Back to Top

Useless Information

Fascinating True Stories from the Flip Side of History

Category Archives: Tidbits

Sees Dead Husband on Movie Screen

Posted on   by author

The marriage between Bobette and Joseph Griffin was annulled by Superior Court Judge John C. Lewe on November 20, 1936 in Chicago. The couple had married back in July and split up two weeks later on August 1st, shortly after leaving a movie theater in Washington, DC.

One would think that they must have had a big fight or something similar, but it was nothing like that. While watching the movie “The Great Ziegfeld,” Bobbette was shocked to see her first husband Thomas W. Murray up on the screen. They had married in New York in 1929 and separated in 1931.

“In 1933 the papers carried his name as one of the killed in the Los Angeles quake.” Bobbette continued, “I was shocked. I called Murray in Hollywood. I left Washington that night.”

After the annulment, she planned to divorce her first husband and then remarry Mr. Griffin “If he still wants me.”

The Great Ziegfeld
Movie Poster for The Great Ziegfeld. A check of the Internet Movie Database does not show any credit for Thomas W. Murray. He could have been an uncredited extra or worked under an assumed name.
 

Thought His First Wife Was Dead

Posted on   by author

Back in 1915, Albert F. Rudesheim married Miss Julia Mocska in Schenectady, New York. Their marriage was a happy one, but after the birth of their second child, Julia suffered a mental breakdown. She was committed to a mental institution in Utica, NY.

Albert opted to head west and landed in Denver, Colorado. While there, he learned through his brother that his wife had passed away, which was confirmed by a newspaper clipping.

In 1924, Albert was married once again to Miss Marie Delores Hertzog. Together, the couple had a baby boy.

Then, in 1928, his mother, who was on her deathbed at the time, revealed that his first wife was still alive.

On October 4, 1929, Albert filed papers to annul his second marriage so that he could take care of his first wife and their two children, now aged 10 and 13.

Of course, one can’t help but wonder why he didn’t stay and care for Julia and the two children the first time. Seems a bit suspicious to me…

Marriage Annulled
 

Waiter Drugs Non-Tipper

Posted on   by author

In late February of 1964, Daniel Price, the manager of the Occidental Restaurant in Washington, DC received several complaints from customers who had become violently ill after eating a meal there.

He investigated and determined that each of the patrons had been served by the same waiter, 23-year-old Herbert A. Talmud.

Around the same time, Talmud approached the restaurant’s assistant bookkeeper John R. Hughlett and said that their office manager Simone Moran’s illness would quickly pass.

That’s when Talmud offered him five packages of a powder that he said he had put in Ms. Moran’s teas for $1.00.

Unbeknownst to Talmud, the manager Price had already contacted the police. They instructed bookkeeper Hughlett to buy the packs, which he d30id.

Analysis of the powder determined that it was an emetic that induced violent vomiting and that an overdose could be fatal. Talmud was arrested and charged with assaulting Simone Moran with a poison.

Not surprisingly, it was discovered that Talmud had been dismissed by the previous two restaurants that he had worked in after they received complaints from customers of being ill.

Talmud underwent a twenty-day psychiatric evaluation and was found to be “of sound mind.” He was sentenced to 90-days in prison or a $200 fine.

Vintage Occidental Restaurant Postcard
Vintage postcard showing the Occidental Restaurant and other Pennsylvania Avenue attractions. Waiter Herbert A. Talmud was accused of poisoning the food of customers of the restaurant while working there.
 

Permitted to Wear Van Dyke Beard

Posted on   by author

On July 24, 1955, the New York State Labor Department ruled that a man who had been fired from his job as a swimming pool attendant was entitled to receive unemployment compensation.

Why was he fired? He refused to shave off his Van Dyke beard, which he had grown in order to obtain employment as an art class model.

The local labor department refused to allow the unnamed man to receive unemployment benefits, so the pool attendant – slash – artist’s model appealed to the state.

In the ruling, the arbitrator handling the case said that his firing was “An unwarranted infringement upon his privilege as an individual in a free community to present such an appearance as he wished as long as it did not affect his duties adversely and did not injure the employer in his business reputation.”

Anthony van Dyck Self Portrait
The Van Dyke beard is named after 17th-century artist Anthony Van Dyck. He painted this self-portrait in 1633.
 

Pushes Cart 13 Miles Off Course

Posted on   by author

56-year-old George Kuscinkas had been down on his luck since he emigrated from Lithuania to the United States back in 1915. Fast forward to March 16, 1950 and we find George unemployed and living in a flophouse in the Bowery.

