Weird shit in historic newspapers

The Last Post

2016-04-18T12:32:00.000-03:00

After seven years, I am ending work on my blog. It began in Saint John, New Brunswick, when I spent a St. Patrick's Day stone-cold sober and I needed something to do. I had been working at the public library, going through old mid-nineteenth century newspapers for a project. I thought of all the odd stories that were fun and could be used as a launching point for real historical discussions. Thus, the blog began.

I thought I would do it for a year. I knew I could only do it if I took a minimalist approach. There would be no long posts and no references or bibliography. Just a newspaper story and, if necessary, a short contextual note. It has been seven years and almost 1800 posts. A half a million people use my blog. It was adopted by a class in a communications course at a community college. I had the opportunity to do a weekly radio segment about the blog. For me, it was about making history interesting and accessible.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, wrote me an email, or reposted my Facebook or Twitter links to the blog.

Sincerely,

Peter L. Twohig

Don't Feed the Elephants

2016-04-18T09:02:00.003-03:00

An "unfortunate tramp" caught a ride on a circus train that included a "herd of elephants." The man began to feed one of the elephants some grass and, following upon this success, turned his attention to another elephant. However, the first elephant "either through hunger or jealousy" was upset and seized the man by his arm and broke it. The man was freed but, fearing that he was in trouble and "evidently under the influence of liquor," he disappeared before medical care could be provided. Source: New York Sun 12 August 1897

Ghost Dogs

2016-04-18T09:00:00.004-03:00

Spiritualism took many forms. There were the famous Fox Sisters of New York and the famous "Rochester Rappings" that helped to forge the spiritualist moment of the mid-19th century. Well-known author Arthur Conan Doyle, a member of the British Society for Psychical Research from the 1890s, began to give public lectures on spiritualism beginning in 1917. And, following his death in 1930, Lady Conan Doyle organized seances to contact him. No word yet from the other side, as far as I know.

The item below concerns ghost dogs. Well, why not? The story goes that a group of men (and a fox terrier) were sitting around the smoking room in a country house. No idea what they were smoking but they heard "heavy, shambling footsteps of an old dog and the jingle of his collar." When one of the men called to the old dog, he was informed that it had died. My favourite detail is that the "fox terrier bristled up, growled, and pursued the invisible across the carpet." Source: The Review (Drumheller, Alberta, Canada) 17 April 1914.

Bad Food, Bad Outcome

2016-04-18T08:58:00.002-03:00

In 1890, Samuel McCowan went to prison for the minor crime of being a "vagrant." McCowan was also reportedly a "bully" and he had the temerity to complain to the prison cook that his Christmas meal was "unpalatable." The cook to offence and the two men began to fight. McCowan was stabbed with a butcher knife and died. Source: Pittsburgh Dispatch 27 December 1890

Cocaine Fiend

2016-04-18T08:56:00.000-03:00

I have an interest in the prohibition of drugs, especially marijuana and cocaine at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I routinely show "Reefer Madness" and the lesser known films "Cocaine Fiend" and "Sex Fiend" in my classes. While there is no question that concern over drugs reached a fevered pitch in America and Canada in these years, there is also the human cost of drug use which exacts an unfortunate toll on some individuals. (Of course, such examples are often used to justify wide-scale and broad measures that are wildly out of proportion with the issue, or miss it entirely -- remember Reagan's War on Drugs?). Below is a remarkably frank obituary of 32-year-old Kitty Davis. Source: San Antonio Daily Light 19 July 1898.

Women's Hockey

2016-04-14T10:58:00.000-03:00

In 1990, the first IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship was held in Ottawa, Canada. Team Canada won gold that year and the American team captured the silver. Indeed, these are the only teams to ever win gold or silver at the women's hockey championship. The story below is about the American team, which was created after 300 women answered an open tryout call for the national team. Source: Observer-Reporter (Washington, Pennsylvania) 18 March 1990

Community Mailboxes

2016-04-13T09:14:00.000-03:00

Community mailboxes are a contentious topic in Canada. In December 2013, Canada post announced that it would terminate door-to-door delivery in urban areas. Through 2014, home mail delivery was indeed suspended in many areas (including some in my area, although I did not have mail delivery to my house). Communities resisted the change, as did the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), one of the most interesting unions in Canada (see, for example, My Union, My Life by Jean-Claude Parrot). The plan was terminated in October 2015 and door-to-door delivery continues, though neighbourhoods transitioned to the community boxes did not have their former service restored.

