Mondo Lizzie Borden

More internets news regarding the Lizzie Borden lawsuit. This time, the pundits are opining about it all. Some of it is quite funny!

Googling the story is fun. Here is a photo of the funny headlines that reporters are writing to get their readers to read the story—creating puns about death, no less. Oooh, la la.

The True Story of Lizzie Borden, located in Salem, MA, is set to open tomorrow, Saturday, August 23, 2008.

The hours will be 11am to 7pm.

Here are the directions to the exhibit.

Here is a coupon to receive $2 off admission price.

On August 20, lawyers for Leonard Pickel and The True Story of Lizzie Borden Gift Shop and Museum filed a motion for extension of time to respond to verified complaint and pending motion. The extension requested was September 10.

On August 21, Lawyers for the defendant, Lizzie Borden B&B, assented. The new date for a response to the Verified Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction has been extended to September 10, 2008

Same story, different papers/venues.

And this from LaCrosse, Wisconsin:

Brad’s Desk 8/22

August 22, 2008 by Brad

Lizzie Borden Took An Ax…And Helped Our City’s Sales Tax

THERE’S A FIGHT IN MASSACHUSETTS OVER WHO GETS TO CAPITALIZE ON A NOTORIOUS MURDER CASE.
MORE THAN A CENTURY AFTER LIZZIE BORDEN’S PARENTS WERE KILLED WITH A HATCHET, YOU HAVE THE STRANGE SPECTACLE OF TWO BUSINESSES IN MASSACHUSETTS FIGHTING OVER WHO GETS TO USE HER NAME TO ATTRACT VISITORS. LIZZIE WAS SORT OF THE O-J SIMPSON OF HER TIME. SHE WAS ACQUITTED OF MURDERING HER PARENTS, BUT THERE’S STILL THAT LITTLE POEM ABOUT THE AX AND ‘40 WHACKS.’ THE MURDERS HAPPENED IN FALL RIVER, AND THE MAYOR THERE SAYS THE CASE IS ONE OF HIS TOWN’S TOP TOURIST ATTRACTIONS. IF YOUR TOWN BASES ITS TOURISM INDUSTRY ON A GRISLY DOUBLE MURDER, YOU NEED HELP. BUT THEN THERE’S SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, WHICH CAPITALIZES ON ITS DUBIOUS REPUTATION AS A TOWN THAT HELD WITCH TRIALS. AND IT’S SALEM WHICH IS FIGHTING WITH FALL RIVER OVER WHO GETS TO CLAIM LIZZIE BORDEN AS A FAVORITE DAUGHTER. SHEESH.

THE HOUSE WHERE THE MURDERS OCCURRED IS NOW THE ‘LIZZIE BORDEN BED AND BREAKFAST’…AND THAT BUSINESS IS SUING TO STOP A MUSEUM IN SALEM FROM USING THE BORDEN NAME. THE STAFF AT THE B-AND-B HAS BEEN TOLD NOT TO COMMENT TO THE MEDIA ABOUT THIS. NICE. THE OWNER OF THE MUSEUM IN SALEM CLAIMS HIS BUSINESS WILL HELP BOTH COMMUNITIES. I’M NOT TAKING SIDES ON HOW THIS TURNS OUT, BUT IS THIS GOING TO START A TREND OF MAKING MONEY OFF REAL-LIFE CRIME? WHEN I WAS A KID, MY FAMILY STAYED ONCE IN DEADWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA…BEST KNOWN AT THE TIME AS THE TOWN WHERE WILD BILL HICKOK WAS SHOT WHILE PLAYING POKER. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF ED GEIN’S HOMETOWN IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN OPENED A ‘BATES MOTEL’? THE GEIN CASE INSPIRED THE MOVIE ‘PSYCHO.’ COME TO THINK OF IT…HAS ANYBODY BOOKED TRIPS TO JONESTOWN LATELY?

It is all over the press today. The AP story about the lawsuit between the Lizzie Borden B&B Museum and The True Story of Lizzie Borden in Salem.

This time Fall River is “a gritty industrial community 80 miles south of Salem.” Gritty. I guess.

Here is the story on Salon.com.

Mass. businesses battle over Lizzie Borden legacy
By RODRIQUE NGOWI Associated Press Writer

Aug 21st, 2008 | BOSTON — Two Massachusetts businesses are battling over the macabre legacy of a former Sunday school teacher who was accused in the hatchet deaths of her wealthy father and stepmother more than 110 years ago.

The owner of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, which is in the home where the 1892 slayings took place, has filed a federal lawsuit to prevent a new museum and gift shop in Salem from using Borden’s name.

