The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

I have to wonder how that Ho-Jo will do without the World's Fair to atract traffic. Flushing Meadow is going to be a pretty fallow spot for the next twenty years or so.

In my younger days I belonged to a theatre troupe that considered doing "The Philadelphia Story," and I would have killed to play the Tracy Lord part. I did, and can still do, a pretty ferocious Hepburn voice. But alas, we did "Arsenic and Old Lace" instead. A fun show, but not as much fun.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

I wonder why they don't make more dress patterns as easy as this one? I'm going to hunt around for dress patterns like this. And if I find one I'll absolutely sew my self a frock.

 

[Fading Fast]

Nice touch having Downwind caroling with a babe on each arm.

I know we've talked about it before, but it is the simple dresses of the '30s-'50s, the ones that regular women wore day to day, not the "Fashion" (is spinach) ones that have proved timeless because, IMO, of those clean simple lines you note. Stores like https://www.bodenusa.com/en-us/womens-dresses#nav today make a lot of dresses that echo those looks (my girlfriend's closet has representative sample of them).

...I wonder why they don't make more dress patterns as easy as this one? I'm going to hunt around for dress patterns like this. And if I find one I'll absolutely sew my self a frock..

 

[LizzieMaine]

Simplicity put out a line of "Easy To Make" patterns in the mid-forties, all of which were in line with wartime clothing regulations, so you can make a dress with just 3 yards of fabric. They turn up a lot on eBay, and are well work grabbing if they turn up in your size. I've done quite a few of these, and back when my eyes were better than they are now, I could knock one out in five hours or so.

I bet Jack hears "what manner of salami is this?" all the time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Administration quarters are reported to be considering the feasibility of supplying Great Britain with "some Army planes" and "additional destroyers" to "tide them over" until American armaments production picks up, it was learned today. The plan has not yet been submitted to President Roosevelt for a decision. Tomorrow night the President goes on the air for a fireside chat in which he will report to the nation on the present emergency, and give specific information on Administration plans to help Britain, including his own plan for the United States to manufacture weapons and equipment and then loan or lease them to the British.

A statement by Virginio Gayda in today's issue of the Giornale d'Italia indicates that delivery of American war materials to Great Britain in American ships by way of Ireland would be considered by the Axis to be a breach of US neutrality. Gayda, who is close to the Italian Foreign Office and at times has served as Mussolini's unofficial spokesman, also warned that Japan would intervene immediately if the US makes moves in violation of its neutrality in the Pacific.

One of the heaviest night bombing raids of the war so far rained down on London last night, leaving no doubt that the war, interrupted by an informal Christmas truce, is back on in earnest. Wave after wave of Nazi bombers pounded the British capital, continuing for a total of four hours, dropping incendiaries and explosives on district after district. A terse statement from the British Government acknowledged the raid, and noted that "a number" of people were killed and "many" dwellings were destroyed or damaged.

Miss Sylvia Ageloff is back in Brooklyn, but she has nothing to say to reporters about her experiences in Mexico, where she was imprisoned for several months in connection with the assassination in August of exiled Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky. Miss Ageloff, an "ardent admirer" of Trotsky and a friend of his confessed killer, Robert Jackson, was questioned by Mexican authorities, spent several weeks in a Mexico City hospital following a nervous collapse, and was ultimately cleared of any involvement with Trotsky's murder. Miss Ageloff, a 31-year-old social worker, arrived in Brooklyn early this morning after arriving by train at Newark in an effort to avoid reporters, and was smuggled into the home of her father, real estate man Samuel Ageloff, at 70 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights. The door of the residence remained closed to reporters, and messages sent via telephone brought only the reply that "Miss Ageloff will see no one."

Eighteen-year-old heiress Gloria Vanderbilt will live on $27,500 a year, under an order signed by Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge James A. Foley. The sub-deb daughter of Mrs. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt and Reginald C. Vanderbilt will be allocated $250 per year of that sum for "pin money."

