 | The Bobbed Haired Bandit: A True Story of Crime and Celebrity in 1920s New York Subjects: Clooney Celia 1904–1992; Clooney Edward 1899–1936; Brigands and robbers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Biography; Robbery -- New York (State) -- New York; In 1924, Celia Cooney, a newly married laundress in Brooklyn, found herself unexpectedly pregnant. The Cooneys' $30-a-week income couldn't support a baby. So Celia and her husband, Ed, began holding up neighborhood drugstores. In this riveting book, the authors, scholars in history and media studies (Duncombe at NYU, Mattson at SUNY-Old Westbury) reconstruct and analyze not only the crime spree but also the ensuing media frenzy. Savvy newspaper editors knew the story of a girl with a gun would sell; they christened Celia the Bobbed Hair Bandit and made her a star. According to the authors, she stood in for the era's anxieties about changing gender roles, her bob a symbol of liberated women. Suddenly, any gal with a bob was seen as a potential threat-even Zelda Fitzgerald was reportedly pulled over by cops and questioned. Once Celia was finally arrested, the public learned about her grueling childhood and negligent mother. Editorialists, including progressive pundit Walter Lippmann, then held Celia up as an example of what happened to poor and abused children when society failed to intervene. Duncombe and Mattson's fast-paced account of Cooney's story is an absolute winner. 40 b&w illus. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved Duncombe Stephen : Stephen Duncombe teaches politics and history of media and culture at the Gallatin School of New York University. He is author of Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture and editor of the Cultural Resistance Reader .Mattson Andrew : Andrew Mattson teaches American history and media studies at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. |
