Paul Newman Dead at 83

Sep 27

“Peanuts” Animator Bill Melendez Dies at 91

Mourners have difficulty understanding sermon at funeral because minister’s voice sounded like a muted trombone

Sep 4

Dead at 68: Don LaFontaine, Iconic Voice of Movie Trailers, Famous for Intoning “In a World . . .”

On his deathbed, Lafontaine saw his life flash before his eyes – and was surprised it included footage that didn’t make it into the finished product.

Sep 3

Correction of Story From Last Week: Dead at 89, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was Russian Dissident, Not Russian Disinfectant as Previously Reported

Aug 15

Seriously Ill Mr. Blackwell Names “Worst Dressed” of the Year

Aug 8

Inventor of Apple Pie Dead at 86

PITTSBURGH, PA - Noah Swayne was a man of multi-faceted accomplishments but the one thing he could not do was bake. “It’s one of history’s great ironies that a man who could not bake is responsible for the quitessential American dessert, apple pie,” said President Bush in a statement released shortly after Mr. Swayne’s death yesterday at 86.

“He loved apples, and he loved pie, and one day he said, ‘I’m going to combine the two,’” explained his widow, Velveeta Lugosi-Swayne. “We all thought he’d flipped. But Noah had a vision, and he went after it.”

Read more

Jun 6

  • About Carbolic

    “One of America’s great web sites.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

    “The city’s equivalent of The Onion.” - The New York Times

    Carbolic on Air

    The Carbolic Smoke Ball Report airs every Friday — mornings with Jim Krenn and Randy Baumann, afternoons with Sean McDowell — on Pittsburgh’s top-rated radio station, 102.5 WDVE. Listen to the broadcasts here, and sample the archives here.


    Carbolic in Print

    The Carbolic Smoke Ball Page publishes every Monday in the Trib p.m., the afternoon edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Read this week's copy here, and browse our archives here.


    Contact Carbolic

    thecarbolicsmokeball@gmail.com

    Carbolic Smoke Ball Staff

    Tim Murray, Founder/Editor-in-Chief
    Bob Haas, Editor
    Chad Hermann, Editorial Director
    • • •
    Sean Cannon, Ace Reporter
    Neal Rosenblat, Writer/Designer
    Todd Shaffer, Staff Writer
    • • •
    Timothy Stefko, Illustrator
    The Voice, Radio Correspondent
    The Mayor, Radio Personality
    • • •
    The Hon. Judge Rufus Peckham, Founder Emeritus

    Carbolic Wear


    Carbolic WDVE Podcast