Of course, rural Canadians in many areas had long experience with their old "green boxes" where areas residents would pick up their mail. The article below describes the introduction of some of the first "super" mailboxes to urban areas. Source: Victoria Times-Colonist 22 October 1986

Extreme Smoking Cessation

2016-04-12T08:40:00.003-03:00

A man in Springfield, Missouri, chained himself to his sofa for three weeks in an effort to quit smoking. He celebrated by having dinner with friends and then running a few kilometres. Source: Vancouver Province 1 August 1989

Hex Your Boss

2016-04-11T11:22:00.000-03:00

Earnest Bratton, also known as Dr. Buzzard, was "born with magical powers and perfected them with the help of ghostly visions." But with a couple of coins, some black cat oil and an incantation over a grave, plus $1200 in cash, he could he can put a hex on your boss and take care of your problems. Really, would you want to go to a someone named "Dr Buzzard"? Source: Vancouver Province 1 August 1989

Snakes on a Train

2016-04-11T10:44:00.001-03:00

A couple of mail clerks met a 42-inch black snake that "crawled out of a mail bag and showed fight." The snake was in a six-inch square box that was addressed to a "Miss Smith". Source: New York Sun 7 May 1889

Monsters and Aliens in Venezuela

2016-04-11T09:34:00.000-03:00

Guyana and Venezuela have some stunning geological formations. The best way to describe these are as table-top mountains. Indigenous people call them tepui, which among the Pemon people, means "house of the gods." In 1975, an expedition ventured into the Autana cerro (a smaller tepui is called a cerro, which means mountain or tower) in Venezuela to search for "a man-like monster who descends at night, seeking unwary humans to feed itself ..." As if this was not enough, the "tower and cave are so unusual that some people have speculated that there may be proof there of visitation of our planet by beings from other worlds." This is quite a famous rock formation and inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's depiction of the landscape in The Lost World. The best way to describe these are as table-top mountains. Indigenous people call them tepui, which among the Pemon people, means "house of the gods." Sounds like a case for the good folks over at the X-files or Ancient Aliens.

Source: Vancouver Province 2 December 1975

Poker Stars

2016-04-03T12:36:00.001-03:00

Police in Beijing were concerned that poker "is fast superseding other forms of gambling" in that city and "is likely to upset the morals of the Chinese." In response, they banned the sale of cards and instructions on how to play. Source: Evening World (New York) 3 April 1916

Wagon Wheels

2016-03-30T07:56:00.000-03:00

A man was fixing a wagon in 1907 when he kicked at a rod which was, unfortunately, rusty. He contracted blood poisoning and had to have his foot amputated. His condition worsened and he died, leaving a wife and four children. And, presumably, a repaired wagon. Source: Logan Republican (Utah) 21 September 1907

Grow Hair

2016-03-29T13:58:00.001-03:00

A mixture of oil of mace and alcohol "rubbed upon the bald spots three times a day should induce hair to appear again. Friction is invaluable." Source: Washington Herald 28 October 1913

This Bug is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

2016-03-28T12:15:00.001-03:00

This happened to me but it was an exotic-looking spider. In 1889, a man was unpacking some bananas when a scorpion bit him. Source: Evening World (New York) 22 June 1880

Youthful Toughs

2016-03-28T12:07:00.001-03:00

In Valparaiso, some "youthful toughs" were angry when another boy tore the cover off the ball they were playing with. The boys tracked him down a few days later "tied his head between his legs and brutally beat and kicked him until he was unconscious." The assaulted boy, who was ten, died a few days later. Source: Salt Lake City Herald 31 March 1894

Bizarre Account of Lake Monster

2016-03-28T09:01:00.001-03:00

An eyewitness account of the Bear Lake monster in Utah. Accounts of this creature go back to the late 1800s and the most recent one that I could find was in 2004. The account comes from Aquilla ("Quil") Nebeker, who was a prominent citizen. Nebeker highlighted that the original account (you can read it here: http://historicnews.blogspot.ca/2013/08/bear-lake-monster.html) was probably exaggerated. But Nebeker was sure that there was a "terrible monster, easily fifty feet long, fifteen feet high, and covered with scales like armour plate." He added that there were "countless arms and legs, and the two that extended from the rear of the head were shaped like grappling hooks."

