THE DEPRESSION-ERA BAD GUYS
They grew up in extreme poverty and were criminals before they could vote; some were in prison as teenagers; most were dead before they reached age thirty. Hard times bred hard criminals. Who were they?
1. Was the mother of several criminals who ran a gang during the "public enemy era". She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers. J. Edgar Hoover described her as "the most vicious, dangerous and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade". Those who knew her insisted she had no criminal role and "couldn't plan breakfast."
2. After he was sent to prison at age 19, he used a lead pipe to crush the skull of another inmate who had repeatedly assaulted him sexually. He emerged from prison a hardened and bitter criminal. A fellow inmate said he watched him "change from a schoolboy to a rattlesnake." According to John Neal Phillips, his goal in life was not to gain fame or fortune from robbing banks, but to seek revenge against the Texas prison system for the abuses he suffered while serving time.
3. Though she was present at a hundred or more felonies, she was not the machine gun-wielding killer portrayed in the media of the day. A fellow gang member later testified he was unsure whether he had ever seen her fire at officers. Her reputation as a cigar-smoking gun moll grew out of a playful snapshot found by police at an abandoned hideout. While she did chain smoke Camel cigarettes, she was not a cigar smoker.
4. He was accused of Crimes against America and yet his downfall was a sad day in America. He was known for his constant run-ins with police and violent bank robberies. He was often viewed favorably by Oklahoma locals, who called him "the Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills." He also received another nickname, from a girlfriend at a Kansas City boardinghouse, though he came to hate the moniker. After being accused of taking part in the Kansas City Massacre, he was gunned down and killed by FBI agents.
5. The most notorious of all, he courted publicity, and the media of his time ran exaggerated accounts of his bravado and colorful personality. He operated with a group of men who, amongst other activities, robbed twenty-four banks and four police stations. He escaped from jail twice; he was also charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of a police officer who shot him in his bullet-proof vest during a shootout, prompting him to return fire. It was his only homicide charge. Police and federal agents were informed of his whereabouts, and moved to arrest him as he exited the Biograph Theater. He attempted to flee but was shot four times and killed.
6. He went by a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature. He was responsible for the murder of several people, and killed more FBI agents in the line of duty than any other person — three. He was shot by FBI agents and died after a short but furious gun battle often termed The Battle of Barrington.
7. He was an American gangster during the prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon and businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he and his gang earned $200,000 ransom.
8. He was an American physician and pharmacist who provided medical care to underworld figures during the "Public enemy"-era of the 1930s. His most famous clients were John Dillinger and Homer Van Meter who hired him to perform plastic surgery on them. The surgery was a flop. [Plastic surgery—in the 1930s?]
9. She was a Depression-era outlaw and partner of Volney Davis during the early 1930s. Although known to the press as the "Kissing Bandit" for her habit of kissing male robbery victims, she was known in the underworld as "Rabbits" for her skill as an escape artist. [Remember Patricia Arquette as the “Kissing Bandit” in the movie “Holes”?]
10. He was a prolific U.S. bank robber. During his forty-year criminal career he stole an estimated $2 million, and eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison. After his release, he spoke about prison reform and consulted with banks on anti-robbery techniques. [When asked why he robbed banks, he answered, “Because that’s where the money is.”]
Real video from back in the day at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Face_Nelson
