Old Gasoline Alley question

This daily Gasoline Alley strip from 1939 makes a reference to the Arabian Nights which I don’t get. I’m new to Gasoline Alley, and this is from a Facebook page which is posting them daily. All I know of the story thus far: Skeezix started working (without having been hired) at a newspaper- like an intern (like Kramer, someone said). He’s called into the office where this scene is.
I’ve started reading the old GAs, and I see now why it was so popular.

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/s640x640/222733714_10222313769147094_1946909263473515904_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=4e1SCOM2RSoAX_8Mp20&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=2f2a59c3a30ace95e5e04358beb84859&oe=6128F373

Seems to just mean “don’t tell me any stories”, as in he could have mentioned fairy tales instead of Arabian Nights.

I agree with Darren - the boss just thinks it’s all ‘made up’.

$120 a week for a half-time cub reporter in 1939?

That’s the real “Arabian Nights” story!

(The median income for a male in 1940 was $956. That’s $956 per year.)

Doesn’t it say “$7.20 a week”?

Right. $7.20 a week. Not a cub reporter (yet, idk if ever), just a gopher afaict.

Which is $374 a year. Or $7,300 adjusted for inflation.

That certainly makes more sense. In my defense, I blew the panel up on my monitor as large as it would go, still couldn’t see a decimal point, and the 7 still looked like a 1.