The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

The basis for an upcoming 1950s true crime documentary is this post, up on Quora, for free reading.

The link is below (and thank you supporters for being patient as these works take a lot of time to do.)

1950struecrimecases.quora.com/Berserk-Gunmen-Shoot…

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

Two news items from the summer of 1959 featuring two "bad girl" delinquents.

The first example, out of New York, is of 15-year-old Carmen Martinez, who aided in the shotgun murder of 17-year-old Raul Baruchi (or "Banuchi," as his name has been spelled differently in different sources.) The trigger man was actually an unnamed in the press 14-year-old while the main conspirator was Martinez's 17-year-old gang leader boyfriend Philip Alvarez. (Martinez, by the way, was pregnant when she participated in the murder.)

The second example is out of Daly City, California, and also from the year 1959.

Penny Bjorkland, the 18-year-old "urge killer," who chose her victim at random (Bay Area contractor Gus Norry), for a shooting murder with a stolen pistol, just to see if she "had what it took to murder someone."

Frightening, and yet exploring these true crime cases out of the 1950s (both having occurred in 1959), gives us insight into why some young people commit these acts of violence.

Baffling, tragic, yet relevant.

An upcoming video will explore these cases and others like it.

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4 months ago | [YT] | 3

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

Crime statistics between the years 1946 to 1956 from the September 1957 issue of Life magazine.

4 months ago | [YT] | 5

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

Updated blog on 1950s teen dance styles.

The blog was actually first published about 5 years ago or so but this update includes photos as well as an easier format to read across different devices.

www.rockinswing.com/post/2020/08/23/1950s-dance-st…

5 months ago | [YT] | 4

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

Updated blog post, the free ebook, updated for easier reading across devices.

www.rockinswing.com/post/the-word-on-grease-histor…

5 months ago | [YT] | 2

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

Updated blog post, visual presentation of juvenile delinquency of the 1950s both in popular culture and...in real life...

www.rockinswing.com/post/1950-s-juvenile-delinquen…

5 months ago | [YT] | 3

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

My good friend David Van Pelt has a new video on his channel.

https://youtu.be/U0CF_YDLD-Q?si=fZS-R...

Highly recommended!

6 months ago | [YT] | 1

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

The trailer to the latest three-part 1950s youth gang history documentary. This teaser addresses the modern-day, mainstream "cute, quaint, and laughably harmless" (as in "Grease") perception of 1950s delinquency, while introducing the real-life history.

Check it out and the links to the three-part video documentary itself are in the description.

6 months ago | [YT] | 1

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

The documentary series is completed, after about a year of work.

It will premiere as "public" on Friday at 2:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) at the following links below:

Part One:
https://youtu.be/NPTq03b6Wt4?si=HR7Tm...

Part Two:
https://youtu.be/aIQ0jk-XG44?si=wJPOd...

Part Three:
https://youtu.be/2rvxBWhgQl4?si=MIclG...

I am on the fence as to which of the two flyers I should use for promotional purposes.

I welcome your opinions in the comments as to which of the two flyers you, my friends (and participants) would like me to use to promote the videos.

The video series features interviews with authors Richard Jacoby ("Conversations With The Capeman"), Boabdil Vazquetelles ("Mockingbird"), David Van Pelt ("Brooklyn Rumble"), and Bay Area Poet Laureate PatrickandCheryl Coonen, as well as my "brother from another mother," ASP-TV's Kwame Welsh, all of whom share their expertise in regards to this lost history of the 1950s decade.

Interviews with everyday 1950s teenagers are also featured (thanks Judy Gorman Mellberg.)

Bay Area voice actress Mary Jo Ip generously donated her time.

Thank you everyone for your help and participation.

Tagging fellow 1950s youth gang history enthusiasts, researchers, and those who participated, either through support, or through on-camera participation. (Very much appreciated.) 😊

6 months ago | [YT] | 6

The Hepcats Hangout 1950's History Channel

1950s Youth Gang Research, July 5, 1959:

This full page spread out of The New York Daily News featured photos of most of the parties involved in the Dragons and Untouchable gang feud shootings, including, tragically, 17-year-old Raul Barucci (spelled as "Banuchi," and David Van Pelt, how should his name be properly spelled? I will edit, accordingly.)

I have yet to find a photo of Earl Mack, but his alleged shooter, Earl Crespo is pictured on the bottom right.

Carmen Martinez, 15-year-old "deb" of Dragons leader, 17-year-old Philip Alvarez are also pictured with photographs that have appeared in other mid-1959 news items.

The spread itself is new to me and the photo of Earl Crespo is one that I've never seen before.

One photo, and for that matter one name, that is missing, is the alleged 14-year-old shooter.

One could point out that because he was a minor, he wasn't named, except that Clement "Cookie" Macis over in Chicago from 4 years earlier was also 14-years-old when he was charged with shooting 17-year-old Kenneth Sleboda, which makes one wonder why news articles would name one minor, but not another of the exact same age, when charged with a gang shooting.

Then of course, there was Caril Ann Fugate, 14-years- old at the time that she was tried (as an adult), and named in the press.

And by the way, I firmly believe that Caril Ann Fugate was in fact, innocent, an unwilling captive, during her ex-boyfriend Starkweather's murder spree, unlike Carmen here, who I have no doubt was a very willing participant in the murder committed by her "bad boy" older boyfriend Alvarez.

Both couples by the way, were contemporaneous, and in the news nationally, making for some interesting late 1950s teen couple delinquent parallels and discussions.

Shared for fellow 1950s youth gang researchers.

9 months ago | [YT] | 10