| Slowly, bit by bit, as he finds stuff, in crates and boxes scattered throughout his cluttered residence in Boerne, Texas (prounounced Bur-nee for non-Texans, who should note that his birthday, March 6, 1936, is 100 years to the day after the fall of the Alamo; two years to the day after Mr. Dillinger robbed the bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and in the same year that Alvin Karpis was captured, which all but ended the national "War on Crime"...Where was I? Ah, yes... Mr. Helmer, after 30 years in Chicago, is starting to sell his collectibles to help put his grandchildren through college. On this page he will begin listing stuff that is FOR SALE if he ever gets around to pricing it [Make him offers he can't refuse.] |
| To paraphrase Mark Twain: REPORTS OF BILL HELMER’S DEATH HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED It’s true that while working on The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (Cumberland House, 2004) he did get a little carried away with regard to Dr. Reinhart Schwimmer, the Moran Mob’s groupie (“there but for the grace of God went I”). He learned that there was only one plot left in Section 92 of Chicago’s Rosehill Cemetery, that it was next to Reinhart’s, and he bought it. (It seemed like a good idea at the time.) Having since moved to Texas, it’s FOR SALE—that, or he will have his ashes interred in both places by means of a post-hole digger. |
| =============JOHNNIE============ We hardly knew ya... |
| Your Benefactor's Eccentric & Eclectic MUSEUM |
| A little memorial to =====MR. CAPONE & THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE===== |
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1. Colorized photo of Chicago Crime Commission president Frank Loesch, who met secretly with Capone and appealed for peace
following the bombings and shootings during the “Pineapple Primary” of 1928. (Capone was happy to arrange this with a phone
call to his own “Dagoes” and by dispatching his police to “jug” all the other hoods the night before that year's general elections.) 2.
Lexington Hotel (predictably tropical-hidious) wallpaper from Capone’s office, plus five old .38 S&W cartridges, door-number
plate, bathroom pieces, etc. 3. Decorative items from Lexington grand ballroom; 4. “Elephant on Marble” pen holder, mechanical
pencil & refill lead, leather pouch with lady’s compact; 5. “Texas Guinan” show featured on hand-clapper from The Green Mill
nightclub; 6. Tin box from “Moravecek Funeral Home” in Cicero; 7. Lighting fixtures, door lock and buzzer from Lexington front
desk; 8. Original Unione Siciliana envelope (with photo of croaked presidential-candidate Tony Lolordo), over assortment of
period political buttons for Cermak, Dever, Judge Lyle, Al Smith, Herbert Hoover, Wendell Wilkie, Cox (Democratic nominee
defeated by Herbert Hoover in 1920) and others, including crooked Cook County Sheriff Traeger. 9. Room register from Anton
(later Alton) Hotel, Capone HQ while Hawthorne was brought up to spec in Cicero, scene of Hymie Weiss's machine-gun
motorcade in 1926; 10. Newspaper: KILL O'BANION, GANG LEADER (with editorial cartoon of shooting), KILL GANG
LEADER IN HOME (Lolordo), KILL LOMBARDO, MAFIA CHIEF; 11. Bricks from St. Valentine's Day Massacre garage;
12. Original cartoon map of Chicago gangland; 13. Gangster sculpture by the late John Petrie, next to enlarged copy of incredibly
lurid Massacre description from a True Detective magazine, with photo, picture and .45 cartridges; 14. SLAY DOCTOR IN
MASSACRE (Schwimmer) newspaper above original first and last pages of one Coroner's Jury report. 15. 1929 Model A Ford
police car whiskey bottle made by Jim Beam for Chicago cops. [Some numbers repeated below.]
following the bombings and shootings during the “Pineapple Primary” of 1928. (Capone was happy to arrange this with a phone
call to his own “Dagoes” and by dispatching his police to “jug” all the other hoods the night before that year's general elections.) 2.
