Article Archives: Bumps in the Night

The Father of Notre Dame football and Mother’s Day

March 26, 2026 | by Al Hunter

Did you know that the “Mother’s Day” national holiday is connected to Indianapolis, Notre Dame Football and Monument Circle? Although others may claim to have started Mother’s Day, it was Frank E. Hering, former Notre Dame Football coach, who created the holiday. While Frank Hering’s name has been dwarfed by … Read More

The Paramount Music Palace

March 19, 2026 | by Al Hunter

While rummaging through a couple old boxes the other day I ran across a couple things that activated the launch sequence of my way back machine. One was a brochure and the other an old pinback button. Both were from the old Paramount Music Palace once located 7560 Old Trails … Read More

The Great One

March 12, 2026 | by Al Hunter

Jackie Gleason, alongside Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and Hoosier Red Skelton, dominated, and to some degree invented, early television. An accomplished actor, writer, composer, orchestra leader and comedian, Gleason was truly the last of the big spenders. Always meticulously dressed with a flower in his lapel, Gleason was a consummate … Read More

The Lyric Theatre & Sinatra

March 5, 2026 | by Al Hunter

Located at 135 N. Illinois Street there once stood a theatre with as rich a pop-culture history as any in Indianapolis. When the Lyric Theatre opened in February of 1906, it was basically a room filled with about 200 folding chairs arranged in rows. A carbon arc light projector rested … Read More

John Mathews, Lincoln, Booth and Six Degrees of Separation

February 26, 2026 | by Al Hunter

Remember the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” that was so popular a few years back? It was a parlor game based on the concept that any two people on Earth are six or fewer acquaintance links apart. The winner is determined by the person able to use the least … Read More