“NO PARKING,” Paul Quinichette and his Orchestra; Quinichette; 1953

PM, July 9, 1941, p.19

Department of Indignation: Illegal Signs

No sign, painting, or printing purporting to give directions, speed limits or other provisions of the Traffic Regulations or manner of driving shall be permitted on the streets or sidewalks or buildings without proper authority. – Section 7 of the Police Department’s Traffic Regulations, as amended Nov. 4, 1940.

Quote that to the doorman who, pointing to a sign like those pictured at right and below, says: You can’t park here!”

For the only No parking sign that can make it stick is the official Police Department sign pictured here.
PM, July 9, 1941, p.19

“NO PARKING HERE,” GENE O’QUIN; Billy Fairman; Billey Willey; 1951

1026 Fifth Ave.
1130 Fifth Ave.
233 W. 125th St.
601 Cathedral Pkwy.
13 E. 70h St.
935 Fifth Ave.
2510 Broadway
PM, July 9, 1941, p.19

“No Parking (No estacionarse)“, The Cotton Pickers; Napoleon; Raph; Chase; 1929

The superintendent at 789 West End Ave., an apartment house, put on this demonstration for Weegee, who took the pictures, on the page. The sign keeps most parkers away, he said. But once in a while a driver simply pulls up there and, when challenged, “answers with a four-letter word” telling the superintendent what he can do.
PM, July 9, 1941, p.19

“Parking Meter Blues,” Shelton Bros. (Bob and Joe); Johnny Hodges; 1939

“YOU AIN’T NOWHERE,” Jimmie Lunceford and his Orch.; Edwin Wilcox; James Crawford; Moses Allen; Al Norris; Willie Smith; Joe Thomas; Ted Buchner; Earl Carruthers; Dan Grisson; Gerald Wilson; Paul Webster; Snookie Young; Elmer Crumbley; James Young; Russell Bowles; Dandridge Sisters; Jordan Redman; Segure; July 9, 1941

…”looking toward his future…”

July 8, 2021

1940, PM

(1) Horses and Wagon; (2) Horses Gallop By; (3) One Horse Galloping By Fast

PM, July 8, 1940

McWilliams, Fascist Candidate, Faces His Future Undiscouraged

Joseph Ellsberry McWilliams, Fascist-type candidate of his American Destiny Party for Congressman, is still speaking at Yorkville street-corner meetings undiscouraged by his conviction in court Saturday of disorderly conduct. McWilliams is shown in the driver’s seat of a covered wagon, the emblem of his party. He must appear Wednesday in Felony court to pay a $50 fine or start serving a 30-day jail sentence. Meantime police officials of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut meet here today to study fifth-column problems. Photo by Weegee

1. Horses Hoofs (Turf) 2. Horses Hoofs (Turf) 3. Horses Hoofs (Cobbles), 1932

Weegee, Naked City, 1945, p.231

This is Joe McWilliams, professional anti-Semite and Nazi lover… Don’t make any mistake… that’s handsome Joe at the top of the picture… looking toward his future….

“Horses Don’t Bet on People,” Kay Kyser and his Orchestra; Clyde Rogers; Loeb; 1945

The New York Times, July 7, 1940

“My Pony’s Hair Turned Gray (When My Darling Ran Away),” Texas Jim Robertson; Bernard Houben; Mack Kaye; 1940

The New York Times, July 7, 1940 [$1.00 had the same buying power in July 1940 as $19.23 in May 2021.]

We Will Copy Your Favorite Old Photograph
There’s only one way to save those beloved old heirlooms – and that’s to copy them before they fade away forever…

Entirely irrelevant… a few great songs published on July 8, 1940:

“There is No Greater LoveAndy Kirk And His Clouds of Joy; Pha Terrell; Isham Jones; Marty Symes; July 8, 1940

“Midnight Stroll,” Andy Kirk And His Clouds of Joy; June Richmond; Sammy Lowe; Stanley Adams; July 8, 1940

“Now I Lay Me Down To Dream,” Andy Kirk And His Clouds Of Joy; Ted Fio Rito; Eddy Howard; Pha Terrell; July 8, 1940

“SYNDICATE CRIME CRUSHED”

July 7, 2021

1941

“Crime Does Not Pay,” Frank Luther Trio; Bob Miller; July 1934

“I Found You in the Rain,” Tony Pastor and his Orchestra; Eugenie Baird; Harold Barlow; Chopin; July 7, 1941

The New York Times, July 7, 1941

94.7% CONVICTIONS BY DEWEY”S OFFICE

General Sessions Record for 1940 Is Highest in History

SYNDICATE CRIME CRUSHED

Citing Complexity of Task In Manhattan, He Seems Justice Succeeding In Democracy

…Fourteen persons were convicted of first-degree murder in 1940.

