Friday, March 20, 2026
The first day of Spring used to be the first day of the year on European calendars (it’s slightly complicated but that’s why April Fool’s Day is April 1. It was originally part of New …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for March 20, 2026 are about Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and the First Day of Spring. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 20 (in no particular order) include on…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PMI have a damning admission to make, one that risks alienating some readers. I found the revival of interest in Fred Rogers (1928-2003) several years ago, surrounding the release of the films…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:48AMThursday, March 19, 2026
Knowest Thou of Poster House? Apparently it opened in 2019, a year when I was out of town a lot, and then came Covid and the lock-down, and that went on for a couple of years at least. Plus …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:48PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for March 19, 2026 are about Tod Slaughter, the late John Bengtson, and some great recent exhibitions at Poster House. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 19…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:48PMWhat a happy, happy discovery we have made in the person of British stage and screen star Tod Slaughter (Norman Carter Slaughter, 1885-1956). Where has he been my whole life??? Most American…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PMWe were sorry to learn from Eve Golden of the passing away of silent comedy film historian and author John Bengtson (1957-2026) a couple of days ago. Bengtson died on January 29, though it t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:06AMWednesday, March 18, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for March 18, 2026 are about Susan Tyrrell, Charley Pride, and the launch of issue #2 of Slips Slips. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 18 (in no particular…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:02PMSaturday Night I celebrated St. Patty’s early with a show at the Irish Rep, and a couple of pints of stout with one of me lads. TWO pints, mind you, which one customarily doesn’t feel. I…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:48PMThank you Jeff Lewonczyk for sharing this Becca Rothfeld quote (below) as part of your rollout of Issue #2 of Slips Slips. You remember Slips Slips, don’t you? We announced its advent with…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42PMI maintain a running list of significant people who were taken by Covid-19 during the pandemic: black country singer Charley Pride (1934-2020) was one of them. There is, or was, an unfortuna…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:36PMMarch 18 was the birthday of the rare exotic bird Susan Tyrrell (Susan Creamer, 1945-2012). I’d certainly seen many of Tyrrell’s screen performances over the years, but only recently did…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:06AMTuesday, March 17, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for March 17, 2026 is about the late Patty Mahoney. Happy St. Patrick’s Day for those who celebrate. We invite you to look at our brief post on the Irish in …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PMHow thoughtful for a lady named Patricia “Patty” Maloney (1936-2025) to be born on St. Patrick’s Day. Maloney died less than a year ago, but it seemed (forgive me) magically delicious …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AMMonday, March 16, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche posts for March 16, 2026 are about the Jerry Lewis Centennial, the Charles Halton Sesquicentennial, National Panda Day, and silent star Conrad Nagel. Earlier Traval…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PMCitoyens Français, écoutez mon appel ! Je vous crie dessus depuis un pays barbare, une nation sans culture, une terre sans goût ni discernement. Cette terre, ce sont les États-Unis d’A…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:42PMMarch 16 is National Panda Day, so I thought I’d add to my store of animal representation features on Travalanche with this brief tribute. Pictured above are Ling-Ling (1969-1992) and Hsin…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:36PMThe title of this post references a quip in an episode of M*A*S*H, surely the first place I ever heard uttered the name of Conrad Nagel (1897-1970). March 16 was Nagel’s birthday, but toda…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AMBorn 150 years ago today, Hollywood character actor Charles Halton (Charles Herzberg, 1876-1959). With his pinched features, wire spectacles, and wispy thin comb-over, Halton was prized for …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:48AMSunday, March 15, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for March 15, 2026 is about about Andrew Jackson and our recent trip to The Hermitage. Also, it’s the Ides of March — so here’s a post on Julius Caesar i…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PMThe Ides of March happens to be the birthday of that American Caesar, Andrew Jackson (1767-1845). This is not a U.S. history blog per se, but there are numerous places of overlap here with o…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PMSaturday, March 14, 2026
Today’s new Travalanche post for March 14, 2026 is about artist Reginald Marsh. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 14 (in no particular order) include ones on: The Mathematicians of Trava…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PMInevitably we come to celebrate Reginald Marsh (1898-1954) today, mostly on account of his memorializing of Coney Island, the Bowery, Times Square, dance halls, vaudeville, and burlesque. In…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AMFriday, March 13, 2026
100 years ago today, March 12, 1926 was opening day for The Savoy Ballroom on Lennox Avenue in Harlem. Named after London’s Savoy Hotel, it was designed to be an uptown alternative to the …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:54PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for March 13, 2026 are about Neil Sedaka, Paul Fix, and Bumps Adams. Also it’s Friday the 13th! I thought I would take the occasion to share a vaudeville ba…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:36PMMarch 13 was the birthday of Neil Sedaka (1939-2026). He passed away two weeks ago, but I decided to save a tribute for the customary annual day. I am too young to have been around for Sedak…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AMI was already resolved to include Paul Fix (1901-1983) in this history for having played Micah on The Rifleman (1958-63) and for having been John Wayne’s acting coach. But the detail that …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AMAnd a word or two is about all there is! The little I know (and probably all anyone knows) about W.L. “Bumps” Adams (Walter Lawrence Adams, 1894-1943) comes at the hands of Steve Massa�…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:24AMThursday, March 12, 2026
I was delighted to bump into my old yet evergreen friend Jonny Porkpie last night at Target Margin’s This is Real — it reminded me that I have yet to plug his excellent Substack Burlesqu…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for March 12, 2026 are about Liza Minnelli’s new book and recent documentary, as well as Target Margin’s terrific new production This is Real, and Jonny P…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24PMWe are grateful for a third occasion to post about show biz monster Liza Minnelli, on top of our main biographical post, and the account of the time we met her. Her new autobiography Kids, W…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:12PM 
