the Timeless Ethel

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I have really been into musicals lately (duh!) and tonight we were watching one of the Broadway's Lost Treasures discs (highly recommended).

And there was the fabulous Ethel Merman.

Wow, what a performer! What a set of pipes and what a dame.

I love these old time performers. They sure don't need no stinkin' microphones . . .

My favorite Ethel Merman story.

During the making of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, her character carried a large purse, with which she would haul off and hit her son-in-law (Milton Berle) and a hapless driver who picked them up (Terry-Thomas). It was later discovered that Ethel kept all of her personal jewelry in the bag and apparently, it weighed something like twenty pounds.

I don't know why that makes me laugh so hard, but it does. Of course, the entire movie is such a hoot, that's just a small part of it.

Tomorrow we're off to Morro Bay. We were talking today about how swell it is to not have to worry about what to take with us, because all we have to do is drive the house!