Crime
The gunman who wasn’t there
"Oakland police spent two hours last night trying to convince a mentally disturbed gunman holed up in his apartment to surrender—only to discover that he was standing next to them helping to direct the police."
San Francisco Examiner - June 16, 1974
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 27, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Crime, 1970s
Tarantula security guards
In the mid-1970s, there was a fad among jewelry stores to use tarantulas as security guards. Stores claimed it helped prevent thefts, although tarantulas aren't going to do much to stop a thief, besides looking scary. Rattlesnakes, I imagine, might work better.
La Crosse Tribune - July 19, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 08, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Crime, Insects and Spiders, 1970s
Family Feud
Source.More on the Dyotts, here and here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 27, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Crime, Family, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nineteenth Century
The Dangerous Sports Club at the Golden Gate Bridge
Article source.
Their Wikipedia page.
Article about other bungee-ers at the bridge.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 18, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Architecture, Crime, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century
Bewitched by a sandwich
Compelling excuse. Back in 1947, when police apprehended 18-year-old Raymond Adame as he was attempting to kidnap Celina Jarmillo, he explained, "Last April she made me a sandwich of potatoes, beans, and macaroni, and according to our legend she bewitched me... I couldn't get out of her spell."
Vancouver Sun - Nov 7, 1947
Celina Jarmillo
Raymond Adame
source: Los Angeles Public Library
A follow-up report, from January 1948, noted that Adame was, in the end, only charged with assault rather than kidnapping. And it revealed that the bewitching sandwich had also included "fish eyes".
Does that literally mean eyes from fish, or is "fish eyes" a term for some less disgusting type of food?
Arizona Daily Star - Jan 9, 1948
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 29, 2019 -
Comments (5)
Category: Crime, Food, 1940s
Juvenile Offender
Throw the book at her!Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 21, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Crime, Toys, Children, 1930s, Postal Services
Jackson Barnett, “The World’s Richest Indian”
From Wikipedia:
With the discovery of oil on Barnett's lands in 1912, a series of court actions by interested parties litigated the control of Barnett's trust. Barnett was declared incompetent and denied access to his affairs simply because he only spoke the Muscogee Creek language and not English. Barnett was permitted a modest income and was installed in a house near Henryetta. In 1919 the courts allowed the diversion of money from Barnett's trust to the construction of the "Jackson Barnett Hospital" in Henryetta. In 1920 Barnett, then in his seventies, married Anna Laura Lowe (1881-1952), a fortune hunter whom he had met only once before. The couple had to marry in Kansas after a marriage license was denied in Oklahoma. Barnett's guardians were unable to annul the marriage and the hospital plans were never pursued. Instead, the trust was divided between Anna Barnett and Bacone Indian College.[3]
The Barnetts moved to Los Angeles and bought a mansion on Wilshire Boulevard, where Jackson passed his time directing traffic at a nearby intersection. Legal actions continued from 1923 to 1929, which provoked congressional hearings on the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in establishing and administering the Barnett trust and others like it. The hearings led to criticism of BIA administrator Charles H. Burke's actions, and during the 1930s, to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. In 1927 Barnett v. Equitable again proclaimed Jackson Barnett incompetent in federal court. In March 1934 another federal ruling annulled the Barnetts' marriage and Anna Barnett's rights to Jackson's trust on the grounds that Jackson had been "kidnapped" by a woman of suspect moral character, but allowed Anna to act as Jackson's caretaker. Jackson Barnett died on 29 May 1934 of natural causes: allegations that Anna had poisoned him were found to be false.[3][4]
Anna was finally evicted from the Wilshire Boulevard residence after four years, even though she had gained significant support from Los Angeles society,[5] including Los Angeles District Attorney Burton Fitts and California Governor Frank Merriam. Anna had to be tear-gassed after she threw a hatchet during the eviction,[5] and lived the remainder of her life with a daughter while unsuccessfully attempting to regain a share of the Barnett estate, which amounted to $3.5 million in 1934 ($55.4 million estimated value in 2012 dollars).
Source.
Lots more info here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 10, 2019 -
Comments (0)
Category: Crime, Unauthorized Dwellings, Forgotten Figures and Where Are They Now?, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Government, Hospitals, Twentieth Century, Native Americans, Weddings
The Devil’s Toy
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 25, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Crime, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Fads, Sports, Teenagers, 1960s
Black Samson
The Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 28, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Crime, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Exploitation and Grindhouse, 1970s
How to catch a shoplifter
Some tips, according to Dick Deal, professional shoplifter:"Watch people’s hands. We steal with them! Don’t let their hands out of your sight."
Also, "Watch for the dance, the almost ritualistic dance. The strange movements [shoplifters] make."
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 27, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, 1980s
| Who We Are |
|---|
| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |