Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

Chapter 34

2026-03-17T06:35:33Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 261 */

==Page 257==
'''Hamburg, once the Swing Kid metropolis...''' 
German teens and adults who rejected Nazi condemnation of American jazz and swing dancing. Illegal dances, long hair, and slang like "Swing heil!" Instead of "Sig heil" used by Nazi youth. Made into film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_Kids_(1993_film) ''Swing Kids''] (1993).

'''''Auf Hit ... lerleute schließt die Reih-en''''' 
''Auf Hitlerleute schließt die Reihen'': "To Hitler's people, close ranks" is the beginning of a Nazi battle song of the Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as "Hitler Nationals" and featuring the soldiers and supporters of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)Now Hitler's people close ranks.

'''Hitlernazionale''' 
A patriotic Nazi anthem:

"Nun Hitlerleute schließt die Reihen, 
zum letzten Kampf sind wir bereit, 
mit Blut woll'n wir das Banner weihen, 
zum Zeichen einer neuen Zeit, 
Volksgenossen, unser ist die Stunde, 
das Banner weht bereits, 
Auf weißem Feld auf rotem Grund 

mit unserem schwarzen Hakenkreuz."

'''English translation:''' 
Now Hitler's people close ranks, 
We are ready for the final battle; 
we want to consecrate the banner with blood, 
as a sign of a new era. 
Comrades, the hour is ours; 
the flag is already waving, 
on a white field against a red background 
with our black swastika."

'''"Blues licks have largely given way to major triads"''' 
The "licks" (riffs) utilize notes in the "blues scale" (a flatted 3rd and 7th). More traditional harmony uses major triads (a major 3rd followed by a minor third).

'''Now en route to children, church, and kitchen''' 
"Kinder, Küche, Kirche" (children, kitchen, church) was a German slogan summarizing a reactionary concept of women's proper roles in society. It originated during the German Empire, but the ideas it expressed were strongly embraced by the Nazis.

==Page 258==
'''Strumlokal''' 
A bar or pub frequented by Nazis.

'''Schlagstock''' 
German: club or nightstick.

'''Schätzchen''' 
German: Sweetheart.

'''Friedrichstraße''' 
A main shopping district in Berlin.

==Page 260-61==
'''"How can a girl resist ... finding herself dancing some Gardel and La Pena number...." 
Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera were a legendary tango duo: Gardel ("The King of Tango") composed the music (often with others) and sang, while Le Pera was his regular lyricist, creating together classics like "Por una Cabeza" and "El Día Que Me Quieras," popularizing the sung tango throughout the world before their tragic death in 1935. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Gardel Wikipedia]

==Page 261==
'''"Smooth? George Raft could’ve taken lessons"''' 
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Raft George Raft] (1901-1980) earned early fame as dancer in the 1920s, especially the tango. Later starred in gangster films such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarface_(1932_film) ''Scarface''] (1932) and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Key_(1935_film) ''The Glass Key''] (1935)

'''Glow cuts the engine and they volplane through''' 
Volplaning is gliding toward the earth in an aircraft with the engine cut off.

==Page 263==
'''''Me ne frego''''' 
Italian: I don't give a damn. A Fascist slogan indicating bravery and disregard for danger.

Chapter 34

2026-03-17T06:24:44Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 257 */

==Page 257==
'''Hamburg, once the Swing Kid metropolis...''' 
German teens and adults who rejected Nazi condemnation of American jazz and swing dancing. Illegal dances, long hair, and slang like "Swing heil!" Instead of "Sig heil" used by Nazi youth. Made into film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_Kids_(1993_film) ''Swing Kids''] (1993).

'''''Auf Hit ... lerleute schließt die Reih-en''''' 
''Auf Hitlerleute schließt die Reihen'': "To Hitler's people, close ranks" is the beginning of a Nazi battle song of the Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as "Hitler Nationals" and featuring the soldiers and supporters of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)Now Hitler's people close ranks.

'''Hitlernazionale''' 
A patriotic Nazi anthem:

"Nun Hitlerleute schließt die Reihen, 
zum letzten Kampf sind wir bereit, 
mit Blut woll'n wir das Banner weihen, 
zum Zeichen einer neuen Zeit, 
Volksgenossen, unser ist die Stunde, 
das Banner weht bereits, 
Auf weißem Feld auf rotem Grund 

mit unserem schwarzen Hakenkreuz."

'''English translation:''' 
Now Hitler's people close ranks, 
We are ready for the final battle; 
we want to consecrate the banner with blood, 
as a sign of a new era. 
Comrades, the hour is ours; 
the flag is already waving, 
on a white field against a red background 
with our black swastika."

'''"Blues licks have largely given way to major triads"''' 
The "licks" (riffs) utilize notes in the "blues scale" (a flatted 3rd and 7th). More traditional harmony uses major triads (a major 3rd followed by a minor third).

'''Now en route to children, church, and kitchen''' 
"Kinder, Küche, Kirche" (children, kitchen, church) was a German slogan summarizing a reactionary concept of women's proper roles in society. It originated during the German Empire, but the ideas it expressed were strongly embraced by the Nazis.

==Page 258==
'''Strumlokal''' 
A bar or pub frequented by Nazis.

'''Schlagstock''' 
German: club or nightstick.

'''Schätzchen''' 
German: Sweetheart.

'''Friedrichstraße''' 
A main shopping district in Berlin.

==Page 260-61==
'''"How can a girl resist ... finding herself dancing some Gardel and La Pena number...." 
Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera were a legendary tango duo: Gardel ("The King of Tango") composed the music (often with others) and sang, while Le Pera was his regular lyricist, creating together classics like "Por una Cabeza" and "El Día Que Me Quieras," popularizing the sung tango throughout the world before their tragic death in 1935. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Gardel Wikipedia]

==Page 261==
'''"Smooth? George Raft could’ve taken lessons"''' 
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Raft George Raft] (1901-1980) earned early fame as dancer in the 1920s, especially the tango. Later starred in gangster films such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarface_(1932_film) ''Scarface''] (1932) and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Key_(1935_film) ''The Glass Key''] (1935)

==Page 263==
'''''Me ne frego''''' 
Italian: I don't give a damn. A Fascist slogan indicating bravery and disregard for danger.

Chapter 33

2026-03-17T06:14:44Z

Maxclarke2026:

==Page 251==
'''''Za dom!, Spremni!''''' 
Croatian: For homeland, Ready. A Fascist salute.

==Page 252==
'''Velebit''' 
A Croatian mountain range.

'''''Anasa supo''''' 
Esperanto: Duck soup.

==Page 253==
'''Weiss Manfréd''' 
Probably refers to Weiss Manfréd Acél és Fémművek (Manfréd Weiss Steel and Metal Works).

==Page 254==
'''''Die todten reiten schnell''''' 
Either a quote from the German poet Bürger: Sieh hin, sieh her! der Mond-scheint hell. Wir und die Todten reiten schnell. (Look forth, look forth! The moon shine bright tonight. We and the dead gallop fast thro' the night [translation by Rossetti]), or a quote from Bramm Stoker's Dracula: Denn die Todten reiten Schnell (For the dead travel fast). Both seem appropriate for a biker.

==Page 255==
'''ZB-26''' 
A Czech light machine gun manufactured by Zbrojovka Brno.

==Page 256==
'''Bangalore torpedo''' 
An explosive charge contained within a long tube (or multiple connected tubes), employed to clear obstacles without having to get right up next to them.

Chapter 31

2026-03-16T06:36:47Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 242 */

==Page 239==
'''ÁTFOGÓ ALKATRÉSZEK''' 
Hungarian: Comprehensive Parts.

==Page 241==
'''Mangalica''' 
A breed of pig with unusually curly hair.

'''Gorden Bennet''' 
British idiom, an exclamation of surprise. Supposed referring to the American newspaper publisher James Gorden Bennet, who was a flamboyant character.

'''Dives and Lazarus''' 
Referring to the biblical parable of the rich man ignoring the poor leper.

==Page 242==
'''Ku'damm''' 
Slangy nickname of the Kurfürstendamm, a famous and fashionable boulevard in Berlin.

'''float needle''' 
Part of a carburetor controlling the fuel flow.

Chapter 28

2026-03-15T05:53:02Z

Maxclarke2026:

==Page 211==
'''''Haver''''' 
Hungarian: Pal.

==Page 213==
'''"the nasal bobsled run"''' 
snow being slang for cocaine

==Page 214==
'''Gesichtsröhre''' 
German: literally 'face tube'.

Pynchon has clearly based this bar's system of televisions and cameras on a similar setup at the Remote Lounge, a unique New York City bar that existed on the Bowery, at the corner of East 2nd Street, from 2001 to 2007. [https://docpop.org/2013/10/way-ahead-of-its-time-the-remote-lounge-nyc/]

==Page 215==
'''John Lobbs''' 
High end bootmaker in London.

==Page 216==
'''Russ Columbo''' 
American singer and actor who recorded highly popular records in the crooning style.

==Page 217==
'''Cell salts''' 
Homeopathic remedies developed by a German doctor, Wilhelm Schüssler, in the 19th century.

'''Karlovy Vary''' 
A spa town in the Czechoslovakia, also known as Karlsbad.

'''Steinach''' 
Refers to a surgical procedure developed by Eugen Steinach involving tying off the vas deferens of one testicle supposedly to increase androgen production. It was surprising popular at the time.

==Page 218==
'''Gerbeaud's''' 
A famous, still-extant cafe and confectionery in Budapest, founded in 1858.

==Page 220==
'''Ekrexophilia''' 
Erotic interest in explosions? From Greek ékrixi + philia. A neologism?

==Page 221==
'''Wallace Beery''' 
American film actor who was very popular at the time.

==Page 225==
'''Concorso d'Eleganza''' 
An annual car show held at Villa d'Este in Italy beginning in 1929. Prizes were awarded for beauty and elegance.

==Page 226==

'''Judah Loew and the Golem lore''' 
Rabbi of Prague who according to lore created the golem out of clay to fight against antisemitism. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_Loew_ben_Bezalel#Legend_of_the_golem]

'''shonrim''' 
Hebrew: guards. Refers to a Jewish neighborhood watch patrol.

'''Purple Gang''' 
A Detroit criminal mob involved in bootlegging, whose members were primarily Jewish.

Chapter 28

2026-03-15T05:48:05Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 217 */

==Page 211==
'''''Haver''''' 
Hungarian: Pal.

==Page 213==
'''"the nasal bobsled run"''' 
snow being slang for cocaine

==Page 214==
'''Gesichtsröhre''' 
German: literally 'face tube'.

Pynchon has clearly based this bar's system of televisions and cameras on a similar setup at the Remote Lounge, a unique New York City bar that existed on the Bowery, at the corner of East 2nd Street, from 2001 to 2007. [https://docpop.org/2013/10/way-ahead-of-its-time-the-remote-lounge-nyc/]

==Page 215==
'''John Lobbs''' 
High end bootmaker in London.

==Page 216==
'''Russ Columbo''' 
American singer and actor who recorded highly popular records in the crooning style.