The first Negro to serve as a prosecutor in Nassau County will be sworn into office Monday, when Moxey A. Rigby of Freeport, who worked his way thru New York Law School working as a waiter and a busboy, begins his duties as Assistant District Attorney. The 46-year-old newcomer will join the staff of District Attorney Edward J. Neary at a salary of $2500 per year. Mr. Rigby will also continue his private practice, with offices at 160-17 South Road, Jamacia. Married and the father of two children, Mr. Rigby is "noted for his artistry in delivering summations."

The president of Local 147 of the Compressed Air Workers Union -- the so-called "Sandhogs Union" -- was arraigned yesterday on a charge of felonious assault stemming from a confrontation between sandhogs working at the Brooklyn end of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel project and members of the Ship and Pier Carpenters Union. The two organizations have been engaged in a jurisdictional dispute at the tunnel excavation site, and 52-year-old local president James Gallagher is accused of assaulting Ship and Pier Carpenters memeber Anthony Mancuso of Bethpage on December 20th. Three other men also face charges in the skirmish. Mr. Gallagher was released on $500 cash bail, and will face a further hearing on January 9th.

The Eagle Editorialist is keenly anticipating tomorrow night's radio broadcast by President Roosevelt, and hopes that it will "lead the nation from the confusion in which it has been floundering in these final weeks of 1940" over the current direction of the National Defense policy. The EE stresses that the issues to be addressed are not political or partisan matters, but questions of concern to the entire nation.

Reader Joseph Riley writes in to declare that the "disgusting" situation at Brooklyn College is the fault of the Board of Education for hiring "foreigners" to teach there when "American teachers" can't get jobs.

(Kids Today.)

The social advancement of women over the past thirty years in the civil and political sectors has not been matched by their advancement in the religious sphere. Women still carry on nearly all missionary work, and are always the first to respond when funds must be raised -- but when it comes to placing women in positions of church leadership, most denominations are still far behind the trend in the rest of the country. A report prepared by the Women's Co-Operating Commission of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America finds that of all Protestant denominations in the country, the Friends are the most open to women in positions of authority, while the Episcopalians are the least so. Most women who serve as pastors in various denominations do so in rural churches. It is least likely to find such women in the Northeast section of the country, while women in positions of authority are more common in Southern churches.

Last night's overtime tie between the feuding Americans and Boston Bruins saw its share of squabbles -- and not just on the ice. Referee Bill Stewart, who already had his hands full keeping members of the two squads down to a dull roar, also ejected several especially agitated fans from Madison Square Garden. Stewart told police he was concerned they were planning to "do a Magerkurth" on him, and the officers saw to their removal. It's been a combative season all around for Mr. Stewart, who says he's also requesting police protection whenever he works a game in Montreal after a number of Canadiens fans offered unusually pointed criticism of his work.

Tommy Holmes takes a few lines to look in on a few former Dodger favorites and see what they're up to now. Babe "The Incredible" Herman, Ebbets Field favorite a decade or so ago for his potent bat and his ability to be hit on the head by fly balls, is still very much on the active list out on the Coast, where he hit .307 last season for the Hollywood Stars. Johnny Frederick, who always looked forward to murdering Carl Hubbell, was just canned as player manager at Portland -- he hit .308, but the Beavers finished last, and that was that. And Jigger Statz, the best defensive center fielder the Dodgers ever had, hit .280 in 140 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 1940 -- at 43, he's finally starting to show his age. Ebullient Frenchy Bordagaray, who annoyed Casey Stengel by showing up at Clearwater one spring with a bandito moustache, burned up the American Association in 1940, hitting .358 for the Kansas City Blues. And the hilarious Cletus "Boots" Poffenberger, king of the baseball night owls, who passed briefly thru Ebbets Field in 1939 before Durocher canned him for breaking training, went 26-9 in 1940 for the Nashville Vols, but no major league owner dares to take a chance on him, and he is likely to remain in the Southern Association for the forseeable future.

Don't miss tomorrow's Eagle, where the entire sports staff will select the top moments of 1940!

The Information Division of the National Broadcasting Company reports receiving a letter addressed to "The Station To Which You Are Now Listening." The envelope contained a radio contest entry from a woman who took the program's announcer too literally.

