The ‘Business Model’ of Depression Era Kidnappings
Tags: True Crime, Crime, Mystery, History, Time

The Kidnapping Phenomenon Changed our Vocabulary

Sources of the day state that ransom was likely a “product of bootlegging, hijacking and gambling”. One thing in common among the dataset in question is how difficult it was and is to compile statistics around it; likely due to volume and difficulty in aggregating nation wide statistics at the time, and even to this day. To solve this problem an indepth look was used regarding the words Ransom and Kidnap within news media over a period of around 300 years, with most of it occuring within the depression era. To be fair, the term kidnap was rarely used prior to, with the media determining a phrase to use in their publications.

Frequency of the Term ‘Kidnap’ within news media databases over the last three centuries. Based on statistics from news sources, evidence in our collective vernacular exists within archived news articles. In our language and use of terminology, prior to the 1930’s the term ‘kidnap’ was rarely used other than to reference the literal abduction of a child or in works of fiction (Tarzan for example). ©2020, Electric Consulting LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Frequency of the Term ‘ransom’ within news media databases over the last three centuries. ©2020, Electric Consulting LLC. All Rights Reserved.

What can be said of the era that kidnappings for ransom were very frequent, and often attributed to the light in which the gangster, or bootlegger, was shown in the cinema (5, 6, 58- 60). In the depression era, kidapping for ransom was big business in the crime underworld. At first victims of kidnapping were among men who wouldn’t complain like gamblers, booze dealers, etc. but soon broadened their categort to the wealthy (67).

65

“New Style Bandit Raids”

Some say the rise of kidnappings was due to the combination of the rise of the tractor in agriculture which lowered prices of food and bankrupted farmers, and also due to other economic crises like the Dust Bowl, and the Great Depression. With Prohibition making bootlegging extremely lucrative, and with cinema and cultural depictions of Gangsters having a heroic image, organized crime skyrocketed (66). Likely all of these events contributed to the phenomenon of a warped sense of Robin Hood regarding stealing from the “rich”. In the early 1920’s tarififs, decline in barley and wheat production caused many farmers to borrow from the bank to survive with the majority of Americans living under the poverty line. Statistically, in correlation with the decline of ransom reported in the newspapers, a decline of statistics in the late 1930’s signaled the end of the racket when prohibition ended as shown below in the frequeny of the words ‘kidnap’ and ‘ransom’ over the last three centuries. Prior to this time it was considered slang, in use for the abduction of persons from Europe as use of servants in the Colonial World (1, 2, 58–60, 64).

Statistical Analysis of One of the First AP Broadcast Distributions For Mob Kidnapping (1927)

The Associated Press dominates most national news reports within article examination in a historical context over the last ~140 years or so. It is possible that the method of distributing this news often created hype similar to it does day, and that influenced motives regarding crime waves like this, especially for racketeers and the financially desperate. For analysis of this theory, we will look in detail at one of the first widely publicized kidnappings of the era and its distribution pattern, noting that gangsters were often seen in a positive light in cinema and that the nation had just started to see signs of the Great Depression looming in addition to other financial criseses.

On January 3rd, 1927 when a bank employee was kidnapped and robbed of $5,000 cash, it became national headlines and was distributed to forty-nine newspapers (and likely more not cited) with varying headlines. This post in particular seemed the gate among reports and often occurred with much fanfare being distibtruted as front page news. For statistical accuracy, all kidnapping reports aggregated will be sampled after this date except the occassional control taken from reports prior.

As noted in prior articles, AP bulletins from this time frame were distributed by telegraph. Per Francesca Pitaro an Archivist for the Associated Press Corporate Archives, “member papers [were] allowed to edit AP stories as long as they don’t change the content of the article. They can shorten them, write their own headlines, use a byline […].”

Through Analysis we can surmise that the full AP bulletin on January 3rd, 1927 that went out to nation-wide newspapers looked similar to the following:

(AP Bulletin, January 3rd, 1927)

A bandit kidnaped a messenger in the lobby of the American National bank here while scores of persons passed within a few feet, forced him to ride in an automobile to an isolated part of the city and robbed him of $5,000. The messenger, John Angeletti, 21, had just left the cashier’s window of the American National bank when he was accosted by the bandit, who carried a pistol concealed in his overcoat pocket. Leaning close to Angeletti so that passersby could not hear, the robber commanded in a whisper: “Come with me and don’t make any noise or I’ll blow your brains out.” Past scores of persons in the lobby of the bank located in the center of the downtown district, the bandit led Angeletti to a small touring car where another man awaited. The two drive the messenger several miles, threw him out of the machine and sped away. Bank officials said the loss is covered by insurance. Several times the bandit warned Angeletti against making any out-cry as they rode westward at a moderate rate of speed to Osceola avenue near where the messenger was thrown out. It took Angeletti about give minutes to reach the nearest house and notify police. The messenger gave a description of the two men, both of whom, he said, were “elderly”. He was taken to police headquarters to examine pictures in the Rogue’s gallery in an effort to identify his assailants.

AP Distribution for one of the first bank related kidnapping prior to the Great Depression per AP reports (likely more not in database). ©2020, Electric Consulting LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Conclusion

Because data collection techniques varied, and because of the financial strata of the era, true statistics of this phenomenon have yet to be clearly researched. Perhaps one day I will roll up my sleves and give an accurate count for each year, but as it stands right now, random fueled kidnappings were orchestrated by organized crime for profit only rose each year after 1927 until the late 1930’s. Ransom was enough to change our vernacular around the topic, giving birth to the word kidnap, and fueling the collective phobia of crime. The media itself unknowingly shaped our cultural perceptions of the criminal during this era and ther reprocussions are still felt today, especially in our terminology with ransomware.

R eference/Resource/Bibliography

Because my references and resources are about 100 sources and very long, often times, this tanks my stats. I’ve opted to record them on a different page as to not ax my required reading time. You can find them recorded accurately here.