YOU BE THE JUDGE…IS IT FACT OR FICTION?
In this week’s Fiblett episode, Laura shares a story of Western criminals in the big city, a train robbery, a bank robbery, and butter heist. Three are published stories, but one is fictional. Listen carefully because it’s tough to know if what you hear is Fact or Fiction!
Fiblett 2.6 is a random assortment of entertaining articles about an honorable thief, three girls wrongly imprisoned, a disgruntled husband, and two courageous little boys. Three of them are from published newspaper accounts, but one is my own creation. Listen closely. Is it Fact or Fiction?
Fiblett 2.5 contains three actual articles from newspapers of the past about crimes with a connection to the prestigious Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. I’ve written one myself. Can you identify which one is my creation? Listen carefully because it’s tough to know if what you hear is Fact or Fiction!
The second Palmer House opened in 1873 in Chicago, shown here in 1922. (Chicago Tribune archive).
Note: If you’re interested in learning more about Stuart’s Dyspepsia Tablets, the product from the past that is featured in today’s Fiblett, I encourage you to check out this article by Teresa Lou Trupiano.
This week’s minisode features Pinkerton detectives! As always three of the stories are from printed newspaper articles and one is a fictional account of my own creation. Listen closely. Can you tell if it’s Fact or Fiction?
It’s February, and love is in the air! Today’s minisode is all about romance. In Fiblett 2: Season 2, I read four articles about elopements. Three of the stories are from news articles of the past, but one is my own creation. Listen carefully to find out if you can tell if each article is Fact or Fiction!
In this first Fiblett of season 2, Laura reads articles that may or may not have appeared in Chicago area newspapers of the past. It’s up to you to decide which of the articles are Fact or Fiction. Ready to play?
Choice #1 about the attempted elopement of nineteen year old Cleo Broadhurst and his married lover Mrs. C. J. Ware appeared under the title of “Eloping Boy Slept on the Job” in The Kansas City Times on 22 September, 1910, p. 1.
Choice #2 was the story of two sisters who ran away together with their boyfriends. It was printed on October 12, 1884 in the St. Louis Globe Democrat as “Double Elopement from Boonville.”
Choice #3, “Heiress Weds Penniless Musician, debuted on the Fact or Fiction Podcast on September 4, 2020. I wrote this one based on a number of articles from the era like it. Lots of heiress ran away with unsuitable men.
Choice #4 outlines a the scandalous affair of Emma Stockton Norton and Henry W. Moore, good friend of Emma’s husband. Moore was also married.
Thanks for playing!
Choice #1: Pistol Practice is about saloon owner John Howard shooting his business partner Col. Burroughs when Burroughs complained about possible mismanagement of the saloon. Howard claimed self-defense, but all other witnesses said he shot the Col. in cold blood. This appeared in The St. Joseph Gazette on September 7, 1875.
Choice #2: Final Witness in Trial is the sensational story of the elderly doctor who was to give testimony in his own defense in the murder trial where he was accused of killing his daughter-in-law. This is the story I wrote. It’s based on an article I found about a trial in Chicago from 1934, but I embellished it. If you guessed this as the fiction, congratulations!
Choice #3: They Fought to Kill is the story of two drunken brothers who attempted to murder one another forcing their elderly mother to endanger her own life by traveling in the cold night to seek help from the authorities. This article appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on February 13, 1899.
And Choice #4: Shot By a Burglar is the story of a former Illinois congressman who interrupted a burglar attempting to steal his pants. This article appeared in the St. Louis Globe-Democract on March 18, 1890.
As always, thanks for listening!