Article Archives: Bumps in the Night

Robert Rayford: America’s First AIDS Victim

April 24, 2025 | by Al Hunter

This column first appeared in May 2014. On May 16,1969, the face of modern medicine changed forever when 15-year-old Robert Rayford, sometimes identified as “Robert R.” due to his age, died in a St. Louis, Missouri hospital. He was a slender, uncommunicative street kid whose condition left doctors distressed, perplexed … Read More

The Polo Grounds’ Indianapolis Connection, Part 2

April 17, 2025 | by Al Hunter

On Sunday, September 29, 1957, a crowd of 11,606 came to the Polo Grounds to see Willie Mays play his last game for the New York Giants. Based on the illustrious baseball legacy of the New York Giants, you’d think that all 54,555 seats in the old Polo Grounds on … Read More

The Polo Grounds’ Indianapolis Connection, Part 1

April 10, 2025 | by Al Hunter

This column first appeared in April 2014. Fifty years ago this month, an American baseball shrine breathed it’s last breath. On April 10, 1964, a two-ton steel wrecking ball crashed into the side of the Polo Grounds located beneath Coogan’s Bluff in upper Manhattan. The walls came crashing down under … Read More

Robert Todd Lincoln Checks In

April 3, 2025 | by Al Hunter

This column first appeared in February 2011. Anyone who reads my column regularly knows that I have a love of odd, unusual history, relics, ghost stories and collectibles. I spend a lot of time at antique shows, flea markets, libraries and historic buildings and about once a year, I stumble … Read More

Capt. Gail Glaze: Mrs. Cowboy Bob

March 27, 2025 | by Al Hunter

This column first appeared in April 2011. In December of 2010 legendary Indianapolis children’s TV stars Cowboy Bob, Janie and Harlow Hickenlopper reunited for a special Christmas season event at the Irving Theater on Indy’s eastside. The event, filled with jokes, songs, music, and laughter, was capped off by 2-hours … Read More