Al Capone, Taxes, and the Lost Marshal

Much has been written about Alphonse "Al" Capone, the massive underworld and Mafia figure from the 1920's and 1930's.

(1)

Finally arrested in 1931, the Internal Revenue Service pegged him on tax charges, not for his other generally recognized criminal activities.

(2)

However, have you heard of his older brother?

James "Two-Gun" Capone or also known as "Richard Hart"

Evidently departing the family in the early part of the 1900's, James adventured around the world in circuses, Europe, and Central America. He finally settled down in a little town in Nebraska called Homer and immediately began acquiring his reputation, not mentioning to the other people in town his storied family history back east.

He tried a variety of jobs and occupations, including Indian agent as well as a Prohibition agent and evidently was very successful.

Called "Two-Gun" in the October 1, 1951 issue of Newsweek, James Capone, aka: Richard Hart, was also described as "....a tough officer who would not take a bribe...." (3)

(4)

However, it seems in the later part of the 1930's, life turned for James and he appealed to his family back east for financial assistance. Ralph "Bottles" Capone transferred one of his properties over to him, providing income. As a result of this, the 1951 investigation of Ralph also brought to light James and his past.

Now, here is where history departs, and I leave it for you to decide what is the truth and what isn't. In the articles and magazines I have seen, James (Richard) is described as an upstanding, very effective lawman. However, other sources tell a different tale:

"Some of it was true...including fantasy service in World War I..." (5)

In any event, no matter what the outcome, it's a great story! I've provided some links and some interesting reading below that will help inform and perhaps entertain. I hope you enjoy it!

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!

Links:

Capone Brothers-Encyclopedia of Crime
Homer, Nebraska entry for James Capone
Mr. Capone
Wikipedia-James Capone
Wikipedia-Ralph Capone

Sources:
(1)DN-0081114, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society. (LOC)
(1)
(2)NARA-Search for Capone
(3)Newsweek, October 1, 1051, pg. 23
(4)LOC-Prints & Photographs Reading Room
(5)Google Book Search, Title: Mr. Capone, by Robert Schoenberg, pg. 350.

Popcorn? Check....Drink? Check.....Let's watch some movies!

Who doesn't like a movie?

Who doesn't like old movies?

Well, if you DO like old movies, then today I have a great link for you to check out! It includes shows like this:

Who needs CSI when you have Sgt. Friday?

Can't forget the cartoon short! Superman anyone????

Now for the main feature:

Want to watch movies like these for free? Forget iTunes for now. Just click over to the Internet Archive and explore for a while. With newsreels, cartoons, full-length movies and more, you can have a DIY movie night with your friends for no cost!

On a serious note, however, for historians and researchers, this site is invaluable for the documentation that it does hold. Trends, fads, costume, culture, these can all be viewed and incorporated into your research.

Plus, you'll have some fun as well.

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!


Links:

Internet Archive
Wikipedia entry-Internet Archive

Sources:

All pictures today courtesy the Internet Archive!

The Jungle, "Packingtown" and the great TR!

With all the uproar about product safety these days, it's interesting to note that in the early part of the 1900's, similar conditions existed here in the United States. In his book, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair was a primary force in pointing this out and arguing for changes in the industry--helping to spawn many of the food safety programs now used today. The National Archives, in their section, America's Historical Documents, posted out a copy of the letter from Sinclair to the then President, Theodore Roosevelt. Here's the letter outlining some of the conditions:

(1)

and

(2)

While it's important to know that The Jungle is a work of fiction, Upton Sinclair did quite a bit of research for the book. Here's a quote from the novel that caused quite an uproar:

