Did you hear the one about the retired Canadian undertaker who built a house out of embalming fluid bottles? Now you have!
The Embalming Fluid Bottle House
Thanks to The Dickeys for the suggestion.
More Canadian sightseeing suggestions at the Morbid Sightseer’s Canada page.
Today’s Pink Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Mercury chloride (calomel) is a strong disinfectant and was commonly used both in hospital s and homes for this purpose during Victorian times. The effect of mercury on the gums was at one time thought to be beneficial for babies and young children cutting their first teeth. The sleepless nights for both child and parents which accompanied this phase of their development led many to seek relief with so-called teething powders. The powders, which were first introduced in 1812, relied on the calomel they contained to cause excessive salivation. For babies, mercury poisoning would manifest itself as pink disease, so named because of the pink coloration of the fingers, toes, cheeks, nose and buttocks. Some babies that were especially sensitive to mercury died, although for most babies the occasional powder was unlikely to be fatal. Pink disease had a mortality rate of 10% and accounted for 1 in 25 hospital admissions in the 1940s. It was thanks to two American doctors, D. Warkany and J. Hubbard, that the cause was traced to teething powders, and in particular to Steedman’s Teething Powders which contained 26% mercury chloride. The reason is took so long to make the link between mercury and pink disease was that only 1 child in 500 who was given the teething powder developed the pink condition.
Culled from: The Elements Of Murder
Here’s an ad for Steedman’s Powders from the late 1800′s. I’d love to have an old container of this stuff on my curio shelf!
The next time you’re in L.A., why not take a time out from visiting all the dead stars, and check out the most infamous gangland spots in town? You know I will!
Thanks to nina for the suggestion.
More California excursions can be found at The Morbid Sightseer.
Today’s Slamming Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Police say a teenage girl accidentally ran over and killed her 17-year-old brother as the two played around in a parking lot. Police spokesman Ed Wessing said Nicole M. Brock, 16, was dropping off her brother, Dwight, at a mall when they started playing around, with the brother jumping in front of the car and the sister slamming on the brakes. But at one point, the girl failed to hit the brakes in time and ran over her brother. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.
Culled from: The Denver Post
Generously submitted by: Aimee
Now there’s a Darwin Award winner for ya!
Crime Scene Steri-Clean, LLC will clean up your crime scene, suicide, or biohazard. And, best of all, they have before and after pictures of their handiwork on their website! (Under the ‘Services’ menu.) I used to think this would be a great job, but now I just think it would be entirely too much work…
Thanks to BashEmAll for the link.
Anne writes to make sure that if we ever find ourselves in Laramie, Wyoming (and are able to free ourselves from the fence post), we know where to go:
“If you ever have the misfortune to find yourself in Laramie Wyoming there is a neat old Territorial prison that is open to the public. Not horribly morbid, but interesting.”
Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site
The Territorial Prison is the best preserved of the prisons of the old west. Built in 1872 it was restored and renovated by the efforts of the citizens of Laramie. There were at least 12 woman housed here and more than 1,000 men, the most famous of which was Butch Cassidy.Opening Hours between May 1 and October 31 (including holidays):
Everyday, 9 AM to 6 PM
More Wyoming adventures can be found at the Wyoming page of The Morbid Sightseer:
Wyoming – The Equality State
Today’s Pregnant Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
In virtually all Western societies, execution of a pregnant woman would be delayed until after the woman gave birth, which no doubt gave rise to a desperate effort on the part of some condemned women to get pregnant. There were no five-minute pregnancy tests back then, so most condemned women claimed to be with child, as a kind of last-ditch appeal. In fact, one of the most notorious early murder cases in American history involved just such a case. The beautiful 32-year-old Bathsheeba Spooner of Brookfield, Massachusetts, was convicted of conspiring to murder her wealthy elderly husband in 1778 and sentenced to die in one of the first capital cases of the new United States. Midwives — after much argument — decided Bathsheeba was not pregnant. An autopsy later revealed a five-month-old fetus.
Culled from: An Underground Education
Bathsheeba Spooner! That’s almost as good of a name as Phineas Gage.
This looks like a must-have book! Thanks to Lady Morgana for the suggestion.
Deadly Intent: Crime & Punishment: Photographs from the Burns Archive
Here’s the Amazon description:
“In the 1980s, the Burns Archive’s studies of derangement of the mind and body offered photographic histories of medicine and death. Deadly Intent: Crime & Punishment Photographs from the Burns Archive extends that study to crime. The book is divided into four sections: crime scenes, police action, punishment, and executions. It is concentrated between 1890 and1950, a time when criminals often admitted their crimes and were quickly punished. Until the late 1940s, the period from arrest to execution for a capital offense averaged 33 days. The change in police attitudes and of the punishment prescribed for criminal behavior is documented here in iconic photographs. Unlike many previous works on the subject, this compilation of crime scenes gives readers a forensic view, offering entire series of images used by detectives and criminologists. Other photographs reveal the evolving standards of the American criminal justice system, from water torture at Sing Sing prison, whipping posts, penitentiary life, and the notorious deadly work camps of the South, to executions: hanging, firing squads, and the electric chair. Only when all the evidence is presented can justice and humanity be properly served. This compilation of images, most published here for the first time, is a valuable new resource for historians and researchers.”
More ghastly delights can be found at The Library Eclectica‘s Ghastly Gore aisle.
