“Ticking of the clock…”

December 22, 2021
1941, PM


“Murderistic”; Jimmy Dorsey And His Orchestra; Joe Lippman; Decca (4356 A); Publication date: December 22, 1941


PM, December 22, 1941, p.1


“Remember Pearl Harbor”; Eddy Howard and his Orchestra; Eddy Howard; Reid; S. Kaye; Columbia (36497); Publication date: December 22, 1941



PM, December 22, 1941, p.11 (Second photo by Weegee published after Pearl Harbor; one of only four published in PM in December 1941.)

Ticking of the clock brought on police investigation. PM Photo by Weegee

Police Solve Mystery Of Ticking Suitcase

But Virtually Ruin Contents By Soaking It in Oil

An attendant at the Pennsylvania Station parcel-checking room wasn’t taking any chances yesterday when he picked up a suitcase and heard a ticking noise inside it. He called police.

Bomb squad detectives took the suitcase to a nearby parking lot, soaked it in oil and opened it. They found an alarm clock, the hands indicating 5:28; three pairs of women’s shoes, a raincoat, a meat chopper, two flatirons, two brushes and woman’s undies.

The suitcase was returned to the checkroom, the contents a bit the worse for the oil.


“We Did It Before And We Can Do It Again”; Eddy Howard and his Orchestra; Friend; C. Tobias; Columbia (36497); Publication date: December 22, 1941


PM, December 22, 1941, p.12

How To Convert Your Home Into A Bomb Shelter


“Life is Fine”; Jimmie Lunceford And His Orchestra; James Young and Ensemble; James Young; Decca (4289 A); Publication date: December 22, 1941


PM, December 22, 1941, p.21

Brooklyn’s Claim To Dying Fame


“I’m Losing My Mind (Because Of You)”; Jimmie Lunceford And His Orchestra; Dan Grissom; Herb Waters; Ted Choate; Mary Schaeffer; Decca (4289 B); Publication date: December 22, 1941

The actual candy sore on the corner of Saratoga and Livonia Aves., once owned by Rose Gold. Today it’s a refurbished and reputable establishment. Photo by Steven Derry, PM


“What Is This Thing Called Love?”; Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra; Cole Porter; Connie Haines; Victor (27782-A); Publication date: December 22, 1941

Albert Anastasia

Happy Maione

Abe Reles


“Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me) – Part 1”; Jimmie Lunceford And His Orchestra; Harold Arlen; Johnny Mercer; Decca (4125 A); Publication date: December 22, 1941

Albert Happy Abe


“I Don’t Want to Walk without You”; Erskine Hawkins (The Twentieth Century Gabriel); Ida James; Frank Loesser; Jule Styne; Bluebird (B-11439-B); Publication date: December 22, 1941

“I expected this, I’m not surprised.”

December 21, 2021
1939


The New York Times, December 21, 1939, p.1


“Business Men’s Bounce”; Raymond Scott and his New Orchestra; Scott; Columbia (35364); Publication date: December 21, 1939


The New York Times, December 21, 1939


“Dinah”; Lionel Hampton and Orchestra; Lionel Hampton; Edmund Hall; Coleman Hawkins; Benny Carter; Joe Sullivan; Freddy Green; Art Bernstein; Zutty Singleton; Lewis; Young; Akst; Victor (26557-A); Publication date: December 21, 1939


The New York Times, December 21, 1939


“Singin’ the Blues”; Lionel Hampton and Orchestra; Lionel Hampton; Edmund Hall; Coleman Hawkins; Benny Carter; Joe Sullivan; Freddy Green; Art Bernstein; Zutty Singleton; Lewis; Young; Conrad; Robinson; Victor (26557-B); Publication date: December 21, 1939


The New York Times, December 21, 1939

LEPKE IS CONVICTED IN NARCOTICS CASE; AIDE IS ALSO GUILTY

Gangster Who Gained Control of $10,000,000 Conspiracy Stoical at Verdict

JURY IS OUT SIX HOURS

Schmukler Also Facing Prison Term – Third Defendant Cleared of Charge

“… the end justifies the means…”

