanwhile, anticipating an early "peace offensive" by Hitler on the heels of Allied reverses in France, declares that "whatever happens, Britain will fight on."

Eleven persons were killed and fifty-two wounded in Allied air strikes on Italian towns near Genoa. British planes reportedly flew over Rome last night, dropping pamphlets asserting that Premier Mussolini started the war.

Congress was asked today to empower President Roosevelt to turn the entire automobile industry into a single, gigantic aircraft factory with the power to manufacture 50,000 warplanes for the embattled Allies. The resolution drafted by Senator Claude Pepper (D-Fla.) has already drawn opposition from Senator Rush Holt (D-W. Va.), who called it "dictatorial."

State troopers today raided an illegal distillery on Long Island, on the Commack Road near Carll's Road in Suffolk. The "odor of alcohol" drew two passing state troopers to investigate the five-acre farm where they discovered a 2500-gallon still "operating at full force" inside a two-story house owned by 32-year-old Mrs. Rose Miglino. Operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were called to the scene, and Mrs. Miglino was arrested. She will be arraigned today in Brooklyn Federal Court for violation of federal revenue laws.

Bob the Dog has received a stay of execution of one week to allow for a hearing on an injunction that would block the Board of Health from carrying out the death sentence against the four year old Spitz owned by Mrs. Helen Browne of 809 Ditmas Avenue. Bob was sentenced to die last year after he was found guilty of biting three persons, and several appeals of that sentence have been denied.

Thousands of Dodger fans swarmed the World's Fair this morning to see Joe Medwick make his first personal appearance in a Brooklyn uniform. Medwick and fellow new-acquiree Curt Davis were scheduled to appear alongside manager Leo Durocher as instructors at the Fair's baseball school.

Clifford Evans notes that Ducky will be formally welcomed to Brooklyn with a luncheon Thursday afternoon at Flynn's Cabaret on Washington Avenue near Ebbets Field.

("Alla way ta Flatbush?" grumbles Joe. "Howcum they don't have it aroun' heah?" "I dunno," replies Sally. "Maybe Ducky don' wanna get ptomaine?")


(On the one hand, the news is relentlessly grim today. On the other hand, BABY TIGERS.)

The Eagle Editorialist joins with all Dodger fans -- which is to say "all of Brooklyn except for a minute and traitorous element" -- in welcoming the Duck to Ebbets Field. Everyone agrees that the acquisition of Medwick and Curt Davis "nails the pennant to the flagpole." Of course, "there are still 110 games left to be played as a matter of course."


(Long-term investment.)


Joe Medwick made his Dodger debut at Ebbets Field yesterday, knocking in one of the two runs in a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, reinforcing the universal believe that the Husky Hungarian is the muscular Moses who will lead Leo's boys into the Promised Land. Medwick appeared a bit "over-keyed" with excitement in his first game as one of us, but the rest of the team whipped into their routine with a long-term confidence they had not shown before. Luke Hamlin dominated the Reds from start to finish, his fastball never faster, and if he ever slipped in one of his infamous home-run balls, no Cincinnati hitter managed to connect.


Tex Carleton starts this afternoon for the Dodgers against Bucky Walters of the Reds. Durocher says Curt Davis may make his Brooklyn debut in one of the games tomorrow, but he hasn't decided for sure.

The player uprising in Cleveland against manager Oscar Vitt remains unexplained, with a wall of silence having rung down from the Indians front office over the incident, and no official action has been taken against anyone involved in the affair. Failing any comment from team owner Alva Bradley, three courses appear open to the club -- Vitt could be fired and replaced by coach Luke Sewell, who is popular with the players; the club could get rid of the ringleaders among the players -- which is not likely, considering the fact that the trading deadline is midnight tonight; or efforts could be made to salve over the conflict and maintain the status quo. Bradley's only statement on the matter has been to declare that it will be "fully investigated," with the possibility that such investigation will focus on uncovering "fifth columnists" among the players who might have agitated the rest of the club into action. The Indians played yesterday without a hint of internal dissension, as Johnny Allen threw a two hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics for an 8-0 win.


(It is a very wicked thing to trifle in the affairs of elephants. Don't tempt fate.)

(Cynicism is not a modern invention.)

(If you live in Dan Dunn's Universe, here's a tip. Invest heavily in companies that manufacture heavy steel doors. No underground lair is complete without one.)

And in the Daily News...


You couldn't come up with a better name than "Chottie Milburn Pickering Cheeseborough" if you were a cartoonist for the Daily Worker.


Some things never change.

Well, Bolo's not as dumb as he looks -- here's a chance to take down Nick and John at the same time. OR WILL HE?

Trust me, Jerome, you don't want to go into the tourist business.

Mental breakdowns often come out of nowhere.

Yes, Bim, do explain. This ought to be good.

Prediction: Terry will develop an immediate crush on Raven and make everyone extremely uncomfortable. Especially April, when she finds out.

Don't jump in the water, kid, it's awful dirty.

That's the cleanest chicken house I've ever seen. They must have very loose zoning in this town.

LizzieMaine said:

...Bob the Dog has received a stay of execution of one week to allow for a hearing on an injunction that would block the Board of Health from carrying out the death sentence against the four year old Spitz owned by Mrs. Helen Browne of 809 Ditmas Avenue. Bob was sentenced to die last year after he was found guilty of biting three persons, and several appeals of that sentence have been denied....

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Fingers crossed that 1940 justice is stumbling its way to the right decision on this one.

LizzieMaine said:

...
(Long-term investment.)...

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Other than the type where the ball goes under windmill blades or over tiny bridges, I've never played golf, but $800 in 1940 is ~$15,000 today. Do people really spend that much on golf lessons?

LizzieMaine said:

...Joe Medwick made his Dodger debut at Ebbets Field yesterday, knocking in one of the two runs in a 2-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, reinforcing the universal believe that the Husky Hungarian is the muscular Moses who will lead Leo's boys into the Promised Land. Medwick appeared a bit "over-keyed" with excitement in his first game as one of us, but the rest of the team whipped into their routine with a long-term confidence they had not shown before. Luke Hamlin dominated the Reds from start to finish, his fastball never faster, and if he ever slipped in one of his infamous home-run balls, no Cincinnati hitter managed to connect....

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Glad that went well. It takes a lot of pressure off to get off to a good start; otherwise, the NYC Press and fans can be brutal. A new player gets a very short honeymoon in this town.

LizzieMaine said:

...
(It is a very wicked thing to trifle in the affairs of elephants. Don't tempt fate.)...

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This quickly took a dark turn. FYI, $1 million in 1940 is ~$18,000,000 today.

LizzieMaine said:

... (If you live in Dan Dunn's Universe, here's a tip. Invest heavily in companies that manufacture heavy steel doors. No underground lair is complete without one.)

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My guess is the bullet just bounced off "Dan's mighty arm."

Where'd the doctor come from?

In addition to the steel-door business, I also want the tunneling contract.

LizzieMaine said:

...
You couldn't come up with a better name than "Chottie Milburn Pickering Cheeseborough" if you were a cartoonist for the Daily Worker....

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That is a Hall of Fame name.

Re the jewels: Something sounds off as the fine for not declaring them is $6700 (the full price of the jewelry) and, then, it's another $6700 to get the jewels back. I'm not losing sleep over it, but that sounds excessive.

LizzieMaine said:

... Well, Bolo's not as dumb as he looks -- here's a chance to take down Nick and John at the same time. OR WILL HE?...

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Annie should be able to clear Nick as long as he isn't shot dead before she gets a chance.

Also, I still think Nick should have killed Axel.

LizzieMaine said:

... Prediction: Terry will develop an immediate crush on Raven and make everyone extremely uncomfortable. Especially April, when she finds out.....

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Raven would destroy Terry. He's not ready for a woman like that.

LizzieMaine said:

... Don't jump in the water, kid, it's awful dirty.....

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I'd like to say "phew," but I doubt this one is over. But if it is, all we need to do is keep Skeezix from Tula and these boys can go forward with their lives.

Mrs. Helen Browne of 809 Ditmas Avenue must've really really loved her dog, and Bob must've been a very very good dog for her to love him so much. I desperately hope their story has a happy ending.

I had no idea when we started this whole adventure into 1940 that this would be the only baseball we're going to get this summer, but I guess we couldn't have stumbled into a more exciting pennant race if we'd planned it that way. It's been all about the Dodgers and Reds, but take a look at how well the Giants are playing now. And conversely, look how poorly the back half of the league is playing -- not a one of them even over .400. No wonder Medwick wanted out of St. Louis.

I don't think *Pat* is ready for Raven, in spite of his "blase man of the world" routine, let alone Terry.