Donald Woods insists the attraction would infringe on his trademark of “Lizzie Borden Museum” and siphon business away from Fall River, a gritty industrial community 80 miles south of Salem, which is in Boston’s far-north suburbs.

Fall River Mayor Robert Correia said the double-murder mystery is one of his community’s top tourist attractions. Borden was acquitted but widely believed to be guilty. No one else was ever charged.

“It’s not something we are proud of that happened, but it’s a fact,” he said. “It has become a mystery that enthralls people, and to that extent, I’d love to see businesses here take advantage of that,” Correia said.

Leonard Pickel plans to open the Lizzie Borden museum this weekend in Salem, a historic seaport famous for its 17th century witch trials.

“About 600,000 tourists come to Salem looking for the dark side of history,” he said.

He said the new museum should help bring more interest to Fall River.

“The majority of the people that are walking past our door have no idea even what state the Borden murders took place, much less what city,” Pickel said. “By us explaining to them the place that the murders happened is only 80 miles south of here, it’s going to drive traffic to Fall River.”

Pickel’s group owns the domain name http://www.lizziebordenmuseum.com and an e-mail address with a similar name, LizzieBordenMuseum@gmail.com.

Woods is asking a judge to prevent the group from using the term Lizzie Borden in a trade name, trademark, domain name or e-mail address.

His attorneys also want the judge to order the Salem business not to represent itself as affiliated with the Fall River business, or to engage in conduct that will cause confusion over the relationship between the two businesses.

Pickel contends his Salem facility would also draw more visitors to the Fall River Historical Society, a nonprofit that maintains the largest collection of artifacts relating to Borden’s life and trial.

Woods did not return a call seeking comment, and a tour guide at the bed and breakfast said staff had been instructed not to talk to reporters.

Woods’ attorney, Jeremy Blackowicz, declined to comment.

A hearing on the case is not scheduled until after this weekend’s planned opening of the new museum in Salem.

Another example of the truth of old cliche “Don’t believe everything you read.”

Today’s AP story. Unfortunately, the AP gets is wrong! The Lizzie Borden B&B/Museum is not suing over the Borden name, but the word MUSEUM. Hmmm. Maybe they get other stuff wrong too? . . . . .

Mass. businesses battle over Lizzie Borden legacy

BOSTON — Two Massachusetts businesses are battling in court over the macabre legacy of Lizzie Borden.

The owner of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River — which is in the home where many believe Borden used an ax to hack her father and stepmother to death in 1892 — has filed a federal lawsuit to prevent a new museum and gift shop in Salem from using Borden’s name.

The owner of the Fall River facility says in his suit the Salem attraction infringes on his trademark.

He’s asking a judge to prevent the Salem museum from using the term Lizzie Borden in a trade name, trademark, domain name or e-mail address.

The owners of the Salem facility say their museum will actually bring more interest to Fall River.

Borden was acquitted, but many people think she got away with murder.

Read all about it! Mass. businesses battle over Lizzie Borden legacy.

One thing of note in this retelling . . . . Fall River is described as “a hardscrabble fishing community 80 miles south of Salem.”

Sounds quaint. But this is a new one! Repeat after me . . . hardscrabble fishing community . . . hardscrabble fishing community . . . .

A Fall River man voices his opinions on the recent lawsuit against the new True Story of Lizzie Borden exhibit in Salem, MA, by the Lizzie Borden B&B/Museum in Fall River.

The Fall River History Club is holding its next monthly meeting on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 6:30PM at the Fall River Public Library. The public is encouraged to attend and join—there are no dues to become a member. This month’s speaker is Nick Niles who will give a talk on the Providence Tool Company. The event is free.

The next meeting will be September 17 and will feature a talk on early entertainments, focusing on the circus and Fall River.

In a letter to the editor of the Arizona Republic, a Chandler resident voices her opinion that a new museum devoted to true crime artifacts, like the Lindbergh killer’s electric chair, is in bad taste. She bases her views on being the “adult child of a convicted murderer.”

She tries to make her point in the most awkward way. It seems it is ok for Lizzie Borden museums, and their niche, to have tacky, small exhibits. Dissing Lizzie Borden and Fall River will get you nowhere madam.

Newseum exhibit shows bad taste
Aug. 16, 2008 12:00 AM

As the adult child of a convicted murderer, I try to advocate for all affected by violent crime, including the victims’ and offenders’ families.

I can comfortably speak for both sides of the aisle when I say that the Newseum’s display of violent-crime “artifacts” is a slap in the face to the families affected by these crimes.

The display of the electric chair used to execute the Lindbergh kidnapper is especially disgusting. The Lindbergh baby has nearly a dozen living siblings and the Lindbergh kidnapper has two middle-aged adult children. This electric chair insults these relatives and glorifies the public fascination with violence.