“Crime Will Never Pay,” Gene Autry and The Pinafores; Carl Cotner; Willard Robison; Jack Pepper, 1951

Weegee, Thomas E. Dewey and Photographers, 1942 (Screenshot from moma.org)

(Might have been a little premature to say: “…confidently that organized crime on a syndicate basis is practically at an end in New York County.”… In Kings County, in July 1941, Murder Inc. was reeling from Reles’ confessions…)

“The Blues Have Got Me,” Jack Teagarden And His Orchestra; Jack Teagarden; Charles La Vere; Irving Mills; July 7, 1941

The New York Times, July 7, 1941

MR. DEWEY”S ACCOUNTING

“I’m Going To Start A Racket,” Lil Green; James Maddox; July 1941

“Coney Island At Noon Saturday”

July 5, 2021

1942, PM

“Spider Sent Me,” Paul Williams Sextette; Paul Williams; Spider Burks St. Louis, 1948

PM, July 5, 1942, p. 7

Coney Island At Noon Saturday

The crowd came later, according to Weegee who wanted a photo that showed some beach and not too many people. The masked man said that he was a laundry man, but would only be photographed incognito. The mask is a gag of his; he call himself the Spider, and likes to frighten people. Weegee didn’t get the names and addresses of the others in the photo, either. PM Photo by Weegee.
PM, July 5, 1942, p. 7

“Just Like a Spider,” Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup; Arthur Crudup, 1947

Roaring… Reform… Romance… Rats…

July 3, 2021

1940, PM

(“Mexican Elections Heated Wind Up,” photos by Margaret Bourke-White)

“Rifftime,” Erskine Hawkins (The Twentieth Century Gabriel) and his Orchestra; Avery Parrish, Bluebird (B-11161-B), 1940

PM, July 3, 1940 (Interview by Cecelia Ager) [Raft was a close friend of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, etc. etc…]

“I Smell a Rat,” “Young” Jessie And His Orchestra; “Young” Jessie; Stoller; Leiber, Modern Hollywood (921), 1954

“They Drive By Night,” 1940, associate producer, Mark Hellinger…

“They Drive By Night,” 1940, trailer

“People”

July 2, 2021

1940, PM

“Doctor Jazz,” Jelly-Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers; Joe Oliver; Jelly-Roll Morton; Omer Simeon; George Mitchell; Kid Ory; John Lindsay; Andrew Hilaire; Johnny St. Cyr , 1926

“Somebody’s Getting My Love,” Mabel Robinson; The 4 Blackamoors; Farrior; Nurse, 1941

PM, July 2, 1940

[The “gangster sought in a Brooklyn murder inquiry” was Vito Gurino.]

“Doctor Sausage’s Blues,” Doctor Sausage And His Five Pork Chops; Doctor Sausage; Tyson, 1940

“Fun”

July 1, 2021

1940, PM

“Money Blues (If You Ain’t Got No Money, I Ain’t Got No Use for You),” Camille Howard And Her Boy Friends; F. Wray; B. Carter, 1951

“…We let love take its course…”

“Everybody’s Got Money,” Eddie Beale Fourtette; Gene Forrest; Forrest; Dolphin; Hollywood (172-AA), 1951

In July 1940 $688,369.00 had the same buying power as $13,236,106.64 in May 2021.
In July 1940 $265,000.00 had the same buying power as $5,095,476.79 in May 2021.

“PLEDGE TO THE FLAG,” Igor Gorin; Albert Hay Malotte, 1940

(Photos by William Rhodes)

Demand For American Flags Biggest Since 1918; New York Factories Book

“(a) PLEDGE TO THE FLAG (b) THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER,” by Leopold Stokowski; The All-American Orchestra; Key; Goddard Lieberson, 1940

New York City Budget, 1940-21

“If Money Grew on Trees,” Eddie Rochester Anderson; Rene, 1940

“Money is Honey,” The Ramblers; O’Neil Spencer; Hopkins, 1939

Where the City’s Money Goes

PM, July 1, 1940

“Taxpayers’ Blues,” Bulee Gaillard and his Southern Fried Orchestra; Carroll; Gaillard; Norman Granz, 1952

“…heroic efforts to capture…”

June 28, 2021

1941

The New York Times, June 28, 1941

Liquor License For Hero

Weisberg, Figure in Esposito Capture, Will Open a Store

…Leonard Weisberg, the taxi driver who was injured in heroic efforts to capture the Esposito brothers after a midtown hold-up and murder last January…

“Troubles Good-Bye,” Jimmy Liggins And His Drops of Joy; Jimmy Liggins; J. Liggins, 1947

Eighty years ago today: a conclusion of sorts to the midtown Mad Dog Esposito brothers’ story…
A quick review of Leonard Weisberg’s heroics…
(With irreverent, irrelevant, and almost contemporaneous musical accompaniment.)