"...For they had set him to cleaning out the traps; and the family

sat round and listened in wonder while he told them what that meant. It
seemed that he was working in the room where the men prepared the beef for canning, and the beef had lain in vats full of chemicals, and men with great forks speared it out and dumped it into trucks, to be taken
to the cooking room. When they had speared out all they could reach, they emptied the vat on the floor, and then with shovels scraped up the balance and dumped it into the truck. This floor was filthy, yet
they set Antanas with his mop slopping the "pickle" into a hole that connected with a sink, where it was caught and used over again forever; and if that were not enough, there was a trap in the pipe, where all the
scraps of meat and odds and ends of refuse were caught, and every few days it was the old man's task to clean these out, and shovel their contents into one of the trucks with the rest of the meat!..." (3)

(4)

The public was outraged! There were massive calls for changes in the industry. Says Wikipedia:

"..The morbidity of the working conditions as well as the exploitation of children and women alike that Sinclair exposed, showed the corruption taking place inside the meat packing factories. Foreign sales of American meat fell by one-half. In order to calm public outrage and demonstrate the cleanliness of their meat, the major meat packers lobbied the Federal government to pass legislation paying for additional inspection and certification of meat packaged in the United States. [2] Their efforts, coupled with the public outcry, led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration...."

(5)

Check the links below for more details and images. Just make sure you are not getting ready to eat lunch!


Have a great day, see you tomorrow!!!

Links:

The Jungle (Wikipedia)
The Jungle (Project Gutenberg-whole book)
America's Historical Documents
Library of Congress (keyword search will get the most results)


Sources:

(1)NARA
(2)NARA
(3)The Jungle-Project Gutenberg
(4)Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

(5)Wikipedia-The Jungle

From "Fatty" to York to Wrigley: The Chicago Daily News in the Depression Era

The Depression has always fascinated me from a historical point, because it seems to be a changing point in American history, almost a break with the past eras such as the Gilded Age or the Civil War. I was thinking about this when I stumbled across the Chicago Daily News section of the American Memory Project

(1)

There are some great resources here, including famous personalities. For example, here we have:

Alvin York
(2)

Roscoe Arbuckle
(3)

and many others!

I found out more about the paper as well, including the fact that it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize an astounding 13 times! An afternoon paper (I miss those), the Chicago Daily News was geared for the masses. This in contrast with the morning paper, the Chicago Tribune, which aimed for a higher class of readership and was the morning paper. Take a few minutes and explore some of the photographs. They are really neat and paint a picture, so to speak, of an America that no longer exists, for good or bad....you choose.

PS: Great photographs of Wrigley Field, just in case you are interested!!!

Have a great day, good weekend...and I've got to go shovel some snow now!


See you tomorrow!



Links:
Chicago Daily News (Wikipedia)
Chicago Daily News (LOC-American Memory Project)

Sources:
(1) DN-0009593, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society. (LOC)
(2)DN-0090082, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society. (LOC)
(3)DN-0072778, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society. (LOC)

1939 World's Fair: A look back at "The World of Tomorrow"

The year was 1939. Batman first appeared in the comics. The Grapes of Wrath was published. World War II began in the fall. It was also the year of:

(1)

The World's Fair!

(2)

or

"The World of Tomorrow"

(3)

Held in in New York's Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and themed "The World of Tomorrow," the event was open from April 1939 until the fall of 1940 and saw over 40 million visitors. Divided into various themes, technology, much like today, was emphasized as well as how life would change in the future. There was the electric farm and the biggie:

(4)

General Motors also included the Futurama exhibit, located in the Highways and Horizons Pavilion. Also included in this was the Westinghouse Time Capsule. More than just exhibits, there were things to do such as rides. One of the more famous ones was the Life Saver's Parachute Jump:

(5)

The links below are some of the best I have found for this resource. Take a few minutes and look them over. If you visit the archive.org site, please note the warning below for one of the films.

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!!!

