Lindbergh Kidnapping Trial Archive, ca. 1932
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GUEST:
Well, my great-grandfather David Miller Kline, he took care of the jailer for the... Hauptmann during the Lindbergh trial.
APPRAISER:
Wow.
GUEST:
And so a lot of these pieces were part of a collection in the family, and then they donated part of the collection to the New Jersey State Police Museum in Trenton.
APPRAISER:
Lindbergh in 1927—called "Lucky" Lindbergh—did the first solo transatlantic flight. And he was an instant success. He was good-looking, he was charming, he was eloquent, and America instantly fell in love with him like a sweetheart. So when this terrible tragedy happened on March 1, 1932, his baby of 20 months old was kidnapped. It was a sensation. In fact, it was called the "crime of the century." And the baby was found dead close to the property. So since your great-grandfather was involved with this trial, we have some really interesting memorabilia here. We have the original signs, the wanted posters. The law enforcement poster shows the specimens of handwriting that were found on the alleged kidnappers, which eventually were linked back to them. These posters obviously were in the thousands put up all over the place, and then ripped down because they found the child. And so, so unusual to see these in a condition that's not folded, crumpled. The fact that they still exist is wonderful. But this trial was a circus. America was just furious, and there was such an interest to have souvenirs and to sell artifacts from this. So one of the pieces you have is a first-day cover, which has an imprint on it of the infamous ladder that incriminated Hauptmann, because he was a carpenter, and the way he put this handmade ladder together was part of the incriminating evidence. Also, we have another piece, this penny. They stood outside the courthouse at the time and imprinted the penny with these courthouse imprints on them. You also came up with this Lindbergh-signed first-day cover. We also see here the very ticket that you needed in order to attend. It's a wonderful collection, you've brought big volumes of things. The posters in general in this condition at auction would bring between $2,000 and $3,000. And the extra material that you have just here would add another $1,000 to $1,500. Thank you so much for bringing this in.
GUEST:
Thank you, Miss Kathleen.
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