James Earl Ray Bathtub Bought on Ebay by Online Casino

Filed in archive Casinos on March 30, 2006

Publicity seeking online casino, Golden Palace, have bought the flophouse bathtub used by James Earl Ray to shoot Martin Luther King Jr.
They paid $7,600 for the tub via an Ebay auction. It was owned by Memphis judge, D'Army bailey

The tub originally went on sale back in 2004 and had an offer of over $150,000 but was removed by Ebay who thought some people would find this offensive.

They changed their view claiming it now met its guidelines for historical artefacts and carefully portrayed it as an auction in memory of the civil rights leader.

They're right in this - it is an object of historical importance - and probably deserves its place in a museum. It'll be interesting to see if the online casino realises this rather than use it for publicity purposes - although thankfully the casino claims it will be treated "with sensitivity for its historical significance."

Article: Online casino buys James Earl Ray bathtub