LizzieMaine said:

Mrs. Helen Browne of 809 Ditmas Avenue must've really really loved her dog, and Bob must've been a very very good dog for her to love him so much. I desperately hope their story has a happy ending.

I had no idea when we started this whole adventure into 1940 that this would be the only baseball we're going to get this summer, but I guess we couldn't have stumbled into a more exciting pennant race if we'd planned it that way. It's been all about the Dodgers and Reds, but take a look at how well the Giants are playing now. And conversely, look how poorly the back half of the league is playing -- not a one of them even over .400. No wonder Medwick wanted out of St. Louis.

I don't think *Pat* is ready for Raven, in spite of his "blase man of the world" routine, let alone Terry.

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Couldn't agree more about 1940 baseball - it's been a tiny oasis. I am indifferent to the talk of a 50 game season this year as, once again, the players and owners have both disgusted me.

Maybe so on Pat, but I'd give him a better chance of surviving l'amour Sherman than Terry.

Verdun fell today, according to a communique from the German High Command. The communique also states that Nazi forces have cut the Maginot Line south of Saarbrucken, and additional troops continue their drive westward toward the conquered city of Paris.

The French Cabinet met today with General Maxime Weygand and the chiefs of the French armed forces to examine in detail the present military and diplomatic situation. There was no announcement of a result of the deliberations, but the Cabinet will reconvene for further deliberations tomorrow. Meanwhile, reports from London deny rumors that France is about to seek a separate armistice.

In Paris, the swastika flies from the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Hotel de Ville, and there are reports that in a few days Adolf Hitler himself will ride thru Paris. Reports from the city state that approximately 70 percent of the Paris population of more than 2,800,000 has evacuated, leaving the streets of the French capital abandoned and ghostly as grey-uniformed German soldiers patrol sidewalks that have not felt the tread of a Teutonic boot in seventy years. The American flag is still flying over the U. S. Embassy on the Place de la Concorde, and it is reported that Ambassador William C. Bullitt is still in the city.

President Roosevelt yesterday pledged "redoubled efforts" to supply munitions to France, but in his reply to a plea for help from French premier Paul Reynaud, the President stressed that only Congress can make military committments. The President promised US support for France as long as the French continue to fight, and pledged that the US will not "consider as valid any attempts to infringe by force the independence and territorial integrity of France."

In a radio broadcast last night, Col. Charles A. Lindbergh urged his listeners to petition Congress to "halt any move to enter the European War," and focus instead on building up a defense for the Western Hemisphere. "We cannot continue for long in the course our Government has taken," declared the aviator, "without becoming involved in war with Germany." He further stated that America's entry into the war would result in "a war between the hemispheres, with half of the white race divided against the other half." The speech, broadcast over a network of the National Broadcasting Company, was the fourth in a series of public discourses by Lindbergh on the topic of the war since last fall.

In Lithuania, Soviet troops are reported to be massing on the German border, under terms of the Russian-Lithuanian mutual-assistance agreement signed fall. A Red Army force of more than 200 tanks was seen to pass thru the Lithuanian capital of Kaunas yesterday, but there is no precise count of the number of troops moved to border positions.

A one-quarter ownership interest in the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club Inc. will go on the market, with Mrs. Edward L. McKeever, widow of the longtime Dodger partner, having declared her intention to sell her holdings. Another twenty-five percent share owned by Mrs. James Mulvey, daughter of Judge Stephen W. McKeever, will not be sold, nor will the fifty-percent share in the club held in trust for the heirs of Charles H. Ebbets by the Brooklyn Trust Company.

Statistics to be released this week by the Bureau of the Census will place the population of the Borough of Brooklyn at 2,696,000 inhabitants. The exact figure will fall substantially below estimates prepared by the Board of Health, and will amount to an increase of not more than 136,000 from the borough's 1930 population. The total will, however, allot to Brooklyn approximately 36 3/5 percent of the total New York City population of slightly more than 7,414,000.

Coney Island is clamping down on the wearing of swimsuits anywhere but on the beach, with warnings to be issued to any person appearing on the streets so clothed. Subsequent violations will result in summonses. The Parks Department, citing an old ruling giving that agency jurisdiction over every street up to a distance of 250 feet from the beach, announced the new policy thru a statement by the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce.
The policy will affect not just visitors but also neighborhood residents who have the habit of strolling from their homes to the beach in their bathing attire.

