He Could Eat It All

the glitter, glamor, and gluttony of Diamond Jim Brady (1856-1917)

In an age of excess, he was the most excessive one of all. This week, we look back at the life of legendary salesman and gourmand Diamond Jim Brady. Read More...

Categories: Biography, Eccentrics & Prophecies, Series 6

Tags: 1893 Chicago World's Fair and Columbian Exposition food New Jersey New York, NY Presented by #7

Published: February 22, 2021
Edited: February 22, 2021

What-Is-It?

there's an animal roaming round the town that is certainly gaining great renown

For one week in January 1909, the Jersey Devil walked among us. Maybe. Read More...

Categories: Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Legendary Lands and Beasts, Myths & Legends, Series 6

Tags: cryptozoology dime museum fakelore New Jersey Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Presented by #13

Published: January 25, 2021
Edited: January 25, 2021

Pleadings from Asbury Park

a fake marriage, a dead baby, and 21 absinthe frappes

The amazing story of Laura Biggar, the Anna Nicole Smith of 1901, and her crazy plot to steal an inheritance that may or may not have been rightfully hers. Read More...

Categories: Biography, History, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 4

Tags: civil law crime Freeman Bernstein Henry M. Bennett Laura Biggar New Jersey New York, NY Pittsburgh, PA Presented by #13 vaudeville

Published: June 1, 2020
Edited: February 22, 2021