Cleveland “Cleve” Duncan, former member of the doo-wop group The 
Penguins of the 1950s and early 1960s, died Wednesday, Nov. 7th at
the age of 77 in the Los Angeles area. The cause of death was not
reported.

The Penguins are best remembered for their only Top 40 hit, “Earth
Angel (will you be mine)”, which was one of the first R&B hits to cross
over to the pop charts. 

According to Wikipedia, Dexter Tisby, also 77, is the only surviving 
original Penguin member.

(From staff reporter Joe Cool)

1954

Actress Lucille Bliss, who voiced The Smurf‘s Smurfette, has passed
away at the age of 96. According to The Los Angeles Times, she died
from natural causes on Nov. 8 at an assisted living center in Costa
Mesa.

Over her 60 year career, Bliss provided the voices for a variety of
cartoon characters, including Crusader Rabbit, the first star of an
animated series produced for TV.

Crusader Rabbit

(FOX News) – The popular popcorn snack Cracker Jacks is getting a new
ingredient – and it’s not something you would expect.

The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reported
that Frito-Lay, the manufacturer of Cracker Jacks, will soon introduce a
new version of its snack called Cracker Jack’d – which will have added
caffeine.

Frito-Lay told the Boston Globe the new Cracker Jack’d line is not meant
for children and is specifically developed for adult consumers and will
not be marketed to children.

Chris Kuechenmeister, a Frito-Lay spokesperson, wrote in a statement
to the Boston Globe, “The package design and appearance are wholly
different from Cracker Jack to ensure there is no confusion among consumers.”

A little Cracker Jack history:

1919 ad with Sailor Jack and his Dog “Bingo”

Frederick William Rueckheim and his brother Louis mass-produced an
early version of Cracker Jack and sold it at the first Chicago World’s
Fair in 1893. The mixture of popcorn, molasses, and peanuts was then 
called "Candied Popcorn and Peanuts". The first lot of the confection
was produced in 1896 and received it’s new name when an enthusiastic
sampler remarked, “That’s crackerjack”, another word for “excellent”.

 
Frederick Rueckheim               Louis Rueckheim

Prizes were inserted in every box
beginning in 1912.

Film and television actor and director Clu Gulager is best noted for his
Co-starring as William H. Bonney (Billy The Kid) in the NBC-TV series
The Tall Man (1960-1962) and for his role in the NBC series The
Virginian (1962-1971). Gulager served in the U.S. Marine Corps
before beginning his acting career.