==Page 217==
'''Cell salts''' 
Homeopathic remedies developed by a German doctor, Wilhelm Schüssler, in the 19th century.

'''Karlovy Vary''' 
A spa town in the Czechoslovakia, also known as Karlsbad.

'''Steinach''' 
Refers to a surgical procedure developed by Eugen Steinach involving tying off the vas deferens of one testicle supposedly to increase androgen production. It was surprising popular at the time.

==Page 220==
'''Ekrexophilia''' 
Erotic interest in explosions? From Greek ékrixi + philia. A neologism?

==Page 221==
'''Wallace Beery''' 
American film actor who was very popular at the time.

==Page 225==
'''Concorso d'Eleganza''' 
An annual car show held at Villa d'Este in Italy beginning in 1929. Prizes were awarded for beauty and elegance.

==Page 226==

'''Judah Loew and the Golem lore''' 
Rabbi of Prague who according to lore created the golem out of clay to fight against antisemitism. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_Loew_ben_Bezalel#Legend_of_the_golem]

'''shonrim''' 
Hebrew: guards. Refers to a Jewish neighborhood watch patrol.

'''Purple Gang''' 
A Detroit criminal mob involved in bootlegging, whose members were primarily Jewish.

Chapter 28

2026-03-14T08:45:52Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 214 */

==Page 211==
'''''Haver''''' 
Hungarian: Pal.

==Page 213==
'''"the nasal bobsled run"''' 
snow being slang for cocaine

==Page 214==
'''Gesichtsröhre''' 
German: literally 'face tube'.

Pynchon has clearly based this bar's system of televisions and cameras on a similar setup at the Remote Lounge, a unique New York City bar that existed on the Bowery, at the corner of East 2nd Street, from 2001 to 2007. [https://docpop.org/2013/10/way-ahead-of-its-time-the-remote-lounge-nyc/]

==Page 215==
'''John Lobbs''' 
High end bootmaker in London.

==Page 216==
'''Russ Columbo''' 
American singer and actor who recorded highly popular records in the crooning style.

==Page 217==
'''Karlovy Vary''' 
A spa town in the Czechoslovakia, also known as Karlsbad.

'''Steinach''' 
Refers to a surgical procedure developed by Eugen Steinach involving tying off the vas deferens of one testicle supposedly to increase androgen production. It was surprising popular at the time.

==Page 220==
'''Ekrexophilia''' 
Erotic interest in explosions? From Greek ékrixi + philia. A neologism?

==Page 221==
'''Wallace Beery''' 
American film actor who was very popular at the time.

==Page 225==
'''Concorso d'Eleganza''' 
An annual car show held at Villa d'Este in Italy beginning in 1929. Prizes were awarded for beauty and elegance.

==Page 226==

'''Judah Loew and the Golem lore''' 
Rabbi of Prague who according to lore created the golem out of clay to fight against antisemitism. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_Loew_ben_Bezalel#Legend_of_the_golem]

'''shonrim''' 
Hebrew: guards. Refers to a Jewish neighborhood watch patrol.

'''Purple Gang''' 
A Detroit criminal mob involved in bootlegging, whose members were primarily Jewish.

Chapter 24

2026-03-11T07:49:41Z

Maxclarke2026:

==Page 179==
'''Immelmanns''' 
An Immelmann is an aerobatic maneuver in which a pilot executes an ascending half-loop, then a half-roll, with the end result being normal flight in the opposite direction at a higher altitude. It originated as a combat technique during in World War I.

==Page 180==
'''''kleine Kartoffel''''' 
German: small potato, figurately small fry.

==Page 181==
'''kemény gyerek''' 
Hungarian: Tough kid

==Page 182==
'''Guzzista''' 
Italian: A biker

'''Into a tunnel''' 
There are extensive tunnels and caves beneath Budapest, including the Buda Castle Labyrinth, the Kobanya Cellar, and the Gellert Baths Tunnels.

==Page 183==
'''Újpest''' 
Hungarian: New Pest. Now the fourth district of Budapest. At the time it was a separate town.

'''Tungsram''' 
A manufacturer of lightbulbs and vacuum tubes, located in Újpest. It was the first to use tungsten filaments, which was a major advance.

'''theremin''' 
An electronic musical instrument using two antennas. The capacitance formed between the performer's hands and the antennas controls the pitch and volume.

==Page 184==
'''Clara Rockmore''' 
A theremin performer who achieved considerable fame.

'''Sealex machines''' 
Devices for the automation of vacuum tube manufacturing. Sealex appears to be a generic term rather than a specific brand.

'''Béla Kun''' 
A Hungarian communist who in 1919 lead a coup to form the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The government was viciously repressive.

'''Miklos Horthy''' 
Hungarian admiral and politician. After the collapse of the Kun government he was made Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, in effect a dictator. His government was nationalist, conservative, and antisemitic.

==Page 186==
'''''Menj a halál faszára''''' 
Hungarian: Literally, go to the dick of death. Figuratively, fuck off.

Chapter 24

2026-03-11T07:41:00Z

Maxclarke2026:

==Page 179==
'''Immelmanns''' 
An Immelmann is an aerobatic maneuver in which a pilot executes an ascending half-loop, then a half-roll, with the end result being normal flight in the opposite direction at a higher altitude. It originated as a combat technique during in World War I.

==Page 180==
'''''kleine Kartoffel''''' 
German: small potato, figurately small fry.

==Page 182==
'''Guzzista''' 
Italian: A biker

'''Into a tunnel''' 
There are extensive tunnels and caves beneath Budapest, including the Buda Castle Labyrinth, the Kobanya Cellar, and the Gellert Baths Tunnels.

==Page 183==
'''Újpest''' 
Hungarian: New Pest. Now the fourth district of Budapest. At the time it was a separate town.

'''Tungsram''' 
A manufacturer of lightbulbs and vacuum tubes, located in Újpest. It was the first to use tungsten filaments, which was a major advance.

'''theremin''' 
An electronic musical instrument using two antennas. The capacitance formed between the performer's hands and the antennas controls the pitch and volume.

==Page 184==
'''Clara Rockmore''' 
A theremin performer who achieved considerable fame.

'''Sealex machines''' 
Devices for the automation of vacuum tube manufacturing. Sealex appears to be a generic term rather than a specific brand.

'''Béla Kun''' 
A Hungarian communist who in 1919 lead a coup to form the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The government was viciously repressive.

'''Miklos Horthy''' 
Hungarian admiral and politician. After the collapse of the Kun government he was made Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, in effect a dictator. His government was nationalist, conservative, and antisemitic.

==Page 186==
'''''Menj a halál faszára''''' 
Hungarian: Literally, go to the dick of death. Figuratively, fuck off.

Chapter 21

2026-03-11T07:28:30Z

Maxclarke2026:

__FORCETOC__
==Page 154==
'''Acme Thunderer''' 
An actual whistle made by J. Hudson & Company, first produced in 1884 as a sports whistle.

==Page 155==
'''''schnupf''''' 
German: snuff. e.g. snort.

==Page 156==
'''''squadri''''' 
Italian: squad.

==Page 157==
'''about the time the Swiss Cheese Union took its fateful step of declaring fondue the national dish''' 
The Swiss Cheese Union did in fact begin marketing fondue as the national dish of Switzerland in 1930, in a bid to increase cheese consumption. [https://switzerlanding.com/fondue-history-facts/]

==Page 159==
'''Belinograph, all the way from Chicago''' 
Édouard Belin invented the Bélinographe in 1913, a device which scanned an image with a photocell and transmitted the resulting information over a telephone line.

===Page 160===
'''may we introduce the Walther PPK''' 
Famously, James Bond's weapon of choice, but originally produced by the German gun manufacturer Walther for police use.

Chapter 22

2026-03-11T07:24:49Z

Maxclarke2026:

==Page 161==
'''The Oktogon is jumping''' 
The Oktogon is a major intersection -- 8-sided, of course -- on the Pest side of Budapest.

==Page 162==
'''''Szia''''' 
Hungarian: meaning both Hi and Bye. Pronounced SEE-ah.

==Page 166==
'''''Saluto ... agrabla revidi vin''''' 
Esperanto: Hello, nice to see you again.

==Page 169==
'''''Az Isten faszára''''' 
Hungarian: Literally, on God's cock. Figuratively, for fuck's sake.

Errata

2026-03-09T08:48:30Z

Maxclarke2026:

'''Page 44''' 
"homsesick" should be "homesick"

'''Page 139''' 
"Pilgrim's Rest" should be "Pilgrims Rest"

'''Page 167''' 
"Schuncki" should be "Schnucki"

Chapter 21

2026-03-08T19:32:24Z

Maxclarke2026:

Chapter 21

2026-03-08T18:09:53Z

Maxclarke2026:

Chapter 21

2026-03-08T09:27:32Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 155 */

Chapter 20

2026-03-08T09:23:41Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 143 */

__FORCETOC__
==Page 143==
'''the A.J. Raffles principle that a successful jewel thief needs a legitimate cover, such as a star cricketer''' 
A.J. Raffles was a fictional "gentleman thief" with a public identity as an amateur cricket player in a series of stories by E.W. Hornung. Hornung was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law, and at one time, Raffles was the second most popular fictional character in England, after Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. In fact, Raffles was in some ways a kind of mirror image of the famous detective, with his own Dr. Watson-like sidekick and chronicler. Raffles was played by actor Ronald Colman in a 1930 film.

==Page 146==
'''where popes make arrangements with Fascists''' 
In 1929, Italy's fascist leader Benito Mussolini, once a radical anti-clericalist, signed agreements with the papacy affirming the pope’s sovereignty over Vatican City and the church’s special position in Italian politics and society.

==Page 149==
'''Soupe de canard''' 
French: Duck soup, easily done. Also a likely nod to the Marx Brothers' 1933 film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Soup_(1933_film) ''Duck Soup''].

==Page 150==
'''Fortuny Delphos gown''' 
A style of silk dress with many fine pleats, created in the early 20th century by French designer Henriette Negrin and her husband, Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, and inspired by a classical Greek statue, the Charioteer of Delphi.

'''''Cómo no, mi amigo''''' 
Spanish: Of course, my friend.

==Page 151==
'''''Felíz como lombriz''''' 
Spanish: Happy as a clam.

'''''tipo fácil''''' 
Spanish: easy type

===Page 152===
'''''pero qué carajo''''' 
Spanish: But what the hell

Chapter 20

2026-03-08T09:21:15Z

Maxclarke2026:

__FORCETOC__
==Page 143==
'''Violating the A.J. Raffles principle that a successful jewel thief needs a legitimate cover, such as a star cricketer''' 
A.J. Raffles was a fictional "gentleman thief" with a public identity as an amateur cricket player in a series of stories by E.W. Hornung. Hornung was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law, and at one time, Raffles was the second most popular fictional character in England, after Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. In fact, Raffles was in some ways a kind of mirror image of the famous detective, with his own Dr. Watson-like sidekick and chronicler. Raffles was played by actor Ronald Colman in a 1930 film.

==Page 146==
'''where popes make arrangements with Fascists''' 
In 1929, Italy's fascist leader Benito Mussolini, once a radical anti-clericalist, signed agreements with the papacy affirming the pope’s sovereignty over Vatican City and the church’s special position in Italian politics and society.

