When Twentieth Century-Fox decided to drop the Charlie Chan series after Castle in
I met my wife at my sister’s wedding in September 1995. I had known
Evan “Strangler” Lewis, also called Evan Lewis “the Strangler”, was a professional wrestler from
My great grandfather Parker was the victim of one of the largest natural
On Friday, April 24, 1953, three men and a getaway driver attempted
William Desmond nabbed many thieves during his 17 year career as St. Louis Chief of Detectives. He developed a nationwide reputation as “The Thief Taker”. On Monday, October 15, 1900, Chief Desmond nabbed the pants of a thief but not the thief himself. Jonas Washington entered the yard of Shickle, Harrison and Howard Iron Foundry at
On May 21, 1915, the International Wrestling Tournament began in New York. Samuel Rachman promoted the event as a way to showcase European Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion Alek Aberg. Rachman believed Aberg was the natural successor to World Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch, who retired in 1913. On the first day of the tournament, nationalistic feelings about World
Podcast: Play in new window | Download In this episode, I discuss the most feared professional wrestler of the Nineteenth Century, Evan “The Strangler” Lewis. Other wrestlers were scared of Lewis because he was a skilled submission grappler and had a pronounced mean streak. Affiliate Message – If you are interested in blogging, you can see
On March 21, 1948, Monogram Pictures released the second Charlie Chan film starring Roland Winters as Charlie Chan, Docks of New Orleans. Winters was desperate to gain the role and dyed his blonde hair black for the screen test. Winters secured the role but had less power than the late Sidney Toler. Toler bought the rights
On Saturday, February 8, 1902, Deputy Sheriff Stanton entered the office of George J. Kobush armed with a warrant. Stanton traveled to the St. Louis Car Comapny’s plant at 8500 N. Broadway with a warrant for Kobush, President of the St. Louis Car Company. Kobush had testifed in front of the Grand Jury on a bribery case. The
Sam McVey tired of the lack of opportunity for black fighters in the United States during the early Twentieth Century. McVey decided to leave for Europe in 1907, where he fought until 1911. McVey fought in Australia for three more years before returning to the United States. This brief highlight film from France in 1911 with
Podcast: Play in new window | Download In this episode, I discuss Andrew J. Gordon, one of the first two black St. Louis Police Officers. He received a Medal for Best Arrest in 1903 and was terminated in 1905. Affiliate Message – Actually building your blog can be very frustrating. I watched one of the build “your
On October 28, 1936, Chesterfield Motion Picture Corporation released one of its last three films before merging with Republic Pictures. Leslie Fenton starred in The House of Secrets (1936) about an American with an English mother, who inherited an English estate from a rich uncle. Fenton plays Barry Wilding, who finds the estate occupied by “a vicious dog,
On August 31, 1901, Night Watchman William Doherty discovered Willis Garner burglarizing the office of Schickle, Harrison and Howard Iron Company at 912 S. Twelfth Street in St. Louis, Missouri. The iron company employed Garner, who threw a hammer at Doherty’s head. The hammer missed its target but the confusion allowed Garner to jump out the window and
Last week, I was met at the door by my oldest son Kenneth. Figuring he wanted to beg off lifting weights because of the cold temperatures, I was surprised when he said, “Dad, you had a package come today?” I asked him if he was sure it was for me and not his mom. He shrugged his shoulders