American Jack the Ripper - True Crime Conference, Baltimore, April 7-8, 2018

[ChrisGeorge]

Co-organizer Janis Wilson and I are presently in the early stages of planning for the April 2018 event, talking to potential speakers and performers and lining up a venue and activities. As with the April 2016 event that we held at the Maryland Historical Society, it will be a combined Jack the Ripper and true crime weekend, and naturally there will be some surprises, a Saturday night dinner, and a planned tour of Baltimore. We welcome hearing from persons with proposed talks and ideas for the event as well as enquiries from interested attendees. Interested parties should feel free to contact me at editorctrip@yahoo.com. Stay tuned for further announcements.

[ChrisGeorge]

Registration Cost for RipperCon in Baltimore April 7-8, 2018

Hello everyone

RipperCon 2018, Jack the Ripper-True Crime conference to be held in Baltimore, Maryland this coming April, is going to be a big one so don't miss out. Our talks will be held at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in the College's 90-year-old Italianate Main Building in Room 110 off Statuary Hall (see images below).

RipperCon is the ONLY North American conference to be held during the 130-year anniversary of the Ripper murders. We have only 50 places available for registrants, so be sure to book early.

Meanwhile, we have a trivia contest going on, one of a series of trivia questions to be posted over the coming months. A precursor to the hour-long trivia contest with some worthwhile prizes planned for Sunday afternoon -- just to keep everyone on their toes!

What is a tintype?

First to answer will receive a genuine period tintypue -- er, whatever it is. Good luck, everyone! (NOTE: Mr. Hutchinson, you are "recused" from answering.)

Following are the details about registering for RipperCon 2018:

Registration is $140 or $120 for persons who agree to appear at RipperCon in period costume for two days of talks 9 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday, with 12+ expert speakers and panelists. Of the registration price, $80 is due now, and the remainder should be paid by February 14, 2018. All payments by PayPal to editorctrip@yahoo.com.

Registration includes entry to Friday night reception at a special location to be announced. Reception will feature free soft drinks and water and a cash bar for those who to purchase wish beer, wine, or liquor.

We are planning a separately priced all-day bus tour of Baltimore probably Friday or Monday to visit John Wilkes Booth's grave as well as Poe's grave and house, the Maryland Medical Examiner's office, and Fort McHenry with on-your-own lunch at a restaurant in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Saturday night will feature a banquet with speakers and entertainment -- details and price to be announced.

Questions anyone? Either PM me here or e-mail me at editorctrip@yahoo.com.

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Main Building, Mount Royal Avenue, Baltimore - Venue for the daytime talks at RipperCon 2018



Statuary Hall in the Main Building at MICA. Talks are scheduled for Room 11 in the left hand corner.

[GUT]

A Tinytype is type of photograph.

[GUT]

Watch your spelling Gut TinType.

A positive photo shot on a small piece of tin, hence the name.

[GUT]

Toy take a small piece of tin (probably other metals can be used too) coat it in enamel, paint in photograpgic emulsion expose and develop.

[ChrisGeorge]

Big announcement!

We have a winnah in the latest RipperCon Trivia Contest!

Our winner is our good friend Gut, who answered --

A Tinytype is type of photograph.

Watch your spelling Gut TinType.

A positive photo shot on a small piece of tin, hence the name.

Correct, Gut. You win!

Only, to correct you slightly, the metal was not tin, despite the misleading name. Rather, the metal used to make tintype photographs in the late 19th Century and into the 20th century actually was iron -- it is magnetic.

You've won our latest contest, Gut, and I'll send you the following period tintype if you provide your snail mail address. When you get it, you will be able to test that the photo is magnetic!



As explained by a historian friend of mine in discussion of the photograph which betrays some pink tinting on the man's lips and cheeks:

"Judging by the subject's clothing and the gray tone (as opposed to the chocolate tones produced later), I'd say the image could be Civil War period but in any case not long afterward. The tinting of cheeks, buttons, jewelry, etc. was commonly done to tintypes.

"The size of yours [2.5 inches by 2 inches] indicates it is a 9th plate tintype, that is, 9 identical exposures made on one sheet of 'tin' (actually iron) with a 9 lens camera, thus producing multiple exposures on one sheet that could be cut apart so you could give individual copies to family and friends."

[ChrisGeorge]

Next RipperCon 2018 trivia question, with yet another special prize. Gut and Melissa on our Facebook page, you've both won before so you are ineligible. One prize per customer is the rule going forward.

What is this man's real name?