Bill Robinson -- the man they call "Bojangles" -- gets star billing in "All In Fun," the new musical revue opening this week at Manhattan's Majestic Theatre, and he is as energetic as ever with his famous dance routines -- including a variation on his "staircase" dance with more steps than ever before. But he doesn't get to do much else in the show *but* dance, with no attempt made to build the show around him as master of ceremonies, or otherwise make him the focal point of the evening. He just dances on, does his routines, and dances off, which seems a waste of such a great talent. Blame goes to producer/director Leonard Shillman, who has antiquated notions of what a revue should be, and those notions give the show a corny, old-fashioned feeling that could be taken as satire if the cast wasn't so deadly serious about it. Comediennes Pert Kelton and Imogene Coca work hard for their laughs, but the rest of the show seems like it was put together a long time ago by someone who doesn't know what goes on these days.

(Y'know, Doc, maybe you ought to consider some other line of work.)

(Magistrate Solomon will have a field day with this case.)

(Yahhhhhh, look at that face. An obvious FIFTH COLUMNIST!)

(It's obvious from his internal monologue that Dan is actually an android trying to pass as a human.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Actually, I imagine that at one time or another, most philosophers end up living in a lean-to in the woods.

Hitler doublecross anyone? Imagine that.

They say this kid Gleason is a pretty funny guy -- a little chubby, but light on his feet. But Mitzie Green's just a child, for cryin' out loud, and playing a nightclub? Oh wait, she's almost 21. Where does the time go?

(Puff) Uh Umf Ug? I'm sorry, I didn't get that?

Well aren't we the clever ones.

SERVES YOU RIGHT OWL KILLER

Hmph, this is nothing. My youngest sibling threw me down a flight of stairs.

No, Sam, no. The line is "I never ASSUME, because when you ASSUME you make an ASS of U and ME!"

No, Mom, you better take it. Otherwise he's just gonna blow it on sodas and two-tone corduroy pants.

Aw, Willie's on the wagon? Where's the fun in that?

 

[Fading Fast]

..Last night's overtime tie between the feuding Americans and Boston Bruins saw its share of squabbles -- and not just on the ice. Referee Bill Stewart, who already had his hands full keeping members of the two squads down to a dull roar, also ejected several especially agitated fans from Madison Square Garden. Stewart told police he was concerned they were planning to "do a Magerkurth" on him, and the officers saw to their removal. It's been a combative season all around for Mr. Stewart, who says he's also requesting police protection whenever he works a game in Montreal after a number of Canadiens fans offered unusually pointed criticism of his work....

In the '80s in NYC, you might occasionally see a kinda fight in the stands at a baseball, football or basketball game, usually toward the end (when the most liquor has been consumed and the game was on the line), but they tended not to be terribly vicious affairs.

But a hockey game at Madison Square Garden back then was an entirely different event. You would see several fights at every game and some were quite violent and bloody. To this day, I remember a fight in the stands in the first period about ten feet away from where I was sitting where one guy punch another guy in the face and knocked him to the ground. Then, the still-standing guy bent down and hit the guy on the ground in the head with his fist even though the guy on the ground was out and his head was resting on a concrete stair. Security showed up quickly, but the medics took the still unconscious and bleeding guy who was down away. It was awful. To this day, I wonder if he suffered permeant damage from that.

By the '90s, as with most things in NYC, they had cleaned up the worst of it, but in the '80s, a hockey game in NYC was a strangely violent event even in the stands.

...[
(Magistrate Solomon will have a field day with this case.)...

"What! Are you offering to bribe me to testify to something I didn't see? How much?"

Well now, he didn't grapple with that moral conundrum for long, did he?

...[ (Yahhhhhh, look at that face. An obvious FIFTH COLUMNIST!)...

Did not see that coming.

...
(It's obvious from his internal monologue that Dan is actually an android trying to pass as a human.)

As noted a few days ago, maybe that's why Dan is so horribly awkward at doing mundane human things.

... Actually, I imagine that at one time or another, most philosophers end up living in a lean-to in the woods....

"Hedy Lamarr-ish models." I guess, kinda.

That suicide note is heartbreaking.

...[ Well aren't we the clever ones....

So, Hu Shee, now what do we do with the rest of our day?

