No. 649
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
September 13, 2022

Saloons and Houses of Ill-Fame.

Buffalo, New York, May 1893.
September 13, 2022
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Tag: Boston

Grand Panoramic View

Of The East Side of Washington Street, Boston.

4/4/2023

A Female Gambling House in Boston.

They call it the "retreat" because of its charming privacy and apparent obscurity.

5/31/2022

A Charming Female Vaccinator.

Young gentlemen of Boston submitting their arms to a charming female vaccinator.

8/30/2021

His Mouth Full of Ivory.

A billiard ball stuck in a man's mouth - the mishap of an idiot at the Adams House in Boston.

5/4/2021

The Merry Wives of Boston.

Such is Boston morality and such is woman's fidelity.

1/5/2021

Ringling Bros.' World's Greatest Shows!

First Time Here of the Amusement Colossus of the West.

10/29/2018

A Human Rat Eater.

An employee of the Boston Gas Works boasted his ability to kill a rat with his teeth.

8/14/2017

Wicked Victorian Boston.

Wicked Victorian Boston, a new book by Robert Wilhelm.

7/31/2017

Caught Helping Themselves.

Boston detectives arrest two stylishly-dressed women while in the act of the shoplifting game.

1/9/2017

A Winter Scene.

Winter Pastime – A Skating Scene.

1/25/2016

“For Members Only.”

11/10/2014

Society Unveiled.

2/3/2014

She Had a High Old Time.

8/13/2013

Baseball Animals.

Cigarette cards, 1880s, 1890s

5/14/2013

Philanthropist or “Moral Leper?”

4/30/2013

Burglary Tools.

2/11/2013

John L. Sullivan Saved by a Neck.

11/6/2012

Female Tobacco Chewers.

What a Correspondent Asserts Regarding a Boston Girl.

7/10/2012

The Female Marine

12/27/2011

The Swindling Beggar

7/11/2011
Via Newspapers.comAn example of that Fortean favorite, mysterious showers of stones, appeared in the (Brisbane, Australia) “Courier-Mail” on February 3, 1923:The police are engaged in investigating a series of mysterious happenings in Albert Square.    About 8 o'clock last night Miss Billie Macdonald was engaged in putting some soda into a lemon squash in the Tivoli Cafe, of which her
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Strange Company - 11/11/2026
  [Editor’s note: Guest writer, Peter Dickson, lives in West Sussex, England and has been working with microfilm copies of The Duncan Campbell Papers from the State Library of NSW, Sydney, Australia. The following are some of his analyses of what he has discovered from reading these papers. Dickson has contributed many transcriptions to the Jamaica […]
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Early American Crime - 2/7/2019
"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
(Illustrated Police News, Feb. 15. 1879)Molly McGlew (aka Mary McGlew) and her friend Ada McLaughlin stood on South Street in Indianapolis on the night of September 19, 1878, when Louis Guetig approached them. Molly had recently broken up with Louis, and she was not happy to see him. She worked as a dining room girl at the Spencer House hotel where Louis Guetig was the night clerk.  He was
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Murder By Gaslight - 11/7/2026
Youth With Executioner by Nuremberg native Albrecht Dürer … although it’s dated to 1493, which was during a period of several years when Dürer worked abroad. November 13 [1617]. Burnt alive here a miller of Manberna, who however was lately … Continue reading →
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Executed Today - 11/13/2020
Interior of a Pullman Parlour Car. | A Miners' Racket.

Saloons and Houses of Ill-Fame.

houses of ill repute

Buffalo, New York, May 1893 – Though it would seem to be a conflict of interest, The Christian Homestead Association produced this map of the Canal District in 1893, showing the locations of 75 houses of ill-fame, 108 saloons, 19 “free theatre saloons” and 76 more mundane retail establishments. The Erie Canal, which brought growth and prosperity to Buffalo, also brought neighborhoods like this one, and the clientele to keep them thriving. It is uncertain exactly why the CHA would create a map like this, but it must have been helpful to someone.


Source:

Grosvenor Rare Book Room