Links:

World of Tomorrow

1939 World's Fair (Wikipedia)

Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century America

Futurama (Wikipedia)

Futurama (Archive.org) movie

Archive.org (home movies* of World's Fair)
*Note, some parts of this movie I previewed had some NSFW or family scenes. Please watch your kids. It was all in context though of the fair...seemed to be anyway. As this is a family friendly blog, I wasn't sure about posting this, but the rest of the film has some good crowd scenes, etc. thanks...Tony

Sources:
(1) American Memory Project
(2)American Memory Project-LOC Photographs Division
(3)Archive.org
(4)Archive.org
(5)American Memory Project-LOC Photographs Division

Let 'em Roar: Flying Tigers, Disney, Air America and the CIA.

(1)

The 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) is better known by their more popular title, The Flying Tigers. Organized in the early years of World War II, this group of volunteers fought with the Chinese against the Japanese invasion with a considerable amount of success. Although their fighter, the Curtiss P-40, was outclassed in dogfighting with the very agile Mitsubishi Zero, a change in tactics and approach to air combat somewhat evened the odds.

(2)

What you might not know about this unit, however, is the hidden history of the squadron insignia...the fact that it was designed by the Disney studios. Says Toons at War:

"...One interesting item of note is the fact a squadron of P-40 Flying Tigers fighters, (piloted by a group of American volunteer pilots who fought alongside Chinese Nationalist forces), is shown coming to the aid of Chesty and his friends. In real life, the insignia for the Flying Tigers was created by Disney artist Hank Porter..."

Source: (Toons At War)

(3)

FDR also played a primary role in the formation of the unit, personally stepping in and "borrowing" some P-40's that were bound for England, changing their destination to China under the lend-lease act. This unit also contained some famous volunteers. Included in this is Gregory "Pappy" Boyington of the famed VMF-214 fighter squadron, the "Black Sheep". In the later part of the war, the unit was gradually rolled into the regular United States forces and became part of the 14th Air Force.

Postwar, two interesting developments happened. The leader of the Flying Tigers, Chennault stayed in China and formed the Civil Air Transport, supporting the Chinese Nationalists in their struggle. Also known as the CAT, they became involved with the Central Intelligence Agency through the fifties and sixties, eventually becoming the unit known as Air America.

Another flying outfit organized from some of the pilots was the Flying Tigers Line, organized in 1946. Famous for flying the first commerical cargo route postwar, this airline flew into the 1980's before being taken over by Federal Express.

What a post...some great history today! Please take a few moments to check the links out as there is some really great information.

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!


Links:

Flying Tigers (Wikipedia)

Civil Air Transport (Wikipedia)
Civil Air Transport
Air Force Magazine, March 2002--Flying Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Chennault information) (PDF)
Air Force Magazine, 1958--Flying Tigers (link to html)
Curtiss P-40 (Wikipedia)
Flying Tigers Aircraft
Air America


Source:
(1) Library of Congress--Prints & Photographs Reading Room
(2) National Archives
(3) Wikipedia, via Maxwell AFB/ww2incolor.com

Easy On The Throttle Jake....A Look Back at the Mobil Gas (Mobil Economy) Run

Mileage per gallon is all the rage now. Economy is back! Reading about this tonight, I thought it would be a great idea to dig up some information on the Mobil (MobilGas) Economy Run. Held from the 1930's to the late 1960's, this annual event helped to determine gas mileage on current automobiles available to the consumer.

(1)

Sponsored by Mobil, the United States Auto Club was the operator for the events. The vehicles were purchased from auto dealers and then the hoods, etc. were shut and special gas tanks to measure fuel used were installed.

(2)

There were different classes in the competition and this event proved to be very popular....probably the most among the automobile manufacturers. Mileage actually wasn't too bad, considering the weight of the cars and the strictly mechanical setup of the drivetrains. Said Time:

"6-Cylindef: Chevrolet Biscayne, 22.3788 m.p.g.;
Chevrolet Biscayne, 21.9439 m.p.g.;
Ford Custom 300, 20.3288 m.p.g....:

(3)

(4)

Try the links below, especially the Times article for more information. The screenshots above were also from a great film off of archive.org that was part of the Prelinger Collection. I've put the link in below.