==Page 149==
'''Soupe de canard''' 
French: Duck soup, easily done. Also a likely nod to the Marx Brothers' 1933 film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Soup_(1933_film) ''Duck Soup''].

==Page 150==
'''Fortuny Delphos gown''' 
A style of silk dress with many fine pleats, created in the early 20th century by French designer Henriette Negrin and her husband, Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, and inspired by a classical Greek statue, the Charioteer of Delphi.

'''''Cómo no, mi amigo''''' 
Spanish: Of course, my friend.

==Page 151==
'''''Felíz como lombriz''''' 
Spanish: Happy as a clam.

'''''tipo fácil''''' 
Spanish: easy type

===Page 152===
'''''pero qué carajo''''' 
Spanish: But what the hell

Chapter 20

2026-03-08T09:10:47Z

Maxclarke2026:

Chapter 20

2026-03-07T19:52:03Z

Maxclarke2026:

__FORCETOC__
==Page 143==
'''Violating the A.J. Raffles principle that a successful jewel thief needs a legitimate cover, such as a star cricketer''' 
A.J. Raffles was a fictional "gentleman thief" with a public identity as an amateur cricket player in a series of stories by E.W. Hornung. Hornung was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law, and at one time, Raffles was the second most popular fictional character in England, after Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. In fact, Raffles was in some ways a kind of mirror image of the famous detective, with his own Dr. Watson-like sidekick and chronicler. Raffles was played by actor Ronald Colman in a 1930 film.

==Page 146==
'''where popes make arrangements with Fascists''' 
In 1929, Italy's fascist leader Benito Mussolini, once a radical anti-clericalist, signed agreements with the papacy affirming the pope’s sovereignty over Vatican City and the church’s special position in Italian politics and society.

==Page 149==
'''Soupe de canard''' 
French: Duck soup, easily done. Also a likely nod to the Marx Brothers' 1933 film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Soup_(1933_film) ''Duck Soup''].

'''''Cómo no, mi amigo''''' 
Spanish: Of course, my friend.

==Page 151==
'''''Felíz como lombriz''''' 
Spanish: Happy as a clam.

'''''tipo fácil''''' 
Spanish: easy type

Chapter 20

2026-03-07T19:32:22Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 143 */

Chapter 20

2026-03-07T19:29:41Z

Maxclarke2026:

__FORCETOC__
==Page 143==
'''Violating the A.J. Raffles principle that a successful jewel thief needs a legitimate cover, such as a star cricketer''' 
A.J. Raffles was a fictional "gentleman thief" in a series of stories by E.W. Hornung. Hornung was Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law, and at one time, Raffles was the second most popular fictional character in England, after Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. In fact, Raffles was in some ways a kind of mirror image of the famous detective, with his own Dr. Watson-like sidekick and chronicler. Raffles was played by actor Ronald Colman in a 1930 film.

==Page 149==
'''Soupe de canard''' 
French: Duck soup, easily done. Also a likely nod to the Marx Brothers' 1933 film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Soup_(1933_film) ''Duck Soup''].

'''''Cómo no, mi amigo''''' 
Spanish: Of course, my friend.

==Page 151==
'''''Felíz como lombriz''''' 
Spanish: Happy as a clam.

'''''tipo fácil''''' 
Spanish: easy type

Chapter 18

2026-03-06T09:05:54Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 129 */Added to Heavyside Bounce entry

==Page 126==
'''his enthusiasm with the dizzy-stick''' 
A "dizzy stick" may be several different things, including 1930s slang for a marijuana cigarette, but in this context Pynchon clearly means a police night-stick, making people dizzy by hitting them in the head ("dissheveled hairdos")

"Connie McSpool is a former city cop obliged to retire early after his enthusiasm with the dizzy-stick finally dissheveled a hairdo too well-connected to be squared that easily"

What would a police officer be doing with a marijuana cigarette?

'''Arnold Rothstein and Legs Diamond''' 
Rothstein (1882-1928) and Jack "Legs" Diamond (1887-1931) were real-life underworld figures whose stories set the template for the "gentleman gangster" and the "dapper killer" archetypes that later filled noir fiction. In November 1928, Rothstein was shot at the Park Central Hotel, reportedly over an unpaid poker debt of about $320,000. Legs Diamond was known for his daring personality, flashy clothes, and fondness for showgirls. Known as "the clay pigeon of the underworld" because of how many times he was shot and survived, in December 1931 he was shot in bed in an Albany boarding house, almost certainly a mob hit. He became a tabloid folk hero, the Irish dandy-gangster who defied bullets and lawmen until the end.

Rothstein financed operations that Legs Diamond worked on or later tried to take over, but viewed Diamond as unreliable — flashy, violent, too hot-headed for "The Brain’s" style. After Rothstein’s murder in 1928, Diamond tried to move into his rackets, which brought him into conflict with other New York mobsters like Dutch Schultz.

'''not just Tammany Hall''' 
Tammany Hall was the Democratic political machine that dominated New York City politics for nearly two centuries — a legendary blend of grassroots organizing, patronage, and corruption. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall Wikipedia]

'''but worst and least merciful [...] New York real estate''' 
Perhaps alluding to D. Trump, former NY real-estate tycoon.

==Page 127==
'''Portland sets fast, Rosendale lasts longer''' 
Refers to two types of cement, both historically important in American construction. Limestone in the Rosendale area was found to produce a hydraulic cement (one that sets underwater). Although Rosendale cement was prized for durability and slow curing making it ideal for masonry, foundations, and underwater construction by the early 20th century, it lost ground to Portland cement, which was faster to set and could be made anywhere from artificial mixes.

'''Racine, where Danish pastries were invented''' 
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Danish immigrants settled heavily in the Midwest, especially in Chicago, Racine (Wisconsin), and Omaha. Chicago, already famous for its bakeries and food fairs, became the hub of Scandinavian baking traditions. Around the 1910s–1920s, Danish master bakers began opening neighborhood bakeries, adapting traditional wienerbrød recipes to American ingredients (sweeter doughs, more fillings, and icings). The American Danish pastry was born in Chicago, but its soul was preserved in Racine. Chicago made it fashionable; Racine made it traditional.

'''Gould Fisk Fidelity and Trust'''
Jay Gould and James Fisk were involved in a notorious attempt to corner the gold market in 1869, which led to a financial panic known as Black Friday. Their manipulative tactics included bribery and insider trading, which caused significant financial losses for ordinary investors. (interesting name for a bank and maybe why it didn't 'smell like a bank')

==Page 128==
'''"Only a harmless episode of international transnavigation..."''' 
This mock-grandiose, pseudo-scientific nonsense is typical of how W. C. Fields characters delivered their lines.

'''"even along the death trail"''' 
The "death trail" was a nickname used by touring entertainers — especially Black musicians, dancers, comedians, and novelty acts in the 1920s–1940s — to describe a particular stretch of small-town theater bookings that were underpaid, under-promoted, dangerous to travel through, racially hostile, and often physically exhausting due to long distances between stops. That is, it was the worst leg of the tour, the part where careers could stall, acts could break up, and performers could go broke (or worse).

==Page 129==
'''Club Afterbeat up in Harlem''' 
Although this is likely a fictional joint, in Harlem slang of the 1920s–40s, the "after beat" scene meant when the main clubs closed and musicians & dancers went somewhere unofficial to keep the music going. The "after beat" also refers to beats two and four in 4/4 time.

'''"Heavy-side Bounce'''" 
"Heavy-side bounce" is Harlem ballroom / dance slang from the mid-1920s through the 1940s.
It refers to a specific way of carrying weight in rhythm while dancing, especially in early swing, jazz walk, and Lindy Hop. It is not about jumping; it’s about where the weight sits in the step. It comes from Black social-dance tradition.

But Pynchon appears to be dropping some science on us here, too. The Heaviside layer is a layer of ionised gas between 90 and 150 kilometers up in the atmosphere that reflects medium-frequency radio waves, allowing radio signals to be bounced over the horizon. This technique has been used for long-distance radio transmissions since the 1920s. And because the Heaviside layer is higher at night, radio waves can be bounced further after sundown. Thus:

". . . just, as, th'
sun, goes, down—
once again . . . o-
-ver-the-ra-di-yo,
here comes that far-away beat . . ."

'''"the Civilized World's Most Sophisticated Couple"''' 
Although Rex and Rhonda are likely fictional, that tagline was a stock publicity line used for ballroom exhibition dance duos in the late 1920s and 1930s, especially in hotel floor shows, supper-club revues, and radio-remote dance broadcasts.

==Page 131==
'''It's the bum's rush''' 
To throw someone out of a place quickly and roughly — usually a bar, club, or theater — without ceremony, the physical act of bouncers grabbing an unwanted person under the arms and hustling them out the door, sometimes literally kicking them into the street.

Chapter 16

2026-03-05T08:33:18Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 117 */Entry on Meal A Minute

==Page 115==
'''Little Cosenza''' 
a locale, possibly a Pynchon invention, Calabrian-flavored micro-enclave name riffing on real Chicago neighborhoods.

==Page 116==
'''mitzvah''' 
Hebrew: a good deed for which one receives spiritual credit.

'''"Liberty, out for a stroll [...] around dawn"''' 
[[image:1932-half-dollar.jpg|thumb|150px|'''1932 U.S. Half-Dollar'''|left]]<div style="clear:both;"></div>

==Page 117==
'''Hicks is just about to step into the Meal A Minute for a three-decker''' 
B/G Sandwich Shops was a nationwide chain of quick-service diners whose slogan, "A Meal A Minute," was also its nickname.

'''"Packard Custom Eight limousine [...] no chrome, no wax job, no shine, flat black all over"'''
[[image:1930-Packard-Custom-Eight-Limo.jpg|thumb|150px|'''1930 Packard Custom Eight Limousine'''|left]]


'''"I call it spinach"''' 
1930s slang meaning a sarcastic dismissal, i.e., "I call it nonsense," "I don’t buy it";

==Page 118==
'''omertà''' 
Italian: a code of silence and loyalty, especially associated with the Mafia and other criminal organizations in southern Italy and their offshoots in America.

'''a roscoe he may not be carrying''' 
"roscoe" is American gangster/slang for a gun, most often a handgun (a revolver)

'''Mezzogiorno''' 
A region of southern Italy that was historically impoverished and associated with organized crime.

'''''che figata''''' 
An informal Italian exclamation meaning roughly "How cool!", "That’s awesome!", or "What a great thing!"

'''Chazzy's ''umbatz''''' 
In vaudeville, burlesque, and comic radio talk, ''umbatz'' was a sound word that turned into an adjective, describing someone wild, excitable, or mentally offbeat — the kind of character who’d make noisy gestures, talk fast, or act manic, like a musical oom-pah caricature come to life.

'''"miles o' smiles, as it sez in the ads"''' 
"Miles o’ Smiles" was a popular advertising and publicity slogan in the early 1930s — especially tied to the 1933–1934 Chicago World’s Fair, officially known as "A Century of Progress," capturing the cheerful, modern, and escapist tone the fair tried to project during the Great Depression: optimism through technology, entertainment, and American ingenuity.

