...THE SUITCASE CONTENTS,
IMAGES 2023 UPDATE...
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These are posted as the result of a request from a Cipher Mysteries blog commenter.
1. LION BRAND TOOTHPASTE WAS AN EXPORT PRODUCT:
A part used tube of this toothpaste was found in the suitcase. The images below show more information about the brand and countries to which it was exported.
A part used tube of this toothpaste was found in the suitcase. The images below show more information about the brand and countries to which it was exported.
2. THE SOVEREIGN BRAND PENCILS
Three Pencils, 2 of them Sovereign, and the third made by a company that took over the original brand, Cohen. Together they tell a story of how the pencils may have been used and suggest that at one time, there was a pencil sharpener in use.
3. THE WRIGLEYS JUICY FRUIT, CHEWING SWEETS
It was thought that chewing gum was a strong indication that the man probably had lived in the US. The images show that Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Sweets were made in Sydney but not until 1958 They also pose a question.
3. THE WRIGLEYS JUICY FRUIT, CHEWING SWEETS
It was thought that chewing gum was a strong indication that the man probably had lived in the US. The images show that Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Sweets were made in Sydney but not until 1958 They also pose a question.
THE SUITCASE CONTENTS:
To the best of my knowledge, these suitcase photographs were taken in the SA Police property room
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15. The image below may be of interest. Note the toothbrush and the size of the 'ring' or scissor end. Seems to be about the size of the head of the toothbrush, say 25mm or so?
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A portable bookbinders kit. A knife, scissors, pencil, brush, and a needle. You would also need paper, an awl and waxed thread is commonly used. All of the items described here are to be found amongst the Somerton Man's suitcase if indeed it was his.
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18. THE TOOTHPASTE:
THE PENCILS
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20. Three pencils, 2 roughly the same length and one shorter, all a little the worse for wear, and one of them, the longest one, looks to have been sharpened with a pencil sharpener whilst the other that you can see was more roughly sharpened. They also tell us more about how they may have been used.
21. WRIGLEY'S JUICY FRUIT:
A part used packet of this brand of chewing gum was found amongst the possession in the man's pockets. The packet below actually dates from the 1950s.
Below is a handy timeline for US
Wrigley's Juicy Fruit packaging:
Tags
Lion Brand Toothpaste
Made in Australia
Somerton Man Mystery
Sovereign Brand Pencils
The Somerton Man Suitcase Contents
Wrigley's Chewing JUICY FRUIT Gum
Thank you much appreciated! Still stumped by that toothpaste! It looks very like the Japanese Lion brand but is too unclear to be definitive. Lion is not included in a 1952 Commonwealth list of toothpastes for sale in Australia… I’m sure that a foreign toothpaste, not easily available in Australia, would have been of interest to the police at the time & over time…
ReplyDeleteNo problem. The research you have done takes you to a point where Lion Brand was not shown on a 1952 list of Toothpastes sold in Australia, OK got that.
ReplyDeleteWhy not go back to the beginnings? And please don't take this as a criticism.
When you look at the box in this post, one of the first things that you will notice is that the labelling is in English:
https://tamamshud.blogspot.com/2014/09/somerton-man-suitcase-contents.html
That's a fair indication that this toothpaste was made for export. From there I searched for other examples of the Lion Brand which I have added to the post above. As it happens I found these latest images on eBay which is where I found the first lot. You can see from those labels that the product, in this case tooth powder, was exported to India and also won prizes at various exhibitions in the US and UK. Now you have another avenue to pursue, the exhibitions.
If I can explain, there is a difference between 'Research' and 'Investigation' and the Lion toothpaste issue is an example although not as clear cut as the issue of the 3 pencils. I have added those into the post as well. Take a look at them and consider how you might 'investigate' them as opposed to 'research' them. There are a few interesting aspects about them amongst other things they may be telling us just how they were used.
I'll finish this off with one last point, amongst the possessions found in his pockets was a part packet of chewing gum. Why is that of interest do you think?
I really am trying to help here so again, please don't take offense.
I don’t mind admitting that my skills & value in all of this may be in research vs investigation :)!
ReplyDeleteI think it will take both skills and more than 1 person to resolve this matter. I was fortunate to receive investigative training many years ago and spent time in CID in the UK. I hasten to add that I have nowhere near the experience that Gerry Feltus has nor the depth of his knowledge when it comes to this case.
ReplyDeleteAncora Imparo!
Back to the Juicy Fruit gum. Would a man with more than 50% of his teeth missing really buy chewing gum? Consider this, gum is normally chewed with the molars and those are the teeth that were missing. I have expressed the thought on more than one occasion that the contents of the suitcase and the items found on the body were simply 'litter'. In fact in tradecraft terms, it is known as 'pocket litter', deliberately placed to cause confusion and lay false trails. Indeed the thought also occurred to John Ruffels, the original one that is. (there are currently 3 of him on Facebook)
ReplyDeleteThink about the gum, only someone who didn't know of the mans missing teeth would have placed the packet in his pocket.
