Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The standards for what constituted a “humdinger” of an evening of entertainment were different in 1913.

Here’s how The Spokesman-Review’s vaudeville correspondent described the most popular show at the Orpheum in several months:

“Swor and Mack, blackface funny men, have one of the drollest southern negro studies seen in vaudeville, and the very sadness of their expressions and the frayed clothes and battered hats made the act a hilarious scream every minute they were in front of the curtain.

“Kitty Sutton, as ‘The Pumpkin Girl,’ has a unique setting for her weird contortions, and is ably and humorously abetted by Harry Sutton and Jim McIntyre, two crossroad yokels, who fall, twist, dance and patter in giddy fashion.

“… One of the biggest laughing hits on the bill that is replete with comedy stunts is the offering of the three Langdons, ‘A Night on the Boulevard,’ featuring a stage automobile of wonderful possibilities …

“Natural enmity is defied in the animal act, Kluting’s Entertainers, with cats, pigeons, rabbits and dogs acting together in peace, and even the rabbit has a trick or two. The cats, jumping to catch the basket of a swaying balloon, are the feature of the act.”