11,919 stories by "Trav S.d."
Originally posted in 2009. Born Jacob Perlman this day in 1895, Jack Pearl is best known for the national catchphrase “Vas You Dere, Charlie?”, which he uttered as the “…
Another vintage tidbit we are sharing to Halloween season. In this 1936 Hal Roach Our Gang/ Little Rascals short Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and Porky want to go to the circus so they l…
Less well known that it might be, the first cinematic version of Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein was made by the Edison Studios in 1910, over twenty years before James Whale’s…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Creep Show, Delancey, Peep Show, Shelly Watson
In further celebration of the Halloween season we share this now-annual classic, the 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween special that also featured Margaret Hamilton, her Pufnstuff counter…
In honor of the Halloween season we are pleased to share this 1921 Buster Keaton short, directed by Eddie Cline. In case you find yourself getting too scared (spoiler alert) the house that b…
I found myself bawling upon learning of the death of Lou Reed yesterday, on the sly, behind a pair of sunglasses. That’s what sunglasses are for. Certainly that’s what HIS sungla…
Another radio treat on the lead-up to Halloween. Here’s Bing Crosby’s Halloween episode of Philco Radio Time with guest stars Boris Karloff and Victor Moore, originally bro…
Today is the birthday of Ronnie and Donnie Galyon (b. 1951), the world’s oldest living pair of conjoined twins. Born in Dayton, Ohio joined from the sternum to the groin, they share a …
All week I’ll be sharing vintage Halloween themed comedy-horror tidbits like this one. This episode of Ozzie and Harriet from 1952 features three narrative threads, including Ozzie Nel…
All week I’ll be sharing vintage Halloween themed comedy-horror tidbits like this one. The Spook Talks is a fairly hilarious Three Stooges short from 1949 (the Shemp era) wherein…
All week I’ll be sharing vintage Halloween themed comedy-horror tidbits like this one. The Spook Chasers (1957) is quite late in the life of the long-running Bowery Boys franchis…
Radio comedian Harold “Hal” Peary (1908-1985) created his popular radio character Throckmorton Gildersleeve on the Fibber McGee and Molly Show in 1935. The big blowhard was…
8:00pm:  Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Much water under the bridge between the original Frankenstein and James Whale’s 1935 sequel. Karloff, who had been uncredited in the firs…
Today is Ned Harrigan’s birthday. From No Applause: The two biggest Irish comedians to come out of the variety scene, becoming the most popular stars of the American theatre of the …
Originally posted in 2011 Born this day in 1914, Jackie Coogan was, like Charlie Chaplin, a child performer, and also like Chaplin, was discovered for the movies while performing on th…
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer of the Dorothy Parker Society has just released this swell new book Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide – just in tim…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Coney Island, HOLIDAYS, FESTIVALS, MEMORIALS & PARADES, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Coney Island, Halloween Parade
6:30pm: The Walking Dead (1936) Directed by Michael Curtiz. Edmund Gwenn (best known as Santa in Miracle on 34th Street) is a scientist who revives the corpse of wrongly executed Boris…
Originally posted in 2010 America's most famous and respected little person (of the twentieth century) began his career as an even littler person. William John Bertanzetti was only three yea…
It’s that time of year again! Late October means many things to many people but for circus fans here in New York it always means the launch of Big Apple Circus’s Fall and Winter …
Originally posted in 2012 I’d like to go out on a limb and say that life without Minnie Pearl is not worth living, but I’m 17 years too late. But you know what I mean. I miss the…
Originally posted in 2009 Two, two, two Dollies in one! The Duncan Sisters were more talented, the Hilton Sisters were more freakish, but no sister act was more beautiful, or mor…
Filed under: HOLIDAYS, FESTIVALS, MEMORIALS & PARADES, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Halloween, masquerade Ball, Ziegfeld Society
Today is the birthday of Paul Draper (1909-1996), who came along too late for vaudeville, but oh how that would have been the perfect platform for him! A son of wealthy parents, and a nephew…
