I just found out that The Three Stooges Journal finally published the article I wrote for them based on my Straight Dope Board thread from a year ago, “Moe Howard and the Australian Mermaid”. It appeared in the Summer 2025 issue (#194), and they retitled it “Moe Howard…Diving Girl???”. I did some further research and found out who it was that Moe Howard (and Ted Healy) had actually been working with.
For some reason the didn’t tell me about it when it came out. I wrote to them and asked when it would be coming out recently, and learned yesterday that they’d already published it. They sent me a scan.
I also learned yesterday that the article I submitted to NAPHA Chronicle, the journal of the National Amusement Park History Association, will probably be coming out this coming year, but they couldn’t tell me when. I sked and answered the question of when Thompson and Dundy came up with their design for the Moonship in their 1901 ride A Trip to the Moon. Their attraction predated rocket ships, and even (except for one or two obscure visionaries) the concept of a rocket to outer space. So where did they get their inspiration from? Their ride actually predates most of the things you’d think were influences.