11,731 stories from Trav S.D.
Today's new Travalanche post for March 2, 2026 is about blues singer Bessie Brown. Earlier Travalanche posts for March 2 (in no particular order) include ones on: Dr. Seuss Tom Wolfe Lou Ree…
March 2 was the birthday of The Original Bessie Brown (1890-1955). The adjective (which she applied to herself) was and is to differentiate herself from another woman of the same name who pe…
Today's new Travalanche post for March 1, 2026 is about Robert Grossman and his graphic novel Life on the Moon. Also, Happy Women's History Month! Read 2,000 posts about female subjects here…
Last night, those with telescopes could look at the night sky just after sunset and enjoy a rare spectacle of six of our solar system's satellites all stacked up in a row like a parade of pl…
Today's new Travalanche post for February 28, 2026 are about gangster Bugsy Siegel, Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, and silent comedian Sid Smith. Also Meet the Sword Swallowers of Travalanch…
This post is cooked up in the spirit of my earlier one on Al Capone. Gangsters and organized crime and the lore that goes with them aren't what get me up in the morning, though I do enjoy re…
Today we celebrate that unlikely rock and roll giant, Domingo Samudio (b. 1937), better known as Sam the Sham, of Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs. It's likely that a majority of our readers ha…
February 28 was the birthday of silent screen comedian Sidney "Sid" Smith (1892-1928). The title of this post is to differentiate its subject from the cartoonist, creator of the comic strip …
Today's new Travalanche post for February 27, 2026 are about episode 90 of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast (on which I talk about Gallagher and Shean), singer Mildred Bailey, and Francis M…
It's been over three quarters of a century since singer Mildred Bailey née Rinker (1900-1951) left the earth, so, sadly she's not still among us as the title of this post implies. She would…
Third time's a charm! What a pleasure it was to return to the Marx Brothers Council Podcast to chat with Matthew Coniam and Noah Diamond. On this occasion we talk about the team of Gallagher…
We continue our 250th anniversary celebration of the American Revolution today with a nod to General Francis Marion (1732-1795), affectionately nicknamed "The Swamp Fox". Marion was a South …
Today's new Travalanche posts for February 26, 2026 are about quotes by me in today's Irish Echo, the origin of Kellogg's Cereal, Christopher Marlowe, and dancer Judy Landon (wife of Brian K…
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) was baptized on a February 26; presumably his birth was a couple of days earlier as was the custom. I often think of Marlowe as the John the Baptist to Shakes…
February 26 was the birthday of John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943). 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of his taking charge of the Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan, and 1…
A wonderful surprise greeted me when I fired up Ole Betsy (my laptop) this morning and looked at what's doing. Today, the Irish Echo quoted me at length on the topic of William Muldoon and M…
The best known role of Judy Landon (1928-2021) is undoubtedly that of silent screen vamp Olga Mara in Singin' in the Rain (1952) Originally from Cook County, Illinois, she was appearing in l…
Today's new Travalanche post for February 25, 2026 are about Brenda Joyce (one of Tarzan's many Janes), and character actress Helen Jerome Eddy (Klondike Annie) Earlier Travalanche post for …
Well? Which is it? Brenda or Joyce? Actually, she is better known as Jane. Betty Graftina Leabo a.k.a. Brenda Joyce (1917-2009) is best known for being the seventh woman to portray the chara…
Helen Jerome Eddy (1897-1990) enjoyed a 25 year career as a supporting player in Hollywood movies (1915-1940). Early in her career at Lubin Sudios Eddy was given vamp roles in melodramas, bu…
A sad theme is emerging today. I had no sooner completed my post on poet-suicide Weldon Kees when I learned via that harbinger of gloom Eva Golden that Robert Carradine (1954-2006) has gone …
Today's new Travalanche post for February 24, 2026 are about the passing of Robert Carradine, and poet Weldon Kees. Earlier Travalanche post for February 24 (in no particular order) include …
Writing about silent screen actor Milton Sills a month ago caused me to stumble upon a reference to him in the poem "1926" by Weldon Kees (1914-1955), which sent me down a completely new rab…
I don't know how "proper" it is, but I assign the adjective because my previous post on director Victor Fleming (1889-1949) was only about the two Douglas Fairbanks films he directed (at the…
Today's new Travalanche post for February 23, 2026 are about Victor Fleming and silent screen actress Josephine Earle. Earlier Travalanche post for February 23 (in no particular order) inclu…
