Ernie Pyle's Typwriter

| February 3, 2009 February 3, 2009 |

Since we first aired our story on Ernie Pyle's typewriter, many of you have written us to comment on the comparison of the type. All great observations. Stephen Hull described it well. Read his letter:

...Read More

Shipwreck Cannons update

| September 10, 2008 September 10, 2008 |

Bill Goddard wrote in for additional information on the Shipwreck Cannons story. The History Detectives contacted Chris Havel in Salem, Oregon, Communications officer for the Office of the Director, Oregon Parks and Recreation Dept. Here's his reply:

1. What additional study has been done? When will they
remove the 'concretions' to see what is really under there?

No additional work has been done on the cannon, but we are nearly ready to send them to a professional conservator to have the concretions removed. Several firms will likely bid on the work (bids close in mid-September, and we'll work with a local team of historians to select the contractor). Only a few organizations have the right kind of marine archaeology expertise. The conservation process itself can take years. As we are doing now, the conservator will start by soaking the artifacts in tubs of fresh water to draw the ocean salt out. When salt, iron and oxygen mix, the iron corrodes very quickly (which is why these are still intact, even after all that time buried on the ocean shore ... not much oxygen beneath 10-20 feet of sand and salt water!)

After the sodium levels drop, the concretions will be carefully removed. It's delicate work; the conservator must be careful to preserve surface details, such as foundry marks, that could reveal much of the cannons' history. After the concretions are removed, the metal is typically coated to protect it from further corrosion.

The work is being funded by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and donations gathered the the Oregon State Parks Trust. We at the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department protect the state's natural wonders and historic places, and serve more than 40 million visitors from every corner of the globe every year. Hundreds dropped by Nehalem Bay State Park to see the cannon this summer; we'll miss the cannon while they take their own vacation to "have some work done."

...Read More

More USS Olympia glass windows found

| August 21, 2008 August 21, 2008 |

Five History Detectives viewers from the Midwest have contacted us to say they have identical or nearly identical glass windows to the one featured in the USS Olympia Glass story that aired August 11, 2008.

Nick Newman writes

I am from Omaha, where the window was made - my mother found the same (unmounted) window back in 1968, and mounted it in a frame for hanging, but not before my brother managed to have a forbidden party during which the window got cracked. I have this still, although I am now living in the West, and it is the envy of all my antiquing pals. Last Xmas while visiting back home, I visited a friend who had moved out of the city into a farmhouse halfway to Lincoln, and lo and behold, her porch door had the same window still in it. I loved finding out more about the window, having assumed it was the Maine (as did my friend), but I never researched it. I figured it was a catalog purchase for new homebuilders bitten by patriotism. Thanks so much for your story - my window is almost worthless cracked along its bottom, but my friend will be thrilled to know hers is so rare.

Japanese Balloon Bomb explosion location

| August 11, 2008 August 11, 2008 |

We were contacted by Les Reese with this question regarding the Japanese Balloon Bomb story that aired July 14, 2008:

During the broadcast, Tukufu referenced Bly, Oregon as the location where one of the war balloons had landed; in May, 1945, it was found by a group of picnickers and killed them. In viewing the write-up of the program, I noticed the word "Bly" was omitted from the location in Oregon where the balloon landed. I recall reading in the newspaper a few years back where 8 or 10 Japanese women who helped make the balloons came to Mt. Hood, Oregon, to pay their respects to the people killed by the balloon. Apparently they had grieved for many years that they indirectly caused someone's death. QUESTION: Are you aware of the exact location where the balloon landed that Tukufu was discussing?

We checked the Medford Mail Tribune newspaper account of May 7, 1945 which listed the location as "about 15 miles east of Bly."
The Japanese women who made paper for the balloon envelopes, not knowing they were to be used as bombs, visited Bly, Oregon in 1996. As a gesture of peace they brought a thousand paper cranes to the relatives of those killed in the explosion. Photographs of the women as school children and as adults visiting Bly can be viewed at On Paper Wings web page.

GAR Photograph Tombstone Question

| August 7, 2008 August 7, 2008 |

Jo Hinds spoke for over a dozen viewers when she wrote us with this question:

The man in your photograph was a member of the GAR which was founded in 1866, but I noticed on his tombstone that he died in 1860. How can that be? Are you sure the tombstone is for the correct person? Thanks for a great show! Jo Hinds

The tombstone is a rectangular piece with names of many family members that are buried in that plot.
The 1860 date refers to Anna L Stevenson, who died in 1860 and was the first to be interred. In fact, the name John Stevenson and the date '1860' appear on different sides of the same headstone.

John Stevenson, George Geder's great Grandfather, and most of his family are indeed buried there.
Thanks to all for careful attention to the GAR Photograph story.

Hindenburg Artifact story correction

| July 30, 2008 July 30, 2008 |

A number of viewers have contacted us with corrections to the Hindenburg Artifact story. Over twenty caught the error in our showing a B-29 bombing Germany. Merlin Bird writes:

In the Hindenburg Artifact episode, B-29's were briefly depicted as being used over Europe. Normally, I'd think nothing of it, but in a history program? B-29's were not used over Europe.

The aircraft shown should have been a B-17 or B-24. The producers regret the error.

Carl Witzstein wrote with another frequently voiced comment:

In the Hindenburg story you said several times that the cause of the crash had not been determined. I remember a PBS story (either on NOVA or SECRETS OF THE DEAD) that claimed to have discovered the cause. I think it was a spark that ignited the explosive coating on the blimp.

I really enjoy your program!!

We contacted the story's producer who was aware of the earlier programs produced on the Hindenburg disaster. Here is his reply:

Hypotheses regarding the Hindenburg disaster are myriad. One commonly-accepted theory blames flammable paint - not hydrogen – for igniting the fire and enabling its rapid spread. Experiments assessing the validity of this theory have yielded mixed results. A 2005 study found that the burn rate of the painted fabric was far too slow to have consumed the airship in 34 seconds, and that a natural spark ignition was physically implausible. The study also postulates that burning gas cells and fabric accounted for the yellow flames. Furthermore, eyewitness accounts of the Hindenburg flames closely match those of zeppelins shot down in combat during WWI. Until the day that multiple, full-scale reproductions constructed of authentic Hindenburg materials are built to test the various possible causes, there will be no consensus in the scientific community over the exact cause of the LZ129 crash. A PDF copy of the report is available at this site.

Thank you, viewers, for careful attention to the Hindenburg Artifact story and taking the time to provide feedback.

Gold plated Airstream

| July 28, 2008 July 28, 2008 |

Mike Logan
I am just curious as to what happened to the gold plated airstream that Wally Byam took on the historic "Cape Town to Cairo Caravan" of 1959?

To answer Mike's question we contacted Wally Byam's nephew, John Dale Schwamborn

Wally Byam's wife's name was Stella. Family members called her Stel. On the 1956 Wally Caravan to Europe, he and Stel went over the ideal floor model. The ideas were Stella's. (I have Wally's notebook with a sketched floor plan. He called it something like Stella's dream trailer.) The trailer was manufactured in 1957 in the Jackson Center Plant. Wally took the trailer to Africa in 1959. In 1969 I purchased the trailer and kept it for 7 years. A few years ago Airstream repurchased the trailer. They are now refurbishing it. It is at the factory in Ohio.

...Read More