Top Banana (1947); Revolving Door; PruneJuice; Bigger Bang

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TOP BANANA

   OED has 1953 for "second banana."  I think Jesse asked about this a while ago.
   From THIS WEEK, NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, 28 December 1947, pg. 16, col. 2:

_TOP BANANA..._
by Charles D. Rice
_Phil Silvers,who started out in_
_burlesque, has found that the $5_
_customers are no different from the_
_35-centers--they love a "boffola"_
(...)
   Third Banana, for the uninitiated, is a very humble station in show business.  During the depression Phil played burlesque; the average burlesque company carries three comedians who are always known as First, Second and Third Bananas.  (Non-comedians are Straight Men, chorus girls are Slaves, and any female performer who is articulate enough to speak lines has the dignified title of Talking Woman.  But more of this interesting industry later...)

(Maybe I'll check this in my Barry Buchanon 1930s ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD files--ed.)

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REVOLVING DOOR

   OED's best "revolving door" is 1907?
   From George Rector's obituary in the NYHT, 27 November 1947, pg. 36, col. 3:

   _Revolving Door Novelty_
   The place was a success from the first day.  Charles Rector accumulated money, moved to larger quarters, and by 1899 was ready to sell out and invade the New York field.  In that year he established what was to be the most famous Rector's, at the southeast corner of Broadway and Forty-fourth Stret.  He invested $200,000 in the place, and the opening day, Sept. 23, was almost ruined by one innovation, the first revolving door ever seen in New York.  An estimated 5,000 people spun around in the door to see how it worked, but they spun out again without buying, and the crowd made it difficult for real patrons to enter.  But the novelty of the door palled speedily, and Rector's settled down to business.

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BAGELS & LOX (continued)

   "Bagels and Lox Delivered for Breakfast in Bed" is in the NYHT, 5 December 1947, pg. 32, cols. 6-8.  It's a story about Murray Schwartz of Brooklyn; a similar story was in PIC.

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PRUNE JUICE

   OED has 1863, but this is useful, from the NYHT, 8 December 1947, pg. 14, col. 2:

   Prune juice sells here by the hundreds of gallons annually and over three-fourths of all sold in the city bears the Sunsweet label.  This was the world's first prune juice, introduced in 1933.

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BIGGER BANG ("Big Bang" continued)

   An editorial cartoon in the NYHT, 7 December 1947, section two, pg. 7, col. 1.  "Atom" is relaxing among palm trees, and the caption reads:

"This Is Okay, but I Get a Bigger Bang Out of City Life."