Lexington Hotel (predictably tropical-hidious) wallpaper from Capone’s office, plus five old .38 S&W cartridges, door-number
plate, bathroom pieces, etc. 3. Decorative items from Lexington grand ballroom; 4. “Elephant on Marble” pen holder, mechanical
pencil & refill lead, leather pouch with lady’s compact; 5. “Texas Guinan” show featured on hand-clapper from The Green Mill
nightclub; 6. Tin box from “Moravecek Funeral Home” in Cicero; 7. Lighting fixtures, door lock and buzzer from Lexington front
desk; 8. Original Unione Siciliana envelope (with photo of croaked presidential-candidate Tony Lolordo), over assortment of
period political buttons for Cermak, Dever, Judge Lyle, Al Smith, Herbert Hoover, Wendell Wilkie, Cox (Democratic nominee
defeated by Herbert Hoover in 1920) and others, including crooked Cook County Sheriff Traeger. 9. Room register from Anton
(later Alton) Hotel, Capone HQ while Hawthorne was brought up to spec in Cicero, scene of Hymie Weiss's machine-gun
motorcade in 1926; 10. Newspaper: KILL O'BANION, GANG LEADER (with editorial cartoon of shooting), KILL GANG
LEADER IN HOME (Lolordo), KILL LOMBARDO, MAFIA CHIEF; 11. Bricks from St. Valentine's Day Massacre garage;
12. Original cartoon map of Chicago gangland; 13. Gangster sculpture by the late John Petrie, next to enlarged copy of incredibly
lurid Massacre description from a True Detective magazine, with photo, picture and .45 cartridges; 14. SLAY DOCTOR IN
MASSACRE (Schwimmer) newspaper above original first and last pages of one Coroner's Jury report. 15. 1929 Model A Ford
police car whiskey bottle made by Jim Beam for Chicago cops. [Some numbers repeated below.]
And now....
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16. Ralph Capone's Cotton Club "invite" between purple-tile pieces of Capone's Lexington shower, over copy of Time cover; two
Capone brewery coasters (including the famous Sieben's, which landed Torrio in jail); and Nile Green tile also from Al's own
bathroom. 3. Decorative pieces from the Lexington's Grand Ball Room; 4. Leather pouch with lady's compact from the Lexington.
17. Numbered VIP button for Geraldo's infamous 1986 "Lexington Vault Opening" along with recovered slug from his
Tommygun-firing stunt, photographed off a TV screen.
Capone brewery coasters (including the famous Sieben's, which landed Torrio in jail); and Nile Green tile also from Al's own
bathroom. 3. Decorative pieces from the Lexington's Grand Ball Room; 4. Leather pouch with lady's compact from the Lexington.
17. Numbered VIP button for Geraldo's infamous 1986 "Lexington Vault Opening" along with recovered slug from his
Tommygun-firing stunt, photographed off a TV screen.
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Ah, the hell with it. Enough
effort, you can figure stuff
out for yourself. Let's get
move along!
effort, you can figure stuff
out for yourself. Let's get
move along!
18. Some statuary and tombstone from the late "Capone's Chicago" Museum; 19. Nifty little obscene "eight-pager" featuring Al
Capone; 20. Brass key thing and ashtray from the Stevens Hotel, where Machine Gun Jack McGurn holed up with Louise Rolfe,
his "Blond Alibi," at the time of the Massacre; 21. Pewter Al Capone item once made by Chicago's "Weird Harold" Rubin. Plus
Unione Siciliana envelope with croaked Lolordo, some electrical and other items salvaged from the Lexington Hotel before its
demolition, and bunch of old political buttons promoting various mayors, presidential candidates of the times, and crooked Cook
County Sheriff Traeger.
Capone; 20. Brass key thing and ashtray from the Stevens Hotel, where Machine Gun Jack McGurn holed up with Louise Rolfe,
his "Blond Alibi," at the time of the Massacre; 21. Pewter Al Capone item once made by Chicago's "Weird Harold" Rubin. Plus
Unione Siciliana envelope with croaked Lolordo, some electrical and other items salvaged from the Lexington Hotel before its
demolition, and bunch of old political buttons promoting various mayors, presidential candidates of the times, and crooked Cook
County Sheriff Traeger.
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Becuz Sandy Jones of Colorado became Redneck Rich off his microbreweries and has the world's neatest
wife (with whom I'll always be in love) and used to have an even bigger Dillinger collection than this one,
and because he successfully tracked down and restored the original Essex Terraplane 8 (with two bullet
holes) used by Dillinger as his getaway car at St. Paul, and because he now has SOLD all this neat stuff
(except the breweries and the wife) to the new National Crime & Punishment Museum in Washington,
D.C.,Your Benefactor now has what must be the finest privately-owned Dillinger Collection on Planet Earth.
(Meaning it's the only one of any Greatness he's aware of.)
wife (with whom I'll always be in love) and used to have an even bigger Dillinger collection than this one,
and because he successfully tracked down and restored the original Essex Terraplane 8 (with two bullet
holes) used by Dillinger as his getaway car at St. Paul, and because he now has SOLD all this neat stuff
(except the breweries and the wife) to the new National Crime & Punishment Museum in Washington,
D.C.,Your Benefactor now has what must be the finest privately-owned Dillinger Collection on Planet Earth.