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!


Links:


Mickey Thompson Economy Run Information

Time Magazine Archive-1959 contest

Prelinger Archive Film-On The Run

Wikipedia entry-Mobile Economy Run

New York Times Story: Coast to Coast....


Sources:

(1)(2)(4) Screen-grab from On The Run

(3) Time Magazine Archive: Rambler.....

Shhh....don't say a word...remember, "loose lips sink ships..." There might be a spy!

I've always been intrigued by spy stuff. James Bond, OSS, real secret agent stuff. In doing some research this weekend about that, I stumbled across the FBI's FOIA site and found out about the Duquesne spy ring case during World War II.

(1)

Huh?

Spies....in the good old USA. That's right, in fact, there were several well documented incidents of Axis spies in the United States during the Second World War.

Not the James Bond types, you know the suave, sophisticated type we've all come to know. Nope, these spies looked and acted just like you and me! The Duquesne Spy Ring consisted of over 30 active Axis spies working within the borders of the United States. Successfully investigated by the FBI, the members of the ring were captured with the help of a double agent, William Sebold (More on him in another post!).

Yet there were other events as well.


(2)

While German U-Boats were ravaging shipping in the early parts of the war, there were also plans by Hitler and his spy agencies to infiltrate the United States by other methods, such as landing by U-boat. Traveling over to the Naval Historical center, we see evidence of these in an event called by the center:

The Amagansett Incident:

"...Shortly after midnight on June 13th, four trained German saboteurs landed on the beach near the Coast Guard Station at Amagansett, Long Island. They had made the voyage across the Atlantic in a German submarine and had rowed ashore in a collapsible rubber boat containing clothing, explosives, and several thousand dollars in cash. On June 17th, four other saboteurs were similarly landed from a submarine at Ponte Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville, Florida...." (3)


While the ring was eventually caught, perhaps there were others that were not. Some information, we may never know! Don't you enjoy a mystery? For a more complete picture, try the links below for in-depth details. Great stuff!

Have a great day, see you tomorrow!

Links:

FBI Case Lin-Duquesne Spy Ring (PDF-FOIA)

Spy activities on the East Coast

Landings on the East Coast


Sources:
(1)Library of Congress
(2) National Archives
(3) Naval Historical Center

Cartoons with Bugs and the Merrie Melodies Gang!

If you're like me, you've grown up with Merrie Melodies and probably Bugs Bunny. These are the classic American cartoons. Nothing to buy, no toy product placement here, just simple side-splitting entertainment at its best.

Knowing this, I visited the archive.org site tonight and found the following you might be interested in:

(1)

(2)

Born in 1939, this classic short was directed by the famous Tex Avery. Great cartoon, but unfortunately, many of the gags might not be recognized by folks today.

Our next cartoon is Bugs Bunny. The unique aspect about this cartoon is that it was produced during the war years. Here's the first shot:

(3)


Now, notice the board:

(4)

I've posted the links below to the pages on archive.org where you can either view the cartoons online or download to your machine for later viewing. I've also included some Wikipedia resources just to give you the backstory.

Have fun and have a safe weekend!

See you Monday!

Links:

Wikipedia, Merrie Melodies

Wikipedia, Bugs Bunny

Archive.org Classic Cartoons

Tex Avery, commercial site


Sources:

(1)(2)(3)(4) Archive.org, Film Chest collection
(http://www.archive.org/details/classic_cartoons)

1964: Beatles, Mustangs and Exploring with Gemini

I was reading Popular Mechanics this morning and stumbled across an ad for the Ford Mustang. This made me think about the year 1964. In a way, 1964, is a pivotal year in American history.

Why?

Look at this this way. In 1964 these things happened:

The Beatles ("British Invasion")

(Source: NARA Archives-Blackwell-Beatles Letter, pg 1)

In the pictures above, I found the the Blackwell letter in the Nara archives. Written from a teenager to the government, one can just sense the importance and the change that the Beatles would have on the culture of the time. No more big-bands or sweet rock-n-roll. The era was passing.

The Ford Mustang

(Source: Archive.org-Styling and the Experimental Car)

The Mustang has come to symbolize the Baby Boomer movement to me. Sleek, low and sporty, this auto, based on a ordinary Ford Falcon is a break from the chrome-laden cars of the late fifties. Try the film and see a facinating glimpse into car design of the early 1960's.

The Space Program-NASA-Gemini

Lastly, the Gemini program symbolizes a move into space, a transformation from the fiftes "shoot and pray" method of space exploration. Man in space was becoming a reality, with the Apollo moon landing happening in just a few years. In fact, Apollo 8 would see the first exploration of landing sites for later Apollo missions.


So, what's your opinion? Maybe it wasn't 1964....if not, what year?

Try the links below for more details.


Have a great weekend! See you Monday!


Links:

Wikipedia-1964

Archive.org Mustang design film

Nasa Gemini program

Nara historical archives

Don't Forget the Speaker!

I've always loved drive-in movies. Even though they are very few and far between here in Ohio, it's still neat every time I see one. I was on archive.org tonight doing some more investigating on the nuclear weapons tests mentioned in yesterday's post, when I came across a series of ads from the drive-in. All work and no play makes for a bored librarian, so I took a few minutes to watch some of them. Neat stuff! So I had to go grab some popcorn as well!

I thought this would make a great post and share some information to you as well. Here's a few previews just to give you an idea:

Please return the speaker if you drive off with it!

(Source: http://www.archive.org/details/DriveInMovieAds)

Hard to refuse hot coffee!
(Source: http://www.archive.org/details/DriveInMovieAds)

I've posted some links below to the Wikipedia entries and the direct link to the archive.org information as well. Take a few minutes and check them out. Maybe I can find some classic cartoons next???? I know there's some Superman cartoons somewhere!

See you tomorrow, have a great day!

Links:

Wikipedia entry on Drive-ins.
(some controversy over article, see external links for more stuff)

Internet Archive main link

Jack Webb, Nelson Riddle, and little green men!

I was going through some old TV shows on YouTube this morning and ran across this one:

(Source: ClassicTelevisionFan)

I actually remember watching this one growing up. I was amazed however, to find out that this was another one of Jack Webb's projects. The guy was fantastic....so many of his shows have influenced history as well as today's TV. The neat thing or maybe ironic thing is that many don't realize it! Included also in this short preview is the arrangement by Nelson Riddle.

Loosely based on ideas gathered from Project Blue Book, I believe the series ran for 3 years.

Project Blue book was the official US Air Force investigation on the UFO mania sweeping the country beginning in the late 1940's and accelerating from there. Here's a clip of an image I found over at the FBI:

(Source: http://foia.fbi.gov/bluebook/bluebook.pdf)
also main link:
(Source: http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/bluebook.htm)

I have yet to mention the Battle of Los Angeles...hmm..maybe a good idea for a future post?

Have a great weekend and don't forget to check the links below for details!

FBI Project Blue Book

Wikipedia Project Blue Book

Project UFO -Jack Webb's show

IMDB Link on Project UFO

Direct Link To ClassicTelevisionFan's Channel

Here's a site that looks really great:


Project Blue Book Archive


"(from the site)"The Project Blue Book Archive provides free access
to tens of thousands of official documents
related to the U.S. government's investigation
of the UFO phenomenon."

Vintage Disney! Let's ride the monorail!

With family members a little under the weather today, I don't really have the time for a proper post, but did want to share with you a great blog I found last night! It's chock-full of vintage Disney pictures from the fifties and sixties and is really a wonderful site! Here's one of the pics:

Whatta shot! Below are the links to this particular post as well as links for the blog.

Have a great day!

