New Carriage

From Drinking and Intoxication, edited by Raymond G. McCarthy; The Free Press; Glencoe, Illinois: 1959.

Much interesting work was done on [drunkenness] in the 19th century, and quaint theories persisted even then. Robert McNish, a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, in 1835 in a book Anatomy of Drunkenness, discussed the peculiar phenomenon of spontaneous combustion of drunkards, a condition which, he claims, is well documented and in which the whole body, starting with the viscera, is burned in a few hours by a combustive process which for some reason does not even singe the surrounding furniture.

This movie — a documentary about the now-vanished Skid Row in Minneapolis, featuring footage and narration from flophouse owner “Johnny Rex” (John Bacich) — has been on my mind for a long time… and I’m happy to report it’s now on the web.

Before these gems started popping up on the net, the only way to catch them was by lucking into the odd screening or digging through the Minnesota History Center’s video library… and then burning them into your memory by making hasty notes and pencil sketches (old samples at bottom of post).

The sound is scratchy and the video is degraded, but you won’t regret watching this incredible footage.