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What is pickpocketing? -

Pickpocketing has been the scourge of society for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. A subtle form of larceny, the crime involves lifting money or valuables from a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. Here, a woman attending a market in Amsterdam in 1685 is robbed of a purse by a thief.

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Crime of the centuries -

Actually, the 17th and 18th centuries witnessed a significant number of men and women pickpockets, operating in crowded places around the world and stealing all sorts of different items.

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Nimble deceit -

But a nimble-fingered pickpocket was equally at home in a less busy, more private environment. This 17th-century illustration from France depicts a 'dentist' pulling a man's tooth while his 'assistant' is picking the patient's purse.

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Partners in crime -

And that's how many pickpockets worked—in pairs as partners in crime, or as a team of three or more.

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Villainous teamwork -

Distraction was a favorite modus operandi. The intended victim would have their attention diverted away from the pickpocket by an accomplice.

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Sleight of hand -

Meanwhile, employing impressive dexterity and a slick sleight of hand, the pickpocket would relieve the hapless target of their personal effects.

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Distraction and misdirection -

In this illustration from 1788, the man in the foreground is completely distracted by the woman to the left of him, who has caught his arm in order to show him a leaflet. Meanwhile, a small child is rifling through his pockets.

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Young offenders -

And that was another way pickpockets preyed on victims, by employing youngsters to do their dirty work.

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Street gangs -

The 18th and 19th centuries gave rise to street urchins and guttersnipes—names used to describe gangs of unscrupulous street children skilled in the underhand art of pickpocketing.

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Juvenile delinquents -

Many of these youths were unskilled and uneducated. They labored at casual street jobs—blackening boots, sweeping sidewalks, and generally scavenging for a living. Working and socializing in a group offered a modicum of security, a fraternity of thieves seeking rich pickings from open pockets.

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Foraging for fortunes -

Very often a guttersnipe was bold enough to branch out on their own. They'd sneak up on a best-dressed individual and take whatever they could get.

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Female felons -

The fairer sex also foraged for small fortunes. Women pickpockets, especially those dressed as if belonging to high society, moved free and easy through the pockets, bags, and purses of the rich and privileged.

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Eyeing up a victim -

Again, distraction and misdirection were favored methods of the seasoned pickpocket. And for the practiced exponent, the sky was the limit.

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Parisian rogues -

The bustling European cities of the 19th century provided pickpockets with a rich bounty, and Paris was no exception. Window shoppers were sitting ducks for Parisian rogues, who would lean in feigning interest while their hands busily worked overtime.

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A cause célèbre -

The pickpocket phenomenon became somewhat of a cause célèbre in France during the 19th century. So much so, in fact, that working pickpockets appeared—bizarrely it must be said—in printed advertisements for goods and wares.

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Foiling the pickpockets -

But canny marketeers in the United States used advertising to deter pickpockets. In this 1880 trade card for a Philadelphia watch chain company, a man is seen accosting a pickpocket who was foiled by a watch chain.

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The art of the pickpocket -

The pickpocket's art was celebrated in 1502 when Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch completed 'The Conjurer.' The painting depicts a man of rank fascinated by a conjurer's hand while unaware of being relieved of his money purse.

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Painting the petty thief -

Dutch master Nicolaes Maes also found inspiration in these petty thieves, with 'Sleeping Man Having his Pocket Picked' completed in 1655.

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Famous pickpockets -

A select number of individuals became infamous for their pickpocket daring. One of the most notorious was Mary Frith (c. 1584–1659). She began her life of crime in 1600, working as a pickpocket dressed in men's attire and smoking a pipe.

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Playing out his craft -

Irish-born George Barrington (1755–1804) specialized in robbing theatergoers at prestigious London venues, places such as Covent Garden and Drury Lane. He's seen here caught picking the pocket of Russian Count Orlov at Covent Garden Theater.

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"Cutting" Ball -

A man known only as "Cutting" Ball gained notoriety during the Elizabethan era for his prowess as a thief specializing in lifting pockets. Little is known about his life other than that it ended at Tyburn (pictured), where Ball was hung for his crimes.

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Pickpockets on parade -

Law enforcement agencies habitually paraded apprehended thieves and pickpockets in a display of self-congratulation. Here, James Martin Lindsay, James Brown Cummings, Peter Hasson, and John McRae, four crooks arrested by Glasgow police in 1865, face the cameras after being held in custody.

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Chicago May -

Mary Anne Duignan (1871–1929), better-known as Chicago May, not only pickpocketed her way through the streets of this American city but also worked in Great Britain and France. Possessed of light fingers and a huge ego, she referred to herself as the "queen of crooks." Ultimately, though, crime didn't pay. She died destitute in Philadelphia, aged 57.

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Warning the public -

This staged photograph taken in New York in 1940 shows a pickpocket at work. By the mid-20th century in the United States, media campaigns warning of the threat from sly and clever pickpockets became the norm.

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Beware of pickpockets! -

Likewise in the United Kingdom, models were used to illustrate likely scenarios that favored pickpockets, such as this crowded marketplace in 1960.

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Sign of the times -

Today, pickpockets remain active in all four corners of the world, with thieves maintaining a once proud criminal tradition that still requires a high degree of skill and deception. Not that a victim of pickpocketing will see any honor in being fleeced. To that end, signs like this one stenciled on a pavement in Berlin warn of the ever-present danger of the underhand nature of the pickpocket's art.

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Pickpocketing in popular culture -

Meanwhile, we can enjoy observing this criminal craft from a distance. The most famous fictional pickpockets are undoubtedly Fagin and the Artful Dodger, characters from the Charles Dickens' 1838 novel 'Oliver Twist.'

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Pickpocketing as stagecraft -

Some magicians have made successful careers out of picking the pockets of others. The great Hungarian illusionist known as Rodolfo (1911–1987) achieved global acclaim for picking small objects from the pockets of audiences—unnoticed, of course.

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Picking pockets for entertainment -

The late American illusionist David Avadon lectured widely and wrote a book on pickpocketing. He performed his trademark theatrical pickpocketing act for more than 30 years. And today, entertainers such as Lee Thompson (pictured), the only British pickpocket performer headhunted and hired by Cirque du Soleil, uphold the tradition and continue to amaze audiences with their incredible—and legal—displays of pocket-picking aptitude. 

Sources: (Cambridge University Press) (Slate)

See also: Which crime are you most likely to commit, according to your star sign? 

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