Comments on: Even The Good Old Days Had Bad News

Even The Good Old Days Had Bad News

jonp72 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:06:17 -0800

The Hope Chest: Bad News from the Past is a new blog of old newspaper clippings, mostly from Detroit and Chicago in the 1930s, with true crime and other bizarre stories. Examples include Tries To Shoot A Cat And Hits Automobilist, Driver Loses His Arm Giving Traffic Signal, and Pastor Writes Spicy Book. Other highlights are a phony cop attacking a pornographer with acid and the teenage girl who became a tattooed atheist bandit.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:31:57 -0800

great link. I love the personalized reflective commentary the blogger appends - it's not a simple reposting of old microfilm, the blogger is interested in learning about the conventions of the reportage, about the culture of the time, etc.

By: eye of newt

eye of newt — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:02:32 -0800

There are quite a few articles of people getting away with murder under the 'unwritten law'--a kind of nebulous moral law that seemed to overrule the written law of the time (a western Sharia?).

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:37:56 -0800

Thank you for this. It brings me back to the days when I spent lots of time looking at microfilm and microfiche and gawking at the language and how society has evolved over a scant hundred years, and I would get really sucked in to the point where I didn't know hours had passed. (This was way back in ninety-aught-six, you see, before I got my first "graphical webbrowser"... now where did my tea go? Did it suddenly get cold in here?)

By: loquacious

loquacious — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:25:25 -0800

Ah, well, I only thought I was going to sleep.

By: patricio

patricio — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:13:04 -0800

excellent stuff, thanks! I agree that the commentary is pretty droll. $200 fine for hitting his wife with a poker?!

By: ElvisJesus

ElvisJesus — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:37:56 -0800

I almost passed this post over until I saw " teenage girl who became a tattooed atheist bandit". I especially like her leer. Man, is that a movie of the week waiting to be made or what? They need to get Courtney Love to star

By: scratch

scratch — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:29:56 -0800

Dorcas Bacon is my new hero. (jonp is second-banana hero for posting this)

By: JJ86

JJ86 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:39:31 -0800

Not quite as interesting as the Daily Mirror and hey here's a link to my site with similar ideas.

By: scarello

scarello — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:01:24 -0800

Anytime I see old articles like these, I can't help but wonder whatever became of these people. Especially the tattooed teenage girl; she seems like a character whose life either continued to be adventurous or ended badly.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:45:48 -0800

Original Source Documents get me hot. Thanks!