==Page 119==
'''D and D''' 
That'd be Deaf and Dumb

'''booby-hatch leave''' 
This old phrase means someone is temporarily out of an asylum, either on furlough, escaped, or jokingly described as such. In 1930s slang, it could be used literally (for a patient released for a short time) or sarcastically, to imply someone crazy is on the loose.

'''dance like those Castles do''' 
The Castles dancers refers to the legendary husband-and-wife dance team Vernon and Irene Castle, who were among the most influential figures in American popular dance in the 1910s.

==Page 120==
'''''gabadost''''' 
A sort of mock-Italian slang meaning “a fancy guy,” “a hotshot,” or “somebody full of himself.”

'''''nun sò che''''' 
The Italian phrase meaning "I don’t know what," but it’s used idiomatically to express a vague, indefinable quality, like saying in English, "a certain something" or, in this context, "vibe."

==Page 121==
'''The main concourse at Union Station''' 
[[image:Chicago-Union-Station.jpg|thumb|150px|'''Chicago's Union Station, Grand Hall (Main Concourse), circa 1925-1930'''|left]]

'''"Taxi-war veterans"''' 
Chicago taxi wars of the 1930s were a violent chapter of urban and underworld history, when cab companies, gangsters, and corrupt officials fought for control of the city’s lucrative taxi market. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, taxi service in Chicago was chaotic and unregulated.
Multiple companies competed, notably the Yellow Cab Company, founded by John D. Hertz (later the car-rental magnate), Checker Taxi Company, controlled by Morris Markin, and smaller independents - like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmelee_System Parmelee] - many tied to criminal syndicates after Prohibition. The Great Depression intensified competition. When fares and profits dropped, rival cab companies began sabotaging, bombing, and shooting each other’s drivers to gain control of territory.

==Page 122==
'''Broadway Limited cranked up to go''' 
The Broadway Limited was the Pennsylvania Railroad’s most famous passenger train, connecting New York and Chicago — the pride of American rail travel for decades.

Chapter 14

2026-03-04T08:59:48Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 100 */

'''This chapter appears to take place some years before 1932, when Hicks first met Daphne, i.e., ''analepsis'''''

==Page 92==
'''captured in local waters by the Drys''' 
Federal agents (and their local counterparts) were the enforcers who carried out Prohibition law; they were sometimes called "drys”" by slang extension, but technically they were government employees, not activists.

'''No Man's Land''' 
When locals in the early 20th century talked about "No Man’s Land" on Lake Michigan, they meant a strip of undeveloped or lawless lakeshore north of the city limits, a sort of in-between zone that, during the 1920s–1930s, gained a reputation for bootlegging, roadhouses, gambling, and weekend vice. During Prohibition (1920–1933), the area’s ambiguous status made it a natural haven for: speakeasies and roadhouses serving liquor smuggled in from Chicago or across Lake Michigan; shore-landing points for rum-runners, who brought Canadian whiskey across by boat at night; dance halls and "blind pigs" — unlicensed taverns that often doubled as gambling rooms or brothels. Local newspapers described it as a "shack-studded strip of dance joints and shanty bars" where respectable Milwaukeeans went slumming on weekends. It was first called Spanish Court when it opened in 1928, and later renamed Plaza del Lago in 1960 after redevelopment. It was one of the first auto-oriented suburban shopping centers in the United States.

'''Dopplinger's Chinese Amusements''' 
In period sources, "Dopplinger's Chinese Amusements" refers to a traveling or semi-permanent carnival / vaudeville concession owned or managed by a man named Dopplinger most likely Frank or Fred Dopplinger who operated sideshows and novelty attractions in the Wisconsin–Illinois–Minnesota fair circuit between about 1915 and the early 1930s.

"Chinese Amusements" was a theme, not a nationality:
like “Hawaiian Village” or “Arabian Nights,” it evoked an exotic atmosphere—paper lanterns, lacquer screens, “Oriental” costumes—typical of midway showmanship at the time.

'''Old Log Cabin Presbyterian''' 
Old Log Cabin bourbon/whiskey + ginger ale + club soda, served over ice with a lime or lemon twist. It’s light, fizzy, and not too strong — hence the joke that it’s "the drink for a sober-minded churchgoer." The name was already in bar guides by the 1910s and common again after repeal.

==Page 93==
'''New Trier kids''' 
New Trier refers to New Trier Township High School, founded in 1901, located in Winnetka, Illinois, one of the wealthiest suburbs along Chicago’s North Shore. So “New Trier kids” simply means students or graduates of New Trier High School, i.e., teenagers from Chicago’s affluent North Shore communities. In the 1920s–30s, when the school was relatively new, it had a reputation for excellent academics and a largely upper-middle-class to wealthy student body.

'''minus the rake-off to Red Barker''' 
George “Red” Barker was deeply involved in labor-union racketeering in Chicago during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including control of the Coal Teamsters union and other unions, although I couldn't find documentation that he was involved in any "ushers' union." [https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id124.htm More »]

==Page 94==
'''7UP lithiated lemon soda''' 
On the psychoactive soft drink tip again. Just as Coca-Cola originally contained cocaine, 7 Up did in fact contain lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, when it was introduced in 1929. The ingredient continued to be part of the formula until 1948.

'''''porca miseria''''' 
Italian: holy shit, bloody hell, etc.

'''"Shadow Waltz"''' 
A song was written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin and first performed by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler in the hit film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Diggers_of_1933 ''Gold Diggers of 1933'']. So it's rather unlikely Sheldon would be anything to the tune of "Shadow Waltz" in 1932. And "seven-teen'll getcha twen-ty, yes" does fit nicely with the original melody.

{{#ev:youtube|uBkE6TOmMEU}}

==Page 95==
'''captivating set of pins''' 
When someone in that era said a woman had a “nice set of pins,” they were paying her a compliment on her legs — usually shapely, well proportioned legs that looked good when dancing, walking, or crossed at the knee.

'''how jay it’s getting around this joint anymore''' 
Dull, unsophisticated, inferior. Beginning in the Midwest in the early 19th-century, “jay” was common slang for an empty-headed chatterbox, like a bluejay. A “jay” was a hick, a rube, or a downright dupe. A “jay town” was a fourth-rate or worthless place. [https://kinneybrothers.com/blog/blog/2021/01/29/fun-facts-91-jaywalker/ More…]

==Page 99==
'''"...and people wonder we go crazy." "And here I thought it was the mercury fumes."''' 
Vito and Hicks are alluding to the belief that hatmakers were often mentally ill, likely due to mercury poisoning. Mercury was used in the production of felt. This is the origin of the phrase "mad as a hatter", and the genesis of Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

==Page 100==
'''Ojibwe Dawn Society''' 
A secret society of visionaries among the Anishinaabeg peoples around the Great Lakes, including the Ojibwe. Dawn Society members were often locked up in mental hospitals by the U.S. government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Chapter 14

2026-03-04T08:59:18Z

Maxclarke2026:

'''This chapter appears to take place some years before 1932, when Hicks first met Daphne, i.e., ''analepsis'''''

==Page 92==
'''captured in local waters by the Drys''' 
Federal agents (and their local counterparts) were the enforcers who carried out Prohibition law; they were sometimes called "drys”" by slang extension, but technically they were government employees, not activists.

'''No Man's Land''' 
When locals in the early 20th century talked about "No Man’s Land" on Lake Michigan, they meant a strip of undeveloped or lawless lakeshore north of the city limits, a sort of in-between zone that, during the 1920s–1930s, gained a reputation for bootlegging, roadhouses, gambling, and weekend vice. During Prohibition (1920–1933), the area’s ambiguous status made it a natural haven for: speakeasies and roadhouses serving liquor smuggled in from Chicago or across Lake Michigan; shore-landing points for rum-runners, who brought Canadian whiskey across by boat at night; dance halls and "blind pigs" — unlicensed taverns that often doubled as gambling rooms or brothels. Local newspapers described it as a "shack-studded strip of dance joints and shanty bars" where respectable Milwaukeeans went slumming on weekends. It was first called Spanish Court when it opened in 1928, and later renamed Plaza del Lago in 1960 after redevelopment. It was one of the first auto-oriented suburban shopping centers in the United States.

'''Dopplinger's Chinese Amusements''' 
In period sources, "Dopplinger's Chinese Amusements" refers to a traveling or semi-permanent carnival / vaudeville concession owned or managed by a man named Dopplinger most likely Frank or Fred Dopplinger who operated sideshows and novelty attractions in the Wisconsin–Illinois–Minnesota fair circuit between about 1915 and the early 1930s.

"Chinese Amusements" was a theme, not a nationality:
like “Hawaiian Village” or “Arabian Nights,” it evoked an exotic atmosphere—paper lanterns, lacquer screens, “Oriental” costumes—typical of midway showmanship at the time.

'''Old Log Cabin Presbyterian''' 
Old Log Cabin bourbon/whiskey + ginger ale + club soda, served over ice with a lime or lemon twist. It’s light, fizzy, and not too strong — hence the joke that it’s "the drink for a sober-minded churchgoer." The name was already in bar guides by the 1910s and common again after repeal.

==Page 93==
'''New Trier kids''' 
New Trier refers to New Trier Township High School, founded in 1901, located in Winnetka, Illinois, one of the wealthiest suburbs along Chicago’s North Shore. So “New Trier kids” simply means students or graduates of New Trier High School, i.e., teenagers from Chicago’s affluent North Shore communities. In the 1920s–30s, when the school was relatively new, it had a reputation for excellent academics and a largely upper-middle-class to wealthy student body.

'''minus the rake-off to Red Barker''' 
George “Red” Barker was deeply involved in labor-union racketeering in Chicago during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including control of the Coal Teamsters union and other unions, although I couldn't find documentation that he was involved in any "ushers' union." [https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id124.htm More »]

==Page 94==
'''7UP lithiated lemon soda''' 
On the psychoactive soft drink tip again. Just as Coca-Cola originally contained cocaine, 7 Up did in fact contain lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, when it was introduced in 1929. The ingredient continued to be part of the formula until 1948.

'''''porca miseria''''' 
Italian: holy shit, bloody hell, etc.

'''"Shadow Waltz"''' 
A song was written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin and first performed by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler in the hit film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Diggers_of_1933 ''Gold Diggers of 1933'']. So it's rather unlikely Sheldon would be anything to the tune of "Shadow Waltz" in 1932. And "seven-teen'll getcha twen-ty, yes" does fit nicely with the original melody.

{{#ev:youtube|uBkE6TOmMEU}}

==Page 95==
'''captivating set of pins''' 
When someone in that era said a woman had a “nice set of pins,” they were paying her a compliment on her legs — usually shapely, well proportioned legs that looked good when dancing, walking, or crossed at the knee.

