The goodnight thread
Originally posted by robb
How about "Goodnight Mrs. Callabash wherever you are".
How about "Goodnight Mrs. Callabash wherever you are".
Notes from an article about Durante/Mrs. Calabash:
"GOOD NIGHT, Mrs. Calabash--wherever you are!"
For years, Jimmy Durante ended his radio and television shows with that unusual sign-off. Most people thought the mysterious Mrs. Calabash must have been some fictional character that Durante dreamed up just to tease his audiences. But longtime residents of Calabash, North Carolina, know otherwise. The folks in this town will tell you that she was a real person with a real name--and a fascinating story besides. They claim that Mrs. Calabash was really a local woman named Lucille "Lucy" Coleman.
In 1940, Lucy was 28 years old and ran a restaurant in Calabash, then a tiny seaside community bordering South Carolina. Durante and his touring troupe are said to have stopped in for supper one night. It may have been the genuine homespun friendliness of the young restaurant owner that prompted the gregarious Jimmy Durante to beckon Lucy over to his table for some short chit-chat. "I'm going to make you famous," vowed Durante, thinking she recognized his well-known face. (In fact, at that moment, she didn't even know who he was!).
As Durante and his group were walking out the door after their meal, he turned to Lucy and said, "Good night, Mrs. Calabash." . . .









