The Mystery of Mrs. Calabash

Jimmy Durante, a legendary vaudevillian, ended every appearance with “Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.”

So just who was Mrs. Calabash?

The legends say that it might be any one of three different women, although Durante gave a direct and definitive explanation near the end of his storied life, but every version of the story agrees that it derives from Durante’s visit to the charming town of Calabash, North Carolina, which bills itself as “The Seafood Capital of the World.”