Illicit P.O.W. Photos; Grace Kelly Automobile; Mystery Motorcycle

Illicit P.O.W. Photos - A contributor from Daytona Beach, Florida, has an extraordinary set of photographs he believes come from his great-great-grandfather, who fought in the Civil War and was once a confederate prisoner of war at Johnson's Island on Lake Erie. The collection of portraits comes with a note that asserts the images were taken illicitly and depict fellow incarcerated confederate officers. The author claims the photos were taken with a camera he built from items he possessed when he was captured, as well as tools he collected while in the prison camp, and adds that the chemicals used to develop the photos were stolen from the camp hospital. Is the contributor's relative in fact the photographer, and if so, would it have been possible for him to make a camera with the materials he describes? HISTORY DETECTIVES heads to Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania to investigate the history of Civil War photography and discover how confederate and union prisoners, officers and enlisted men, were treated during wartime.

Grace Kelly Automobile - In 1955, famed director Alfred Hitchcock was at the top of his game with the release of To Catch a Thief, a romantic thriller starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. But for some Hitchcock fans, the real star of the film is the Sunbeam Alpine, a sleek, sexy 1953 convertible. The car was already popular in elite automotive circles, but its Hitchcock film cameo would transform this car into a cult object. Now, a man in Los Angeles believes he has the original Sunbeam Alpine used in the film. HISTORY DETECTIVES heads to California to revisit the glamour of 1950s Hollywood and rub elbows with some of the key players who worked side by side with the Master of Suspense. 
 
Mystery Motorcycle - A man in Flemington, New Jersey, has recently purchased a beautiful old Harley-Davidson motorcycle and is eager to learn more about the machine's early history. The tank of his 1914 bike bears the "Cross of Lorraine," a historic symbol of French nationalism. The contributor is aware that Harley-Davidson sold motorcycles to the U.S. Military during WWI, and he wants to know whether his bike clocked mileage in war-torn Europe. As the detectives follow this lead in New Jersey and Wisconsin, their course takes an unanticipated swerve when they find that the cross also served as the emblem for the U.S. National Tuberculosis Association in the early 1900s. While uncovering clues about the early public health initiative to wipe out tuberculosis, the detectives dig deep in the Harley-Davidson archives to examine the company's possible involvement in the campaign to eradicate the deadly "White Plague."