 

[Haversack]

Are my eyes deceiving me or are Larry Wynn and Dan Dunn the same person? Look at those profiles.

 

[LizzieMaine]

No wonder poor Kay always looks so depressed.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Simplicity put out a line of "Easy To Make" patterns in the mid-forties, all of which were in line with wartime clothing regulations, so you can make a dress with just 3 yards of fabric. They turn up a lot on eBay, and are well work grabbing if they turn up in your size. I've done quite a few of these, and back when my eyes were better than they are now, I could knock one out in five hours or so.

I bet Jack hears "what manner of salami is this?" all the time.

Hooray! Thank you lizzie.I found this one on ebay.
And although its not from the 1950s it looks like what I am looking for, once I get the pattern I am going to go for the sleeveless dress. And I'm still going to be on the look out for the Easy To Make patterns.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Such tiny feet Jack has. He should go see Doc Static.

 

[Harp]

Cupid's day is night and Ms Rankin is a thief of hearts.
A thief of deliberate intent, depraved heart indifference, malice aforethought.
Ten dollars to a donut she's definitely a White Sox fan.

 

[Fading Fast]

I'm thinking Jack is going to have some mother-in-law issues. He did get in on the good side of his father-in-law with his "save the business" flight, but he's got some wood to chop with the mother. It's never easy.

 

[LizzieMaine]

General Charles De Gaulle, leader of Free French forces still allied with Great Britain today exhorted his countrymen to keep up the fight against Germany in hope that a great triumph may one day be theirs. The General's broadcast from London declared that if French forces in North Africa and Syria joined with the remaining French fleet, the battle for control of the Mediterranean would soon end in victory for the Allies. Meanwhile, London newspapers reported that Adolf Hitler has broken off all negotiations with the Vichy French government, bringing tensions between Berlin and Vichy to a diplomatic head.

President Roosevelt worked thru yesterday completing the manuscript for his Fireside Chat this evening in which he will report on the status of the National Defense program and on plans to provide continuing material aid to Great Britain. The address, deemed by many observers the most important of his Presidency, will be broadcast over all networks beginning at 9:30 PM. (Or you may tune in here.)

House Republican leaders of a committee charged with investigating the activities of the National Labor Relations Board charged that that panel has imperiled "the entire program of National Defense and the fundamental concepts upon which the Government is based." In a report signed only by Republican Representatives Howard Smith and Charles Hallack of Indiana and Harry Routzhon of Ohio, the committee accused the NRLB of "radical tendencies" in favor of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and claimed that such tendencies have "induced and prolonged many industrial disputes." The two Democratic members of the special committee, Abraham Murdock of Utah and Arthur Healey of Massachusetts, have declined to sign the report.

Disclosures that Selective Service boards in the state of New York have had to reject one out of every five draftees for reasons of physical unfitness have spurred a broad appeal for the incoming Legislature to enact a state health insurance program to ensure the availability of proper medical care. Bills last year which would have provided for a system of medical benefits funded by worker, employer, and state contributions were allowed to die in committee, but the sponsors of those bills, Brooklyn Senator Daniel Gutman and Assemblyman Robert Wagner, have stated that they plan to reintroduce them during the 1941 session.

A scheme to rig the price of ice in sections of eastern Brooklyn, Queens, and the summer enclaves of Long Island, while also swindling investors in ice companies thru the purchase of unnecessary plants and equipment is alleged in lawsuits filed in the Supreme Courts of Queens and Manhattan. A group of independent ice dealers and manufacturers based in Rockaway has filed the Queens litigation, accusing the Knickerbocker Ice Company, the Rubel Corporation, the Ice Refrigeration Corporation, the Murand Ice Manufacturing Company, Inc, and John R. Murray of engaging in cartel tactics fixing the wholesale price of ice to independent icemen at 55 cents per 300 pounds. Similar complaints filed in Manhattan focus on the Knickberbocker, Rubel, and Ice Refrigeration firms along with the American Ice Company, and directors of the companies. One director, Charles G. Small of Flushing, is named as serving on the boards of the American, Knickerbocker, and Ice Refrigeration Companies, which, the suit alleges, demonstrates the interlocking nature of the "ice monopoly." It is charged that the "ice cartel" controls 90 to 95 percent of the ice sold in Brooklyn, Queens, and Lower Manhattan.

