Guardians of Traffic

The Lorain-Carnegie Bridge was completed in 1932, reaching 5,865 feet across the Cuyahoga River, connecting the east and west sides. It features fabulous art deco statues, carved from Berea sandstone, and designed by sculptor Henry Hering and architect Frank Walker, facing in both directions at either end of the bridge. Each of the "Guardians of Traffic" (so they are actually called - I have always mistakenly referred to them as guardians of transportation) hold some wheeled vehicle; a car, truck or wagon of some kind. They each specify the "spirit of progress through transportation," said the bridge designer, WIlbur Watson.

They evoke several different styles all at the same time, from the wings of an Assyrian bull, the winged helm of the Greek god Hermes, and the striking angular, art deco fashion that was demanded at the time. The funding was approved in 1927, before the economy soured, and a lowered level dedicated to commercial traffic was scrapped.

In the 1980s it was renamed the Hope Memorial Bridge, after the father of legendary funny man Bob Hope. William Henry Hope was Cleveland-area stonemason.


Sources:
20th Century Society of the North Carolina Mountains
Cleveland Magazine
Wikipedia

UPDATE 7/25/2021: The Cleveland MLB team is now officially the Cleveland Guardians!

Cleveland Rams

What are now the pride of St. Louis, the Cleveland Rams football team was established in 1936.

The name comes from the Fordham University mascot, which provided a number of the players. They finished their inaugural season in second place in the newly formed American Football League, with a 5-2-2 record.

Peter Arno

The New Yorker, September 16, 1936

Okay, someone has to explain this to me. So I found out was a Trans-Lux is, they manufacture stock tickers. And I understand how rich people would want to gather around the dire financial news that Roosevelt didn't create to collectively blame Roosevelt for it.

But why is no one wearing pants? Because they have lost all their money? Then why the hats which make some of them look Austrian? And why are they speaking through an open window, are the pantless rich people outside caroling? Or am I missing something and this really a big swingers party, and it's all indoors and this is a peek-a-boo event and "hissing Roosevelt" is a sex act I am at present unfamiliar with?

Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy ... before he dicks you (good night!)

Chester Gould's often violent strip (premiering in 1931) was wildly inventive with its depiction of the outward manifestation of evil in his villains' face and bodies. Flattop Jones, Pruneface, Shoulders ... you can just picture them even if you've never seen the strip. It is a major disappointment (to me, anyway) to discover the 2-way wrist-radio was not invented until 1946. Having said that, Dick Tracy can be credited as the first "true crime" strip, featuring a crime committed, followed by Tracy's detective work, often resulting in the pursued criminal to commit an even more heinous crime, concluding (eventually) with some kind of outrageous and deadly gunfight.

Then there was his relationship with the frustrated Tess Trueheart. It doesn't help that the very first caper in Dick Tracy was Tess being kidnapped and her father murdered. Really Chet? Murdered?

By 1936 there was already a radio drama of the strip.

Terry & the Pirates

I have been looking into comic strips.


Click on to enlarge.

Milton Caniff began Terry and the Pirates in 1934. It began as an action-adventure strip, with the young Terry and barrel-chested journaliast Pat Ryan seeking a gold mine that "belongs" to a relative of Terry's in the "Orient." They have myriad adventures, battling with and against numerous grotesque Asian stereotypes.

Most wonderful was the Dragon Lady, template for so many Western male fantasies. She was villain, at first, but also sexy and flirtatious and strong and wily. She even once taught Terry how to dance.


Caniff was inspired by books about women pirates. During WWII the Dragon Lady would become an ally, working against the Japanese.

Sources:
Toonopedia

The Hough Line

One of the more notable trolley coach operations was in Cleveland which started running the electric coaches in 1936. The first route instituted in Cleveland was the Hough line. This trolley coach route started operation on March 1, 1936 under the Cleveland Railway Company (CRC).

The line was to hold a special place in history as it was the first trolley coach line to actually enter a downtown area of a city with a million plus metropolitan population. This line required 20 cars to hold service. An additional 8 cars were purchased in 1937 to handle the increased ridership on the line. - Ohio Museum of Transportation

Happy birthday, guy.