“Sloppy Drunk,” Walter Brown And Jay McShann’s Quartet; Walter Brown; Brown, 1947

…Not all in the crowd ran. Mr. Weisberg, whose cab was parked in Thirty-Fifth Street, ran up and threw himself on the armed bandit. Esposito shot him in the neck and the taxi driver rolled over onto the sidewalk….
New York Herald Tribune, January 15, 1941

As the wounded bandit [William Esposito] fired, Leonard Weisberg, thirty-six year old taxi driver, of 1577 Carroll Street Brooklyn, jumped on him. The gunman shot him in the neck just before he was captured, the payroll money, in a brown envelope, still in his pocket…
New York Herald Tribune, January 15, 1941

The New York Herald Tribune, January 15, 1941

“I Ain’t Drunk,” Jimmy Liggins, 1954

…A brave taxi driver named Leonard Weisberg lunged full at the spitting gun in an effort to save Maher, who was his friend. But the policeman fell dead and Weisberg writhed on the sidewalk, a bullet in his throat…
LIFE, January 27, 1941

LIFE, January 27, 1941

“I Got Hi,” Frank Ervin and His Band; Hurley; Moore, 1955

Slaughter on Fifth Avenue

…The crowd surged back, then forward. A taxi driver named Leonard Weisberg leaped on the prone gunman. He grabbed for the revolver, missed. Esposito jerked it back a few inches, fired again. Weisberg, clutching his throat, gasping for breath, fell to the sidewalk…

The Espositos went to the hospital, to the line-up, to indictment for murder. Leonard Weisberg, recovering from his throat wound, was promised a new cab of his own and won a hero’s praise. The Nazi press gleefully played up the crime as evidence of democratic depravity.
Time, January 27, 1941

“When I Been Drinking,” Rosetta Howard; Big Three Trio; Broonzy, 1947

The New York Daily News, January 15, 1941

“Thinking and Drinking,” Amos Milburn and his Aladdin Chickenshackers; O. O. Merritt, 1952

The New York Times, January 15, 1941

“When I’ve Been Drinking,” Jay McShann and His Jazz-Men; Numa Lee Davis; Cleophus Curtis; Raymod Taylor; Jay McShann; Albert Wichard, 1945

The New York Herald Tribune, January 16, 1941 [$18 in January 1941 had the same buying power as $343.65 in May 2021.]

“Lips That Touch Liquor Shall Never Touch Mine,” Tiny Hill And His Orchestra; Tiny Hill; Edgin; J. Hill, 1946

“Street Scene In New York: A Wild Kid in a Stolen Car Knocks Over a Milk Wagon”

June 27, 2021

1941, PM

“Street Scene,” Benny Carter Quintet; Norman Granz; Alfred Newman, 1952

PM, June 27, 1941, pp. 12-13

Street Scene In New York:
A Wild Kid in a Stolen Car
Knocks Over a Milk Wagon

Automobile accidents are all too common. On an average day in New York there are 81 such accidents averaging 68 persons injured, two or three persons killed…

PM, June 27, 1941

(1) Car starting and running; (2) Screech of brakes and crash with women’s scream; (3) Crowd murmurs at scene of accident; (4) Ambulance Bell and Siren; (5) Surf)

The Durable Harold Horn
He Keeps Popping Up in Front of Cop

A drama in three acts… entitled: “If At First You Don’t Succeed Try, Try Again.”

Horn was booked on charges of grand larceny, driving without a license, leaving the scene of an accident, dangerous driving, and – inasmuch as Joseph McDonald, 24, of 352 50th St., Brooklyn, driver of the milk-wagon was injured in the crash – third degree assault.
The New York Post, June 26, 1941, p.4

“Milkman Polka,” Jolly Jack Robel And His Orchestra, 1941

“Wild Man Blues,” Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven; Armstrong; Morton; Louis Armstrong; Kid Ory; Johnny Dodds; Lillian Hardin; Johnny St. Cyr; Pete Briggs; Baby Dodds, 1927