“Honor Among Thieves”

Somewhere in these past 222 blogs I've written, I mentioned a visit I made to crown Hill Cemetary in Indianapolis, to visit John Dillinger's grave, and now that I CAN, I'll post some photos.

Dillinger was robbing banks during the Great Depression, and was one of the few people who could "make ends meet" on a regular basis.  His home state was Indiana, and a lot of folks would never tell the authorities where he was, if they happened to know.  They blamed the Banks DIRECTLY for all of the home & farm foreclosures, and the Dillinger gang "getting even" with those bankers, was just fine & dandy with people back then.

John Dillinger of course, wasn't robbing for the farmers.....John Dillinger was robbing for John Dillinger.

Well....in 2003, when I found his gravesite, I also found some LOOSE CHANGE on his headstone.....so I took a shot, REMOVED the money and took another shot or two, then not knowing what it was about, I put the money back.

Stopping at the main office near the entrance, I asked about that, and an elderly lady who worked there, told me that when Dillinger and his gang came running out of a bank, they'd always throw a few bucks from the moneybags out on the sidewalks,  and in the street.

Some thought it was to help the poor folks out there walking around....others thought that if enough bystanders got some money in their pockets, they'd mis-lead the cops when THEY got there,

But for WHATEVER reason, the lady told me that the gang would often toss ten & even TWENTY dollar bills on the street!  (and in 1933, 10 bucks would feed your family for a week).

To this day, there are still descendants of some of those dirt-poor "depressionists" who still come back on occasion and "pay Dillinger back" in their own way!  (you can see the coins in the lefthand picture).

What does the Cemetary Staff do with the money?....it goes to help pay for lawn seed & such!

Yeah.....old Johnny Dillinger WAS a thief...........but I still hold him in a bit higher esteem that any of today's politicians...........

At least when DILLINGER stole...........he gave a little something back to the people!