I recently came across Kremen v. United States, 353 U.S. 346 (1957), an old Fourth Amendment decision. FBI agents located a fugitive in a secluded cabin; after arresting the fugutive and two other men, agents seized the entire contents of the cabin and sent the contents off to FBI headquarters. The Supreme Court issued a very short per curiam opinion saying without analysis that this was impermissible. The case doesn’t say much about the law, but I was struck by the very interesting list of items seized from the cabin included as an Appendix to the Court’s opinion. The Appendix lists about 200 items — everything in the cabin, I assume — and gives us an interesting insight into life in the mid-1950s. (Ok, so it’s not like everybody lived in a cabin in the 1950s, but you get the idea.) Here are just a few items on the list:
1 Package lighter flints – Ronson
1 Prince Albert tobacco – pocket size can
1 Ronson cigarette lighter & cigarette case combination (empty)
1 Jar scalp pomade, dark, by Ogelvie Sisters, N. Y.
2 Tubes toothpaste, Chlorodent (1 small & 1 large size)
1 Bottle Pepto Bismol, marked 98
1 Can Sopronol for athletes foot
1 Can Rise Shave Cream marked “59” on side
1 Newspaper clipping captioned, “Drive Two Hours – Then Rest”
1 Yellow plastic toothbrush in case
1 Cash register receipt, dated 4/10 for $1.88 to Palmer’s Drug Store, Hayward, California
1 RCA portable radio, Model B X 57
1 Sentinel portable radio with plastic case, Model 316P, serial 29004
1 Pair black rubber overshoes
2 Windshield wiper blades
1 Clipping – “San Jose Evening News,” 8/26/53 (Inside Labor)
30 Sheets unused stencil paper
1 Columbia record – “Edith Piaf Encores”
1 Pair white bobby soxs
1 Portable Royal typewriter, serial #0-431783
To see the whole list, click on the link above and scroll down a bit.
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