("Ugh" indeed.)

Mayor LaGuardia had sharp words yesterday for newspaperman William Allen White and the "Committee to Defend American By Aiding The Allies," declaring that White ought to split off his own faction and call it "The Committee to Defend America By Aiding the Allies with Words," while the rest of the Committee can Defend America By Aiding The Allies with Deeds. Mr. White, prominent editor from Emporia, Kansas, last week declared his opposition to the repeal of the Johnson Act, to continued loans to foreign defaulters, and to the use of American ships to carry war materials into the European War Zone, after isolationist groups accused the Committee of "working with forces attempting to bring the United States into the war." The Mayor accused white of "pulling a Laval" by changing his stand after "supporting the Allies when the going was good."

Married film stars Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh sailed for England yesterday after announcing they were terminating their Hollywood careers for the duration of the war, and will return to England to do their part for the war effort there. Mr. Olivier declared that he will "offer his services to the British Government for whatever they feel that I am able to do," while Miss Leigh stated that "I know London is not the safest place in the world right now, but it is my home and it is where I want to be."

Another outbreak of intestinal inflammation has erupted on Staten Island, with twenty-seven cases of enteritis reported among the inmates and employees of "Sailors' Snug Harbor," a home for retired seamen. The outbreak is the second in recent weeks, and is said to be more severe than that which appeared among Staten Island schoolchildren several weeks ago. No cause has been determined, but an investigation is underway of the food, milk, and water served at the sailors' home.

(And if they don't sell, look for them next month at Davega.)

Old Timer Earl G. Hay of 218 Warwick Street remembers the days when the Dodgers were called the "Superbas," and when the Superbas all lived at the old Clarendon Hotel in Brooklyn Heights, and rode along Schermerhorn Street, in open wagons, in full uniform, on the way to their games at Washington Park.

The Eagle Editorialist views with alarm the resurgence in bootlegging seen since the ban on importation of wines and liqueurs from France. It seems that phony champagnes, wines, and cordials, parading under fancy fake-French labels are everywhere now, and retired rum-runners are seeing new opportunities for ill-gotten gain. What's wrong, the EE suggests, with considering the many fine New York-made wines? "You might never again have to bow before a 'bordeaux'."

Brooklyn's man of the year in sports? Who else but Larry MacPhail, who laid out a cool half-a-million dollars in his continuing quest to hoist the pennant at Ebbets Field, but fell short because the pitching just wasn't good enough. He's taken care of that, however, for next year, and hopes are higher for the Faithful going into 1941 than they've been in a couple of decades. If the Flock can avoid the wave of injuries that crippled them in the stretch in 1940, look for that long-awaited flag to finally flutter from the Flatbush pole.

This was also the year pro football finally came into its own in Brooklyn, with Ace Parker leading the Football Flock to its best year ever, and promising a bright future for Mr. Topping's Men In Red. That victory over the Giants will be savored for years to come.

This was also the year Alice Marble conquered all the worlds there are to conquer in amateur tennis, and turned her attention next to the professional tour. When she's not singing in nightclubs, that is.

And it was the year Joe Louis began to wonder if there was anyone out there who could give him a worthwhile fight. Maybe next year, maybe Billy Conn? We shall see.

And it was the year parimutuel betting took over the racetracks, setting new records in total wagering and total attendance. It was the year Bimilech didn't win the Kentucky Derby, and horsewatchers kept a close eye on a rising youngster named Whirlaway.

And it was the year Willard Hershberger, talented young Cincinnati catcher with a bright career before him, took his own life in a Boston hotel room. We may never know the reason why.

And it was the year most anything could happen and usually did -- just ask America's Number 1 Celebrity Cow, Miss Elsie Borden, who's on the year-end-edition of TREND...

Herbert Cohn isn't waiting to see what the Eagle's Best Movies of 1940 Contest has to say -- he forthwith presents his own choices for the Top Ten Features of the year now ending...

