11,442 stories by "Trav S.D."
In my ongoing series of celebrations of U.S. States, to date we've done Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Florida, Hawaii, and the midwestern states of Kansas, Iowa, O…
New Yorkers who love vintage children's literature and illustration: My good friends Hope Cartelli, Jeff Lewonczyk, and Maryanne Olson have just launched the Secret Storybook Club for those …
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 11, 2025 includes ones on Marjorie Henderson Buell a.k.a. "Marge" (creator of Little Lulu), a little Holiday event I'm participating in this weeken…
December 11 was the birthday of pioneering female cartoonist and illustrator Marjorie Henderson Buell (1904-1993), who went by the pen name "Marge". Marge was only a teenager when the Philad…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 10, 2025 concern a couple of supporting players from completely different eras: Tisha Sterling and Arthur Vinton. Earlier Travalanche posts for Dec…
Not sure how actor Arthur Vinton (Albert Hozel, 1896-1963) made it onto the Travalanche radar " probably by way of The Lambs, of which he was a member. He was also a founding member of the S…
As we wrote previously, Robert Sterling, best known from the TV version of Topper, and film and TV actress Ann Sothern were briefly a Hollywood power couple. The product of their joint attra…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 9, 2025 profiles a new book about the Pearson Brothers vaudeville team. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 9 (in no particular order) include on…
Another plug in time for yer Christmas shopping spree. Rhythm and Pep: The Vaudeville Career of the Pearson Brothers by Dan Henderson is a wonderful window into the rise and f…
There may be quite a few movie acting careers more distinguished than that of Mary Woronov (b. 1943), but none are cooler. Woronov's entrée into screen acting occurred in Andy Warhol films,…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 8, 2025 are about James Thurber, Mary Woronov, Georges Feydeau, and various news items about the Marx Brothers. Earlier Travalanche posts for Decem…
There's something appropriate about Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (1862"1921)Â having been born at this festive time of year. What is more merry than a French farce? Furthermore he sha…
Today, December 8, 2025 marks 100 years since the Marx Brothers' The Cocoanuts opened on Broadway. (We talked a little about the theatrical version here). It seems the ideal time to remind y…
It has now been a century since James Thurber (1894-1961) moved to Greenwich Village and began working as a reporter for the New York Evening Post. His long association with the New Yorker b…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 7, 2025 are about Broadway composer Rudolf Friml and Comedian Bob Melvin. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 7 (in no particular order) include…
The name Rudolf Friml (Rudolf AntonÃn Frymel, 1879-1972) ought to be known to more Broadway buffs " he wrote a couple of dozen hit operettas in the teens and twenties of the last century.…
Born 100 years ago today, nightclub comedian Bob Melvin (Robert Minkoff, 1925-2015) " not to confused with the Man with Two Faces from the sideshow. (Although at 6'4″ tall, this Robert…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 6, 2025 is about Bobby Van, and another Bobby Van. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 6 (in no particular order) include ones on: The History of…
Inevitably, I reckon, a post on song and dance man Bobby Van (Robert Stein, 1928-1980). When I was a kid in the '70s, Van was strictly a hokey guy on game shows and cheese TV so far as I kne…
Today's new Travalanche posts for December 5, 2025 are about chorus girl and silent movie siren Sally Long; cowboy singer Ray Whitley, comedian Margaret Cho, and the history of Krampus. Earl…
I just had a rewarding experience a few minutes ago " I was reminded of the decade or so, roughly 2000-2010, when I was an actual arts journalist for several major publications. I had the op…
December 5 was the birthday of cowboy singer Ray Whitley (1901-1979), best known for co-writing Gene Autry's theme song "Back in the Saddle Again". Luke Combs released a song by the same nam…
About ten years ago I had a lamentable opportunity to sing a few bars of the song "I Wonder What Became of Sally?" in Dick Zigun's play Dead End Dummy out at Coney Island USA. (It was only l…
Gut Krampusnacht! Celebrated in Central Europe on the night before St. Nicholas Day, Krampusnacht is purportedly the time when the goodly saint's opposite number punishes the bad little chil…
Today's new Travalanche post for December 4, 2025 is about the man for whom the Cafe Carlyle is named " against all expectations " Thomas Carlyle. Earlier Travalanche posts for December 4 (i…