Nebeker claimed to sooth the animal with music, playing "that incomparable tune "Home, Sweet Home" and as its strains floated out on the midnight air, I noticed that the monster halted, then stopped." Incredibly, the animal used its weird appendages, which included "something like a lyre" at the the end of its tails and "several hands or feet" to play "an accompaniment to that grand old tune." The animal was then overcome with emotion and floated away on a river of tears.

So there you have it. Quite a tale. Source: Logan Republican (Utah) 21 September 1907

Parisian Pickpockets

2016-03-21T11:59:00.000-03:00

A report that pickpockets in Paris grew in number from only fifty in the late 1700s to almost 4000 by the 1890s. The article also claimed that most of the light-fingered gentry "have been trained in Great Britain" and that it was "a profession as firmly established as carpentering or bricklaying ..." Source: San Francisco Call 21 December 1890

Policewoman

2016-03-20T10:06:00.000-03:00

A story about policewomen in Washington, D.C., from 1920. Not surprisingly, the focus was on the "erring girl" and a description of the "average man" as "the girl's natural enemy ..." Source: Washington Times 22 March 1920

New York Baseball History

2016-03-19T11:03:00.000-03:00

A great piece of baseball history. When the 1888 baseball season, the New York Giants were about to be evicted from their original polo grounds north of Central Park. They needed a new place to play, and quickly built the facility described below. The new field was on the northern edge of Manhattan Island, nestled near the Harlem River. Fortunately, the area was also served by the New York and Northern elevated railway. The field only hosted the major leagues for a few years before being abandoned in favour of the "New" Polo Grounds. Source: New York World 22 June 1889

Let It Rain

2016-03-18T10:08:00.001-03:00

In 1894, the American government announced that its "rainmaking experiments" were a failure. Source: Salt Lake Herald 31 March 1894

Ice Skates 1886

2016-03-14T22:46:00.000-03:00

Advertisement for "Crescent Lever Club Ice Skates". Not a very catchy name. Source: The Sporting News 4 December 1886

Pitchfork Duel

2016-03-14T09:32:00.002-03:00

In Richmond, Virginia, two hired hands had a disagreement "about a woman to whom both were paying attention." The men tried to settle it through a "free Virginia fist fight" and, when that did not resolve things, they initiated a duel with pitchforks. This account, from the National Police Gazette, does not say how the duel ended. But another account noted that the fight ended when Bob plunged his pitchfork in the Dick Knock's chest. Knock was expected to die from the wound. Source: National Police Gazette 20 December 1879

Ghost Hunter

2016-03-13T10:02:00.000-03:00

In the 1920s, there were still those who considered ghost-hunting to be a legitimate enterprise. William Bryson was described as the "amateur ghost chaser of the District, who allows that since he first started studying the habits and mannerisms of spooks, five years ago, he has been visted [sic] by twenty assorted ghosts, all of whom turned out with one exception to be first rate chaps."

The article opens by noting that Antigonish, Nova Scotia's famous ghost "apparently has gone on a strike since the arrival of scientists and curiosity seekers." I have a few posts that reference the famous Antigonish ghost on the blog. See:
http://historicnews.blogspot.ca/2016/02/who-you-gonna-call.html
http://historicnews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/paranormal-activity-in-nova-scotia.html
http://historicnews.blogspot.ca/2013/09/flaming-spook-is-girl-psychic.html

Source: New York Herald 12 March 1922

Flapper Parking Flap, 1922

2016-03-10T11:31:00.001-04:00

New traffic regulations in Washington "will not permit one to occupy the comfortable seat of an automobile parked downtown and claim exemption from the thirty-minute parking rule." It seemed that "flappers" (men and women), were pulling up in their fancy "sport-model pleasure wagons" and occupying the "spaces along the curbs in the congested sections of the city." Washington clarified the rule that parking started when the car stops by the curb after a "complaint of business men that the powdered and painted new generation was driving away customers ..." Source: Washington Herald 2 May 1922