1. The Grapes of Wrath
2. Of Mice and Men
3. Abe Lincoln in Illinois
4. The Long Voyage Home
5. Pride and Prejudice
6. Rebecca
7. The Great Dictator
8. The Shop Around The Corner
9. Our Town
10. The Biscuit Eater

Mr. Cohn isn't going to bother to follow "Variety's" suggestion that he nominate a 10-Worst list, but if he did, he'd put "South of Pago Pago" at the top. Or the bottom, as the case may be.

("Fan this smoke-iron!" Ah, westerns.)

(Actually, I'm not at all surprised to learn that Charles Boyer wears blue pointy-toed shoes.)

(Signing up for that mail-order "Dan Dunn's Be A Detective Course" really paid off.)

(DON'T LEAVE US HANGING LIKE THIS)

(Thirty years of married life will do this to people.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I dunno, seems to me if you're shooting for "Master of Disguise" you ought to set the bar a little higher. You know, whiskers, scars, maybe even drag. Sure, you could pull it off.

"Yeah, no promptin'," says Sally. "I know t'ansa wittouten'y help f'm youse."

Looks like Murder For Hire has opened a branch in Tracy's City. Where's O'Dwyer when we need him?

This'll work only so long as the Invaders are nearsighted.

Just what did you put in that punch, and how many glasses has Mama had?

That poor cat doesn't know how lucky he is.

How can Joy sit up with a waist that small?

Shadow wants to get in one last effort toward the Troll Of The Year award.

It was all in fun until Walt had a coronary.

You're a radio and recording star, fathead -- nobody cares what you look like.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And our Daily News Year end bonuses...

What, Frankie Germano doesn't make the cut?

And from the sports page, cartoonist Leo O'Mealia sums up the year...

What, no MacPhail? He'll be over to yell at you before the day is out.

 

[Fading Fast]

...A scheme to rig the price of ice in sections of eastern Brooklyn, Queens, and the summer enclaves of Long Island, while also swindling investors in ice companies thru the purchase of unnecessary plants and equipment is alleged in lawsuits filed in the Supreme Courts of Queens and Manhattan. A group of independent ice dealers and manufacturers based in Rockaway has filed the Queens litigation, accusing the Knickerbocker Ice Company, the Rubel Corporation, the Ice Refrigeration Corporation, the Murand Ice Manufacturing Company, Inc, and John R. Murray of engaging in cartel tactics fixing the wholesale price of ice to independent icemen at 55 cents per 300 pounds. Similar complaints filed in Manhattan focus on the Knickberbocker, Rubel, and Ice Refrigeration firms along with the American Ice Company, and directors of the companies. One director, Charles G. Small of Flushing, is named as serving on the boards of the American, Knickerbocker, and Ice Refrigeration Companies, which, the suit alleges, demonstrates the interlocking nature of the "ice monopoly." It is charged that the "ice cartel" controls 90 to 95 percent of the ice sold in Brooklyn, Queens, and Lower Manhattan....

While buggy whips and typewriters are often referenced as businesses that were wiped out by new technology, the entire big business of ice was also all but eliminated in a few decades of this kerfuffle.

... (Actually, I'm not at all surprised to learn that Charles Boyer wears blue pointy-toed shoes.)...

⇧ Agreed, I'm not one bit surprised.

⇩ I was interested in seeing Ms. Brush's NYC apartment with its two-story circular study and found these pics of it:

Wow, that is as impressive at it sounded.

... I dunno, seems to me if you're shooting for "Master of Disguise" you ought to set the bar a little higher. You know, whiskers, scars, maybe even drag. Sure, you could pull it off.....

Dunn or Tracy should be riffing on the disguise guy soon enough.

Brutal love-triangle story.

... How can Joy sit up with a waist that small?....

The competition has been stiff, but I think you are right and Joy has won "The Smallest Cartoon Character Waist" contest.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That desk and the whole setup look like they ought to be in the eighth-floor reception hall at NBC. "Good morning, Maestro Toscanini!"

 

[Fading Fast]

That desk and the whole setup look like they ought to be in the eighth-floor reception hall at NBC. "Good morning, Maestro Toscanini!"

Yes, very Rockefeller Center.

Also, it could have been an unused set from the movie "The Fountainhead."