The 71 Small Ads Analysis

This post is a continuation and extension to the previous post dated September 21st..2025.

Followers may recall that we worked through the Port Lincoln Small ads and were able to show that when analysed,  two of the ads contained the code name, DANETTA. I used the same code technique that revealed the same name in Tibor Kaldor's last letter on that occasion. What follows is a summation of an extensive search across all small ads that contained the X3239 telephone number.

That number is the one that appeared on the Somerton Man code page, and at the time it belonged to the Nurse, Jessica Harkness.

FINDINGS

In summary, some 71 small ads contained the X3239 number; however, some of those ads were for the Courier Mail, a Queensland newspaper, and Queensland had a similar telephone number set up, as Adelaide, which showed the X3239 telephone number was allocated to a Wooloongaba Used Car business. Similarly, other ads were placed in the Melbourne Age and Argus newspapers, with the number X3239, but these were not related to our Adelaide addresses. I should point out, that TROVE can sometimes be a little shaky, and it's always worth double-checking, in case it misses an entry.

VALID ADS

In all, there were 42 small ads placed in the Adelaide Advertiser and 7 ads placed in the Port Lincoln Times, carrying the X 3239 Adelaide telephone number. Other ads were placed in Interstate newspapers, but the telephone numbers, although the same number as for the Thomsons,  related to addresses in other states.

DANETTA  ADS

Adelaide Advertiser: I analyzed all ads and found that one of the 42 ads placed in the Adelaide Advertiser contained the code word DANETTA in the sequentially numbered location format. This advertisement was placed on June 15, 1949, two days before the first day of the Somerton Man inquest.

It reads as follows:

"HIRE CAR AVAILABLE for weddings

day trips or country tours. Latest

black sedan, radio equipped, and

air conditioned. Careful ex-AIF driver

Lowest rates. THOMSON. PHONE X3239."

The 5 ads placed in the Port Lincoln Times newspaper on May 5th, 1949, are HERE, two of the ads contained the code name DANETTA in the correct format

On further research, I came across another ad in the Port Lincoln Times dated 17th March 1949 as follows:

"FOR SALE.-Dodge Fluid Drive De-

Luxe Sedan, 1948 model, fitted

with radio and many extras, finished

all leather upholstery, covered very

low mileage. For immediate delivery.

Price £1,725. Phone Thomson, X3239

evenings, or write 90A Moseley Street,

Glenelg."

This ad contains the DANETTA code name

TIMELINES

The timeline for these ads shows some interesting gaps. The timing of the DANETTA ad on 15th June 1948 coincides with the Somerton Man inquest, which is quite interesting, especially as it contains the code name, but at this stage, that's really all we can say about that. 

The timing of the Port Lincoln ads is perhaps even more interesting, of the 7 ads placed on two separate occasions, three of them contain the DANETTA Code in the described sequential numbered format. The timeline, when compared with others that I have, shows some coincidences, but I need to spend a little more time before I post on that.

I will add the full list of ads here shortly in an update.