'''how jay it’s getting around this joint anymore''' 
Dull, unsophisticated, inferior. Beginning in the Midwest in the early 19th-century, “jay” was common slang for an empty-headed chatterbox, like a bluejay. A “jay” was a hick, a rube, or a downright dupe. A “jay town” was a fourth-rate or worthless place. [https://kinneybrothers.com/blog/blog/2021/01/29/fun-facts-91-jaywalker/ More…]

==Page 99==
'''"...and people wonder we go crazy." "And here I thought it was the mercury fumes."''' 
Vito and Hicks are alluding to the belief that hatmakers were often mentally ill, likely due to mercury poisoning. Mercury was used in the production of felt. This is the origin of the phrase "mad as a hatter", and the genesis of Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

==Page 100==
'''Ojibwe Dawn Society'''
A secret society of visionaries among the Anishinaabeg peoples around the Great Lakes, including the Ojibwe. Dawn Society members were often locked up in mental hospitals by the U.S. government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Chapter 14

2026-03-04T08:48:32Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 99 */Entry on mad hatters

Chapter 14

2026-03-04T08:47:51Z

Maxclarke2026:

'''This chapter appears to take place some years before 1932, when Hicks first met Daphne, i.e., ''analepsis'''''

==Page 92==
'''captured in local waters by the Drys''' 
Federal agents (and their local counterparts) were the enforcers who carried out Prohibition law; they were sometimes called "drys”" by slang extension, but technically they were government employees, not activists.

'''No Man's Land''' 
When locals in the early 20th century talked about "No Man’s Land" on Lake Michigan, they meant a strip of undeveloped or lawless lakeshore north of the city limits, a sort of in-between zone that, during the 1920s–1930s, gained a reputation for bootlegging, roadhouses, gambling, and weekend vice. During Prohibition (1920–1933), the area’s ambiguous status made it a natural haven for: speakeasies and roadhouses serving liquor smuggled in from Chicago or across Lake Michigan; shore-landing points for rum-runners, who brought Canadian whiskey across by boat at night; dance halls and "blind pigs" — unlicensed taverns that often doubled as gambling rooms or brothels. Local newspapers described it as a "shack-studded strip of dance joints and shanty bars" where respectable Milwaukeeans went slumming on weekends. It was first called Spanish Court when it opened in 1928, and later renamed Plaza del Lago in 1960 after redevelopment. It was one of the first auto-oriented suburban shopping centers in the United States.

'''Dopplinger's Chinese Amusements''' 
In period sources, "Dopplinger's Chinese Amusements" refers to a traveling or semi-permanent carnival / vaudeville concession owned or managed by a man named Dopplinger most likely Frank or Fred Dopplinger who operated sideshows and novelty attractions in the Wisconsin–Illinois–Minnesota fair circuit between about 1915 and the early 1930s.

"Chinese Amusements" was a theme, not a nationality:
like “Hawaiian Village” or “Arabian Nights,” it evoked an exotic atmosphere—paper lanterns, lacquer screens, “Oriental” costumes—typical of midway showmanship at the time.

'''Old Log Cabin Presbyterian''' 
Old Log Cabin bourbon/whiskey + ginger ale + club soda, served over ice with a lime or lemon twist. It’s light, fizzy, and not too strong — hence the joke that it’s "the drink for a sober-minded churchgoer." The name was already in bar guides by the 1910s and common again after repeal.

==Page 93==
'''New Trier kids''' 
New Trier refers to New Trier Township High School, founded in 1901, located in Winnetka, Illinois, one of the wealthiest suburbs along Chicago’s North Shore. So “New Trier kids” simply means students or graduates of New Trier High School, i.e., teenagers from Chicago’s affluent North Shore communities. In the 1920s–30s, when the school was relatively new, it had a reputation for excellent academics and a largely upper-middle-class to wealthy student body.

'''minus the rake-off to Red Barker''' 
George “Red” Barker was deeply involved in labor-union racketeering in Chicago during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including control of the Coal Teamsters union and other unions, although I couldn't find documentation that he was involved in any "ushers' union." [https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id124.htm More »]

==Page 94==
'''7UP lithiated lemon soda''' 
On the psychoactive soft drink tip again. Just as Coca-Cola originally contained cocaine, 7 Up did in fact contain lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, when it was introduced in 1929. The ingredient continued to be part of the formula until 1948.

'''''porca miseria''''' 
Italian: holy shit, bloody hell, etc.

'''"Shadow Waltz"''' 
A song was written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin and first performed by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler in the hit film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Diggers_of_1933 ''Gold Diggers of 1933'']. So it's rather unlikely Sheldon would be anything to the tune of "Shadow Waltz" in 1932. And "seven-teen'll getcha twen-ty, yes" does fit nicely with the original melody.

{{#ev:youtube|uBkE6TOmMEU}}

==Page 95==
'''captivating set of pins''' 
When someone in that era said a woman had a “nice set of pins,” they were paying her a compliment on her legs — usually shapely, well proportioned legs that looked good when dancing, walking, or crossed at the knee.

'''how jay it’s getting around this joint anymore''' 
Dull, unsophisticated, inferior. Beginning in the Midwest in the early 19th-century, “jay” was common slang for an empty-headed chatterbox, like a bluejay. A “jay” was a hick, a rube, or a downright dupe. A “jay town” was a fourth-rate or worthless place. [https://kinneybrothers.com/blog/blog/2021/01/29/fun-facts-91-jaywalker/ More…]

==Page 99==
'''"...and people wonder we go crazy." "And here i thought it was the mercury fumes."''' 
Vito and Hicks are alluding to the belief that hatmakers were often mentally ill, likely due to mercury poisoning. Mercury was used in the production of felt. This is the origin of the phrase "mad as a hatter", and the genesis of Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Chapter 14

2026-03-04T08:29:01Z

Maxclarke2026:

Chapter 11

2026-03-02T08:59:33Z

Maxclarke2026:

==Page 73==
'''a definite Pasadena''' 
The phrase “take a Pasadena” began as a Hollywood–Los Angeles pun in the early 1930s, that is, to take a pass, as in decline an offer

'''Atlanta, G.A.''' 
Al Capone was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May 1932, aged 33.

==Page 74==
'''Aggravated Mopery''' 
“Mopery” is mock police jargon dating from the early 20th century.
It meant, depending on who was joking, "loitering aimlessly," "doing nothing in particular," or "committing an imaginary minor offense." The "charge" of "mopery" was often used in humor columns, radio comedy, and police-court parody sketches to poke fun at petty law enforcement. Adding "aggravated" just made it sound even more absurd, a send-up of inflated legal language.

During Carnera’s American fame he became a stock comic figure on the radio and in newspaper gags — the big dumb strongman who gets in trouble for silly reasons. Jokes often imagined him being arrested or confused by English phrases.

'''We haven't even begun to show how dangerous we can be, and the funning thing? Is, is we could be running the country any day now and you'll have to swear loyalty to us because by then we'll be in the next war fighting for our lives...'''

Pretty resonant with our times, eh?

==Page 75==
'''A Statue of Liberty made of Jell-O''' 
What a metaphor. Is Americans' liberty as flimsy and soluble as gelatin?

Chapter 10

2026-02-28T19:11:34Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 62 */Minor edit to my viaduct entry

==Page 62==
'''gemütlich state of mind''' 
German: cheerful, upbeat

'''Wells Street Viaduct''' 
A 2,085-foot-long bridge that was the most impressive feature of the Milwaukee streetcar system. Built in 1892, it was soundly engineered, and streetcars traveled over it safely until the whole system was shut down in the late 1950s. But some locals distrusted the flimsy-looking, skeletal structure. [https://milwaukeenotebook.com/2016/02/08/viaduct/]

==Page 63==
'''straw boxes few and far between''' 
“straw boxes” referred to police call boxes or small sentry / kiosk stations that officers used while patrolling their beats.

'''wrong end of a roscoe''' 
to be on the receiving end of a gun, i.e., having a pistol pointed at you. In American underworld slang from the 1910s–1940s, a “roscoe” meant a handgun, typically a revolver. It’s part of the same family of old gun slang: gat, rod, heater, equalizer, piece, cannon, gun.

'''Sombrero of Uneasiness''' 
Comes from a 1930s American expression that was used humorously or metaphorically to describe a feeling of anxious self-consciousness — like having a visible sign of worry “on your head.” A tongue-in-cheek way to dramatize social embarrassment or creeping anxiety. It’s a comic metaphor... imagine someone sitting in a room wearing a big sombrero — conspicuous, out of place, calling attention to himself. The “uneasiness” is similarly visible and impossible to hide.

==Page 65==
'''swift-finger once-over''' 
a quick, practiced frisk or search, usually by a crook, cop, or pickpocket.

==Page 66==
'''flappers of both sexes''' 
Male flappers were often called "sheiks" and represented a rebellious, modern man who embraced jazz, dancing, and a more leisurely lifestyle, challenging the older generation's traditional values. While flappers were defined by their short hair and fashion, the male equivalent was characterized by fashionable, somewhat less formal attire, including shorter pants like knickers, slicked-back hair, and the inclusion of accessories like fedoras, pocket squares, and bow ties. They were fading by the early 1930s.

[[image:plus-fours.jpg|thumb|150px|right]]'''dimwits in plus fours''' 
These would be foolish or pretentious men (often golfers, would-be aristocrats, or self-important playboys) dressed in plus-fours — the baggy, knee-length golfing breeches fashionable in the 1920s–1930s. Vain, empty-headed upper-class men who took fashion or sport too seriously.

'''''Heiliger Bimbam''''' 
A colorful old German exclamation, roughly equivalent to “Holy cow!”, “Good heavens!”, or “For crying out loud!” in English.

'''make anxiously for the ''ausgang''''' 
German: exit

'''hired urchins''' 
street kids paid to do someone’s dirty or menial work.

==Page 67==
'''bung starter''' 
A bung starter is a small mallet for opening or sealing casks for brewing, cooperage (barrel-making);

==Page 68==
'''''auf deine Gesundheit''''' 
German: to your health! (a toast)

'''SMEGMA''' 
Semi-Military Entity Greater Milwaukee; "smegma" makes an appearance in ''Gravity's Rainbow'' and ''Against the Day'';

Smegma is in common parlance a harmless combination of oils, skin cells, sweat and other fluids that build up around your genitals. It looks like crumbly cheese and usually has a foul odor. Obviously one of Pynchon's little jokes or possibly a commentary on the military

==Page 69==
'''Jack Zuta''' 
An accountant, sometime brothel owner, and political fixer for Al Capone's Chicago Outfit, and later its rival, the North Side Gang. After allegedly taking part in a plot to kill a mob-linked Chicago Tribune reporter, Zuta himself was assassinated in 1930.

'''''mein kleiner Neffe''''' 
German: my little nephew

Chapter 10

2026-02-28T10:05:03Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 69 */Added entry on Jack Zuta

==Page 62==
'''gemütlich state of mind''' 
German: cheerful, upbeat

'''Wells Street Viaduct''' 
A 2,085-foot-long bridge that was the most impressive feature of the Milwaukee streetcar system. Built in 1892, it was soundly engineered, and streetcars traveled over it safely until the whole system was shut down in the late 1950s. But some locals distrusted the flimsy, skeletal-looking structure. [https://milwaukeenotebook.com/2016/02/08/viaduct/]

==Page 63==
'''straw boxes few and far between''' 
“straw boxes” referred to police call boxes or small sentry / kiosk stations that officers used while patrolling their beats.

