Monday, July 1, 2024
Born 200 years ago today, John Jeremiah Garrison (1824-1900), gold prospector, guide, hunter, lawman, sailor, scout, soldier, trapper, woodhawk, whiskey peddler, and more. Originally from Ne…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AMYes, I know that Pride Month is just gone, but the thing is July 1 is Victor Willis’s birthday. Willis (b. 1951) was the main singer and songwriter for the Village People, although amusing…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:48AMSunday, June 30, 2024
It’s been a minute since I’ve shared a guest post here on Travalanche, and I don’t do it very frequently, but I am excited to be presenting one today. My most frequent guest poster has…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PMSaturday, June 29, 2024
It’s June 29, and having already written about such June 29 Birthday Children as Richard Lewis, Fred Grandy, Nelson Eddy, Joan Davis, Slim Pickens, Ed Gardner (Duffy’s Tavern), and Coney…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:36AMFriday, June 28, 2024
I’m shocked and disappointed that no punk rocker appropriated the name of German strong man Max Sick (1882-1961). It certainly would live harmoniously alongside Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious,…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AMThursday, June 27, 2024
Lloyd and Susan Ecker are the world’s ultimate Sophie Tucker boosters — they’ve released a book, and a documentary, and a soundtrack CD to same, and I don’t know what all. Oh, wait! …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36AMWednesday, June 26, 2024
Theodore “Tiny” Roebuck (1906-1969) was a Native American athlete who dabbled in film acting in the 1930s. A member of the Choctaw tribe, Roebuck hailed from the Lenton Territory in what…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:48AMTuesday, June 25, 2024
June 25 was the birthday of Bessie Poole (1895-1928). If you were crude and in a hurry you might describe Poole as “W.C. Fields’ side piece”, but that would be inaccurate for many reas…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AMMonday, June 24, 2024
June 24 was the birthday of dancer/choreographer/impresario Margaret Kelly (1910-2004); June 20 was the opening day in 1946 of the Paris venue she was long associated with, Le Lido. Four nat…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AMSunday, June 23, 2024
This post represents a confluence of two compelling forces: some cool radio clips that John Tefteller played at Marxfest last month, and the advent of the new Advertising and Brands section …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PMIllustrator Drew Friedman is well known to all those in the Classic Comedy Cult. As the title of one of his better known books reminds us, he’s the guy who draws all the Old Jewish Comedia…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AMSomebody shared this 1951 Look magazine cover online the other day, and it seemed the perfect touchstone for a new post connecting you with links to my articles on the various comedians prof…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:24AMSir H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was born of a June 22. As a young man, the well connected Haggard had served in a succession of administrative and diplomatic posts in British colonial South…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18AMFriday, June 21, 2024
June 21, 2006 marked the premiere of America’s Got Talent, which makes this televised talent competition well on the way to having been on the air for two decades. And I, one of the nation…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PMThis one goes out to my nephew and good friend James, and I must say I have been looking forward to writing this post for days with child-like glee. It is World Motorcycle Day, and so today …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:32AMThursday, June 20, 2024
Born 100 years ago today, influential guitarist, producer and A & R man Chester “Chet” Atkins (1924-2001). Atkins’ bright, cheery electric fingerpicking style is both instantly ide…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:24AMNo, no, not the guy from Young Sherlock Holmes and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I mean Nicholas Rowe classic (1674-1718), England’s fourth Poet Laureate, first modern editor of a c…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:06AMWednesday, June 19, 2024
Two items of big news from the sovereign nation of Travyland to report on, manifested in an amazing day yesterday! Thanks to a referral by an academic friend, I found myself shuttled up to C…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:06PMYes, we at Travalanche enjoy and approve of professional wrestling. There’s an evening a section devoted to it here. It shouldn’t surprise; after all, as is well known, pro wrestling is …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:48AMMonday, June 17, 2024
New Yorkers! We’re coming up on the bicentennial of Castle Clinton’s start as an entertainment venue — seems like the perfect time to do my postponed marathon walking tour of the histo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:06PMTwo major benchmarks for Barry Manilow (b.1943) passed last year: the singer/musician/songwriter/producer turned 80 years old; and his self-titled debut LP turned 50. This year marks another…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:48AMSunday, June 16, 2024
The Ford Motor Company was founded on this day in 1903. As we posted earlier, our enthusiasm for the contributions to the world by Henry Ford are muted, to put it mildly, by his Anti-Semitis…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:42AMSaturday, June 15, 2024
This piece was originally cooked up for Tim Greer’s “Feet of Mud” website a few years ago, but it now seems to be offline, so I place it here. The Langdon Thing This is strictly anec…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AMThere’s not a ton of middle ground on silent screen comedian Harry Langdon (1884-1944). The few who know him either love or hate him, and those who love him are vastly outnumbered. I’m a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AMThe story of Charles Gemora (Carlos Cruz Gemora, 1903-1961) represents a confluence between two of our previous content streams: gorilla suit movies and animal impersonation (see posts on Fr…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:36AMFriday, June 14, 2024
If you missed Nelson Hughes’ presentation at Marxfest, here’s your chance to catch it, with enhancements. This Sunday at 4:30pm at QED in Queens, That Slapstick Show dives into the world…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:54AMThe Apprentice debuted in 2004. I never watched this damn show in real time, so I was rather shocked at the impact it wound up having on this planet. “New York is my town,” host Donald T…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:24AMThursday, June 13, 2024
Today we finally shine a spotlight on female cinema pioneer Lois Weber (1879-1939). We do this in the interest of completeness, having long since done squibs on women like Alice Guy, Frances…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:32AMWednesday, June 12, 2024
O.J. Simpson (1947-2024) died two months ago. Having had cause to mention him over 15 times on this blog, O.J. rates a post here, yet I wasn’t about to eulogize him, and I certainly don’…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AMTuesday, June 11, 2024
Once upon a time, contemporary variety arts and theatre information was a prominent content stream on this blog…but frankly few people read those posts, so I took them (and there were hund…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:06AMThe ghost of Suzy Knickerbocker (Aileen Mehle, 1918-2016) seems to hover over this cultural moment, especially for those who love to binge streaming TV series. There are echoes of her life a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:36AM 