New York radio stations that broadcast foreign-language programs are imposing new censorship restrictions on the contents of such programs. In Brooklyn, stations WBBC, WARD, WLTH, and WVFW, which between them broadcast dozens of programs in German, Italian, Yiddish, Polish, Ukrainian, Scandanavian, Hungarian, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, and Syrian, among other tongues, have all severely restricted what such programs may include, including prohibitions on news broadcasts or news commentary in any language but English, and the requirement that all news programs must be broadcast by American announcers. In Manhattan, station WEVD, owned by the Jewish Forward newspaper, broadcasts much of its programming in Yiddish, but does feature an Italian dramatic program, "which will be carefully watched for propaganda." A WEVD spokesman states that "We haven't broadcast German programs for years, and we have no Fascists hanging around here."

Old-Timer Florence O'Donnell lives in Venice, California now, but her heart remains in Flatbush -- where she met her husband Joe while he was playing for the Flatbush Base Ball Club at Farragut Road and East 37th Street. She fondly remembers going on "road trips" to the towns out on Long Island with her best fella, "and what grand times we had!"

(It's been quite a week.)

The Eagle Editorialist notes that the Republican National Convention convenes in Philadelphia next week, and it cannot dodge the fact that "the world is changing." The Eagle makes no endorsement, noting only that Mr. Dewey, Sen. Taft, and Sen. Vandenburg appear to have the most support, but with "an increasing interest in the availablity of Mr. Willkie."



Bucky Walters isn't quite as fearsome a figure as he seemed the last time the Reds and Dodgers met, with the Flock slapping out an 11 to 6 victory to climb to a two-game lead in the National League. The red-hot Brooklyn bats chased Walters after three innings, and then continued to have their way with reliever Milton Schoffner, racking up a total of fourteen hits over the course of the game. The Reds weren't exactly shrinking violets, sending Tex Carleton to the showers with a fierce barrage in the fourth, with four of their runs scored by homers, including two off the bat of Big Ernie Lombardi. Joe Medwick had his first big day in a Brooklyn uniform, going two for three with three runs scored. Catcher Babe Phelps had the only homer of the day for the Dodgers, and Pete Coscarart, his knee now fully healed, legged out a triple.



The loss drops the Reds to third place, with the hard-charging Giants claiming the number two spot with their eighth-straight victory yesterday, a 12-1 rout of the Pirates at the Polo Grounds.


With the Dodgers and Reds playing two today at Ebbets Field, and the Giants hosting a twinbill against the Pirates, it is mathematically possible that, when the dust settles tonight, the Dodgers, Reds, and Giants could find themselves in a virtual three-way tie for first place.

In Cleveland, the off-field drama continues, with pitcher Bob Feller now emerging as the most vocal in the clique of Indians players demanding the dismissal of manager Oscar Vitt.
"All the boys still feel something has to be done," declared the fireballing young right hander. "I don't want anybody to think I am tempremental. I am not. I always gave everything I had. But there is too much nervousness on this team now." Another player, who asked not to be named, stated "This team has a chance to win the pennant, and we want that chance. But with things at they are, we are a cinch to finish third or worse." Indians owner Alva Bradley has made no decision on a response to the latest demands from the players, and is believed to be waiting to hear from first baseman Hal Trosky, one of the most outspoken players demanding Vitt's ouster. Trosky has been absent from the team since the uproar became public, on leave to attend his mother's funeral in Iowa, and has generally been considered "a team player who seldom complains without justification."

Who else for the front of the Trend section this week but "the hand that held the dagger," Il Duce himself...



James Cagney is getting tired of hard-boiled roles, and would like very much to soften his screen persona. His new moustache, seen in all its glory in "Torrid Zone," is one attempt in that direction, but what he really wants is a chance at roles that give him more to do than strut around and punch people.

At the Valley Stream Drive-In Theatre on Sunrise Highway, automobilic picture-goers can revisit Paul Muni's performance in the gangster classic "Scarface," showing tonight thru Wednesday. Also on the bill, a Three Stooges comedy, a Screen Snapshot, and a newsreel. Children admitted free!

(First Bungle gets an elephant, now everybody wants one.)

("HMPH!" says Matilda the Algonquin Hotel cat.)

(Who would have thought the hardest-hitting critique of media political coverage in 1940 would come from "Mary Worth?")

