Dickens’ London had nothing on New York in the second half of the 19th century when it came to bands of juvenile pickpockets. “After the Panic of 1857, when hundreds of businesses failed, banks closed and tens of thousands of people lost their jobs. Hungry children roamed the streets selling bits of old rope and slivers of coal, and eventually graduated to the less grim business of pickpocketing and looting vendors—activities often sanctioned by parents and caretakers.” The city was rife with organized gangs of Artful Dodgers who could count on the help of fences such as the notorious Fredericka “Marm” Mandelbaum.
In 1854, Marm and her husband opened a dry-goods and haberdashery store at 79 Clinton Street, corner of Rivington, the back of which became the hub for her less legal, and more profitable, activities.
Clinton and Rivington today
She was a hard-nosed dealer, but fair, and had her own set of ethics she lived by, which helped established her dominance as a receiver of stolen goods. Not only did she always paid upfront and in cash (and sometimes gave advances for upcoming jobs), she would also provide bail and pay trial expenses—which she would take out of later payments, of course. It is said she had a yearly retainer of $5,000 with Howe & Hummel, a well-known firm of criminal lawyers. “When in trouble with the police the apprehended rogues seldom appealed to her in vain and many a one had their escape through her financial assistance, or her ability to clog the wheels of justice.” (Edward Van Every) And she could afford it: it is estimated that as much as ten million dollars in stolen wares would go through in a year.
Nor did she limit her socializing to petty criminals, she also financed one of the first big caper in New York City history, the Manhattan Savings Institution robbery of 1878. And she knew how to entertain.
“Behind her rough exterior was a lady of refinement, entertaining regally in her living quarters over the haberdashery. She doled out sumptuous feasts under iridescent chandelier and held balls under moonlight. Attendees included the nation’s most successful underworld figures – as well as lawmakers on the take, and celebrities. Her salon brimmed with furniture and trappings stolen from the city’s mansions and best hotels. At her banquet table sat the cream of the underworld regime, from both sexes, as well as a score of judges, lawyers and policeman who drifted through Marm’s back door in masquerade.” (Joseph Geringer)
Marm's Salon
She would eventually be caught (by Pinkerton detectives, working under the New York DA, who didn’t trust his own police force), but after posting $21,000 in bail, skipped town with a million dollars, to live the rest of her life in Hamilton, Ontario.