Ha ha! There’s something really quite satisfying about rubbish criminals. Here’s an article about some terrible burglars in 1908 – they missed the painting worth £500 and “ceramic curios” and only made off with the magnificent haul of a stamp and a pen nib.
Fair enough, who would know about the value of the ceramic curios, but what on earth was the painting? £500 is an eye-watering amount in 1908 – one currency converter states that the equivalent amount in today’s money is over £53,000!
My favourite part is what happened when they were discovered by the cleaning lady.
“She was met at the door by one of the intruders, who, putting on a mysterious air, said “Sh! There are burglars in the place. Don’t make a noise. We’re detectives and we’ve got one of them.”
They then locked her in the basement but, to be fair, they were nice enough to let her go before they went.
One thing though. Surely printing this in the paper, with the address of the premises and details of the valuable items – isn’t this just asking for less rubbish burglars to swoop in instead? I mean, you even know what time the charwoman is likely to turn up – get out by 4.45am and you’re fine.