(Aw, come off it, Dan. Who needs all this rigamarole? You know there's a tunnel. There's ALWAYS a tunnel!)

("Fare thee well, dolt!" Even George's dreams abuse him.)

DON'T HURT THE GUINEA PIG

You left out the haughty old lady who leaves a heap of cough-drop wrappers, used Kleenex, and a wet tea bag on the floor under the seat, and the haughty old lady who clogs up the toilet and then comes out to complain that the toilet's clogged, and the haughty old lady who... Actually, the whole page should just be haughty old ladies.


Haughty old ladies who stand up and block the screen while they yell and rave and ruin the show for everybody.

Nick needs to become a seafaring character full time. Have him go to China and team up with Cap'n Blaze. I'd read that strip. And I'd also read a strip where Maw Green does nothing but go around all day trolling dentists.

Plushie wears a monocle so he won't shoot his eye out.

So that's why Pat's still single.

With friends like these, you can kinda see why Harold's in no rush to go home.


"Yes, Man descended, the ornery cuss -- but brother, he didn't descend from us!"

"Chester Gump and the Bermuda Triangle?" Bring it on!

LizzieMaine said:

... In Manhattan, station WEVD, owned by the Jewish Forward newspaper, broadcasts much of its programming in Yiddish, but does feature an Italian dramatic program, "which will be carefully watched for propaganda." ...

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I would not have guessed that a NYC Jewish station broadcasting mainly in Yiddish would have had enough of an Italian-speaking audience to make broadcasting an Italian dramatic program a logical choice.

LizzieMaine said:

... (It's been quite a week.)...

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Panel three is awesome.

LizzieMaine said:

... ("HMPH!" says Matilda the Algonquin Hotel cat.)...

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Thank you Lizzie, Love Matilda


N.B. Over at the Plaza, Eloise is wondering what all the fuss is about.

LizzieMaine said:

... (Who would have thought the hardest-hitting critique of media political coverage in 1940 would come from "Mary Worth?")...

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Very well done. Also, John was taking quite a beating till that last one. Thankfully, our campaigns today are so much more honest and sophisticated.

LizzieMaine said:

DON'T HURT THE GUINEA PIG...

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Ms. Hepperman is absolutely entitled to her day in court, but that is one damning track record. She's got a lot of dead husbands seemingly all of stomach/poisoning issues. And while we know many babies died in infancy back then, the authorities might still want to look into those eight children's deaths as well.

LizzieMaine said:

View attachment 242030 ... So that's why Pat's still single....

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"I'm not pretty enough to compromise you."

Let's give our Miss Raven Sherman her due, she can fire out a one-liner with the best of them. There are a lot of shades of meaning tucked into that gem.

Eleven Army fliers are dead following the mid-air collision this morning of two bomber planes over the sleepy residential neighborhood of Bellerose Manor, Queens. Flaming wreckage from the crash set fire to small one-family houses and panic gripped the area as householders were convulsed with fear of an air raid. Severed telephone lines, which prevented any incoming or outgoing calls, further stoked the panic.



One flier, identified as Captain Frank X. Deeley of Daytona Beach, Florida, attempted to parachute to safety, but his chute was set ablaze by falling wreckage, and he plunged at full speed thru the roof of a house at 86-16 339th Street, causing the occupant of that house, 60-year-old Mrs. Caroline Schwartz, to be seized with a heart attack.

The planes had taken off from Mitchell Field this morning on a routine training mission, and no indications of trouble were noted before the collision at 8:50 AM. Military aviation authorities will mount a full investigation to determine whether some flaw in the planes or pilot error was responsible for the crash. The 12 1/2-ton bombers were attached to the Fifth Squadron of the Ninth Bombardment Corps, Army Air Corps, and were crewed by student flight officers from Kelly Field in Texas who had been sent to Mitchell Field for additional training.

Marshal Henri Phillipe Petain's first action as the new Premier of France, replacing Paul Reynaud, was to declare that "the battle must cease," and to announce that peace terms will be sought from Germany and Italy. The request was sent by Petain directly to German chancellor Adolf Hitler, and was subsequently announced in a speech to the people of France, broadcast over the Bordeaux radio. Marshal Petain, 84-year-old hero of the World War best remembered for his defiant statement at Verdun that "they shall not pass," declared in his speech that he was calling for surrender with "a heavy heart," at "a grave hour" where France was facing "an enemy of huge numerical superiority."