(Meaning it's the only one of any Greatness he's aware of.)
HERE WE GO!
See below....
See below....
1. Full-page painting by Reginald Marsh titled "The Death of Dillinger" in 3/11/40 Life, plus uncut copy of the magazine; 2. Original FBI
illustrative poster (or whatever) on Dillinger; 3. Several Dillinger newspapers (the "white" ones are from higher-quality library bound volumes),
plus a bunch more newsstand editions of various Dillinger adventures not shown; 4. Signed photo of Marjorie McDougall making death mask
at the morgue, along with Dillinger plate she made for me later at her retirement residence in Peoria...and more when I get the time.
illustrative poster (or whatever) on Dillinger; 3. Several Dillinger newspapers (the "white" ones are from higher-quality library bound volumes),
plus a bunch more newsstand editions of various Dillinger adventures not shown; 4. Signed photo of Marjorie McDougall making death mask
at the morgue, along with Dillinger plate she made for me later at her retirement residence in Peoria...and more when I get the time.
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| The Family Jewels! And a lot of lesser items... |
AT LEFT, Mr. Helmer joyfully examines one of three honest-to-God John Dillinger eyebrow hairs plucked from the
latex of the original death mask before collector Neal Trickel later auctioned it to a Brit for a measly ten grand. Two of
these are displayed on microscope slides in the specially-illuminated wooden cabinet and the magnified
proximity-triggered contraption below. (Half of one remains in Dr. Naismith's Traveling Crime Museum, which will
probably be willed to his kids, while the other half went to Dillinger ex-collector Sandy Jones in Colorado before he
sold his stuff to the National Crime and Punishment Museum in Washington, DC.)
BELOW ON THE RIGHT, in its fancy lucite display, is one of three pennies found in John's pocket when he shuffled
off his mortal coil outside the Biograph Theater on the night of July 22, 1934. It was obtained from G. Russell Girardin,
author of a newspaper series "Dillinger Speaks!" in 1935, and given to him by Dillinger's father in Mooresville, Indiana.
With it are a photo of Mr. Girardin, his business card, a scribbled receipt to him by Mr. Helmer, and part of the
glassine package in which they were long stored before Mr. Helmer located and collaborated with him in getting the
original manuscript edited, annotated and published as Dillinger: The Untold Story in 1994.
latex of the original death mask before collector Neal Trickel later auctioned it to a Brit for a measly ten grand. Two of
these are displayed on microscope slides in the specially-illuminated wooden cabinet and the magnified
proximity-triggered contraption below. (Half of one remains in Dr. Naismith's Traveling Crime Museum, which will
probably be willed to his kids, while the other half went to Dillinger ex-collector Sandy Jones in Colorado before he
sold his stuff to the National Crime and Punishment Museum in Washington, DC.)
BELOW ON THE RIGHT, in its fancy lucite display, is one of three pennies found in John's pocket when he shuffled
off his mortal coil outside the Biograph Theater on the night of July 22, 1934. It was obtained from G. Russell Girardin,
author of a newspaper series "Dillinger Speaks!" in 1935, and given to him by Dillinger's father in Mooresville, Indiana.
With it are a photo of Mr. Girardin, his business card, a scribbled receipt to him by Mr. Helmer, and part of the
glassine package in which they were long stored before Mr. Helmer located and collaborated with him in getting the
original manuscript edited, annotated and published as Dillinger: The Untold Story in 1994.
Below is Mr. Girardin's
original bound manuscript from 1935, a Dillinger death mask,
and the materials that went into the Dillinger book with Girardin's
notations, plus a numbered and signed "private edition" that Mr.
Helmer is still working on--not to mention a jaw-dropped assortment
of copied newspaper front pages, editorial cartoons, photos, FBI
documents and two I.O.cards ("wanted posters" from the federal
Division of Investigation and State of Illinois), which he forgot to put in
these pictures.
original bound manuscript from 1935, a Dillinger death mask,
and the materials that went into the Dillinger book with Girardin's
notations, plus a numbered and signed "private edition" that Mr.
Helmer is still working on--not to mention a jaw-dropped assortment
of copied newspaper front pages, editorial cartoons, photos, FBI
documents and two I.O.cards ("wanted posters" from the federal
Division of Investigation and State of Illinois), which he forgot to put in
these pictures.
All this other junk...I mean
priceless collectibles...will be
sorted out and labeled when he
gets around to it.
priceless collectibles...will be
sorted out and labeled when he
gets around to it.
