Our Tent was established in August, 2006 -- "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow"

Our original website was established on Apr. 25, 2000 and was last updated on Sun., Nov. 8, 2009 (see below)

"[Oliver Hardy played] in short comic film subjects produced by a company based in, of all places, Jacksonville, Florida." -- Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor, Make 'em Laugh: The Funny Business of America

"I think 'SpongeBob' is born out of my love of Laurel and Hardy shorts. You've got that kind of idiot-buddy situation - that was a huge influence. SpongeBob was inspired by that kind of character: the Innocent - a la Stan Laurel." -- Steve Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants

Once a month for the past three years, my Tent has screened Laurel & Hardy comedy films for free to the general public at a local library. Until this month, I have screened the movies on Monday evenings, where we have gotten a small but regular group of attendees. However, I've recently gotten a new job which takes up my weeknights, so I was forced to switch my meeting day to Saturday afternoons. On Nov. 7, I held my first Sat. Tent meeting and unfortunately got zero attendees, the first time this has ever occurred with my Tent.

If this unfortunate trend continues, I will be forced to shut down the Tent after the Jan. or Feb. 2010 meeting. I really do not want to do that. These comedy films meant a great deal to me when I was a child, and showing these movies for free (as a member of the L&H Society) means a lot to me and especially to my young son (who assists me at the meetings). I feel that the Tent is my way of "paying forward" my love of Laurel & Hardy's comedy.

To those who have regularly attended and/or publicized my Tent's monthly meetings, I thank you for your continued support. To everyone, I ask that if you have any designated space -- a publication, a blog, etc. -- in which you can promote my Tent, esp. in the Jacksonville area, I would greatly appreciate it. I have no advertising budget of any kind to promote this Tent. But I have to think that fans of old-time comedy; people looking for free, family-oriented entertainment; and even Jacksonville film historians (Oliver Hardy made his first movies in Jacksonville) would provide enough of a base to make publicizing this Tent worthwhile.

Our Tent's next meeting is on Sat., Dec. 12, 2009. (Click here for more info about the meetings.) If you know of anyone in the Jacksonville area who would be interested, please encourage him or her to attend this and all future meetings. Thank you for your time and help.

-- Steve Bailey, Grand Sheik

Welcome to our Laurel & Hardy website. Click on the appropriate button below to go to our site's many L&H-related features. Why, nothing could be simpler!

Our beau hunks have been visited by native Swede guides

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Special thanks to Tent member Carroll Hebbel for his creation of our Tent's logo (shown at above left), and to John Brennan of Laurel and Hardy Central for his invaluable contributions.

Why, that's neither pig nor pork - That's a link!

A terrific, British-based discussion group for all things L&H! If you're a buff, prepare to spend several hours posting your opinions on a wide range of Stan-and-Ollie-related topics!

The Leave 'em Laughing Page has been dubbed an "official friend" of Laurel and Hardy Central, and we couldn't be prouder! Stuffed to the margins with insightful reviews and great tributes to The Boys, there's truly "everything from soup to nuts" at this site! Click on the logo to visit! (Also, click here to visit L&H Central's subsidiary website, "Stuff You Gotta Watch.")

If you are ever in the Jacksonville Beach, FL., area, visit or stay at the beautiful Casa Marina Hotel. Opened in 1925 one block from the Atlantic Ocean, its guests have included movie greats such as Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton. Click on the photo at left to visit the hotel's website.

Other entertainment websites from our Grand Sheik:

Great Expectorations Our webmaster Steve Bailey's playlet scripts and short stories.
Salty Steve's Popeye Page Reviews of the 1933-1938 Popeye cartoons recently released on DVD.
Buster Keaton's Classic 30 Reviews of Keaton's great 1920-1928 comedies.
The Marx Bros. in "A Day on the Internet" Reviews of Marx Bros. movies.
Yahoo! Group: Coal Black an de Sebben Dwarfs A tribute to one of the most politically incorrect cartoons ever, complete with a downloadable version of same.
Gilligan's Id The webmaster's attempted Freudian explanation of the TV series "Gilligan's Island."
Sit On My Monty Python Website Reviews and random thoughts about the British comedy troupe.
Steve Bailey's Lost in America Page A tribute to Albert Brooks' classic 1985 comedy.
"Atomic Shakespeare" and Other Moonlighting Minutia Devoted to the most famous episode of the 1980's TV series.
It's All Too Much A song-by-song analysis of The Beatles' recorded music.