The call for French troops to lay down their arms comes with Paris and much of Northern France already under Nazi control, with 150 German divisions pushing southward, a situation which has nearly cut the northern portion of France completely off from the south.

Meanwhile, hundreds of demoralized French prisoners-of-war were marched thru Paris by their German captors in a cold, driving rain, en route to prison camps. One, spotting the American flag flying from the Embassy building, yelled bitterly "You look well fed! Why in hell didn't you help us?"


(Cheese ring? Yes, please.)

(PM won't always be a great paper, but it will always be an interesting one -- and it's a real shame that not only is it not available in digital form, it's not altogether certain that a complete file of it even exists. I have a small pile of original copies, but a fully-accessible run would offer a fascinating contrast with the "mainstream media" papers of the time.)

"New Pins and Needles," current edition of the Labor Stage musical revue, will close its Broadway run on June 22nd. After a seven week vacation, the revue, with its cast made up of workers from the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, will begin a 40-week nationwide tour. Several of its cast members, having been well and truly bitten by the theatrical bug, will spend the layoff, not at their sewing machines and cutting tables, but performing on the straw-hat circuit or radio. "Pins and Needles," in its various editions, has run on Broadway since November 27, 1937.

At the REFRESHINGLY COOL Patio, see George Raft and Joan Bennett in "The House Across The Bay," paired with Jackie Cooper in "Seventeen."

Helen Worth tells "Dot" that her parents are out of line for imposing a midnight curfew on her, since she's twenty-six years old and has every right to go out with a boyfriend and to stay out as late as she wants. Helen thinks there's nothing unreasonable about a grown woman coming home at 1:30 in the morning, and her parents should mind their own business.


("And listen, once the gall bladder is out, no punting. We'll go for the yardage.")

Authorities in Union City, New Jersey are investigating the hoisting of a Nazi flag above Union Hill High School, after a City Hall custodian spotted the swastika banner flying from the school's flag staff early Saturday. Sixty-two-year-old janitor Frank Geller, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, was so outraged by the sight of the Nazi flag, he climbed the eight-foot chain link fence surrounding the school grounds, pulled the flag down, and tore it shreds. Police say a patrolman passing the school at 5:30 AM did not notice the flag, so it must have been hoisted between then and 7:30, when Geller first sighted it. Police also note that this is the second such incident at the school within a year, and that the German American Bund is known to have headquarters in the neighborhood.


("Petey's good lookin' too," murmurs Sally. "What?" says Joe. "Nothin'," replies Sally. "I'm just sayin'.")

The Reds took two from the Dodgers at Ebbets Field yesterday, and the Flock is taking the loss philosophically. While Brooklyn lost the second game fair and square 5-2, despite a decent pitching performance by newcomer Curt Davis and home runs by Durocher and Coscarart, the first game 1-0 loss was a heartbreaker, with a tense pitching duel between Whit Wyatt and Paul Derringer characterized by weak offense on both sides until Lonnie Frey poked a freak home run in the ninth. That ball hit the right field screen and dropped straight down onto the top of the concrete wall. It then bounced up and down a few times and finally came to rest neatly balanced on the ledge as right-fielder Joe Vosmik bounced up and down in frustration. Under the Ebbets Field ground rules, a ball landing on top of the wall counts as a home run, and that was that. The Dodgers tried to pull the game out in the ninth, but pinch runner Charley Gilbert slipped and fell rounding third base and was unable to recover in time to bring around the run.


With the Dodger and Reds now tied for first and the Giants two games out after losing their own doubleheader, attention turns to the wobegone Cardinals, who now arrive for a three game series. Mr. Medwick is looking forward to seeing his old teammates again and to showing them just how much he misses their smiling faces. Hugh Casey is scheduled to start for the Dodgers against Clyde "What, Again?" Shoun for the Cards.

The rebellious faction among the Cleveland Indians has signed an statement withdrawing their demand for the firing of manager Oscar Vitt, and team president Alva Bradley says that closes the matter. The statement followed a closed-door meeting between Bradley and the players, a conference from which Vitt was specfically barred. While twelve members of the team had signed the original complaint against Vitt, accusing him of abusive conduct, twenty-one members signed the repudiation of that complaint. Of the four members who did not sign, two are hospitalized, one was "recovering from injuries," and one -- outfielder Roy Weatherly -- waked out of the meeting rather than sign the document. Weatherly did not sign the initial statement against Vitt.


