Any con man historian will tell you the etymology of the phrase “to let the cat out of the bag.”
The story goes that back in olden days that marketplace livestock sellers would sell pigs in bags. However, often they would sell cats in the sacks instead of pigs.
If someone opened the bag too early, the scam was uncovered.
However, the kill joys over at urban myth testing website snopes have done a little research and, combining it with a little commonsense have shown up the story as a fraud.
First, a cat is a different size to a pig. Even a piglet is going to out weigh the biggest cat.
Second, cats will hiss and scratch and spit while pigs will squirm and squeal.
Third, if the scam was so popular that it entered into the common language through the phrase ‘let the cat out of the bag’ then that would mean that thousands and thousands of people would have been so stupid as to not notice the switch.
The link to the world of the scams and this particular saying more than likely comes from the say “when buying a pig, open the poke”.
It’s a nice story but it just isn’t true.
But at least I got show you some pictures of cats.
Just finished reading The Holy Thief about Mark Borovitz, a con man who worked the streets in L.A. in the 1970’s.
He used to lease cars from a friend and then strip them for spare parts till the car was almost totalled. Then he’d put in an insurance claim for the missing parts. He’d then put the car back together and return it to his friend and pocket the money.
Like a Jewish Frank Abagnale, he supported himself with a string of bad cheques. He’d open two bank accounts and write cheques from each account, depositing it in the other.
Long story short, he ended up in prison where he rediscovered god and his Jewish faith. These guys, he’s a rabbi working with troubled young Jews. He has earned the nickname, The Holy Thief because he steals people’s souls back from the devil.
I’ve just finished reading The Grifters by Jim Thompson and also recently watch The Flim Flam Man starring George C Scott. Both are highly recommend and both feature the classic keyed punchboard scam.
A punchboard is block of wood or cardboard, perhaps 2-3 cm thick. Drilled in the surface of the block are dozens of tiny holes. The block is covered with a label that covers the holes with a number.
The player pays a small fee to the owner, usually a shopkeeper or bartender, and then punches a hole in one of the numbers with a small punch. If he wins, a small piece of paper pops out of the back telling the player how much he has won.
Many manufacturers would offer for sale ‘keyed punch boards’.
These punch boards would come complete with a key, telling the owner where the winning numbers were. That way, the shopkeeper or bartender could remove the winning numbers in advance.
Often con artists would buy these punchboards in bulk. They would sell the punch board for a few dollars to the shopkeeper. A short time later, his accomplice would come by and win the top prize.
According to punchboard.com (yes, that website exists) at the height of the punchboard’s popularity, dishonest boards outnumbered to honest ones.
After over a year of waiting, the Australia series of The Real Hustle screens next Tuesday night.
Join me and a team of top class hustlers from around the world as we expose the most incredible scams.
With a cast that includes, Adam Mada, Clare Werberloff, Apollo Robbins, Gyton Grantly, Paul Wilson and more, I’ll probably fade into the background a little, but I’m happy to to be involved in any way I can.
