TABLOIDS! Resources:Daily News Tabloid Photo Archive
People tend to Charles Costa after his attempted suicide. Costa leapt from an upper balcony at City Hall, suffered a broken back and was taken to Beekman St. Hospital. Ruth Snyder - the first woman to die in Sing Sing's electric chair since 1899.
Ruth Snyder, 1928
Judd Grey, Corset Salesman and Ruth Snyder's lover 1925-1928
Still from Double Indemnity, 1944, which was inspired by the 1928 trials of Ruth Snyder and Judd Grey
Ruth Snyder
Snyder during the trial
Tom Howard being fitted for his special camera for Snyder's execution
Detail of Howard's camera
Howard's shot before cropping
Execution
Daily News cover, January 13, 1928
Katherine Daniel, mother of Thomas Daniel, sits outside the courtroom where her son is on trial for cutting up and disposing of Jaqueline Smith's body after a failed abortion attempt.
Edward Metelski, who murdered a policeman, and Paul Semenkewitz sit bruised and bleeding after they escaped from Middlesex County Jail and were captured by police.
[Usher] Arthur Fellig 1899-1968 aka: Weegee (after ouija for his ability to show up at crime scenes w/in moments of the crime. In 1938, Weegee was the only known reporter with a police radio. Used the basics - 4x5 Speed Graphic camera, flashbulbs, 10'-set focal length - completely self-taught.
Weegee working out of his car. He lectured at The New School for Social Research, was included in a few art shows including one at MoMA in 1943 and another curated by Edward Steichen. He was also the prototype for the character played by Joe Pesci in The Public Eye, a film which included some of Weegee's photos as if taken by the main character.
He writes in his 1945 monograph Naked City, Two Offenders in the Paddy Wagon, c. 1942 (Note the tophats.)
The only camera I use is a 4x5 Speed Graphic with a Kodak Ektar lens in a Supermatic Shutter. All-American made. The film I use is Kodak Super-Panchro Press B. I always use a flashbulb for my pictures which are mostly taken at night... If you are puzzled about the kind of camera to buy, get a Speed Graphic... for two reasons... it is a good camera, and moreover... with a camera like that the cops will assume that you belong on the scene and will let you get behind police lines.
Victim of a car accident, 1942 (Note the marquee.)
Booked on suspicion of killing a cop, 1939
Heatspell - children sleeping on a fire escape, 1938
Lovers, 1943
Teen-age boy arrested for strangling a little girl, 1944
Tophats outside the Metropolitan Opera House, 1943
