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Monthly Archives: February 2011

In the Media: An Interview with the Author/Publisher of The National Night Stick

Robert Wilhelm, the author and publisher of the excellent Murder by Gaslight blog has just launched a new website called The National Night Stick. Readers of crime on the Web have come to expect engaging tales of 19th-century murder and mayhem on Murder by Gaslight, and The National Night Stick promises to follow in this […]

The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: blunt and its variants

blunt – money. blunted – in possession of money. blunted crib – a house with money in it. blunt ken – a bank or broker’s office. Sources Barnes, Daniel R. “An Early American Collection of Rogues’ Cant.” The Journal of American Folklore 79 no. 314 (Oct.-Dec., 1966), 600-607. Barrère, Albert and Charles G. Leland. A […]

The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: bludgeoner

bludgeoner – a bully, pimp, ponce. “A fellow who passes off some well-dressed woman as his wife. She goes out in search of a gallant, and entices her victim into some unfrequented place. The bludgeoner waits outside until she gives him a signal that the man is robbed, when he rushes in with a knife, […]