[GUT]

They were actually Tin originally.

Don't post it all the way here, use it is a prize gift or whatever at the conference, I can be there symbolically.

[Sam Flynn]

Next RipperCon 2018 trivia question, with yet another special prize. Gut and Melissa on our Facebook page, you've both won before so you are ineligible. One prize per customer is the rule going forward.

What is this man's real name?

Maurice Micklewhite

[ChrisGeorge]

They were actually Tin originally.

Don't post it all the way here, use it is a prize gift or whatever at the conference, I can be there symbolically.

Thank you, Gut. That's very generous of you. I will drink a toast to you during RipperCon for your kindness!

[ChrisGeorge]

Well done, Sam!

Yes you are exactly correct as to the correct name of the bloke pictured in the photograph.

Michael Caine, who starred as Inspector Abberline in the two-part TV series "Jack the Ripper" that aired in 1988. And yes his real name is Maurice Micklewhite. The story goes that the actor saw a movie marquee where the "Caine Mutiny" was being shown, and that he got the name from there.

Unfortunately for you though, Sam, our old mate Robert Linford at JtR Forums nipped in before you with the correct answer... He actually astonished me with the speed of the answer. I had only just posted the pic when Linford posted the answer... six minutes later.

Best regards

Chris

[ChrisGeorge]

RipperCon 2018 Speaker Announcement!

We are pleased to announce that SARAH BETH HOPTON will be coming to RipperCon to talk about "Mary Pearcey and the Hampstead Murders."

Sarah Beth Hopton’s Woman at the Devil's Door (Mango Books, 2017) about Mary Pearcey and her crimes in Victorian London is her first work of historic true crime. Her second book, Deadfall: Mountain Mysticism, Moonshine and Massacre in 1890s Virginia, is due out in 2019 from Indiana University Press.

Among her past jobs, Hopton worked as a Florida crime and politics columnist for both The News Sun and Closer magazine for a total of four years. She recently appeared on the Investigation Discovery (ID) channel special "Bloody Marys" to discuss Mary Pearcey, viewed by some as a possible "Jill the Ripper." For more on "Bloody Marys" see here.

Hopton is currently an assistant professor in the English Department at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She lives on an off-grid permaculture farm with her partner, two dogs, many chickens, a few pigs, and four rascally goats.

[ChrisGeorge]

RipperCon 2018 Speaker Announcement!



We are pleased to announce that DR CHARLES TUMOSA will be speaking at RipperCon in Baltimore April 7-8 on "A Policeman's Lot is not a Happy One"
-- How civilian conflicts with the police alter crime suppression and investigation.

Tumosa lectures in the University of Baltimore (UB) School of Criminal Justice Forensic Studies program. Prior to joining UB, Tumosa supervised the Criminalistics Laboratory of the Philadelphia Police Dept. During his 18 years there, he worked on over 4,000 homicides and testified in more than 800 criminal cases. Tumosa also worked at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

During his time at the Smithsonian, Tumosa conducted analyses of artifacts including the Enola Gay, the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima; the Statue of Columbia on the dome of the U.S. Capitol; and a time capsule from evolutionary scientist Charles Darwin’s ship, the HMS Beagle. His research provided insights into areas such as conservation, anthropology and the mechanisms of ancient technology.

[ChrisGeorge]

RipperCon 2018 Speaker Announcement!





We are pleased to announce that CHRISTOPHER T. GEORGE will be speaking at RipperCon in Baltimore April 7-8 on "The Legend of Jack the Ripper"

Yes, Jack the Ripper was a real-life serial killer who terrorized the East End of London in the autumn of 1888. Yet, human though he was, this unknown person has become much bigger than a living, breathing being.

Veteran Ripperologist Chris George, a former editor of Ripper Notes and Ripperologist magazine, discusses the worldwide phenomenon of "Jack the Ripper."

Chris will look at forerunners to the Whitechapel murderer, such as Spring-Heeled Jack and the London Monster and other sensations, and how word of the 1888 crimes spread to every corner of the globe, in an effort to understand why the spectre of the Whitechapel Murderer has both fascinated and frightened people for nearly 130 years. In addition, Chris will examine different candidates for the mantle of the Ripper and weighs their likelihood or non-likelihood to have been the infamous killer, in light of the existing information on the crimes.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Next RipperCon 2018 trivia question, with yet another special prize. Gut and Melissa on our Facebook page, you've both won before so you are ineligible. One prize per customer is the rule going forward.

What is this man's real name?

Frederick George Abberline?

Regards
Herlock