Thelma and Lowell's Diary: April 14, 1943

They wash the clothes; four convicts escape from Alcatraz

It was laundry day at Thelma and Lowell’s apartment and they washed the clothes together — “a lot of them,” Thelma emphasized. She and her friend Vargie walked over to Audubon Park after supper, and because Vargie’s husband Joe got off early, they went to the movie at the National together. I couldn’t find what was playing there, but Casablanca was still being held over and Gone With the Wind was being re-released (it was first shown in 1939) and would open later in the week.

Front-page news in the Times-Picayune was about an escape by four inmates from Alcatraz Prison. You’ll need to be a paid subscriber to read on. It costs just 16 cents to upgrade and enjoy a deeper dive into history — and you don’t even have to get wet!