Lot 50
Dillinger John 1903 - 1934 John Dillinger Vintage 1934 Wanted Poster with fingerprint images!
One page small poster, 7.75" x 7.75", issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, Division of Investigation wanted poster dated March 12, 1934, with Dillinger's fingerprints, physical description, and mug shots. The verso containing details about the Special Agents in charge and their phone numbers across the country. Near fine.
A unique, great condition, "Wanted" poster for John Dillinger, the bank robber who came to be known as "Public Enemy Number One" during his short criminal life.
In September 1924, a 21-year-old Dillinger was sent to prison after being nabbed in a botched robbery on an elderly grocer. The young hood spent the next eight and a half years doing time with some of the Midwest's most hardened convicts and getting a comprehensive education in the tricks of the criminal trade. Only days after winning parole in May 1933, a thoroughly unrehabilitated Dillinger hooked up with an Indianapolis gang and committed a series of grocery store and restaurant stickups. He graduated to bank robbery a few weeks later, kicking off the yearlong crime spree that would make him the nation's most wanted gangster.
Dillinger's exploits saw him cast as a Robin Hood figure amongst the Depression-hit public, with stories surrounding him becoming the stuff of urban legend. when Dillinger robbed the bank at Greencastle, Indiana, he noticed a farmer standing in front of a teller holding some cash. "Is that your money or the bank's," he asked the farmer. The farmer said it was his life savings and that he had just drawn it out. Dillinger, a farm boy from the flatlands of Indiana, said: "Put it in your pocket. When the newly-elected FDR read about the Greencastle story, he called Hoover and said: "This man Dillinger is becoming a national hero, a Robin Hood. The press is showing him standing up to the banks that they believe have failed the country. You had better do something about this man, Edgar."
Dillinger's famous robberies and getaways saw his face splashed across newspapers and newsreels as much as some Hollywood stars. An Indianapolis lottery on when he would be captured proved so popular it had to be shut down, and his father was offered a small fortune to do public speaking engagements. When Dillinger and his gang were arrested in Tucson, Arizona, scores of people filed through the city jailhouse just for the opportunity to lay eyes on the dashing criminal. Businesses even used him as an unsanctioned celebrity endorsement. Upon learning that the car-loving outlaw drove their automobile, one Hudson dealership hung a banner reading, "Dillinger Chooses the 1934 Hudson For His Personal Use." When the robber later switched to a Ford, the company printed brochures saying, "Will they catch John Dillinger? Not until they get him out of a Ford V8!"
A great piece of crime memorabilia! Would look stunning framed. To date, there have been eight film adaptations of Dillinger's life.
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