Wednesday, October 15, 2025
October 15 was the birthday of B movie star Judd Holdren (1915-1974). Holdren had a hot couple of years as a star of serials like Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951), Zombies of…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PMSultry actress/model Virginia Leith (1925-2019) was born 100 years ago this day. Having trouble placing her? She was the lead head in The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962) — and it’s just…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:31AMA few quick lines about a popular personality who was well known in America for at least three decades, now completely forgotten, Ranson Sherman (1898-1985). As is not uncommon, Sherman’s …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:31AMTuesday, October 14, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for October 14, 2025 observes the 30th anniversary of the debut of Mad TV. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 14 (in no particular order) include ones on: H…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:02PMI wasn’t that old when Mad TV (1995-2009) first went on the air 30 years ago. Still, I’m going to assume that it will be generations younger than mine who would regard it as a “classic…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:36AMMonday, October 13, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for October 13, 2025 observes the 250th anniversary of the American Navy. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 13 (in no particular order) include ones on: Bu…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:12PM250 years ago today (October 13, 1775) marked the official foundation of the Continental Navy, the iteration of the American Naval forces that fought in the Revolutionary War. The Continenta…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AMSunday, October 12, 2025
I’ve long planned a post on movie director Susan Seidelman here, as well as something more extensive on the No Wave directors in general, as that what was still going on when I arrived in …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for October 12, 2025 are about Aleister Crowley (born 150 years ago today), professional giant Lock Martin, and the 40th anniversary of Desperately Seeking Su…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36PMNo, no, not Doc Martin — LOCK Martin (Joseph Lockard Martin Jr (1916-1959). Said to stand a full seven feet seven inches in adulthood, Martin had a twin brother who died in childbirth. The…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:02PMBorn 150 years ago this day, Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), prophet, poet, scholar, and all around English decadent. We’ve posted twice before on this influential figure, once merely as a s…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:42AMSaturday, October 11, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for October 11, 2025 is about Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 11 (in no particular order) include ones on: Sig Ru…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:24PMOctober 11 is celebrated in America (among Polish Americans and those who love them anyway) as General Pulaski Memorial Day. It marks the day in 1779 when Polish General Casimir Pulaski (b. …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:12PMFriday, October 10, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche posts for October 10, 2025 are about the painter Benjamin West and tomorrow’s ceremony at the Childs Restaurant Building in Coney Island. Earlier Travalanche post…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PMThis just in — lovers of Coney Island USA and of NYC architectural history in general may want to attend the ceremony they’re holding out at 1208 Surf Avenue, tomorrow, Saturday, October…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AMWe’ve had numerous opportunities to mention the influential painter Benjamin West (1738-1820) on Travalanche in the past, for he instructed or otherwise advised such renowned pupils as bot…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AMThursday, October 9, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche posts for October 9, 2025 are about The History of Peep Shows, a snapshot of Brooklyn’s Albee Square, and British music hall comedian Leslie Fuller. Earlier Trava…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:42PMA little post about the Once and Future Brooklyn that I love so well. It’s a follow up of sorts to a mini-post I left here about a dozen years ago, when I realized that my place of work (m…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:36PMDon’t get all excited! I never said or implied I was referring to pornographic or live sex peep shows, did I? They’re a sub-set of what I’m talking about, but by now you should know be…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:02AMOctober 9 was the birthday of British music hall and screen comedian Leslie Fuller (1888-1948), often billed as “The Rubber Faced Comedian”. Joe Rock enticed Fuller to go before the came…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AMWednesday, October 8, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche posts for October 8, 2025 are about Sigourney Weaver and Her Show Biz Family, and the Peshtigo Fire of 1871. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 8 (in no particul…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:32PMWe love to write about multi-generational show business families, and here’s one that ought to be more widely known than it seems to be. Stage and screen actress Susan Alexandra “Sigourn…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:24PMThis is a bit of history I learned from an unlikely source — there was a reference to it on a recent episode of The Gilded Age. It’s a timely story, given massive recent wildfires like t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AMTuesday, October 7, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche posts for October 7, 2025 are about singer/bandleader Vaughn Monroe, and a new LGBTQ website. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 7 (in no particular order) inclu…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PMI’m thrilled and proud to announce my place in the stable of Scott Stiffler’s very necessary new website, LGBTQ Community News, alongside the likes of Michael Musto, my old pal Jay Walke…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:12PMIt’s odd and rare and rare for a pop culture figure as successful as Vaughn Monroe (1911-1973) to be so forgotten today. The bandleader, singer, and musician was a star of radio, televisio…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AMMonday, October 6, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for October 6, 2025 is about plus-sized silent screen comedian Dee Lampton. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 6 (in no particular order) include ones on: P…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:18PMHow fortuitous that silent screen comedian Dee Lampton (1898-1919) was born on Plus Sized Appreciation Day; he’s a perfect candidate for my Hall of Plus Sized Comedians. Lampton’s life w…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:02AMSunday, October 5, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for October 5, 2025 is about the history of Grey Gardens. It is also Rhode Island Day. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 5 (in no particular order) include…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:02PMOctober 5 was the birthday of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (1895-1977). Those familiar with her story and that of her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale (1917-2002) are accustomed to getting it in a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AMSaturday, October 4, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for October 4, 2025 is about Ilise Carter’s new book on Spiritualism, When We Spoke to the Dead. Earlier Travalanche posts for October 4 (in no particular or…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:06PM 
