Another look at what was found in SM’s suitcase
Not the letter-gram, its purpose is obvious, but what about the large quantity of envelopes underneath it? Some have suggested they were for Christmas cards, seeing the day was close, not so said others because when you bought a card the envelope usually came with it.
Right Professor?
Carrying on from the proposition that SM was involved in the car rackets, given that the tools found in his case were suitable for such an occupation, how do the envelopes fit in?
Well, my good mate Sherlock has an answer.
‘It’s elementary dear boy,’ he said over port and cigars last night, ‘the business our man was involved in was not one where payments were made by a cheque, too traceable and anyway there was never much trust involved between the parties, re the unfortunate Daphne Page episode. So here is our chap recently arrived from interstate and apparently eager to get into the local game, so to speak. He has the phone number of a local small time villain who has an enviable record in buying and selling motor vehicles – they meet, the wife of the local man accompanies them as somebody who is familiar with the business and has to be home to answer the phone in case a prospective customer calls, being the subscriber of the phone number he used in the classified ads he placed. There is also a suggestion they were all known to each other in another state and neither man was a stranger to the cost of doing such a risky business where organised gangs monopolised the flow of stolen cars and the large quantities of cash involved. Like 4,000 cars in one year, as mentioned below.
4,000 cars stolen in the eastern states in the last 12 months (Cairns Post, November 1947)
Classified ads placed by the local man show that a partnership had been suggested, a buy-in price negotiated, premises sought for a workshop and lodgings. A long held arrangement is in place; a method by which gang-related individuals of the serious managerial class in the eastern states are duly compensated for their specialist advice, supply of vehicles and protection, a scheme both men were familiar with and where not complying was considered to be extremely unwise, if not a fatal decision. And the police, then as it is now, facilitated the arrangement by looking the other way.
The criminals in the eastern states needed their money and the envelopes were the means of getting it to them – through the mail, the safest way.
You know it makes sense.
The Somerton Man .. 
Articles supplied here describe guys who traveled the country stealing cars driving them across state lines re-birthing cars from state to state. It was BIG money.
So what would such an individual need to ply his trade?
Re- birthing cars requires altering documents and registering a car in a new state. This would require paperwork being lodged with the registrar of motor vehicles.
Ever wonder why SM had so much stationary? I suggest he needed it to alter the paperwork and mail it ahead to the RMV in the next state. This is 1949 no online registration, dong this by post was a regular way people got shit done.
He needs all the means necessary in terms of tools to liberate the cars , he needs to travel light enough that he could be dropping of one stolen car and liberating another one the same day which he transports to the next state and so on it goes.
So he has the tools for the car break and he has the tools to alter paperwork and he would be sending of the required paperwork to the next state to register the car he intends to re birth.
No physical inspection was required so all this could be done by correspondence.
No room or train bookings in his name nor name tags left on a jacket left behind by accident at the hotel.
Prosper had the means to act as a local fixer for receiving stolen cars and setting up the next target.
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So, in other words he travelled ‘light’, one small suitcase was all he needed. No paperwork with his address, no diary, paid everything by cash, no cheques etc. Worked to his own schedule, at his own pace and, in doing so, earned a reputation as the ‘go to’ man?
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and rego papers back in the day didn’t have anything to identify the vehicle according to AI, then it confuses that answer with another that says the plate number was printed ..
What say thee, Dude?
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Were there any mushrooms in that pasty?
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SM’s photo was in the papers
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SteveH … I’ll post your comments when they make sense, ok?
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Well there were no federal regulations around importing cars in the 1940s It was up to the states to regulate.
Small adds suggest Proper had a keen interest in imports both as a dealer and collector.
No computers and the Motor vehicle offices in each state operated independantly of each other and in fact were notorious for NOT working together between states
I’m of the understanding that no physical inspection of the vehicle was required at least in Victoria at the time.
I floated a theory over on CM that I called the Thomson twins scam. Prosper as a dealer could provide legit papers for a car to someone in SA who could steal an identical make and model(the twin) then alter the number plate on the stolen car to match the documents of the legit car and drives across to Victoria.