Link to above full post

Gorillas Don't Blog (full blog)

Elvis, Vegas and the eternal jumpsuit!

I've always been amazed by the early-seventies Elvis. Gone is the clean-cut, All-American boy who caused such parental anguish in the fifties. Instead, echoing the times, the groovy, swinging Elvis and his entourage comes through with wild karate kicks and outrageous jumpsuits.

The jumpsuits, as much as anything else, seemed to define the older Elvis. I remembered that this weekend as I read in the Wall St. Journal the obituary/article on Bill Belew, the creator of many of them. Bill's stylistic background included work in tv and stage, as well as many other famous celebrities. He started with Elvis in the late sixties and up until the time Elvis passed. (Source: Elvis Australia)

Of the many costumes, I was amazed to find out that they assumed a life of their own, a name associated with each. Some of these included:

• "The Red Dragon"*
  
• "Burning Flame of Love"*
  

(*Source: WSJ article)


I guess for Elvis they must have worked and fit (stylistically) the time period in which they were worn. However, it just seems to me, a lotta work. Then again, I'm not a celebrity!

Have a great Monday! Don't forget to check the links below for more information!


(Have not fully chcked the sites for family friendliness, be careful!)

LA Times Obit

Interview with Bill Belew (Australian source)

Seventies Styles

Wikipedia link for Elvis

Potty Putty? Er...make that Silly Putty...Much Better!

Silly Putty!!! If you have kids like me, then you probably have tons of this stuff around. Stretchable, bendable, bouncy, almost like a super clay, it is a great toy! With over 4,500 tons sold since its beginnings, one cannot doubt the popularity.

What I tend to find more interesting is that this product joins the long line of other inventions who's origins lie in World War II research. In this instance, the inventors were looking for a practical alternative to rubber, which was very hard to come by during the war years. The more history I study, the more products I find with their origins in either NASA or World War II. Of course there is that saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Here's a quiz for you: Which TV show in the fifties was the first Silly Putty advertisement shown?

Have a good day and check the links below! See you Monday!

Wikipedia entry

• Check here for the link to the actual patent!
  

Silly Putty University

MIT Link to Silly Putty

LOC Color Photos, History, and More!

For some of you readers this may be old hat, but for others, like myself, I've just discovered buried treasure in the form of LOC availability on Flickr.

The end result? LOC (Library of Congress) has in their words:

"...is beginning somewhat modestly, but we hope to learn a lot from it. Out of some 14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials at the Library of Congress, more than 3,000 photos from two of our most popular collections are being made available on our new Flickr page, to include only images for which no copyright restrictions are known to exist...."

Here's a few you might enjoy. Below the pics will be the links to their blog, Flickr page, LOC, and the Wikipedia entry. Have a good Friday!

PICS:

( Civil Air Patrol Base, Bar Harbor, Maine. The hangar of Coastal Patrol #20)

( United Nations Fight for Freedom: Boy Scout in front of Capitol.)

(Coney Island, in Luna Park[between 1910 and 1915])

Links to Flickr Photostream

LOC (Wikipedia)

LOC Blog

LOC Main Page

Where were you in: 1966?

I've always wanted to do a series of posts on differing years of American history, so I thought I would kick things off with 1966. Here's a snapshot of a few things that happened. Check it out and then follow the links below for more fascinating glimpses. It's really not fair to spend one blog post on the whole year, so we may be back in the future.....

Star Trek appears on the networks! First episode: The Man Trap

The creator of Mickey Mouse, Disney passes on

US Troops continue to build up in Vietnam. The total so far: 190,000. Bob Hope continues his traditions of entertaining the troops:

(Christmas Special -- Bob Hope and his star-studded cast touched down at Pleiku Air Base, Vietnam, December 19, 1966, enroute to Dragon Mountain, home of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division for his first Christmas show for servicemen in Vietnam, 12/19/1966. Info and Pic courtesy NARA)

The Palomares Hydrogen Bomb incident: A collision between a B-52 and KC-135 results in the loss of 4 hydrogen bombs and an extensive rescue/search by elements of the US Military.