While the Newseum has the First Amendment right to exhibit these items, I feel that its organizers have no journalistic value and are in completely bad taste. I expect this type of macabre display at small, niche true-crime museums like the Lizzie Borden Museum or the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum, but not the largest journalism museum in the world located next to the Smithsonian.

Newseum’s major donors, such as Time Warner, Cox, Comcast and the owners of The Arizona Republic, should reconsider future multimillion dollar donations to this museum. - Jenn Carson,Chandler

A hearing on the motion for a Temporary Restraining Order for Preliminary Injunction in the case of Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, LLC v. Pickel et al has been set for September 25 at 2PM in Courtroom 18 before Judge William G. Young.

August 14, 2008. NPR. All Things Considered.

Lizzie Borden Museum Has Ax To Grind

by Andrea Shea

Listen Now [3 min 40 sec]

An 1890 portrait of Lizzie Borden, two years before her parents were murdered. She was accused, and acquitted, of the crime.

Enlarge
Charles Krupa
A 2001 shot of the Lizzie Borden bed-and-breakfast museum in Fall River, Mass. Its owners believe a new rival museum will take away its tourists. AP

All Things Considered, August 14, 2008 · In August 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally murdered in their Massachusetts home. Their daughter Lizzie was tried for the crime — and acquitted, sparking an enduring fascination.

Lizzie Borden is remembered as the woman who “took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks.” The house in Fall River, Mass., where the Bordens met their bloody demise has been turned into a bed-and-breakfast museum. Visitors can take tours and, if they’re brave enough, spend the night.

But 80 miles away in the town of Salem, home of the witch trials, there’s a new museum billing itself as “The True Story of Lizzie Borden” that’s scheduled to open any day.

Dueling Borden Sites

Lee Ann Wilber, who co-owns the Fall River B&B, says Lizzie is about all the town has going for it.

More than 10,000 fans travel to the house each year. They buy “I Survived the Night” T-shirts and ax-wielding Lizzie Borden bobble-heads. Wilber worries that the museum in Salem will draw people away.

“Let Lizzie be the doorway to draw people in and then show them what else Fall River has to offer,” she says.

Although the town has long grappled with its gory past and the idea of capitalizing on “terror tourism,” Wilber’s partner, Donald Woods, filed a lawsuit last week to prevent the Salem museum from using the “Lizzie Borden Museum” trademark.

‘The Dark Side Of History’

Leonard Pickel, who is opening “The True Story of Lizzie Borden,” isn’t spooked. He says Fall River hasn’t fully embraced its resident attraction, and claims that his museum in Salem may even inspire people to drive to Fall River to visit her grave.

Pickel says sheer numbers drove him to create a Lizzie Borden museum in a city famous for its witches.

“There are 600,000 tourists who come to Salem, Mass., looking for the dark side of history, and we feel like we can share Lizzie’s story with more people here than we ever could in Fall River,” says Pickel, editor of Haunted Attraction magazine. He also designs and sells haunted houses.

Bizarre Murder Still A Mystery

Like a lot of people, Pickel is fascinated with the bizarre story of the 32-year-old “spinster” accused of hacking her parents to death. He calls it the O.J. Simpson trial of its day.

“It’s a murder mystery, and people can’t stand not to know the answer to it. So they’re constantly trying to fill in the gaps to figure out exactly how she did it, why she did, and if she did it — or who else could’ve done it,” Pickel says. “And we’ll never know for sure.”

But Pickel says the museum he’s building is based on reality. He plans to feature poster-sized images related to the slayings and even reproductions of the Bordens’ crushed skulls.

Today’s Salem News published a letter to the editor by a resident of Fall River. The author, of course, claims that Lizzie belongs in and to Fall River. Read about it here. And so it goes.

WBUR in Boston ran a story about Salem’s True Story of Lizzie Borden today. They provided a link to some great images on Flickr taken from inside the facility. Love the skulls! Love the grave monument. Looks fascinating to me!

WBUR’S images from inside the Salem exhibit.

Today’s Morning Edition on NPR did a story on the legal dispute between the Lizzie Borden B&B/Museum and Salem’s True Story of Lizzie Borden. The transcript follows the link to listen to the story.

Listen here to the story.

An Axe To Grind
By Andrea Shea

BOSTON, Mass. - August 12, 2008 - One hot August day in 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally killed in their Fall River home. Their daughter Lizzie was tried and acquitted of the crime. But still, she’s gone down in popular history as the woman who “took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks.”

This week, a new museum about the murders is scheduled to open in Salem, home of the notorious witch trials. And, as WBUR’s Andrea Shea reports, that’s sparked a fight over who can claim Lizzie Borden’s infamy.

