No. 330
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
October 17, 2016
A Scene not on the Bills.
Actor Ricardo’s bluff jump from the stage to the audience at the Grand Opera House, Columbus, Ohio.
October 17, 2016
alias: NIGGER BAKER
PICKPOCKET, BURGLAR
Via Newspapers.com Here is just one of those minor little oddities that help keep life on this earth from getting too dull. The “Boston Globe,” December 17, 1928:SANTA BARBARA, Calif, Dec 16 (A.P.) -There may be sermons in stones and books in the running brooks, but it was left for a Santa Barbara woman to reveal today that there is a Schubert melody in a pan of boiling vegetables.&
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Strange Company - 4/22/2026
Fractional house numbers can be found across New York’s older brownstone and townhouse neighborhoods. Usually the half refers to an adjacent carriage house or backhouse, or sometimes even a basement apartment. But as far as I can tell, this is the only 3/4 fractional on a Gotham doorway or entryway. It’s at 184 3/4 West […]
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Ephemeral New York - 4/20/2026
"As his son I am proud of hisefforts to succeed in life"Jefferson Randolph Smith IIIArtifact #93-2Jeff Smith collection(Click image to enlarge)
oapy's son hires a legal firm to stop the defamation of his father's name.
At age 30, Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Soapy and Mary's oldest son, was protecting his father's legacy and his mother's reputation from "libel" and scandal. He was also
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025
Via Newspapers.com Here is just one of those minor little oddities that help keep life on this earth from getting too dull. The “Boston Globe,” December 17, 1928:SANTA BARBARA, Calif, Dec 16 (A.P.) -There may be sermons in stones and books in the running brooks, but it was left for a Santa Barbara woman to reveal today that there is a Schubert melody in a pan of boiling vegetables.&
More...
Strange Company - 4/22/2026
Whatever you believe about the guilt or innocence of Lizzie Borden, I have always believed film makers do a great injustice to the story by not beginning at the beginning- the death on March 26, 1863 of the first Mrs. Borden. In the dying moments of Sarah Morse, Emma takes on the weight of the care of her little sister, not yet three years old. Emma herself was just 12 on March 1st. Emma has seen her mother suffer for a long time, seen her pain and loss of little Alice Esther. Emma is old enough
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 3/26/2026
"As his son I am proud of hisefforts to succeed in life"Jefferson Randolph Smith IIIArtifact #93-2Jeff Smith collection(Click image to enlarge)
oapy's son hires a legal firm to stop the defamation of his father's name.
At age 30, Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Soapy and Mary's oldest son, was protecting his father's legacy and his mother's reputation from "libel" and scandal. He was also
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025
(New York Journal, May 31, 1896.)On the
morning of Memorial Day, May 30, 1896, Mrs. Annie Cunningham had to go to work,
while her 13-year-old daughter, Mary (known as Mamie), was home from school for
the holiday. Mrs. Cunningham asked Mamie if she planned to go to the parade.
Mamie said no, she wasn’t interested, and she planned to do housework and
study. At 8:30, she said goodbye to her daughter
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Murder By Gaslight - 4/18/2026
Fractional house numbers can be found across New York’s older brownstone and townhouse neighborhoods. Usually the half refers to an adjacent carriage house or backhouse, or sometimes even a basement apartment. But as far as I can tell, this is the only 3/4 fractional on a Gotham doorway or entryway. It’s at 184 3/4 West […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 4/20/2026
Whatever you believe about the guilt or innocence of Lizzie Borden, I have always believed film makers do a great injustice to the story by not beginning at the beginning- the death on March 26, 1863 of the first Mrs. Borden. In the dying moments of Sarah Morse, Emma takes on the weight of the care of her little sister, not yet three years old. Emma herself was just 12 on March 1st. Emma has seen her mother suffer for a long time, seen her pain and loss of little Alice Esther. Emma is old enough
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 3/26/2026
A scene not down on the bills took place recently at the Grand Opera House, Columbus, O., during the performance of Hanlon’s “New Fantasma.” In the last act Mr. Roccardi, one of the performers makes an attempt to jump from the stage into the audience. By means of a wire attached to his body he is raised by a pulley and jerked back by men behind the scenes. While attempting the act this night the wire broke while Roccardi was in the air, and, clearing the heads of members of the orchestra, he landed among the occupants of the first two rows in the parquet chairs, causing a shout of horror to go up from the audience. No one was seriously hurt, Roccardi escaping with a sprained ankle.The Bloody Century 2
Takes the reader back to 19th-century America in all its gory glory.
