The Mickey Mouse Con

In August 1957 Hobart police finally apprehended a criminal gang that had been plaguing the town all summer. It turned out that none of the gang members was over the age of 16. Particularly impressive was a budding con man, just 11 years old, who got younger children to willing hand over the contents of their piggy banks by playing on their love for Mickey Mouse.


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Hobart Gazette, 15 Aug. 1957.


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Hobart Gazette, 29 Aug. 1957.

Of course, their names were never printed in the paper. I wonder about that kid, though. You have to admit he was clever. Did he grow up to use his talents for good or for evil?


Mickey Mouse had been part of American culture since the 1930s. The daily television program, The Mickey Mouse Club, began airing in 1955. Not all homes had a television in 1957, of course, but TV ownership had boomed during the 1950s — from about 20% of all households in 1950 to nearly 90% in 1960.[1]

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[1] This figure is attributed to Winthrop D. Jordan et al., The Americans: A History (1994).