USS Plymouth Rock participated in the search. Image courtesy Naval Historical Center

(Time link here)(Wikipedia entry here)


Buster Keaton, the famous American comedian passes on

John Lennon's controversial comment on the Beatles being more popular than Jesus is published in the London Press.

Wikipedia Link to 1966

Have a great day!!!!

It's...It's...it's a Wham-O Wheelie Bar!!!

From the YouTube archives, we have a toy that probably would not be allowed today, but also gives us an insight on the company that brought us the Hula Hoop, Pluto Platter (what is it called today? Can you guess?), SUPERBALL, and much, much more. Take a look at the:



Follow the links below for more information on the Wham-O company.

Have fun, see you tomorrow!!!!


Wham-O

Background and Company History (wikipedia)

Obit on one of the founders, Richard Knerr

Assassination, Triangulation and the Magic Bullet Theory!

After Friday's post on the Sinatra stamp, I couldn't help but begin to think more about Sinatra, the Rat Pack and JFK. Logically, I drifted to the Fall of 1963. President Kennedy had traveled to Dallas to meet with Democratic party leaders on a variety of issues. Shortly after lunchtime, Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as his motorcade drove past the Texas School Book Depository :

"...We interrupt this program to bring you this special bulletin from ABC Radio. Here is a special bulletin from Dallas, Texas. Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today in downtown Dallas, Texas. This is ABC Radio...."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_John_F._Kennedy_assassination

Tragically altering the course of history as well as many American's perception of the nation itself, this single event sparked a decade of change. Officially, Lee Harvey Oswald is listed as the assailant. Unofficially, many people take a different approach. The best way we can find our own answer is to look at the evidence ourself, including photos, reports, and eyewitness accounts.

With this in mind, there are some excellent sources at NARA that I stumbled across in my research. In particular, a color photo of the "magic bullet" which ended up on the stretcher beside Connolly* according to the source on Wikipedia.


*"...found not on Governor Connally’s stretcher, but on the stretcher next to his in the corridor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas..."

As a side note, the archives also has a color photo of the Zapruder camera. The film taken by this camera is probably one of the most famous of this unfortunate tragedy.


In the interest of not being sensationalist, I will not post the film here, but YouTube has quite a listing of the short film. If you are interested, check here.


Have a great Monday! Check back tonight for my second posting of the day.


List of sources:

Magic Bullet Theory: Wikipedia

JFK Presidential Library

BBC Timeline of Nov. 22, 1963

Wikipedia main entry on the assassination

Zapruder Resources (includes manuals, etc.)

Area near the Texas Schoolbook Depository (courtesy Google Maps)


View Larger Map

NARA Resources*

*Remember keyword searching and limiting to digital resources will provide the best results. I used FBI as one search term, while John Fitzgerald Kennedy provided multiple hits as well.

Nice an' Easy Does it....

For all you Rat Pack fans, Sinatra swooners, and Big Band lovers, get ready! I just stumbled across the USPS site and found out that a Sinatra stamp is coming out in the spring of 2008.

Here's a quote:

"..Art director Richard Sheaff of Scottsdale, AZ, worked with stamp artist Kazuhiko Sano of Mill Valley, CA, to create the image based on a 1950s photograph of the entertainment icon. The stamp depicts Sinatra’s charismatic smile, trademark fedora and cobalt blue eyes that earned him the nickname “Ol’ Blue Eyes.” Sinatra’s autograph also appears on the stamp..."

Source: USPS Postal News

Here's the link to get a high dpi version of the stamp:

Image Download Center

(note restrictions on reproduction of stamp images)

So now all I have to do is check to see if they have stamps for Dino and Sammy D.

Here's one for the road:

Source: NARA, Keyword Sinatra

Have a great weekend!