30 Mugshots Of 1920s Criminals That Served When It Comes To Looks

Seemed an appropriate seed for this election season, even if they were Australian.  A trip down infamy lane?

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Oftentimes, we think of people from the past as stuffy, stiff, and nowhere near as fun as us. After all, at best, we might have a few old letters and maybe some dusty photographs. But don't let this fool you, humans over a hundred years ago were just as capable of looking fly.

New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin shared his discovery that people in mugshots from over a hundred years ago look absolutely awesome. Bored Panda reached out to Jason via email and will update the article when he gets back to us.

#1  Herbert Ellis 1920

Ellis is found in numerous police records of the 1910s, 20s and 30s. He is variously listed as a housebreaker, a shop breaker, a safe breaker, a receiver and a suspected person

The Sydney Justice & Police Museum Report

#2   Eugenia Falleni, Alias Harry Crawford. 1920

Eugenia Falleni spent most of her life masquerading as a man. In 1913 Falleni married a widow, Annie Birkett, whom she later murdered

The Sydney Justice & Police Museum Report

The term mugshot is somewhat comical, as the word "mug" is a pretty lowly slang word for a face. How it ended up being part of the official label is anyone's guess. Regardless of the "how," the term mugshot has been used since the late 18th century, although, as these images demonstrate, the form and standards have changed over time.

The real question is, why were all these convicts of the past so darn attractive? Is there some correlation between doing crime and physical charisma? Unfortunately, for better or worse, that seems statistically unlikely. Instead, these images simply stood out from the no doubt hundreds of others.

#6    'Ah Num' And 'Ah Tom', Ca 1930

The 'D' prefix on the serial number indicates that the photograph was taken on behalf of the Drug Bureau

The Sydney Justice & Police Museum Report

The fact that they were allowed to pose and even retain their own clothes does mean that this was a sort of "golden age" of mugshots. There is something appealing about the modern iteration, of just a face and side profile, but, as these images demonstrate, certain looks are just no longer possible.

#9   "Mrs Osbourne" Circa 1919

The Sydney Justice & Police Museum Report

So all in all, take this as an opportunity to explore the criminals and fashion of the past. While it might be a bit strange to take fashion advice from a hundred-year-old image of a convict, one can't deny that many of them do look downright cool. If you overlook the criminal-elephant in the room.

#15   Group Of Criminals, Central 1921

The Sydney Justice & Police Museum Report

#20   Dorothy Mort, 18 April 1921

Convicted of murder. Mrs Dorothy Mort was having an affair with dashing young doctor Claude Tozer. On 21 December 1920 Tozer visited her home with the intention of breaking off the relationship. Mort shot him dead before attempting to commit suicide

The Sydney Justice & Police Museum Repor t

#25   Thomas Sutherland Jones And William Smith, 15 July 1921

Smith and Jones are listed in the NSW Police Gazette as charged with stealing seven packages of twine (value 14 pounds). Jones was further charged with stealing thirty horse rugs (value 15 pounds) and two bales of kapok (value 20 pounds)

The Sydney Justice & Police Museum Report