'''wrong end of a roscoe''' 
to be on the receiving end of a gun, i.e., having a pistol pointed at you. In American underworld slang from the 1910s–1940s, a “roscoe” meant a handgun, typically a revolver. It’s part of the same family of old gun slang: gat, rod, heater, equalizer, piece, cannon, gun.

'''Sombrero of Uneasiness''' 
Comes from a 1930s American expression that was used humorously or metaphorically to describe a feeling of anxious self-consciousness — like having a visible sign of worry “on your head.” A tongue-in-cheek way to dramatize social embarrassment or creeping anxiety. It’s a comic metaphor... imagine someone sitting in a room wearing a big sombrero — conspicuous, out of place, calling attention to himself. The “uneasiness” is similarly visible and impossible to hide.

==Page 65==
'''swift-finger once-over''' 
a quick, practiced frisk or search, usually by a crook, cop, or pickpocket.

==Page 66==
'''flappers of both sexes''' 
Male flappers were often called "sheiks" and represented a rebellious, modern man who embraced jazz, dancing, and a more leisurely lifestyle, challenging the older generation's traditional values. While flappers were defined by their short hair and fashion, the male equivalent was characterized by fashionable, somewhat less formal attire, including shorter pants like knickers, slicked-back hair, and the inclusion of accessories like fedoras, pocket squares, and bow ties. They were fading by the early 1930s.

[[image:plus-fours.jpg|thumb|150px|right]]'''dimwits in plus fours''' 
These would be foolish or pretentious men (often golfers, would-be aristocrats, or self-important playboys) dressed in plus-fours — the baggy, knee-length golfing breeches fashionable in the 1920s–1930s. Vain, empty-headed upper-class men who took fashion or sport too seriously.

'''''Heiliger Bimbam''''' 
A colorful old German exclamation, roughly equivalent to “Holy cow!”, “Good heavens!”, or “For crying out loud!” in English.

'''make anxiously for the ''ausgang''''' 
German: exit

'''hired urchins''' 
street kids paid to do someone’s dirty or menial work.

==Page 67==
'''bung starter''' 
A bung starter is a small mallet for opening or sealing casks for brewing, cooperage (barrel-making);

==Page 68==
'''''auf deine Gesundheit''''' 
German: to your health! (a toast)

'''SMEGMA''' 
Semi-Military Entity Greater Milwaukee; "smegma" makes an appearance in ''Gravity's Rainbow'' and ''Against the Day'';

Smegma is in common parlance a harmless combination of oils, skin cells, sweat and other fluids that build up around your genitals. It looks like crumbly cheese and usually has a foul odor. Obviously one of Pynchon's little jokes or possibly a commentary on the military

==Page 69==
'''Jack Zuta''' 
An accountant, sometime brothel owner, and political fixer for Al Capone's Chicago Outfit, and later its rival, the North Side Gang. After allegedly taking part in a plot to kill a mob-linked Chicago Tribune reporter, Zuta himself was assassinated in 1930.

'''''mein kleiner Neffe''''' 
German: my little nephew

Chapter 10

2026-02-28T09:39:55Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 62 */New entry on the Wells Street Viaduct

==Page 62==
'''gemütlich state of mind''' 
German: cheerful, upbeat

'''Wells Street Viaduct''' 
A 2,085-foot-long bridge that was the most impressive feature of the Milwaukee streetcar system. Built in 1892, it was soundly engineered, and streetcars traveled over it safely until the whole system was shut down in the late 1950s. But some locals distrusted the flimsy, skeletal-looking structure. [https://milwaukeenotebook.com/2016/02/08/viaduct/]

==Page 63==
'''straw boxes few and far between''' 
“straw boxes” referred to police call boxes or small sentry / kiosk stations that officers used while patrolling their beats.

'''wrong end of a roscoe''' 
to be on the receiving end of a gun, i.e., having a pistol pointed at you. In American underworld slang from the 1910s–1940s, a “roscoe” meant a handgun, typically a revolver. It’s part of the same family of old gun slang: gat, rod, heater, equalizer, piece, cannon, gun.

'''Sombrero of Uneasiness''' 
Comes from a 1930s American expression that was used humorously or metaphorically to describe a feeling of anxious self-consciousness — like having a visible sign of worry “on your head.” A tongue-in-cheek way to dramatize social embarrassment or creeping anxiety. It’s a comic metaphor... imagine someone sitting in a room wearing a big sombrero — conspicuous, out of place, calling attention to himself. The “uneasiness” is similarly visible and impossible to hide.

==Page 65==
'''swift-finger once-over''' 
a quick, practiced frisk or search, usually by a crook, cop, or pickpocket.

==Page 66==
'''flappers of both sexes''' 
Male flappers were often called "sheiks" and represented a rebellious, modern man who embraced jazz, dancing, and a more leisurely lifestyle, challenging the older generation's traditional values. While flappers were defined by their short hair and fashion, the male equivalent was characterized by fashionable, somewhat less formal attire, including shorter pants like knickers, slicked-back hair, and the inclusion of accessories like fedoras, pocket squares, and bow ties. They were fading by the early 1930s.

[[image:plus-fours.jpg|thumb|150px|right]]'''dimwits in plus fours''' 
These would be foolish or pretentious men (often golfers, would-be aristocrats, or self-important playboys) dressed in plus-fours — the baggy, knee-length golfing breeches fashionable in the 1920s–1930s. Vain, empty-headed upper-class men who took fashion or sport too seriously.

'''''Heiliger Bimbam''''' 
A colorful old German exclamation, roughly equivalent to “Holy cow!”, “Good heavens!”, or “For crying out loud!” in English.

'''make anxiously for the ''ausgang''''' 
German: exit

'''hired urchins''' 
street kids paid to do someone’s dirty or menial work.

==Page 67==
'''bung starter''' 
A bung starter is a small mallet for opening or sealing casks for brewing, cooperage (barrel-making);

==Page 68==
'''''auf deine Gesundheit''''' 
German: to your health! (a toast)

'''SMEGMA''' 
Semi-Military Entity Greater Milwaukee; "smegma" makes an appearance in ''Gravity's Rainbow'' and ''Against the Day'';

Smegma is in common parlance a harmless combination of oils, skin cells, sweat and other fluids that build up around your genitals. It looks like crumbly cheese and usually has a foul odor. Obviously one of Pynchon's little jokes or possibly a commentary on the military

==Page 69==
'''''mein kleiner Neffe''''' 
German: my little nephew

Chapter 10

2026-02-28T09:36:54Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 62 */

==Page 62==
'''gemütlich state of mind''' 
German: cheerful, upbeat

'''Wells Street Viaduct''' 
A 2,085-foot-long bridge that was the most impressive feature of the Milwaukee streetcar system. Built in 1892, it was soundly engineered, and streetcars traveled over it safely until the whole system was shut down in the late 1950s. But some locals distrusted the flimsy, skeletal-looking structure.

==Page 63==
'''straw boxes few and far between''' 
“straw boxes” referred to police call boxes or small sentry / kiosk stations that officers used while patrolling their beats.

'''wrong end of a roscoe''' 
to be on the receiving end of a gun, i.e., having a pistol pointed at you. In American underworld slang from the 1910s–1940s, a “roscoe” meant a handgun, typically a revolver. It’s part of the same family of old gun slang: gat, rod, heater, equalizer, piece, cannon, gun.

'''Sombrero of Uneasiness''' 
Comes from a 1930s American expression that was used humorously or metaphorically to describe a feeling of anxious self-consciousness — like having a visible sign of worry “on your head.” A tongue-in-cheek way to dramatize social embarrassment or creeping anxiety. It’s a comic metaphor... imagine someone sitting in a room wearing a big sombrero — conspicuous, out of place, calling attention to himself. The “uneasiness” is similarly visible and impossible to hide.

==Page 65==
'''swift-finger once-over''' 
a quick, practiced frisk or search, usually by a crook, cop, or pickpocket.

==Page 66==
'''flappers of both sexes''' 
Male flappers were often called "sheiks" and represented a rebellious, modern man who embraced jazz, dancing, and a more leisurely lifestyle, challenging the older generation's traditional values. While flappers were defined by their short hair and fashion, the male equivalent was characterized by fashionable, somewhat less formal attire, including shorter pants like knickers, slicked-back hair, and the inclusion of accessories like fedoras, pocket squares, and bow ties. They were fading by the early 1930s.

[[image:plus-fours.jpg|thumb|150px|right]]'''dimwits in plus fours''' 
These would be foolish or pretentious men (often golfers, would-be aristocrats, or self-important playboys) dressed in plus-fours — the baggy, knee-length golfing breeches fashionable in the 1920s–1930s. Vain, empty-headed upper-class men who took fashion or sport too seriously.

'''''Heiliger Bimbam''''' 
A colorful old German exclamation, roughly equivalent to “Holy cow!”, “Good heavens!”, or “For crying out loud!” in English.

'''make anxiously for the ''ausgang''''' 
German: exit

'''hired urchins''' 
street kids paid to do someone’s dirty or menial work.

==Page 67==
'''bung starter''' 
A bung starter is a small mallet for opening or sealing casks for brewing, cooperage (barrel-making);

==Page 68==
'''''auf deine Gesundheit''''' 
German: to your health! (a toast)

'''SMEGMA''' 
Semi-Military Entity Greater Milwaukee; "smegma" makes an appearance in ''Gravity's Rainbow'' and ''Against the Day'';

Smegma is in common parlance a harmless combination of oils, skin cells, sweat and other fluids that build up around your genitals. It looks like crumbly cheese and usually has a foul odor. Obviously one of Pynchon's little jokes or possibly a commentary on the military

==Page 69==
'''''mein kleiner Neffe''''' 
German: my little nephew

Chapter 9

2026-02-28T09:12:16Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 58 */

==Page 58==
'''keep shtum''' 
If someone “keeps shtum,” they’re keeping their mouth shut, often deliberately, to avoid trouble or revealing a secret.

'''chorine''' 
A chorine was a chorus girl — that is, a female dancer or singer who performed as part of the chorus line in stage revues, musicals, or night-club floorshows.

'''Club Palermo''' 
As for a Prohibition/’30s Hamtramck nightspot, the one most often cited is the Venice Club on Joseph Campau Ave. It served as HQ for Chet “Chet” LaMare’s East Side Gang and was a notorious Hamtramck joint of the era. There's no record of a "Club Palermo"; "Hamtramck" joint just off the Joseph Campau midway of sin, 58;

'''Hamtramck''' 
a city in Michigan, 6 miles north of Detroit.

'''We're . . . step-pin out-of-our step-ins''' 
Broadly speaking, step-ins are garments put on by being stepped into, but here specifically meaning bias-cut, wide-legged panties worn by women in the 1920s and 1930s. The chorus girls are singing about doffing their underwear.

==Page 59==
'''skip-steppin''' 
“Skip step” or “skip-stepping” could refer to a kind of light, bouncing dance footwork, akin to skipping or hopping. It may also have been used colloquially to mean leaving quietly, sneaking away, or taking a quick move.