December 20, 2021
1939


“Shivers”; Benny Goodman Sextet; Christian ; Hampton; Johnny Guarnieri; Charlie Christian; Artie Bernstein; Nick Fatool; Lionel Hampton; Benny Goodman; Columbia (35349); Publication date: December 20, 1939


“Baltimore Bounce”; Erskine Hawkins (The Twentieth Century Gabriel) and his Orchestra; Sammy Low; Erskine Hawkins; Bluebird (B-10565-B); Publication date: December 20, 1939


“I Hadn’t Anyone Till You”; Erskine Hawkins (The Twentieth Century Gabriel) and his Orchestra; Dolores Brown; Ray Noble; Bluebird (B-10565-A); Publication date: December 20, 1939


The New York Times, December 20, 1939

‘MYTH’ ABOUT LEPKE ASSAILED AT TRIAL

Defense, in Summing Up of Narcotics Case, Asks Jury to Forget Publicized Name

‘BREACH OF JUSTICE’ SEEN

Argument to Continue Today With Federal Pleas and Jury’s Charge to Follow

…there isn’t a person who lives in the City of New York who hasn’t heard stories about Lepke,hasn’t read them, hasn’t discussed them.”

“…can I be sent back to Leavenworth now?”

December 19, 2021
1939


“‘Leven Miles From Leavenworth”; Texas Jim Lewis And His Lone Star Cowboys; Philip Baxter; Decca (6099 B); Publication date: February 11, 1944


“The Last Time I Saw Paris”; Tony Martin; Victor Young; Jerome Kern; Oscar Hammerstein II; Decca (25042 B); Publication date: December 19, 1939


“All the Things You Are;” Tony Martin; Ray Sinatra; Jerome Kern; Oscar Hammerstein II; Decca (25042 A); Publication date: December 19, 1939


The New York Times, December 19, 1939

‘CUT’ IN NARCOTICS TO LEPKE DENIED

Jake Lvovoky, Co-Leader of Smashed Ring, Contradicts Ex-Partners Testimony


“Bellevue For You”; Pete Brown Quintette; Pete Brown; Al Casey; Kenneth Watts; Al Matthews; Ed Nicholson; J. O. P. Brown; Savoy (522-B); Publication date: July 11, 1944

“If New York City is bombed…”

December 18, 2021
1941


“Sometimes”; Ginny Simms; G. Kahn; C. Lombardo; Okeh (6566); Publication date: December 18, 1941

City Has No Whistle
So Mayor Considers Small Ones Hung at Street Corners


“Skylark”; Ginny Simms; Mercer; Carmichael; Okeh (6618); Publication date: December 18, 1941

Blackout Protection Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive


“Someone’s Rocking My Dream Boat”; Ginny Simms; L. Rene; E. Scott; O. Rene; Okeh (6566); Publication date: December 18, 1941

Actual Scenes From America’s First Battle in 2d World War

Friend or Foe? Here’s How to Recognize War Planes


PM, December 18, 1941 (Photos by John Albert and Wide World)


“Let’s Put the Axe to the Axis”; Abe Lyman and his Californians; Corday; Mann; Weiss; The Four Eton Boys; Bluebird (B-11410-A); Publication date: December 18, 1941

“An eye for an eye…”

December 17, 2021
1941


“Remember Pearl Harbor”; Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye; Don Reid; Sammy Kaye; Victor (27738-A); Publication date: December 17, 1941

Hawaii Raid In Photos 9 Pages

PEARL HARBOR: Nine Pages of Pictures

First Photos of the Battle of Pearl Harbor…

…Show How Viciously Army Posts Were Bombed

A Direct Hit on a Pleasure Car Took Three…


“Marching Along Together”; Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra; Cugat Chorus; Dixon; Pola; Steininger; Columbia (36496); Publication date: December 17, 1941