TEXT OF STORY:

FILM CLIP from the 1974 TV movie, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden:” “Do come in, someone has killed father.” (sound of children singing) “Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother 40 whacks, when she saw what she had done, gave her father 41.”

SHEA: That creepy cut is from an old TV movie about Lizzie Borden. It’s really popular on YouTube, but Leonard Pickle says he has a problem with the number of whacks in the infamous verse.

LEONARD PICKLE: The rhyme is completely incorrect because it was really a total of 38, 39 strikes, we think, so it certainly wasn’t 40 and 41.

[Sound of circular saw in Salem museum]

SHEA: Pickle, a Haunted House entrepreneur, owns the new “True Story of Lizzie Borden” Museum in Salem. As he works on the space Pickle describes its mission: to separate reality from myth in the Borden story. It was, he says, the O.J. Simpson trial of its day.

LEONARD PICKLE: It’s a murder mystery and people can’t stand not to know the answer to it and so they’ve constantly trying fill in the gaps to figure out exactly how she did it, why she did and if she did it or who else could’ve done it and we’ll never know for sure.

SHEA: Huge photographs, text and reproductions of the Borden’s crushed skulls are on display inside Pickle’s museum. Outside a busy walkway is littered with magic shops, witch kitsch and tourists.

PHIL SMITH: I’m Phil Smith from Boxborough, Mass. I’m just a little confused why something that relates to Fall River’s history is doing up in Salem (laughs).

LEE ANN WILBER: I hate to say it but if anyone is going to capitalize on the tragedy it should be Fall River, it really should.

SHEA: Lee Ann Wilber co-owns the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum about 80 miles southwest of Salem. Visitors pay to take tours and, if they’re brave enough, actually spend the night in the house where the Bordens met their brutal demise in 1892.

[Sound of Tour: "This is the sitting room; this is where Lizzie discovered Mr. Borden's body, the photo on the wall."]

SHEA: More than 10,000 “Lizzie” fans, from all over the world, travel to Fall River to see the house each year. Wilber says they buy Lizzie mugs, “I Survived the Night” t-shirts and axe-wielding bobble-heads. A fleet of massive, historic naval ships also draws tourists to the city. But still, she admits, it’s tough.

WILBER: Other than the battleship and Lizzie Fall River doesn’t have a whole lot going for it, another mill just closed down it’s becoming a depressed market, let Lizzie be the doorway to draw people in and then show them what else Fall River has to offer.

SHEA: Wilber worries the new Lizzie Borden Museum in Salem will cut into her business. Her partner Donald Woods has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to protect the B&B’s trademark. This raises questions about ownership of Lizzie Borden’s legacy.

ARTHUR MOTTA: Rather than ownership I would say really the issue is authenticity.

SHEA: That’s Arthur Motta of the local Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. The B&B is a member. Motta says the Fall River Historical Society holds evidence from Borden’s trial, including the famous “handle-less hatchet.” And, he says, the B&B is the crime scene.

ARTHUR MOTTA: And if anyone has a right to call it a museum it’s this location.

FILM CLIP of documentary in gift shop: “Miss Borden’s head went down upon the rail in front of her and the prisoner wept with joy.”

SHEA: A documentary plays inside the B&B’s gift shop where Motta sits, but he acknowledges what he calls “Terror Tourism.” Fall River, he says, has grappled with promoting its dark past over the years. Jack Levin, Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Northeastern University, says selling killers and heinous crimes is nothing new.

JACK LEVIN: You want to be famous, you want to be immortalized, just kill someone and then you’ll go down in history and they might even build a museum in your honor, and communities might even compete for the that museum.

[Sound of drill in Salem museum]

SHEA: For Leonard Pickle, owner of the new Lizzie Borden Museum still under construction in Salem, the 32 year-old spinster is a fascinating character. After being tried and acquitted Borden was ostracized by Fall River society. But she never moved away, and is even buried in a cemetery there. Pickle says shear numbers drove him to choose “Witch City” for his museum.

LEONARD PICKLE: There are 600,000 tourists who come to Salem, Massachusetts looking for the dark side of history and it is after all Massachusetts history, and we feel like we can share Lizzie’s story with more people here than we ever could in Fall River.

[Creepy music from the movie, "The Legend of Lizzie Borden"]

SHEA: While Lizzie Borden has pretty much nothing to do with Salem, there is a tenuous connection. A statue of another pop culture icon stands a block away from the new museum. It’s a bronze Elizabeth Montgomery, star of the popular 60s/70s sit-com, “Bewitched.” As it turns out Montgomery also played the accused axe-murderess in the 1974 TV movie, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden.”

For WBUR, I’m Andrea Shea.