Category Archives: Found on EBay

Your Move, Chess Fans: Scaccomatto Puzzle Chess Set for $6,500

Posted on February 2, 2019 by

I have been intrigued with the Scaccomatto chess set since I stumbled across an ad going through old newspapers. They almost never come on the market and when they do they are terribly expensive. A set was offered in 2016 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1977, Found on EBay | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia: Photos From Black Dahlia’s Scrapbook Sell on EBay for $7,611 in 2003

Posted on January 18, 2019 by

Back in 2003, a few photos from Elizabeth Short’s scrapbook were sold on EBay for $7,611.11 Perhaps they look familiar. I archived the page (it has vanished from EBay, of course) to keep anybody from claiming that they found them … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2003, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Follies Theater’s 1927 ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

Posted on December 9, 2018 by

A EBay vendor posted this photo of a woman named Aline or Alene Carberry, and I could not resist unleashing the hounds of research. Bidding on the “Hot Mamma” photo is currently at $34.50.

Posted in 1927, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay, Photography, Stage | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Dec, 7, 2006: Note to "Dahlia Avenger" Fans

Posted on December 7, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Here’s a publicity still of “Maddy” Comfort from “Kiss Me Deadly” for sale on EBay. Her name is also spelled “Mattie” and “Mady.” Comfort is referred to in the Los Angeles County … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2006, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay, Homicide, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nov. 6, 1907: An EBay Mystery

Posted on November 6, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Nov. 6, 1907 Los Angeles Here’s a real mystery, although a minor one, and like all real mysteries, it is incomplete and may have no solution. Exhibit 1: This postcard up for … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Found on EBay | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — A. L. “Whitey” Schafer Simplifies Portraits

Posted on October 15, 2018 by

“Thou Shalt Not,” “Whitey” Schafer’s most famous image. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. In the very early days of the motion picture industry, stills photographers meant nothing to the moving picture companies. They asked their feature cameramen … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Found on EBay: Justice for the McNamaras

Posted on July 23, 2018 by

A vendor on EBay has listed one of the buttons that was created by the AFL to protest the trial of the McNamara brothers in the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times. According to some accounts (possibly true, possibly … Continue reading →

Posted in 1910, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia: A Concert Program Inscribed to ‘Betty Short’ … From 1959. Wut?

Posted on May 27, 2018 by

Here’s an opportunity to buy a program from a David Rubinoff performance that was inscribed to “Eva and Betty Short” … for $150 …

Posted in 1947, 1959, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: Some Rando Stripper, Not Elizabeth Short, in EBay Photos Listed at $3,000

Posted on February 20, 2018 by

A vendor on EBay has listed old pictures of some rando stripper as Elizabeth Short for $3,000. No really. I mean seriously? The description doesn’t hedge a bit – like saying photos that *might* be Elizabeth Short or photos that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1945, 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay, LAPD, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Found on EBay: Souvenir of Club Mecca, Site of Deadly 1957 Firebombing

Posted on January 17, 2018 by

A vendor has listed a cocktail napkin advertising four Los Angeles night spots, including the Mecca Cafe at 5841 S. Normandie Ave. Six people were killed when a man who had been thrown out of the club threw a five-gallon … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Fires, Found on EBay, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Meet Victor Segno — L.A. Mystic and Con Man

Posted on January 15, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2007. Jan. 15, 2007 Los Angeles While making my daily check of EBay, I found another envelope from 1907, this one addressed to A. Victor Segno, 701 N. Belmont. A brief check of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, 1911, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Education, Found on EBay, LAPD, Streetcars | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – A Perfect Villain

Posted on August 7, 2017 by

Photo: “Rasputin and the Empress,” with Gustav von Seyffertitz, center, with Ethel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, John Barrymore, Tad Alexander and Lionel Barrymore. Photo listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $9.99. Note: This is an encore post from 2011 One of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Obituaries, Stage | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia: Don’t Spend Money on the FBI Files

Posted on June 14, 2017 by

Every so often, some EBay vendor gets the clever idea of selling the FBI’s files on the Black Dahlia case. In this instance, it’s someone in the UK selling Part 1 | and Part 2. Of course, you can download … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Found on EBay, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: Black Dahlia Voodoo Doll Listed on EBay

Posted on May 9, 2017 by

One of the strangest Black Dahlia items I have ever seen – a “Black Dahlia Voodoo Doll” — has been listed on EBay, complete with a box and a set of spells. The vendor says:

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Found on EBay, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Black Dahlia: Random Old Crap Listed as ‘Black Dahlia Clone’

Posted on April 29, 2017 by

I’m continually surprised by the ingenuity of some EBay vendors in stretching to impossible lengths to find a link to the Black Dahlia case The vendor in question has listed some random old flea market find as “Beautiful raven haired … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Daily Mirror Christmas Shopping Guide: Scaccomatto Chess Set

Posted on December 2, 2016 by

A Scaccomatto chess set has been listed on EBay. The set, designed by Franco Rocco, is one of the more unusual ones you may encounter. All the pieces fit together to make two cubes, one brass and the other chrome. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1970, Found on EBay | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Daily Mirror Christmas Buying Guide: Scary Clown Clock to Terrify Baby Boomers

Posted on November 29, 2016 by

Photo of the Abbotwares Bozo clock via EBay. If you are tired of misty-eyed Baby Boomer nostalgia, this may be for you. I have written before about Abbotwares radios (often rendered as Abbotware). You may recall “Atwater Kent’s Love Child … Continue reading →

Posted in Found on EBay, Television | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Found on EBay: Manly Palmer Hall

Posted on August 16, 2016 by

The biography of Manly Hall by my Los Angeles Times colleague Louis Sahagun. Two lectures by Manly Hall have been listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $69. Hall was included in a Los Angeles Conservancy tour in 2009,  … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Found on EBay, Religion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Prof. A. Victor Segno: Los Angeles’ Greatest Charlatan

Posted on July 16, 2016 by

  Prof. A. Victor Segno, my favorite Los Angeles charlatan, has surfaced on EBay. This envelope is addressed to the author of “How to Be Happy Though Married,” “How to Have Beautiful Hair” and many other books on self-improvement and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Found on EBay | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Black Dahlia: Bizarre Outsider Art of Elizabeth Short on EBay

Posted on June 24, 2016 by

Fortunately, I saw this image before I had breakfast. This is a combo of a postcard of the Biltmore Hotel and an image of Elizabeth Short. It was done by Perry Johnson and is listed as Buy It Now for … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment