It was the eve of the election, and despite good weather being predicted, it was unclear just how many Lorainites were expected to go to the polls.
In a front-page article, Joseph Ujhelyi, chairman of the Lorain County Democratic executive committee of Lorain County predicted "that Tuesday's vote will be light." Harold Covault, executive committee chairman of the county Republican Party "anticipated a heavier vote than usual – about 60 percent."
I love the political cartoon on the front page, with the bespectacled, weakling representing 'Lorain' being impressed by the weighty 'Heavy Vote' achieved by 'Mister America.' In the end, Lorain did have a heavy turnout that year – and the Democratic juggernaut pretty much flattened the GOP.
Elsewhere on the front page is a large assortment of news items. Communists and spies seemed to dominate the stories, which included an account on how the United Nations was going to hold Red China and North Korea responsible for 'murdering and torturing 30,000 UN soldiers and civilians in Korea."
The minor local stories are interesting as well, and add some spice to the proceedings: the awarding of the unwelcome, ceremonial "crash helmet" to a member of the Elyria police department involved in an accident; the sad story of a one-legged panhandler who skipped out on his bill at Sutter's Restaurant; a photo of a wrecked car, the result of being hit by a Nickel Plate freight train after it had stalled at the Reid Avenue crossing; and a story of a not-so-bright voter determined to punish then-former President Truman by voting for a Lorain city council president of the opposing party.
A friend of mine lost his car in a crash at that same crossing just about thirty years later; his Mercury Lynx(!) stalled on the tracks, but he and his passengers were able to scramble to safety before the econobox was obliterated by the train; if you look carefully, you can probably still find Lynxbits alongside the tracks.
ReplyDeleteI found the filler about Q.E. watching a sanitized version of Guys and Dolls.
ReplyDeleteRemoving the Salvation Army and religion from the plot would pretty much doom the whole thing. I mean, how the heck would you even *do* that?
I suppose it's because she was a huge supporter of the S.A., but they're not represented in a bad light. In fact, one of the best songs of the musical is set there - it's a shame Queenie missed it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJq7J2uzSlc
Don - Perhaps she objected to a member of the Salvation Army taking up with a gambler and running off to Cuba? Like you, I can't imagine how they changed the plot to remove religion, etc. She must not have disapproved of horse racing; didn't she go to Ascot?
ReplyDeleteThat story about the Queen is so odd. In the original Damon Runyon story on which the play and movie is based, it's not the Salvation Army; it's the Save-a-Soul Mission. And that's what it is in the play and movie too.
ReplyDeleteDan - I think the film, at least, patterned the costumes after the Salvation Army, and the music of Frank Loesser's "Follow the Fold" was patterned after the Army's hymns. Of course the idea was to contrast the stylized gamblers against the stylized reformers, which it does brilliantly. The me, the musical is far more interesting than Runyon's stories. The film, particularly the music, is dazzling, even with a miscast Sky Masterson.
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