The Crowd
1
JULY 4th, 1900
The nation on holiday!
Fireworks! Parades!
Picnics! Celebrating
America's 124th birthday!
2
-- but what was a little
thing like the Declaration
of Independence compared
to the great event happen-
ing in the Sims household?
3
"There's a little man the
world is going to hear
from all right, Doctor."
4
"I'm going to give him
every opportunity."
5
Johnny Sims reached the
age of twelve. He recited
poetry, played piano and
sang in a choir....so did
Lincoln and Washington!
6
"What are you gonna
be when you grow up,
Whitey?"
7
"I detend to be a preacher
man! Hallelujah!"
8
"I purpose to seek
occupation as a
cowboy."
9
"How 'bout you, Johnny
Sims?"
10
"My Dad says I'm goin'
to be somebody big!"
11
"Jimminy crickets! It's
stoppin' at your house,
Johnny!"
12
"You must be brave now,
little man....like your
father would want you
to be."
13
When John was twenty-one
he became one of the
seven million that believe
New York depends on
them.
14
"You've gotta be good in
that town if you want
to beat the crowd."
15
"Maybe....but all I want
is an opportunity."
16
"Washin' 'em up, Sims?"
17
"Takin' a wash, Sims?"
18
"Scrubbin' 'em up, Sims?"
19
"Chasin' the dirt, Sims?"
20
"You birds have been
working here so long
that you all talk alike!"
21
"I've got a pair of wrens
dated up for Coney Island.
Want to make it a four-
some?"
22
"Nothin' doin', Bert!
I'm studying nights!"
23
"Aw, come on! These
babies have got what
ain't in books!"
24
"Well, I'll try anything
once....but I ought to
study."
25
"You know, Bert...forgetting
studies once in a while is
good for us business men."
26
"Say, You! Face the
front!"
27
"This night-life is my speed,
Bert Old Bean! We gotta
do it often!"
28
"Jane....John! John....Jane!
Mary....John! John....Mary!"
29
"Come on, Romeo! Save
something for the
moonlight!"
30
"Look at that crowd!
The poor boobs....all
in the same rut!"
31
"Cut out the high-hat,
John! Do your stuff!"
32
"I get a pain in the neck
from most people...but
you're different."
33
"The poor sap! And I bet
his father thought he
would be President!"
34
"Sit down! You don't
look historical....you
look hysterical!"
35
"Say, am I ridin' with
you....or wrestlin'?"
36
"Gee....I oughtn't to
let you kiss me."
37
"You big egg....can't
you read?"
38
"It doesn't say positively!"
39
"Mary, let's you and me
get married."
40
"Don't forget to pull
down the shades."
41
"Don't cry, Mother!
This isn't my funeral!"
42
"Jimmy, you and Dick stay
home nights with Mom....
like good brothers, won't
you?"
43
"Well, I'll give them a
year....maybe two."
44
"That's the home we're
going to have, Honey....
when my ship comes in."
45
"Did I hear you-all speakin'
'bout havin' yo' bed made
up?"
46
"From the way he's dolling
up....he must expect to
walk in his sleep."
47
"Ah! The secret is out!"
48
"Mary! It's me!"
49
"You're the most beautiful
girl in all the world!"
50
"My love will never stop,
Mary. It's like these
falls."
51
CHRISTMAS EVE --
Home, Sweet Home.
52
"Wife and I are happy
And everything is swell;
It's heavenly inside our flat
But outside it is El!"
53
"Will you put the folding
bed in its garage?"
54
"Mom and the boys will
be here soon. Better get
ready....it's after six."
55
"You'd better answer.
They're your family."
56
"Aren't you going to
kiss Mom?"
57
"Johnny's invented another
new trick. Coax him to
do it for you."
58
"It isn't much....just
breaking my arm."
59
"He says he's goin' to
bust his arm, Mom."
60
"That's it!"
61
"That's what?"
62
"The trick!"
63
"Before you attempt any
more tricks, young man,
I'd like to know if you
got your raise yet."
64
"No....but everybody tells
me my prospects are
good."
65
"He says, 'No'.....as usual."
66
"He says he has prospects....
as usual."
67
"Wipe the soap off
your ear!"
68
"Soap on his ear....
from shaving."
69
"Probably from yesterday."
70
"It looks like the plumber
has been here again."
71
"Maybe Bert has some."
72
"Forget something?"
73
"Careful, dear! Don't
slip on the ice!"
74
"Don't be foolish! Why
should I slip on the
ice?"
75
"Don't slip, dear!"
76
"Oh, Gee, Baby! How
did the angels ever let
you leave Heaven?"
77
"Gee, but you're a great,
big, good lookin' some-
account man!"
78
"Show me the way to go home;
I'm tired and want to go to bed."
79
"Somethin' you ate no
doubt."
80
"S'no doubt."
81
"S'my castle."
82
"Looked all 'round town.
Couldn't find a drop."
83
"S'Mom and the boys
went?"
84
"They don't understand
you...but that doesn't
matter."
85
"Do you understand
me?"
86
"You're a wonnerful
little woman."
87
"Whuzza idea....always
doin' somethin' wrong?"
88
APRIL.
89
"Why didn't you tell me
this was busted?"
90
"You've got this on the
blink, too!"
91
"For the love of Mike,
will....will --"
92
"-- will you please have
that darned thing fixed
today?"
93
"Nothing works right
around this place!"
94
"Why didn't you
take it?"
95
"Your hair looks like
Kelcy's cat!"
96
"Can't you do anything
for yourself?"
97
"I'm getting sick and
tired of you always
criticizing me!"
98
"Forget it, Mary! I'll
overlook your faults!"
99
"Why can't you tell
me when things are
full?"
100
"You'd try the patience
of a Saint!"
101
"You're no soothing
syrup yourself!"
102
"Take it from me, marriage
isn't a word...it's a
sentence!"
103
"I'm leaving!"
104
"I....I didn't get a chance
to tell you --"
105
"From now on I'm going
to treat you different,
dearest."
106
"Mary, you're the most
beautiful girl in all the
world."
107
OCTOBER.
108
"There should have been
word from the hospital
before this."
109
"Well....I'm a father!"
110
"When I get my big job,
Bert, I'll take care of
you for this."
111
"Do you know where
my wife is?"
112
"Where'll I find Mrs.
Sims?"
113
"Where's my wife?"
114
"I'm Sims, Doctor! John
Sims! Her husband!"
115
"Don't worry! We've
never lost a husband
yet!"
116
"John Sims!"
117
"Poor boy....I'm sorry
you suffered so."
118
"He's just like you,
Johnny."
119
"This is all I've needed
to make me try harder,
dear. I'll be somebody
now....I promise."
120
During the next five years
two eventful things
happened to the Simses.
A baby sister was born....
and John received an
$8 raise.
121
"All alone,
I'm so all alone --"
122
"In one ear I got it sand....
in the other I got it you
and your zither!"
123
"JOHN!"
124
"The baby, too."
125
"Mom! I wanta napple,
Mom!"
126
"Hey! Your fire's out!"
127
"Picnic my eye! I'm doing
the same things I do
every day!"
128
"Don't crab, dear. Every-
thing's goin' to be roses....
when my ship comes in."
129
"Your ship? A worm
must be towing it down
from the North Pole!"
130
"Well, don't blame me!
It takes time to get
any place in my firm!"
131
"Time? Look where Bert's
gotten to....while you're
dreaming about it!"
132
"Who couldn't get some
place if they wanted to
hang around the bosses?"
133
"I've got big ideas! That
slogan, A Carload Full
of Coughs was mine!
Only somebody sent it
in first."
134
"For Pete's sake....stop
tooting your horn and
get me some dry wood!"
135
"This is the way I work!
I'm the old go-getting
kid!"
136
"No matter what happens....
you never hear me squawk!"
137
"There!"
138
"Thank you!"
139
"You don't need to!"
140
"Here!"
141
"We wanta ride horsey-back,
Pop!"
142
"This must be my day!
I feel another advertising
slogan coming on!"
143
"John, for once why
don't you mail one of
those slogans in?"
