NationStates Jolt Archive

This seems more than a little odd to me (http://www.southflorida.com/news/chi-0610180104oct18,0,5779387.story?coll=sfla-news-fringe) that there's not only a market for this kind of stuff, but that it has its own word: murderabilia.

UNION, Ill. -- All these years, the gallows hid in plain sight, the old killer's floorboards creaking above the heads of children.

As they have for decades, Cook County's retired gallows anchor a corner of Donley's Wild West Town, a tourist theme park and steakhouse that feels like an old movie set, complete with a trading post, live mules and clucking hens.

The setting is fanciful, but the gallows are jarringly real. In all, 86 inmates died on the device between 1887 and 1927.

They might have been destroyed long ago but for one convict's escape. "Terrible Tommy" O'Connor gave authorities the slip before his 1921 execution, and the gallows were kept for decades in case he was caught.

In the saga's latest turn, the gallows were set for auction in December, raising concerns about how they will be displayed in the future. Some death penalty experts worry the sale could attract morbid collectors of "murderabilia," items somehow related to serial killers and criminals.

As an artifact, the gallows represent a unique facet of Chicago history and the U.S. death penalty. Its first victims were labor activists, sentenced for the violent 1886 Haymarket Riot that led to the eight-hour workday. Inmates who were hanged on the device died in plain sight of other county prisoners, as capital punishment surged in early 20th Century America.
Opening bid is expected to be five grand.

I could see buying them in tribute to the Haymarket martyrs.

Its first victims were labor activists, sentenced for the violent 1886 Haymarket Riot that led to the eight-hour workday.

and once again, anarchists form a vital part of chicago history. yay us, i think.

and once again, anarchists form a vital part of chicago history. yay us, i think.

There is no "us" in "anarchist" :p

I could see buying them in tribute to the Haymarket martyrs.

could put it up next to that statue they built on des plaines and randolph

and once again, anarchists form a vital part of chicago history. yay us, i think.

Yay for us getting hung by the neck until dead. Hmmm. I don't think that was part of the plan. Ain't it the kings who are meant to get hung with the guts of the priests?

If I had the money it would be interesting to own something like that.

Too expensive. And it seems a bit tasteless to own something that was used to kill people.

Too expensive. And it seems a bit tasteless to own something that was used to kill people.

why?

Yay for us getting hung by the neck until dead. Hmmm. I don't think that was part of the plan. Ain't it the kings who are meant to get hung with the guts of the priests?

perhaps they only worked that part out later - who came up with that line first?

perhaps they only worked that part out later - who came up with that line first?

Diderot circa 1760 or so.

Maybe their French wasn't quite up to snuff and something got lost in translation.

I could see buying them in tribute to the Haymarket martyrs.

Religious imagery...

why?

Not really my thing. Although, if it were cheaper, I may consider. It would be interesting to have, for historical value.

Diderot circa 1760 or so.

Maybe their French wasn't quite up to snuff and something got lost in translation.

well, they were a bunch of germans and a southerner...

I'd buy it and build a museum around it that spoke of the horrors of the death penalty. It would be a cool center-peice for that, especially given that it's first victims were almost certainly framed.

Well, let's see...if "Terrible Tommy" were the youngest possible for execution (I think age 18) he would have been born in about 1903, so now he would be 103 years old, which IS possible. So if he turned up, in some nursing home somewhere...would he be hanged with that gallows?

Religious imagery...Or perhaps burn the gallows in effigy? :) Or protest, whichever.