==Page 60==
'''the suicides' bridge''' 
By “Suicides’ Bridge” in Chicago, people almost always mean the old Lincoln Park High Bridge (sometimes called “Suicide Bridge” or “Bridge of Sighs”) — a pedestrian structure over the Lincoln Park Lagoon that gained a dark reputation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By some estimates, around 100 people took their lives from it over its existence.

Chapter 8

2026-02-27T09:15:56Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 53 */

==Page 51==
'''Type 19 [...] Doerle Twinplex''' 
The Doerle “Twinplex” regenerative radio receiver, a popular kit or DIY radio design in the mid-1930s, often sold by or associated with the Doerle Company. It used the Type 19 dual-triode vacuum tube.

'''an eye electrically fly''' 
In 1930s slang, "fly" meant smart, sharp, hip, alert. So this phrase would mean "sharp, perceptive vision."

'''policy runners''' 
“Policy” (also called the numbers game, policy racket, or policy wheel) was an illegal daily lottery. Players would choose a 3-digit number (usually from 000–999), wager a small sum (a penny, nickel, dime), and hope the number matched the “winning number” drawn that day — often based on horse-race results or stock exchange figures. A small bet could return big winnings — sometimes $60 on a nickel bet — so it was wildly popular among working-class people shut out of legitimate financial systems. '''Policy runners''' were the low-level agents who collected bets from players in homes, barber shops, taverns, and street corners. They “ran” the slips and money to a policy station or policy bank, where a “writer” or “clerk” logged them in and forwarded them up the chain to the “banker” — the operator who financed and controlled the operation.

==Page 52==
'''Mary Texanna Loomis's Radio College''' 
Loomis (1880-1960) founded the Loomis Radio College in Washington, D.C., around 1920. Her goal was to train students not only in radio theory and operation but also in the practical craftsmanship and electrical skills behind the technology. The school included a workshop and a lab, where students built or repaired their own equipment. She required students to have hands-on experience: “No man … can graduate … until he learns how to make any part of the apparatus.” Courses included topics in radio theory, operating practice, drafting, basic electricity, shop work, and more. [https://oldqslcards.com/3ya.pdf More...]

'''bootleggers''' 
In the 1930s, “Bootleggers” were people or organizations that broadcast or transmitted radio signals without a valid government license — the radio equivalent of Prohibition-era alcohol bootleggers.

'''Goldwyn girls''' 
A stock company of female dancers featured in films produced by Samuel Goldwyn, modeled on the Ziegfeld Follies, and including, among many others, not only Toby Wing, mentioned here, but also Lucille Ball, Betty Grable, and Jane Wyman.

==Page 53==

'''Árpád Élő''' 
Another Hungarian. He was indeed a professor, of physics, and Milwaukee's chess champion in the '30s, as well as president of the American Chess Federation in 1935 and 1936.

'''it's this Lester kid, calls himself Red''' 
"Red Lester" is pronounced like the famous British cheese "Red Leicester" (clever, eh?). Of course, "Red Lester" in Waukesha most likely refers to Les Paul, born Lester Polsfuss, who used the stage name "Red Hot Red" as a teenager before becoming famous as Les Paul. While known for his later innovations and the iconic Gibson Les Paul guitar, he started his career as a young musician in Waukesha, performing under various early names. As an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor, he was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZQH0-ro-GM Les Paul playing "On the Sunny Side of the Street"]

==Page 54==
'''U-13 Austro-Hungarian submarine''' 
An Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine active during World War I, one of the U-10-class boats built for the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine (Imperial and Royal War Navy). Austria-Hungary’s domestic shipyards were not yet set up for small submarine construction in 1914 so they purchased German Type UB I boats from Germaniawerft. U-13 was one of these — a coastal, small-range U-boat intended for operations in the Adriatic Sea. It was commissioned July 1915 under Linienschiffsleutnant Georg von Trapp (yes, the same Georg von Trapp later made famous by ''The Sound of Music''). It was lost on August 16, 1915 in the Adriatic Sea, off Cape Pelagosa (now Palagruža, Croatia). The cause is uncertain — most likely struck a mine or was destroyed by a depth-charge attack from Italian forces. All 14 crew members were lost. It was the first Austro-Hungarian submarine lost in World War I.

'''a Thrill Box of unconventional design''' 
In radio-tinkerer circles of the early Depression era — the kind who read ''Radio News'', S''hort Wave Craft'', or ''QST'' — a “thrill box” was a nickname for a tiny regenerative radio receiver that packed surprising sensitivity or volume for its size. 1) One- or two-tube regenerative sets, often using a dual triode such as the Type 19 or 1H4G; 2) Built from mail-order kits (like Doerle, Pilot, or Meissner) or from magazine schematics; 3) Tuned both the broadcast and short-wave bands, capable of pulling in foreign stations late at night — a real thrill for the listener; 4) Often mounted in a small homemade chassis or cigar box — hence the “box” part of the nickname. So “thrill box” in this sense meant a little set that gave you the thrill of DX reception — hearing distant voices across the ocean.

==Page 56==
'''BCNU''' 
an old-school abbreviation meaning “Be Seeing You.” In the 1930s, “BCNU” was used by telegraphers, ham radio operators, and later military radiomen.

'''silent key''' 
In the 1930s, just as today, the phrase “Silent Key” (often abbreviated SK) was used among radio operators — amateur, commercial, and military — to mean a deceased radio operator.

'''County of Cook''' 
the most populous county in Illinois and the second-most populous in the United States. It is located in northeastern Illinois, and its county seat is Chicago.

Chapter 8

2026-02-27T09:06:32Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 52 */

==Page 51==
'''Type 19 [...] Doerle Twinplex''' 
The Doerle “Twinplex” regenerative radio receiver, a popular kit or DIY radio design in the mid-1930s, often sold by or associated with the Doerle Company. It used the Type 19 dual-triode vacuum tube.

'''an eye electrically fly''' 
In 1930s slang, "fly" meant smart, sharp, hip, alert. So this phrase would mean "sharp, perceptive vision."

'''policy runners''' 
“Policy” (also called the numbers game, policy racket, or policy wheel) was an illegal daily lottery. Players would choose a 3-digit number (usually from 000–999), wager a small sum (a penny, nickel, dime), and hope the number matched the “winning number” drawn that day — often based on horse-race results or stock exchange figures. A small bet could return big winnings — sometimes $60 on a nickel bet — so it was wildly popular among working-class people shut out of legitimate financial systems. '''Policy runners''' were the low-level agents who collected bets from players in homes, barber shops, taverns, and street corners. They “ran” the slips and money to a policy station or policy bank, where a “writer” or “clerk” logged them in and forwarded them up the chain to the “banker” — the operator who financed and controlled the operation.

==Page 52==
'''Mary Texanna Loomis's Radio College''' 
Loomis (1880-1960) founded the Loomis Radio College in Washington, D.C., around 1920. Her goal was to train students not only in radio theory and operation but also in the practical craftsmanship and electrical skills behind the technology. The school included a workshop and a lab, where students built or repaired their own equipment. She required students to have hands-on experience: “No man … can graduate … until he learns how to make any part of the apparatus.” Courses included topics in radio theory, operating practice, drafting, basic electricity, shop work, and more. [https://oldqslcards.com/3ya.pdf More...]

'''bootleggers''' 
In the 1930s, “Bootleggers” were people or organizations that broadcast or transmitted radio signals without a valid government license — the radio equivalent of Prohibition-era alcohol bootleggers.

'''Goldwyn girls''' 
A stock company of female dancers featured in films produced by Samuel Goldwyn, modeled on the Ziegfeld Follies, and including, among many others, not only Toby Wing, mentioned here, but also Lucille Ball, Betty Grable, and Jane Wyman.

==Page 53==
'''it's this Lester kid, calls himself Red''' 
"Red Lester" is pronounced like the famous British cheese "Red Leicester" (clever, eh?). Of course, "Red Lester" in Waukesha most likely refers to Les Paul, born Lester Polsfuss, who used the stage name "Red Hot Red" as a teenager before becoming famous as Les Paul. While known for his later innovations and the iconic Gibson Les Paul guitar, he started his career as a young musician in Waukesha, performing under various early names. As an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor, he was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZQH0-ro-GM Les Paul playing "On the Sunny Side of the Street"]

==Page 54==
'''U-13 Austro-Hungarian submarine''' 
An Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine active during World War I, one of the U-10-class boats built for the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine (Imperial and Royal War Navy). Austria-Hungary’s domestic shipyards were not yet set up for small submarine construction in 1914 so they purchased German Type UB I boats from Germaniawerft. U-13 was one of these — a coastal, small-range U-boat intended for operations in the Adriatic Sea. It was commissioned July 1915 under Linienschiffsleutnant Georg von Trapp (yes, the same Georg von Trapp later made famous by ''The Sound of Music''). It was lost on August 16, 1915 in the Adriatic Sea, off Cape Pelagosa (now Palagruža, Croatia). The cause is uncertain — most likely struck a mine or was destroyed by a depth-charge attack from Italian forces. All 14 crew members were lost. It was the first Austro-Hungarian submarine lost in World War I.

'''a Thrill Box of unconventional design''' 
In radio-tinkerer circles of the early Depression era — the kind who read ''Radio News'', S''hort Wave Craft'', or ''QST'' — a “thrill box” was a nickname for a tiny regenerative radio receiver that packed surprising sensitivity or volume for its size. 1) One- or two-tube regenerative sets, often using a dual triode such as the Type 19 or 1H4G; 2) Built from mail-order kits (like Doerle, Pilot, or Meissner) or from magazine schematics; 3) Tuned both the broadcast and short-wave bands, capable of pulling in foreign stations late at night — a real thrill for the listener; 4) Often mounted in a small homemade chassis or cigar box — hence the “box” part of the nickname. So “thrill box” in this sense meant a little set that gave you the thrill of DX reception — hearing distant voices across the ocean.

==Page 56==
'''BCNU''' 
an old-school abbreviation meaning “Be Seeing You.” In the 1930s, “BCNU” was used by telegraphers, ham radio operators, and later military radiomen.

'''silent key''' 
In the 1930s, just as today, the phrase “Silent Key” (often abbreviated SK) was used among radio operators — amateur, commercial, and military — to mean a deceased radio operator.

'''County of Cook''' 
the most populous county in Illinois and the second-most populous in the United States. It is located in northeastern Illinois, and its county seat is Chicago.

Chapter 4

2026-02-25T08:59:08Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 37 */

==Page 28==
'''some more varieties of social thought than Heinz has pickles''' 
The processed food-and-condiment pioneer's long-time slogan, concocted by founder H. J. Heinz in 1896, is: "57 Varieties," a phrase which has entered the American and English lexicon.

==Page 29==
'''West Allis''' 
West Allis, a city adjacent to Milwaukee, had a large German-American population and was the site of numerous dust-ups between pro- and anti-Nazi crowds. The Friends of New Germany established a chapter there in 1933 which became the German American Bund in 1937. The group promoted Nazi ideology, including virulent antisemitism, and was met with intense opposition from both the Jewish community and the majority of German Americans in Wisconsin.

'''Baraboo''' 
City in Wisconsin about 120 NW of Milwaukee. The city was a regional center with a variety of businesses, including the Ringling Brothers Circus which established Baraboo as its winter quarters and contributing to its identity as "Circus City."

'''Driftless Area''' 
The Driftless Area is a region of Wisconsin and nearby states that escaped glaciation, characterized by its rugged topography of hills, valleys, and bluffs, unlike the surrounding flatter, glaciated terrain. Named for the absence of glacial deposits ("drift"), this region features unique geological formations such as karst topography with caves, sinkholes, and disappearing streams.

==Page 30==
'''Carl Hagenbeck zoo''' 
Carl Hagenbeck (1844-1913) was a German merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos, as well as P. T. Barnum. He created the modern zoo with animal enclosures without bars that were closer to their natural habitat. He was also an ethnography showman and a pioneer in the display of members of "savage tribes" in Völkerschauen, known nowadays in English as "ethnic shows" or "human zoos". These racist displays were controversial at the time and are now widely considered unethical. The transformation of the zoo architecture initiated by him is known as the Hagenbeck revolution. Hagenbeck founded Germany's most successful privately owned zoo, the Tierpark Hagenbeck, which moved to its present location in Hamburg's Stellingen district in 1907. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Hagenbeck Wikipedia]

==Page 31==
'''fists and saps''' 
A sap is a short, weighted impact weapon, usually made of leather and filled with material like lead

'''Sacco and Vanzetti''' 
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo were Italian immigrants to America famously framed, arrested, and executed in 1927 for a robbery they had no part in. The sentiment and outrage around the affair stemmed from a rather obvious connection to their status as immigrants and progressive 'radicals.'

==Page 32==
'''lead-filled beavertail sap''' 
"Beavertail sap" is slang for a type of close-quarters, weighted impact weapon, also known as a slapjack or blackjack. It's a leather-bound tool with a weighted end that resembles the tail of a beaver, hence the name. These non-lethal weapons are designed to deliver a concentrated, forceful strike and are known for their concealability and portability.

==Page 33==
'''peeled off a flash roll''' 
In 1930s slang, to have a "flash roll" meant to carry and conspicuously display a thick wad of banknotes to show off wealth. The term was especially common in gambling and criminal circles, and the display was often used to project an image of power and financial success.

==Page 34==
'''Sheepshead marathon''' 
Sheepshead is a trick-taking card game that originated in Germany and is popular in parts of the US, particularly Wisconsin, and is known for its strategy, math, and social aspects. Played with a 32-card deck (7s through Aces), the game involves players forming teams by "picking" a partner for a round, with the goal of winning "tricks" to score at least 61 of the 120 available points in the deck to win the hand. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcOUGJfI3hA How to Play Sheepshead]

'''a bloviational W. C. Fields delivery''' 
Fields was an era actor-filmmaker known for his persona of the pompous souse.

==Page 35==
'''Cream City''' 
The moniker has nothing to do with the dairy industry. Milwaukee is called Cream City because of its signature creamy-yellow bricks, produced from the 1830s to the 1920s using local clay with high lime and sulfur content. When fired, this clay turned a distinct cream color, and these bricks were used to build many 19th-century structures throughout the city, giving it the nickname.

'''Haymarket bomb frame-up''' 
The Haymarket Affair is considered a watershed moment for American labor history, at a time when fears about the loyalties and activities of immigrants, anarchists, and laborers became linked in the minds of many Americans.

On May 3, 1886, unarmed strikers clashed with police at Chicago’s McCormick Reaper Works factory. The deaths of six workers became a call for direct action, and a public rally was called for the following day to be held in Haymarket Square. Again, the police and the strikers clashed, but this time a bomb was thrown, resulting in the death of seven policemen and many in the crowd were injured. The police, uncertain about the source of the bomb, fired into the crowd, killing four of the demonstrators. The identity of the bomb thrower is still a mystery, but eight men were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit the act. All eight were convicted of the conspiracy charge even though it was understood none had made or thrown the bomb. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair Wikipedia]

'''Rolling Mills Massacre''' 
Aka, the Bay View massacre, was the result of a strike held on May 4, 1886, by 7,000 building-trades workers and 5,000 Polish laborers who had organized at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to strike against their employers, demanding the enforcement of an eight-hour work day. The strikers had shut down every business in the city except the North Chicago Rolling Mills in Bay View. The guardsmen's orders were that, if the strikers were to enter the Mills, they should shoot to kill. But when the captain received the order it had a different meaning: he ordered his men to pick out a man and shoot to kill when the order was given. Early the next day the crowd, which by this time contained children, approached the mill and were fired upon. Seven people died as a result, including a thirteen-year-old boy. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_View_massacre Wikipedia]

==Page 36==

'''maybe they hypnotize you into forgetting''' 
This passage evokes John Frankenheimer's 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate in which a man is hypnotized to carry out a political assassination without any known (or self-known) motive.

'''Toy Building down on 2nd Street''' 
The "Toy building" in Milwaukee refers to a distinctive, six-story, Chinese-style building at 736 North Second Street, built in 1913 by Moy Toy Ni (also known as Charlie Toy), and it housed the famous Toy's Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, as well as a ballroom on the second floor with live dance bands playing music nightly from 6 p.m. to midnight. It was demolished in 1939.

'''Nan King''' 
There existed a Nan King Café at 606 W. Mitchell Street, on Milwaukee's south side in the 1930s. [https://www.neighborhoodsinmilwaukee.org/Historic%20Mitchell.pdf Source]

'''On Leongs and Hip Sings''' 
The "Hip Sing" (Cantonese: "Cooperating for success")and "On Leong" tongs (Cantonese: lit. "assembly halls"; fig. "organizations, gangs"), originally established in New York, were involved in violent "Tong wars" for control of Chinatown in Milwaukee, particularly in the 1920s. During the 1920s, there was a tong war that erupted between the Hip Sing and On Leong tongs. The conflict intensified when the On Leong Tong hired a gunman from Milwaukee, Angelo Lo Mantio, to fight against the Hip Sing Tong.

In New York, the two tongs competed for dominance. The On Leong Tong represented the interest of the elite in Chinatown. Its power lay in the social, economic and political status of its leaders. On Leong Tong President, Tom Lee, and other key members controlled the lucrative 'property rights' system associated with opium and gambling in Chinatown. The Hip Sing Tong was the power syndicate in Chinatown. Its power lay in the sizeable number of professional criminals within its ranks. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tong_Wars More...]

'''Thrill Box''' 
The National "Thrill Box" was a series of high-performance shortwave radio receivers, beginning with the SW-2 in 1928 and evolving to models like the SW-3 and SW-5, noted for their advanced features like movable coil tuning units, which made shortwave listening more accessible to the public in the late 1920s and early 1930s. These receivers were a significant step forward in radio technology, providing a low-cost alternative to more complex models for receiving foreign shortwave broadcasts.

==Page 37==
'''brain-croakers''' 
In the slang of the day, "croaker" primarily referred to a doctor or physician, especially one who treated injured criminals and was reliable enough not to inform the police. So a brain-croaker here is a psychiatrist or therapist.

'''They're even tearing down the Majestic now''' 
The Majestic Theater, built in 1908 and closed in 1932, was the Milwaukee venue for B.F. Keith’s vaudeville circuit. [https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1076]

Chapter 2

2026-02-25T08:27:47Z

Maxclarke2026: /* Page 14 */Added an entry about cocaine and soda fountains in the early 20th c.

==Page 12==
'''prohis''' 
"prohis" was a slang term for federal Prohibition agents, who were tasked with enforcing the ban on alcohol during the Prohibition era (1920–1933). The term comes from the shortening and slang-ification of "prohibition".

'''Mistletoe gin''' 
No major distiller actually marketed a brand called Mistletoe Gin in the 1930s. However, the phrase turns up in literature, old jokes, and cocktail columns as a tongue-in-cheek name — a wink to the idea of “a Christmas spirit that guarantees a kiss.”

==Page 13==
'''Infernal Machine Of Presumed Italian Origin''' 
If disregarding the "Of" as is common practice in dealing with acronyms (deviating from the establishment of "IMOPIO" from the preceding page): "IMPIO," "impio," Italian for "unholy" or "impious."

'''These are the people who invented the meatball, the bocce ball – rolling objects, it comes naturally to them''' 
Those Italians and the ball bearing

'''Bensinger's Recreation''' 
A historic Milwaukee bowling alley and bar, still in existence and now known as Landmark Lanes.

'''1917 and the bomb that went off...''' 
The single deadliest event in national law enforcement history occurred in Milwaukee on November 24, 1917, when nine officers and two citizens were killed in a bomb blast. The bomb exploded inside the assembly of the Central Police Station at Broadway and Oneida Street, now known as Wells Street. Police were not the intended target. [https://city.milwaukee.gov/police/About-MPD/Memorial-Page/1917-Bombing More...]

'''some strictly inter-Italian beef''' 
As every Chicagoan or Upper Peninsula resident or transplant (Arizona-heavy) knows, an Italian beef is a staple of the diet, equal to the Philly cheesesteak, the Chicago hot dog, etc.

==Page 14==
'''We're the MPD. Ever since that fateful night it's always the force are gonna have first call''' 
This paragraph mirrors the contemporary American situation of 2025 and of the 21st century so far in general, with regard to the so-called hyper-ephemeral War on Terror, or War on (Everything, Take Your Pick). As of this entry written on December 12, 2025, one wonders whether ICE and 'the troops' will be descending concertedly upon Milwaukee, of all places, or who knows where next?

'''Hoagie Hivnak''' 
This name is a homonym of Hungarian “hogy hívnak” which means “What’s your name?” informally. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/943246729103874/posts/6981387951956358/]

'''Ideal Pharmacy''' 
While the Masur’s Ideal Pharmacy no longer exists, the building does. [https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI117514]

'''Thirty years ago this was no place for kids... house formulas with cocaine as the main ingredient''' 
Thirty years before our story, in 1902, the Los Angeles times ran a story about the dangers of fountain drinks with the sensational title "They Thirst for Cocaine: Soda Fountain Fiends Multiplying". [https://n4.kemono.cr/data/0a/64/0a640cff91002572e7489d1330a04c85f181b25b19954c807ce723c5a01a9ac7.pdf?f=cocaine+fountain+fiends.pdf]

==Page 15==
'''ice cream cones''' 
During the Great Depression, ice cream was recognized as an enduring comfort food that could provide a psychological lift during difficult times. Ice cream consumption initially dipped during the 1929 stock market crash but endured as a "sweet" and uplifting food that contrasted with the "depressing foods" common during the era, such as mustard sandwiches. The popular Rocky Road ice cream flavor was invented during the Depression to help lift people's spirits. Its name was intended as a metaphor to help people cope with the "broken, rocky pieces" of life at the time. [https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/milk-strikes-1933-were-worst-year-wisconsin-dairy-farms-and-culminated-farmers-death The Wisconsin Milk Strikes of 1933]