No. 547
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
October 27, 2020

Pedal Advertising.

How two Dizzy Girls Advertised Their Charms and Political Faith.
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October 27, 2020
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Tag: Burglary

"Burglar Proof" is all Buncombe.

These implements, with nitro-glycerine and a little horse sense, can open any safe - How the up-to-date burglar keeps a little ahead of the safe builder.

8/17/2021

Left His Digits as Souvenirs.

The Misses Franklin, of Glenn Falls, Conn., armed with pistol and axe, put a burglar to flight minus two fingers.

12/12/2016

“For Members Only.”

11/10/2014

Burglars on Bicycles.

Burglars in Massachusetts utilize the flying wheels in their midnight depredations.

12/31/2013

It Was a "She."

7/9/2013

Burglary Tools.

2/11/2013
ALBERT CROPSEY
alias: WILLIAMS
HOTEL THIEF

Weekend Link Dump

 Welcome to this week's Link Dump!And greetings from the Strange Company mail room!A teenager who died in the American Revolution has finally been identified.An ancient Roman fossil collector.The strange case of the "Leavenworth Look-Alikes."The legend of what may have been the first underwater tunnel.Casual snapshots of the Romanovs.The strange case of the Beale Ciphers.A diplomat's widow
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Strange Company - 7/17/2026

Artifact #93: Soapy's son, hires attorney to stop the slurring of his father's name.

"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
Amen.

The mystery of the First Avenue tenement that had its top four floors sheared off

The first things I noticed about 2029 First Avenue were the decorative lintels above the second floor windows. Attractively styled for window lintels on upper First Avenue, I figured this stubby holdout wedged beside two brick buildings between East 104th and 105th Streets must have been a former stable. I imagined that those roll-down window […]
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Ephemeral New York - 7/13/2026

1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last

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

The Tell-tale Skull.

(Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29, 1895.)Johanna Gahan married Jimmy Logue, a professional thief, in 1871, just as he was preparing to serve a seven-year prison sentence for burglary. She waited for him, and after his release, Jimmy bought a house for them in Philadelphia. Within a year, Jimmy was off on a “thieving expedition” to Boston. When he returned, Johanna was gone. Those who knew Jimmy
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Murder By Gaslight - 7/18/2026
On the Russians.

Countdown to the Crime

Join us on our Facebook page as we begin counting down the days to August 4th and all of the events leading up to the day. https://www.facebook.com/lizziebordenwarpsandwefts
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 7/7/2026

Convicts to Maryland, 1773 by Peter Dickson

  [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
Hand in Glove. | A New Gag.

Pedal Advertising.

Pedal Advertising

How two Dizzy Girls Advertised Their Charms and Political Faith.

It has been said that the American people are the most original in the world in the invention of new styles of advertising. And facts will go far to prove this assertion. During a recent political demonstration in this city, a couple of Cyprians took advantage of the crowd to advertise their political faith and charms in a quite original way. During the passage of the processions, they stuck their pedal extremities from the window of the residence and held a rival banner of each of the candidates now before the people for president. Their little device for notoriety was successful from every point of view.

National Police Gazette, October 9, 1880.

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