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The Teapot Dome Scandal
In geological terms, a dome is a formation that traps oil underground between layers of rock, with the upper layer bent upward to form a dome. Teapot Dome is a dome north of Casper, Wyoming, which was named for a rock formation that looked like a teapot- complete with a spout and a handle. This rock was unsurprisingly called Teapot Rock. In the early 20th century, the oil deposits were designated by the federal government as Naval Oil Reserves. President Theodore Roosevelt had dreams of a powerful American Navy that could sail around the world showing off our might. (For more on Theodore Roosevelt, please see this post http://www.historynaked.com/theodore-roosevelt-man-arena/…
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The Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson
Sister Aimee was a popular evangelistic minister in the early 20th century. She had risen from obscurity to build a large following across the United States through both her hypnotic preaching and her use of cutting edge communications of the day. Her radio station KFSG sent her message farther than her tent revivals ever could. Sister Aimee’s sermons were heard via radio from Australia to the islands of Cape Verde off the coast of Africa. All of this was in an era when women were not allowed to vote and were expected to marry and leave other pursuits to men. Born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy in 1890 in Ontario, Canada, religion…
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The Loony Gas Building
In 1924, five men dropped dead in New Jersey. Not altogether a strange occurrence, but it led to the discovery of a case of industrial poisoning. The bodies were taken to the New York medical examiner’s office to be studied by our old friend, Chuck Norris. This Chuck Norris, as you know from a previous post (http://wp.me/p7RlFb-4z), was not the martial arts specialist, but a badass in a different arena. Dr. Charles Norris was one of the foremost pioneers in the science of forensic pathology. The five men all worked in the Standard Oil Refinery in Bayway, New Jersey in a building nicknamed the Loony Gas Building. It looked like…
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Lucy the bootlegging elephant
Just a short piece today outlining one of the oddities of prohibition. Atlantic City was ground zero for prohibition and the thwarting of it. Prohibition prohibited the production, transfer and sale of alcohol, not the consumption of it. So, if you could get it into the country, you could drink it without violating the law. However, the law was essentially unenforced by the authorities in Atlantic City, and it became a haven for gangsters and smugglers. Seven miles out off shore in international waters was “rum runners row”. All of this could be seen from the suite on the ninth floor of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where Boss Nucky Johnson…
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Chuck Norris and Prohibition
No Virginia, I do not mean Chuck Norris the martial arts expert. I am referring to Dr. Charles Norris of Hoboken, NJ who grew up to be New York City’s first medical examiner. Working with toxicologist Dr. Alexander Gettler, the two revolutionized the science of forensic pathology. You can thank them for every CSI show on television today. The two of them worked for the state of New York at the height of prohibition. Coroners in New York was a government job like everything else and handed out like a political appointment. Many were corrupt and charged fees to turn over a body or sold causes of death on the…
