"We Never Sleep" |
In the late 1800s, a series of books was published by Allan
Pinkerton, the Ur-detective who gave his name to one of the world’s most famous
security companies.
There is some doubt as to the extent of Allan Pinkerton’s
participation in the series of “Great Detective Books” – so many experts state
that ghostwriters were used that I will say that “Pinkerton” was the author –
but there is no doubt that Thirty Years a
Detective is a lace curtained but grimy window onto morality and crime
circa 1880. The prose is purple, the detectives noble, the criminals (“knights
of darkness”) detestable but well dressed and improbably well mannered. If you
are writing historical fiction, this book is a gold mine.
Plus, it’s a ripping read! Thirty Years a Detective is an unintentional how-to for criminals,
replete with stories of justice served, spiced with a surprisingly sultry chapter
on a scamming seductress for good measure.
If you didn’t know how to run a confidence scheme, rob a
steamboat, bilk society worthies, or break into hotel rooms, you will after
reading this book. In each chapter on different flavors of criminal - The
Society Thief, The Pickpocket, Store Robbers, The “Boodle Game” (“cupidity
greater than judgment”), Sneak Thieving, Palace Car Thieves (“Mr. Potter Loses
some Diamonds”), Steamboat Operators, Confidence and Blackmail (“The Confidence
Man About Town”), The Burglar (“Burglars and dynamite”), Forgers and Forging,
Counterfeiting and Counterfeiters, and the Express Robber - “Pinkerton”
helpfully delineates each stage of the criminal’s work.
With diagrams.
Thirty Years a Detective by Alan Pinkerton |
The great detective invariably praises the intelligence,
wiliness, and preparation of what we would call the perpetrator, the better to showcase
the intelligence, wiliness, and preparation of the Pinkerton Operatives who
take them down.
The author, an émigré from Scotland, often mentions the
superiority of the American criminal, American criminals being more apt to
fashion their own burglar tools to break into tough-to-crack bank vaults and
homes. Even then, Americans were leveraging technology to get the job done.
He also includes what we’d call the Dumb Criminal file (“The
Biter Bitten”), a tale of two of New York’s most brazen confidence men being
fleeced by a cowboy cousin.
The chapter on the seductive scammer, titled “A Social Leper,”
breathlessly inspires all Fifty Shades of “Pinkerton’s” Violet Verbiage.
He begins on this somber note: “Crime, I regret to say, is
not entirely confined to the male portion of humanity…. I am reluctant to
confess it, but her fair fingers have more than once been bathed in blood.”
What an introduction! We set aside our refined cup of tea for a delicious
wallow in the account of Helen Graham, a tale of “genuine romantic deviltry.”
The pages turn themselves.
“Pinkerton” describes Graham as “truly beautiful, her eyes
beamed with a bright softness that own the hearts of those around her.”
Graham’s scam was answering help wanted ads and then accusing the respectable
businessmen she visited of “accosting her with most vile and degrading
proposals.” She then flung cayenne pepper into the eyes of the businessman to
ensure he’d have to call for help - and witnesses. Accosting ladies with vile
proposals got you arrested in 1884. Her mark, Mr. Ingalls, did not give in to
her blackmail and hired “trusty detectives.”
Thank goodness Ingalls’ trusty detectives – “Pinkerton’s”
modesty does not permit him to spell out the identity of those detectives - revealed
Graham as a “beautiful fiend whose seductive wiles had been the ruin of many
who had been led by the witching spell of her charms into the abyss of moral
destruction.” Whew! Bring me my fan! These operatives discovered that Helen
Graham was actually Mary Freeland, a barmaid who left a trail of dozens of
duped men from a dockside London bar to the palatial homes of Manhattan. “Pinkerton”
devotes several heavy breathing but disapproving pages to the tale of her
depraved descent into “genuine romantic deviltry.” Take that, E. L. James!
As you can see from the above excerpts, one also wonders if
the ghostwriter was paid by the word.
The inside cover advertisement for the other books in the
series Allan Pinkerton’s Great Detective
Books contains this blurb: “The interest which the reader feels from the
outset is intense and resistless; he is swept along by the narrative, held by
it, whether he will or no.”
Translation to Modern Book Cover: “A thrill ride!”
Selling on abebooks.com for $98.42, Thirty Years a Detective is a priceless window into the past. You
can check out “Pinkerton’s” adventures, which are accessible online free
through many digital libraries such as projectgutenberg.org.
I’m in the midst of reading the memoirs of Daniel Drew – one of the first great American financial swindlers. And boy, was he proud of it. Famous for his “work” with the Erie Railroad. These old books are fun both for the deeds and the prose.
ReplyDelete~ Jim
Sounds like a really interesting read.
ReplyDeleteWow, Shari! I'm envious. I want that book. It sounds fascinating!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun read that would be, Shari. Is it only available as a vintage book at a sizable price? I once heard about some detective author from the 20s or early 30s and because of his over the top descriptions and plots, etc. he had acquired a large following of readers today. I was able to get a copy of one of his books, but I forget his name now so I can't even locate the book on my shelves, if I still have it.
ReplyDeleteShari, very funny. Thanks for the more than interesting description.
ReplyDeletePatg
Fascinating stories, Shari. I suppose flinging cayenne pepper is the equivalent of using pepper spray.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to put this book on my wish list.
I agree. This is a book I would definitely like to read. Thanks for introducing it to us, Shari!
ReplyDeleteJim, I am going to have to check out Daniel Drew - and his "work"
ReplyDeleteWarren, Linda, and Pat - thank you for stopping by - the nice thing is that all of "Allan Pinkerton's" work is in the public domain, so you can find the books for free online. No big payment to abebooks required.
Gloria - those hardboiled detective novelists from the 20s and 30s are fun to read. Many of the books from this series are available for free online since they are not under copyright anymore.
Kara - I am still laughing - you are so right - it was an early version of pepper spray!
Traveling yesterday, Shari. Sounds as if Pinkerton knew the PR game, and he hired ghostwriters to account for his exploits. Sounds like a fun read!
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ReplyDelete