Religion of Cal Trimble; Captain America's landlord

Religion: gambling

Name: Cal Trimble

Other Names: Mr. Trimble

Classification: supporting character

Publisher(s):

First Appearance: Captain America (vol. 1) #153 (Sep. 1972): "Captain America--Hero or Hoax?"

Creators: Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney

Number of Appearances: 4

Enemy of: Steve Rogers

Ally: Scarlett
Employer: Corinth Hotel

Occupation: landlord

Location: New York City, New York, USA

Gender: male

Note: Captain America's landlord

Cal Trimble was the landlord of the Corinth Hotel, the cheap hotel Captain America lived in for a time.

Cal Trimble had a serious gambling problem. He love to gamble, and was probably addicted to it, or least obsessed with gambling, so much so that it put him into serious financial difficulty and led him to do dishonest, unethical, and illegal things.

Cal Trimble first appeared in panels 1 through 3 no page 10 in Captain America (vol. 1) #153. As this story opens, Nick Fury confronts Captain America in his hotel room over Cap's supposed attempts to romance Nick's girlfriend, Contessa Valentina Contessa Valentina. (Nick is wrong in his assumptions about this, by the way.) Nick Fury attacks Captain America and a ferocious -- and definitely noisy -- battle ensues.

As might be expected, the landlord - a bald man the narrator identifies as Cal Trimble - shows up at the door to complain about the noise. Trimble bangs on the door and yells: "Hey, Rogers! This is the manager, darn you! Open up that dor and tell me what's going on in there! The other guests been lightin' up the switchboard like Rudolph the Reindeer's nose! C'mon, Rogers--I got complaints!"

By this time, Captain America and Nick Fury have stopped fighting. Captain America opens the door a crack and hands Trimble a large bill (perhaps a hundred-dollar bill).

Captain America, being careful to stand so Cal doesn't see his super-heroic identity, tells his landlord: "Here, Mr. Trimble. We were having a party, and some of the people got a little rambunctious-- But this should cover the damages."

Cal Trimble looks shocked, and then very pleased. He thinks to himself: "Damages -- shmamages. As if anybody in my dump would care how much noise anybody else make. But since Rogers was kind enough to bankroll me-- I'm headin' down to the all-night poker game in Louie the Eel's room, and pray for four aces."

The fact that Cal Trimble instantly thinks about using this money to gamble, instead of using it to repair damage done to Steve Rogers' room, suggests he may be addicted to gambling, or obsessed with gambling, or at least overly fond of gambling.

Even in this first appearance, Cal Trimble seems to be something of an unsavory figure. The next panel narrative box states: "And, while Cal Trimble has been playing rip-off, Nick Fury has looked into his [own] soul..."

Things he will do in later issues paints him in an even more unseemly light. But Cal may be slightly religious, or at least have had something of a religious upbringing. Cal thinks to himself that he will "pray" for four aces (good cards) in an upcoming poker game. This could be simply a figure of speech, but he could genuinely plan to pray for good luck while gambling.

The Hotel that Cal Trimble manages is called the Corinth Hotel. The name of this establishment was identified in panel 2 on page 18 in Captain America (vol. #1) #158. While starting to blackmail Steve Rogers because he thinks he knows details about him after he found cops searching Steve's room, Cal Trimble told his tenant: "Rogers, as manager of the Corinth Hotel, I get to know a lot about my tenants.

Also in Captain America (vol. 1) #158, on page 18, it became even more clear that Cal Trimble has a serious gambling problem. Referring to the cops (Bob Courtney and Brian Muldoon) who searched Rogers' room, Trimble tells Steve Rogers: "It all gave me an idea, though-- --and I think I've figured out your big secret. Sure. You've been moonlighting, holding down a second job outside your regular police duties. The force doesn't approve of things like that, I know. And I've been losing pretty heavily in Louie the Eel's poker soiree, lately... Know what mean?"

Steve Rogers catches Cal Trimble's drift. He exclaims: "You mean you want to blackmail me!"

Trimble retorts: "Blackmail... Did I say that? 'Course, a well-placed word would start an inquiry--the city's big on police inquiries..."

This character is in the following 5 stories which have been indexed by this website:

Captain America

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The Religious Affiliation of Cal Trimble

The Religious Affiliation of
Cal Trimble