U.S. Planes Were Stopped Before They Took Off…

…While Japanese Set Countless Fires Near Honolulu

U.S. Soldiers Stand Guard…


PM, December 17, 1941 (Photos by U.S. Army from Wide World and Movietone News)


“Viva Roosevelt!”; Xavier Cugat and his Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra; Leonard Stokes; Miguelito Valdes; Cugat Chorus; Cugat; Stillman; Columbia (36496); Publication date: December 17, 1941

“Whoopee!”

December 16, 2021
1941


“The Star Spangled Banner”; Kate Smith and The Kate Smith Singers; Key; Smith; Jack Miller; Columbia (36511); Publication date: December 16, 1941


PM, December 16, 1941, p. 6

Full Text of the President’s Message to Congress…


“America, I Love You”; Kate Smith and The Kate Smith Singers; Leslie Gottier; Jack Miller; Columbia (36511); Publication date: December 16, 1941


PM, December 16, 1941, p. 7

..How Japan, Step by Step, Forced War in the pacific


“The Bill Of Rights”; Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights; Myers; Gorney; Columbia (35865); November 27, 1940


PM, December 16, 1941, p. 15

New York Solemnly Observes Bill of Rights Day

Bill of Rights Day – the 150th anniversary of the signing of the great document by the last of the original states, was marked elaborately in New York. Most impressive was this salute to the flag (see Mayor Fiorella La Guardia in front row) at City Hall.
Photo by Gene Badger

Before… Test Air-Raid Alarm in Times Square… After

The usual 10 a.m. traffic, the usual pedestrian, swarmed through Times Square at 10 a.m. Then police rehearsed a raid alarm…

Pedestrian were hustled off the streets, trolly cars and buses were emptied. Hurray – it works!
Photos by Wide World


[End of] “President Roosevelt Bill Of Rights Speech”; President Franklin D. Roosevelt (KHJ radio); Publication date: December 15, 1941


“Whoopee!!”; Ben Selvin and His Orchestra; De Sylva; Brown; Conrad; Vocalion (B 15154); November 23, 1925


The New York Times, December 16, 1941

LEPKE DEFENDANT IS FREED BY COURT

Printer Cleared of Operating ‘Front’ for $10,000,000 Narcotics Ring


“Whoopie Cha Cha”; Randy Carlos and his Orch.; Donaldson; Kahn; Rainbow (363); 1956

“Horror and Anguish…”

December 15, 2021
1939


“Wrap Your Troubles In Romantic Dreams Between the Moon and the 19th Willow”; Bing Crosby; Publication date: December 15, 1939


The Daily Argus, December 15, 1939

HORROR AND ANGUISH mark the faces of Mrs. H. Torres (left) and her daughter, Ada, as they watch a New York tenement fire in which Mrs. Torres’ sister and young nephew, Mrs. Ramona Malave thirty, and her son, Edward, died.


“Just for You Heart Sick Lovely Hawaiian Madonna in the Sand”; Andy Iona and his Orchestra; Publication date: December 15, 1939

While Tories Bar Low-Rent Housing

Mother and Son Die in B’klyn Tenement Fire

Fire roared through an old tenement in Brooklyn at 2 A.M. yesterday and took the lives of Mrs. Ramonia Malava, 10, and her 7-year-old son Edward.

The four-story tenement at 41 Bartlett St. was occupied by twelve families, all of whom managed to get out except Mrs. Malava and her boy, who were trapped in a rear apartment on the fourth floor. Their charred bodies were found near a window, indicating that they had been overcome while trying to escape…

The tenement fire was discovered when one of the occupants thought he smelled smoke. When he went to the hall the stair-well was a blazing furnace. He managed to get down a fire-escape to turn in an alarm.

Meanwhile a passerby, seeing the flames,, rushed into the building and aroused its occupants by banging on as many doors as he could reach.