144
"Sleight O' Hand! The
Magic Cleaner! How's
that for a darb?"
145
"Everybody wins a prize
once in their lifetime....
somehow.
And $500 came to the
Simses....all at one time.
146
"I've brought home the
bacon, Mary! Five
hundred bucks!"
147
"For God sake get a
doctor!"
148
"Get inside! The world
can't stop because
your baby's sick!"
149
"Mary! Mary!"
150
"Johnny! Our baby!
Johnny! Johnny!"
151
"John! John! Where
are you?"
152
MONTHS...ENDLESS MONTHS.
The crowd laughs with you
always....but it will cry with
you for only a day.
153
"Looks to me like you
haven't got your mind
on your work any
more."
154
"To hell with this job!
I'm through!"
155
Easy to quit a job....hard
to explain to a wife who
already is bearing so much
....with such courage.
156
"I've got everything ready
for the company's picnic
tomorrow."
157
"We'll have the best
lunch on the boat....
see if we don't!"
158
"John is very happy in
his present job....but
his loyalty and ability
should be recognized,
Bert."
159
"You'd better tell Mary
about your job."
160
"What was the high-sign
for?"
161
"It's not very good news
to break to you, Mary.
I quit my job yesterday."
162
"I didn't tell you before
....'cause I don't know
whether I've made a
mistake or not."
163
"Well, never mind their
old job. There are
plenty of better ones."
164
Mary was right.
There are plenty of other
jobs....and John found no
trouble in landing his fourth
in one week.
165
"You wouldn't like to
buy one of these,
would you?"
166
But it was always the
same old story.
167
"I'm sick of selling
vacuums."
168
"Oh, did you sell some?"
169
"Mary, I didn't want to
waste any more time
on that job....so I quit."
170
"You see, Mary....there's
no use trying to sell
vacuums. Everybody
has one."
171
"Are you sure it's always
everybody else....and
not you?"
172
We do not know how
big the crowd is, and
what opposition it is....
until we get out of
step with it.
173
"All I need is an
opportunity."
174
"Do you expect to take
a vacation for the
rest of your life?"
175
"I suppose we'll have
to get you a job....or
you'll be starving on
our hands."
176
"On your account, Sis,
we've decided to give
him a job."
177
"Johnny! My brothers
are going to give you
a job!"
178
"You mean you won't
take it?"
179
"Don't you see, Mary....
I can't take a charity
job."
180
"I....I....I think I've got a
line on something big."
181
"That's all you've been
saying for months!"
182
"If she was wise she'd
quit you and come
back home with us."
183
"You've never been anything
but a big bag of wind....
and that's all you ever
will be!"
184
"You bluff! You
quitter!"
185
"I'd almost rather see
you dead!"
186
"Why don't you never
play with me any
more?"
187
"I like to play with you."
188
"Doesn't Momma like
you?"
189
"I like you."
190
"When I grow up I wanta
be just like you."
191
"You still love me?
You still believe in
me, boy?"
192
"Sure I do, Pop!"
193
"We can do it, boy!
We'll show them!"
194
"I've got to get a job!
I've got a wife and
kid!"
195
"So have lots of us!"
196
"Who can juggle balls...
to attract attention to
a sign?"
197
"I got a job today,
Mary --"
198
"-- and I'm going back
tomorrow --"
199
"It isn't much, Mary....
but it's a start! I'll
make good now....
believe me."
200
"We'll be waiting for
you outside."
201
"Do you still feel you
must go, Mary?"
202
"Whatever you think,
Mary....but I'll always
love you and work to
win you back."
203
"I fixed your dinner.
It's in the oven."
204
"I darned your socks
and washed everything.
They're in the bureau."
205
"I guess that's all.
Good-bye, John."
206
"You don't understand....
he has always depended
so on me --"
207
"-- and I've got to make
sure he has everything
he needs."
208
"I came back to tell
you that you can see
Junior any evening
you're lonesome."
209
"Thank you, Mary. Do
you think Junior and
you could go to the
show just for tonight?"
210
"You see, I bought tickets
when I thought everything
was going to be all right."
211
"They sure look pretty
on you, Mary."
THE END
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