No. 187
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
January 20, 2014
alias: GENTLEMAN GEORGE
MASKED BURGLAR
I always thought it was a gag helped along by trick camera work. In 1977’s Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, attributes his nervous personality to having grown up in a house “underneath the roller coaster in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn.” Turns out there really was such a house—not under the Cyclone […]
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Ephemeral New York - 6/29/2026
Welcome to this week's Link Dump! Our hosts for this Friday are Goldie and Brownie!Because why not.A plague outbreak from over 5,000 years ago.A case of explosive revenge.A medieval communication network.How angry fishermen saved the American Revolution.A remarkable amber pendant.The liver-eating cannibal of the Old West.Catherine Crowe's ghost hunt.That time when humans nearly became
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Strange Company - 6/26/2026
"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
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025
I always thought it was a gag helped along by trick camera work. In 1977’s Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, attributes his nervous personality to having grown up in a house “underneath the roller coaster in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn.” Turns out there really was such a house—not under the Cyclone […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 6/29/2026
Be sure to stop by our Facebook page tomorrow for a Prosecution Marathon of witnesses. Here are the witnesses for Wednesday, June 14th, Day 9 Rufus Hilliard, City Marshal, Mayor John Coughlin, Mrs. Hannah Gifford (seamstress and dressmaker), Anna Borden ( wealthy socialite who was on Lizzie’s grand tour of Europe, distantly related to Lizzie), Lucy Collett (watching the office of Dr. Chagnon day of the murder), Thomas Bowles ( handyman who once rented a room from Addie Churchill and was wa
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 6/13/2026
"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
Charles Kaiser conspired with Lizzie DeKalb to murder his wife for insurance. When the plot was uncovered and the murderers tried, both claimed that they acted under the hypnotic power of James Clemmer, the insurance agent who conceived the plan.Read the full story here: The Kaiser Conspiracy.
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Murder By Gaslight - 6/27/2026
Welcome to this week's Link Dump! Our hosts for this Friday are Goldie and Brownie!Because why not.A plague outbreak from over 5,000 years ago.A case of explosive revenge.A medieval communication network.How angry fishermen saved the American Revolution.A remarkable amber pendant.The liver-eating cannibal of the Old West.Catherine Crowe's ghost hunt.That time when humans nearly became
More...
Strange Company - 6/26/2026
Be sure to stop by our Facebook page tomorrow for a Prosecution Marathon of witnesses. Here are the witnesses for Wednesday, June 14th, Day 9 Rufus Hilliard, City Marshal, Mayor John Coughlin, Mrs. Hannah Gifford (seamstress and dressmaker), Anna Borden ( wealthy socialite who was on Lizzie’s grand tour of Europe, distantly related to Lizzie), Lucy Collett (watching the office of Dr. Chagnon day of the murder), Thomas Bowles ( handyman who once rented a room from Addie Churchill and was wa
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 6/13/2026
The Bloody Century 2
Takes the reader back to 19th-century America in all its gory glory.
