14.03.25.
2025 Convention T-shirts and ale
T-shirts have been created by Bradford's very own artist in residence, Mr Craig Lightowler!
We have had a number of discussions with Harrogate Brewery, who will be supplying a variety of bottled ales to the hotel to assist with our lubrication during the weekend. They have promised to be on call throughout the Convention, whenever the stock of ale looks to be reaching a critical level. We did consider providing a bottle of specially labelled Convention Ale in the goody bags, but have been shocked to discover that not all 140 delegates are ale drinkers! Instead, depending on interest, we may order a batch of Convention Ale which can be purchased in advance, and collected with your goody bags. If you would be interested in ordering any Convention Ale, please email us with 'Ale' as the subject.
The Yorkshire Committee
FUNC10 is the code to get 10% discount at the Cairn Hotel for an extra night.
A True Love Story Volume 2
Dear Stan & Ollie fans and supporters of LAUREL AND HARDY: A TRUE LOVE STORY - THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF STAN & OLLIE: THEIR LIFE AND WORK,
We have good news, because the time has finally come: After the huge success of Volume 1, which received only top 5 star ratings and reviews from our readers in over 30 countries worldwide, we have launched our new Kickstarter campaign for Volume 2:
Michael Ehret Andreas Baum
Fin celebration
There was a fairly comprehensive article about the Finlayson celebration on the BBC News website on 12 March including a photo of the Sons:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6253d37ylvo
Dave Williamson
Gary Winstanley sent us a link to his fine video of the event:
Glasgow 1932
Bill Crouch found two snippets about Laurel and Hardy’s time in Glasgow in March 1952.
With regard to the clip we included on this site at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Go1SKJdd0,
Bill writes:
I found the following some time ago - but can’t remember its origin. It makes sense now. [The clip] does seem to show Pickard’s car with the dummy TV aerial on top.
Up coming Propstore L and H memorabilia auction
Auction at The Petersen Museum, Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, through Friday, March 28, 2025.
Auction Catalog PDF (Contains Day 1, Lots #1 – 452)
Online Auction Catalog (Contains Days 1 – 3, All Lots #1 – 1326)
https://propstoreauction.com/auctions/catalog/id/449
60. BOHEMIAN GIRL, THE (1936): Charlie Hall's Hand-Annotated Shooting Script, $5000
441. WAY OUT WEST (1930): Hal Roach-autographed Production Script, $5000
867. LAUREL AND HARDY: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Autographed Oversize Photograph, $2000
868. LAUREL AND HARDY: Stan Laurel and Edgar Kennedy Autographed Photos, $600
869. LAUREL AND HARDY: Laurel & Hardy Autographed Postcard with Blank Letterhead, $600
870. LAUREL AND HARDY: Laurel and Hardy Photograph and Research Archive, $500
871. LAUREL AND HARDY: Stan Laurel 1928 Autographed Photo, $500
872. LAUREL AND HARDY: Laurel & Hardy Autographed Album Page, $500
873. LAUREL AND HARDY: Stan Laurel Personal Letter to Charlie Hall, $400
874. DOUBLE WHOOPEE (1929): Stan Laurel's Hand-Signed Check to Charlie Hall
Items offered by Ray Andrew
At the Panopticon in Glasgow
At the Charlie Hall pub in Birmingham
From Birmingham Bark, the newsletter of the Laughing Gravy Tent
At the Hippodrome in Bo'ness
Pie alert
Tony Bagley sent us this great postcard from his vast collection
Buster Keaton Rides Again
While looking up info on an old film featuring Buster Keaton 'The Railrodder' I found details of an accompanying 'making of' film almost twice the length of the subject.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOWv7Ce69E
It's well worth a watch, to see Keaton, then 68 years old, working both in front of and behind the camera. At approx 18 mins 30 seconds, he make several references to Stan Laurel. He even acts out a complete L&H scene, enjoying it and laughing himself. There are other references to both L&H plus several other 1920s / 1930s contemporaries throughout the film.
He is seen celebrating his 69th birthday, on board a train carriage. One of the gifts is a 'Mamod' model live steam engine.
The documentary is interspersed with classic clips and details of his early life and hardship. Apparently it was Harry Houdini who gave him the nickname 'Buster' after seeing him being thrown around the stage, by his family, in their act.
No doubt the knowledgeable Sons will be able to identify the L&H short that Keaton re-enacts. As he explains, the whole two reels are based on a misunderstanding about a traffic cop.
Dave Williamson
2027 commeth
Greetings fellow Laurel & Hardy fans – whether fully fledged ‘Sons’ or just armchair fans like me!
As we’re all no doubt aware 2027 will mark 100 years since some bright spark at the Hal Roach Studio decided that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had all the necessary ingredients to make comedy gold together. Wouldn’t it be the perfect opportunity to try and mark the centenary in as many ways as possible to celebrate their life and work – and not just for fans of ‘the boys’ but to introduce them to a wider audience?
Why don’t we reach out to as many different people as possible to come up with ideas to spread the word, whether it’s getting special screenings of some of their films shown in cinemas, L&H themed events or staging some productions to raise awareness? ‘Stan & Ollie’ did something to boost their profile but recently it seems to have gone a bit ‘flat’ again in the wider world – let’s change that!
Put your thinking fezzes or bowler hats on and let’s see what we can come up with!
Stan Fan
Did you know?
In Saps at Sea escaped convict Nick bullies Stan and Ollie at gunpoint. However, he pays a coin for his newspaper, so he’s not all bad!
From The Laurel & Hardy Digest, available now
...and finally