While visiting a poolroom on East Tenth Street that morning, a man asked him if he wanted to make some money. All George needed to do was push a cart and deliver a load of art supplies. He agreed, was handed a slip of paper with the address on it and off he went.

He started out at 11:30 that morning but never arrived at his destination. The shipper, Philip Birn of the S. Rood Company contacted the police to report that both the courier and the goods were missing.

George was finally located by a detective early the next morning. Believe it or not, he was still pushing his cart.

George Kuscinkas pushing his cart loaded with art supplies.
George Kuscinkas pushing his cart loaded with art supplies.

He had zigged and zagged all over the city showing person after person the slip of paper that had the address on it. It was estimated that George had pushed the 630-pound (286-kg) cart approximately 13-miles (21 km) in total.

Confused, he stopped that detective at 3 AM and showed him the slip of paper. It read, “Morilla Co., 328 East 234 St.’ The officer called in and found out that an alarm had been issued locate George. That’s when it was realized that everyone had been misreading the handwritten address. It read as East 234 St, but really said East 23rd Street.

George and the missing supplies were transported back to their intended destination and the whole matter was cleared up. Mr. Birn rewarded George with $25 for his efforts (approximately $250 today) and the press chipped in to give him an additional $5.

He planned to use the money to get a shave, a haircut, and to “sit down for awhile.”

 

Twilight Zone Chooses to Keep Rod Serling

Posted on   by author

One of my favorite television shows of all time is the Twilight Zone and would be very hard to imagine it without the on-screen presence of its creator, Rod Serling. Yet, few people realize that he did not appear on the show during its entire first season. Serling only did the narration.

At the end of the season, the show’s sponsors – General Foods and Kimberly-Clark – opted not to renew their contracts with the CBS network. Without a sponsor the show would have almost certainly been canceled.

According to a June 7, 1960 New York Times article, CBS concluded that the only way that they could convince sponsors to keep supporting the show would be for them to secure the talents of a big-name celebrity host. Their choice was actor Orson Welles. Luckily for those of us who are big fans of Rod Serling, Welles declined the offer.

It was speculated in the article that General Mills and new sponsor Colgate-Palmolive agreed to advertise on the show because of Welles’ supposed involvement, but that was never confirmed.

Instead, Rod Serling was informed that he would provide both the introduction and closing to the show.

Rod Serling Twilight Zone
It would be hard to imagine The Twilight Zone without its creator Rod Serling.
 

Kids Trapped in a Toolbox

Posted on   by author

On Sunday March 12, 1950, three Hinsdale, Illinois children – 12-year-old Sharon Drallmeier, her 9-year-old brother Richard, and their 7-year-old neighbor Thomas Hayes – failed to return home after a movie.

Alarmed, the two fathers went to the theater, but the children were not there. Police were contacted and the community began a search for the missing children.

As Mr. Drallmeier began to search a nearby house under construction, he kicked a large toolbox from which he heard the kids shouting. He opened it and all three children were found inside.

It turns out that while the kids were on their way to the movie, Thomas, the neighbor, had fallen into a pond and was soaked. Fearful of going home in such a wet condition, he climbed into the toolbox. The other two climbed in with him when a sudden gust of wind blew the lid shut.

Unable to open the lid, they frantically screamed for help before giving up and going to sleep. The children had climbed into the toolbox between 2:00 and 2:30 in the afternoon. They were rescued at 7:30 that evening.

 

Wife Serves Husband Dog Food

Posted on   by author

On October 27, 1937, Stanley Ditzel, a switchboard operator at the West Orange, New Jersey Town Hall received a call from a woman asking to be connected to the Board of Health.

The line was busy, so she explained her situation to the operator. It seems that shortly after her husband left for work, she went to feed the dog and realized that it was the chopped meat she had intended to use to make breakfast patties for her husband.

Yes, she made her husband’s breakfast from the meat inside of a can of dog food…

Both the husband and the dog were unharmed. The operator assured the wife that it was perfectly safe. I’m guessing that he didn’t mention to her that most dog food back then was made from horse meat…

1958 ad for Friskies Dog Food with Horse Meat
Note the line in this ad that states "Bulldogs and all dogs love the lean red horse meat in canned Friskies!" From the February 24, 1958 issue of Life Magazine.
 

Eleuterio the Parrot

Posted on   by author

Back in 1965, an 86-year-old Brazilian woman named Dona Maria Consuelo complained to the police that her neighbor Adam Camara was constantly screaming vulgar and insulting comments at her. An officer investigated and discovered that none of those words were coming from Camara’s lips. Instead, they were coming from his green and yellow talking parrot named Eleuterio.

Continue Reading

 
Posted in Tidbits| Tagged , , , , , , |