11,440 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today's new Travalanche posts for January 14, 2026 are about the Raymond Griffith's Hands Up (100 years old this year), Faye Dunaway, and Richard Outcault (The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown) O…
Released 100 years ago today! Raymond Griffith in Hands Up! (1926). And I caught it in the nick of time. I assumed I had already done a post on this terrific comedy, but in fact I had not, t…
This dashing dude is Richard F. Outcault (1863-1928), once hailed by many as the inventor of the newspaper comic strip. Many hands went into the evolution of this unique art form however; it…
Today's new Travalanche post for January 13, 2026 is about Tin Pan Alley songwriter James V. Monaco. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 13 (in no particular order) include ones on: …
January 13 was the birthday of Tin Pan Alley composer James V. Monaco (1885-1945). Monaco was an Italian immigrant who moved to the U.S. with his family when he was six years old. He was rai…
By a certain logic, this piece should begin with the woman at the bottom of this post (and the girl seated center in the photo above). It's the customary way, and without her, the other two …
Today's new Travalanche posts for January 12, 2026 are about silent screen star Milton Sills, and the Paul McCartney's in-laws The Eastman Family. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January…
"…modern girls find fault with almost everybody, unless a man is a Milton Sills, he doesn't stand a chance…." " 1928 vaudeville lyric When one looks down a list of his credits, one might…
In the interest of thoroughness, and because I have mentioned THIS "Alexander Hamilton" on Travalanche as often as the man himself and the musical based on his life. This one falls almost pr…
Today's new Travalanche posts for January 11, 2026 are about Alexander Hamilton and the first bio-pic about same. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 11 (in no particular order) incl…
Alexander Hamilton celebrated his birthday on January 11, though historians are uncertain whether the year was 1755 or 1757. No one is confused about when he died, however. The fatal duel wi…
Weekends in January and February are often set aside in western mountain resort communities as Avalanche Awareness Days. We mark this year's with an appreciation of the 1978 disaster film Av…
Today's new Travalanche posts for January 10, 2026 are about Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the 1978 disaster movie Avalanche. (I ask you " what other blog has that kinda reach?!) Other ear…
250 years ago today (January 10, 1776): the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense. I'm planning a full biographical post on Paine which I'll share about a month from now, but it seems i…
Today's new Travalanche posts for January 9, 2026 are about Led Zeppelin, David Johansen and the New York Dolls, The Mad Show, and singer/actor Jimmy Boyd. Other earlier Travalanche posts fo…
Although it's somewhat outside my wheelhouse, I've had a vague intention of doing something on Led Zeppelin for a while now. I've long been working on a long think-piece (possibly even a boo…
We lost David Johansen (b. 1950) nearly a year ago; today would have been his 76th birthday. 76 (or 75, the age at which he died) is young these days, yet Johansen was the last of the origin…
60 years ago today was opening night of the hit off-Broadway revue The Mad Show, which ran for about a year (1966-67), and then toured nationally through 1968. This charmed project featured …
Jimmy Boyd (1939-2009) was first widely known as a child performer, but he had a good run. He managed to keep it going for about three decades. Boyd was from a musical family originating in …
Here in the U.S. Dame Shirley Bassey (b. 1937) is known strictly for singing three James Bond themes, especially Goldfinger (1964), her only bona fide hit song on this side of the Atlantic. …
Today's new Travalanche posts for January 8, 2026 are about Shirley Bassey, and the new show about Feltman's Hot Dogs. I also spruced up an older post in honor of the Soupy Sales Centennial.…
With the horrors of yesterday's main news event (the murder of a widowed suburban mother by rogue ICE agents in Minneapolis) darkening my soul like a sulfuric cloud, I was grateful to catch …
Thanks, Lauren Milberger, for the 11th hour intel about an important centennial anniversary! January 7, 1926 was the day on which George Burns and Gracie Allen officially tied the knot. They…
Today's new Travalanche post for January 7, 2026 is about the dance team of Harold and Lola. Other earlier Travalanche posts for January 7 (in no particular order) include ones on: Adolph Zu…
I was made aware of the dance team of Harold and Lola due to their inclusion in the 1948 film Variety Time, which I wrote about here. "Harold" was Harold Liebmann (1895-1960), born of a Janu…
