Reported to Nutshell Laboratories: Frances Glessner Lee’s Incredible Dolls’ House Murder Scenes
There’s a TV series in the work of Frances Glessner Lee (1878–1962), whose hand-made dioramas of murder scenes were used to train US detectives to “convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find the truth in a nutshell.” It might be tad slow, as Lee manufactures a crime scene – assisted by carpenter Ralph Moser, a typical study took the duo three months and cost $3,000 to $6,000 (equivalent to $40,000 to $80,000 today). (Moser built the structures of the rooms and most wooden elements, like tiny working doors, windows, and chairs. He constructed every piece to Lee’s strict specifications, so much so that Lee once rejected a rocking chair made by Moser because it did not rock the same number of times as the original) – but have you seen some of the bilge on TV?
Lee even wrote up reports as “Reported to Nutshell Laboratories”. It’s all there: the crime; the character; the will-they won’t they romance; the wit. Call me TV, I have ideas…
Much more on Flashbak
Posted: 25th, November 2017 | In: The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