Now think about Cowan not finding any sign of a known poison.
Next, the labels removed from his clothing, and not a sign of anything that would identify him.
No money except a sixpence, no watch. Maybe the sixpence was to pay the Ferryman?
The one person who could have identified him, the railway porter who took in the suitcase, just happened to be away on holiday at the time of the inquest and no statement was ever taken from him.
Then there's the issue of the tides. That night of 30th November/December 1st 1948 was the highest tide of the year. Working with Dr John Luick, I was able to prove that the tide would have reached the wall against which the man was propped. Meaning that the mans body would have been soaked, but it wasn't. 'And the sand around the body was undisturbed' in the words of Constable Moss and Coroner Cleland. Sand gets to be undisturbed when the tide has washed over it.
Now, and more recently Professor Abbott, in his second attempt at claiming to identify the Somerton Man, would have us all believe that Carl/Charles Webb is the Somerton Man. This despite Carl having an entirely different shaped ear to the Somerton Man's ear, without any knowledge of Carl Webb's height and with a dubious DNA exercise that had the forensic scientist Dr. Xanthe Mallet proclaim that she doubted that they will ever be able to positively identify the Somerton Man.
And here we all sit with bated breath awaiting the findings of the Police forensic unit, will they think to examine the the dental chart of the exhumed remains? The original chart having been taken by Dr Dwyer, the man who performed the autopsy on the body of man found on Somerton Beach? And was it Dr Dwyer or Dr John Barkley Bennett who sent the information to the coroner on the various poisons that could have caused the death of the man?
The Somerton Man mystery that fits like a glove into the category of a mystery and all to perfectly.
Well, Lion's Flouride was a brand new product in 1948 (based on company research) and probably gave peroxide based products a run for their money! (eg McLeans peroxide, blue and white tube but white cap). At the same time Unilever's SR toothpaste (black cap) had 1948 ads targeted at men who had lost teeth, looks and romantic prospects to gum disease and were also running a competition with a lucrative cash prize! (Am I a Trojan a gift horse? Did I hear the word dilettante!!)
ReplyDeleteWhilst I do find the issue of the toothpaste interesting, I am not confident that it will lead us anywhere. It may end up adding to the picture when the US gets back with their findings on Able Seaman Carl Webb, a man who it seems shares the same birthday as the Carl Webb in the Somerton Man case. You may have read that AB Webb was employed by a shipping line that regularly ran through Japan but that of course was in earlier years. Mind you, he may have found his way back to sea?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insights and I agree that the toothpaste is a minor intriguing detail in what is a far bigger mystery with so many confounding aspects! Looking forward to what might eventually be added to the picture following the SA forensic investigation…
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the discussion. Drop by anytime.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Pete, totally agree that there were numerous ways the tube could have arrived here.
Hi Gordon, Wasn’t there Barbour thread in the suitcase? I ask because that was used - I thought - to link the suitcase to some stitching in SM’s jacket or trousers.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's correct. If you look at image #8 in the post, the one with the detectives examining the case contents, you'll see the thread card just left of the white tie.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that doesn't have an individual photo is the white laundry bag. It maybe in amongst the jumble of clothing etc in image #2, you can see near the top of the pic a greyish coloured item, there's a white mark on the photograph.
It’s a pity there isn’t an image of the laundry bag as this is potentially the only item where there is a crossover between the contents of the suitcase and the list of effects repatriated to John Keane’s family after his death in Ireland in 1943.
ReplyDeleteIt is a little odd that the laundry bag wasn't individually photographed given that it had the name written on it. If some these items once belonged to Keane then the laundry bag might have been service issue. That's assuming that his belongings were sent back from N.Ireland. it was common for many items of deceased service men in the UK to be be sold off by their comrades in so called 'Sods Auctions'. My uncle, tail gunner RAAF, also died in 43, shot down over Denmark. To my knowledge the only items to be returned to the family were personal things like books and letters but not clothing. Perhaps there were ways other than auctions that were used to dispose of clothing. If this is the case then the Keane items, if they were his, must have been from his home.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few peculiarities amongst the photos that could due to lighting/camera angles. In one shot, #15, you can see that one of the pencils is a mid to bright blue in colour and in another, #19 a non descript dark colour. The Green & Co. Lighter in one photo, #15, is quite dull and yet the one in the Screen grab, #19, from the Littlemore interview the same lighter is very shiny.
Back to your original comment, on the assumption that the laundry bag was not service issue, it begs the question why would a man living at home need laundry bag with his name on it?
Jack Keane’s NAA service file has a list of his belongings sent back to Australia, it includes a laundry bag. None of the other items on the list correspond with those in the suitcase.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, interesting that the list only has that one item. Still it is possible that someone just grabbed a bunch of ties, clothes etc including the laundry bag and made use of them. Personally not convinced as yet though.
ReplyDelete