Firemen are investing the orgin of the fire, which is believed to have started in a third-floor apartment.

The Daily Worker, December 15, 1939


“Holy Smoke (Can’t You Take Ya Take a Joke?) Pinch Me I Want My Mama Between 18th and 19th On Chestnut Street”; The Ole Tom-cat of the Keys Bob Zurke and his Delta Rhythm Band; Publication date: December 15, 1939


The New York Times, December 15, 1939

LEPKE DEFENDANT BARES PAST CRIMES

Denies Aiding Narcotics Ring, Then Admits He Was Former Burglar and Bootlegger

Missing Finger A Trap


“Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)”; Bing Crosby; John Scott Trotter And His Orchestra; Ted Koehler; Bill Moll; Harry Barris; Decca (2948 B); Publication date: December 15, 1939

“This Is Everybody’s War…”

December 15, 2021
1941


“He’s 1-A in the Army and He’s A-1 in My Heart”; Johnny Long And His Orchestra; Helen Young; Redd Evans; Decca (4115 A); Publication date: December 15, 1941


PM, December 15, 1941, p. 14

Air Raid Instructions for Teachers, Pupils and Parents


“Stormy Weather; Ill Wind”; Ted Koehler; Ned Freeman; Lou Bring; Harold Arlen; Lena Horne; Victor (27819-A / 27819-B); Publication date: December 15, 1941



PM, December 15, 1941, pp. 16-17

This Is Everybody’s War, And Here Are Some Of The Things Americans Can Do About It


“The Man I Love; Where or When”; Richard Rodgers; Lena Horne; Ira and George Gershwin; Lou Bring; Ned Freeman; Lorenz Hart; RCA Victor (27818-A / 27818-B); Publication date: December 15, 1941

“Trapped in Flames…”

December 14, 2021
1939


“Blues in the Groove”; Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra; Durham”; Vocalion (5395); Publication date: December 14, 1939


Batavia Daily News, December 14, 1939, p.1

TRAPPED IN FLAMES MOTHER AND SON DIE

Burn to Death in New York When Flames Destroy Tenement Building

OTHERS ESCAPE IN NIGHT


The New York Post, December 14, 1939 (Photo by Irving Haberman)

“THEY’RE STILL UP THERE!”

Mrs. Henrietta Torres and her daughter, Ada, photographed just after they were rescued from a two-alarm fire at 41 Bartlett Street, Brooklyn, early today. Mrs. Ramona Malave and her son, Edward, relatives of Mrs, Torres, were brought down later – dead.


“Uptown Blues”; Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra; Lunceford; Columbia (30232); Publication date: December 14, 1939


The New York Sun, December 14, 1939 (Photo by Irving Haberman)

FIREMEN MAKE RESCUES AT FATAL BLAZE

A scene at 41 Bartlett street, Brooklyn, early today as firemen engaged in rescue work in the four-story tenement house where two persons lost their lives. One of the tenants of an adjoining building is shown near the lower corner of the picture.


The New York Sun, December 14, 1939

WOMAN AND SON PERISH IN FIRE

Trapped at Window of Their Brooklyn Home


Weegee, Naked City, 1945, pp. 74-75

I Cried When I took This Picture

Mother and daughter cry and look up hopelessly as another daughter and her young baby are burning to death in the top floor of the tenement… firemen couldn’t reach them in time… on account of the stairway collapsing.


“Lunceford Special”; Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra; Lunceford; Durham; Gerald Wilson; Willie Smith; Trummy Young; Joe Thomas; Columbia (38338); Publication date: December 14, 1939


The New York Times, December 14, 1939

GOVERNMENT ENDS LEPKE TESTIMONY

Completes Its Case as 23d Witness Testifies Against Narcotics Defendant


“It’s Time To Jump and Shout”; Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra; Durham; Vocalion (5430); Publication date: December 14, 1939