He mails the paperwork ahead to the RMV in Victoria. Drives the car home to Victoria with legit papers and a matching number plate just in case he gets pulled over. Arrives in Victoria gets the new registration plates and documents.
Its called re-birthing a car and was the MO of the car thieving rings. You end up with a car in Victoria with 100% legit plates that you sell on the regular market.
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How does that show who Somerton man was
when lots of people would have seen his photo in the paper as the person whom they used to do “business” with, especially if he was going from state to state
and someone would have come forward, or even anonymously identified him, as someone who was known to them, or they saw in the street, or anywhere for that matter
but nobody knows who Somerton man was, so the scenario that Somerton man was either Carl Webb stealing cars, or some unknown person stealing cars, doesn’t hold water
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Your whole response doesn’t “hold water” but Ill humor it.
Firstly he WAS identified by TWO people as a Melbourne nitkeeper which ties in with the underworld hypothesis.
Secondly the people he would be “doing business with” if it was the kind of business described here would hardly be coming forward to explain their connection to him now would they.
Thirdly this was hardly front page news around the country. A few small articles appeared here and there with the grainy black and white death photo.
The fact that no-one came forward strengthens the underworld theory if anything.
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“He was identified by two people”
SM has been identified by lots of people but all those findings have turned out to be false
There doesn’t seem to be anything that can connect him with a black market car trade
Unless you have found some documents or something, which is highly unlikely
I think we can dismiss it because the evidence is missing
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As is any evidence to back up your claims, No.1 .. you haven’t produced anything other than your random musings.
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Pan Am cutlery
Australia Hotel Sydney shave foam
Pan Am office located on the Australia Hotel mezzanine floor
Keep you posted 🙂
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Ok, you do that and if it looks as believable as Dude’s theory I’ll post it up .. Deal?
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Depends how much you know about cutlery, spoons from different countries, and the one that what was in SM’s suitcase
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No, it depends on how much YOU know ..
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How can you spot an American spoon ?
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Mate .. get on with the job and give us the finished product, ok? This is not our first rodeo..
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“another look at what was found in SM’s suitcase”
amended list of suitcase items
shaving brush (tick)
tube of shave cream (not toothpaste)
glass dish to make shaving lather (not a soap dish)
razor and strop (tick)
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The shaving brush is British Army WW2. The wood has several splits at the brush end, the brush is inserted, and then the wood is bound with cord to hold the bristles in the wood
https://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/ww2-british-army-1945-dated-briton-shaving-brush-original.html
You would expect to see some military markings, including a defence broad arrow marking, which could be worn off, or (likely) the brush turned over so nobody can see what it is
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No, it was a particle brush when shook out deposited an unidentified black powder ..
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One may have been, but there’s two brushes in the suitcase photo items, they are alongside each other, the other is the shaving brush
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Looks like I missed that. Can you link me an image ?
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https://ciphermysteries.com/2016/01/31/the-very-social-somerton-mans-suitcase
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I only see the longer handled particle brush in the suitcase shot
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Directly below the number 5 on the paper tag marked A48605 and above the long handle brush, or between the two coat hangers, or below the scissors finger rings, and resting on the pencil. It’s a bit hard to spot and it looks like lots of people have missed it, which may be why it’s not elsewhere, but it’s there. Light tan coloured brush, with wooden shaped handle with white cord wrapped, and it’s a WW2 British shaving brush
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Ok, so we’ve got a man with a UK shaving brush, an American jacket and Australian duds – plus a tropical style jacket. Agree?
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Tropical jacket, don’t know. Shirt maybe ?
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Yeah, like a shirt jacket .. sort of thing they wear in the Philippines
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The ring item is a necktie ring. A fashion item worn under the knot which may stop it slipping but it’s mainly just a finishing touch. The serrations on the inner stop the ring sliding down. Windsor knot of course.
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So what is the most optimistic prediction you can make about knowing the origin of the teaspoon or the shaving brush could ultimately reveal in this Number 1 ?
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