(Trust her, George. What kind of woman would marry the likes of Sugarfoot anyway?)

(Ahhhhhhhhh, Mr. Blackston. Just what kind of secrets are you hiding?)

(I GUESS YOU WILL, DAN! I think I've figured out what Dan's deal is. He doesn't realize he's in a comic strip. He thinks it's a radio show.)

The front page says it all.

"Newark's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer." As distinguished from what, Weehawken's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer? Rahway's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer? Perth Amboy's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer? Maybe it's a franchise.

Sorry, no. You can't tell me Nick doesn't go out to get the mail without putting on a bullet-proof vest.

Jerome, I can see you don't know the rules of the Tracy Universe, but you just signed your own death warrant.

Nice crowd you run with, Ryan.


See, if Pat is gonna travel with an entourage, he needs to get Uncle Bim to join it. Bim can talk his way out of anything.

Okey, $70.12. Remember that figure.

If the down payment in 1940 is $500, that must be some car.

The penny drops. Or, more accurately -- 20,000 pennies drop.

LizzieMaine said:

...
(Cheese ring? Yes, please.)...

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Oh yeah.

LizzieMaine said:

...
("And listen, once the gall bladder is out, no punting. We'll go for the yardage.")...

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I sincerely thought the punchline was going to be "hike!"

LizzieMaine said:

...until Lonnie Frey poked a freak home run in the ninth. That ball hit the right field screen and dropped straight down onto the top of the concrete wall. It then bounced up and down a few times and finally came to rest neatly balanced on the ledge as right-fielder Joe Vosmik bounced up and down in frustration. Under the Ebbets Field ground rules, a ball landing on top of the wall counts as a home run, and that was that. The Dodgers tried to pull the game out in the ninth, but pinch runner Charley Gilbert slipped and fell rounding third base and was unable to recover in time to bring around the run....

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Even when it goes against you as this one did, the quirkiness of this play is one of the joys of baseball.

LizzieMaine said:

...
(Trust her, George. What kind of woman would marry the likes of Sugarfoot anyway?)...

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Also, you might want to share with Jo a couple of salient facts. One, Uncle Zip is still alive (lovely how they are celebrating his ultimate death) and, two, the money is in trust for Tootsie (still missing at this point, I believe) and only goes to idiot one and idiot two upon Tootsie's passing. And, another point, re "we're all millionaires:" one million dollars divided into two families means, technically, nobody is a millionaire (when/if they get the money, which we know they never will).

LizzieMaine said:

... (Ahhhhhhhhh, Mr. Blackston. Just what kind of secrets are you hiding?)...

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Buh, buh, buh Leona, she didn't mean anything to me.

LizzieMaine said:

... (I GUESS YOU WILL, DAN! I think I've figured out what Dan's deal is. He doesn't realize he's in a comic strip. He thinks it's a radio show.)

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Also, Dan looks oddly like a Black Hood figure himself in panel three.

LizzieMaine said:

View attachment 242205 ... "Newark's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer." As distinguished from what, Weehawken's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer? Rahway's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer? Perth Amboy's marijuana-smoking thrill slayer? Maybe it's a franchise.....

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The B-movie plot is all but written.

From the pics and comments, I'm thinking the relationship between Bunny and Chippy might have gone beyond just being crime buddies.

LizzieMaine said:

... Sorry, no. You can't tell me Nick doesn't go out to get the mail without putting on a bullet-proof vest....

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Comic strip point of order! You can't go from Nick standing around with, seemingly, two or three sides ready for battle to, in the next day's strip, a calm meeting of Annie and stupid Tecum (sorry, I'm upset) noting Nick is dead. We need to see the gun battle - that's what we all expected yesterday (where's Tarantino to direct when you need him). Nick is too major a character to give a third-party, after-the-fact report on it. And, most importantly, he better not be dead.

LizzieMaine said:

View attachment 242205 ... Nice crowd you run with, Ryan....

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I believe Raven just issued Pat a "sex or your friends" ultimatum.

LizzieMaine said:

View attachment 242205 ...
See, if Pat is gonna travel with an entourage, he needs to get Uncle Bim to join it. Bim can talk his way out of anything.....

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Just noting, a dowager is a widow.

LizzieMaine said:

.. The penny drops. Or, more accurately -- 20,000 pennies drop.

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Cheapest money ever lost if lesson learned.

One final Senga thigh shot, and...scene.