Ask Mike: The mug shot
Hey Guys,
It seems like celebrities are always getting arrested for infractions both large and small. And just like everybody else, they get to have their mug shot taken. After Phil Spector’s recent booking photo made its way around the Web, I decided to research how the term “mug shot” came to be. Here’s what I found out.
The “mug” is relatively easy to explain. It’s simply slang for “face.” As for how a face came to be known as a “mug,” Ask Yahoo! writes that in the late 18th century, beer mugs were often “shaped like human heads.” Apparently, folks who weren’t all that attractive were said to resemble the face on a mug. A column from the Word Detective backs up the story. Apparently it was common to “decorate drinking mugs with grotesque caricatures of human faces” in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The famous detective Allan Pinkerton came up with the concept of the mug shot. Wikipedia writes that his Detective Agency first used mug shots on Wanted posters in the Wild West. “By the 1870s the agency had amassed the largest collection of mug shots in the United States. With the advent of digital photographs, prisoners are no longer required to hold a card with their name. All the info is stored electronically.
The Pinkerton Agency has an amazing and interesting history. If you’re interested, do a little detective work of your own. You can read all about the Agency and the man who founded it. Bet you didn’t know Allan was a personal guard for President Lincoln, did you?
Thanks for reading,
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Why are you interested in crimes only because of a celebrity arrest? There isn’t any higher correlation between celebrities and crimes than any other group is there?
Pinkerton may have invented the concept for mug shots; however, I can’t find the evidence that he coined the phrase. Out of all of the definitions of mug, mug shot is actually one of the babies. One of the earliest known reference to it doesn’t occur until the 1950 over half a century after Pinkerton became known for his wanted ads.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the first known reference was in Wentworth’s Dictionary of American Slang in 1960 that seemed to be reference an unknown 1950 source. “Police passed around a *mug shot of Willie.”
It seems that before that starting around Pinkerton’s time photographs, both connected and unconnected with criminal activities were called mugs. The earliest reference here that the OED gives is from 1887 “He had his mug taken in fireman’s clothes”. A 1889 reference states “Circulating thieves’ photos… Pushing the mugs round”. Another reference made in a 1940s detective novel uses the phrase “police mug”
A funny side piece on mugs”
A mugbook was originally a book of photographs of business professionals along with some information about themselves (i guess the turn of the century version of a high school year book for business guys who were full of themselves). However, it was natural for the police to adopt the term given that they were already using the term mug for photos. By the 1930s mugbook the term for the book where police store photos of crimials and where witnesses can identify a perp (now I won’t be able to watch that part of law and order with out an image of rich preppy guys popping into my head).
[reference OED online subscription database]
It could be my computer, but I think the Pinkerton Agency link (“read all about the Agency”) is faulty.
Thanks for sharing about the mug shot.
Someone wants to know what are the wheels called on the animated movie called Bolt. I saw it but I forgot what they were called can you help
Ok thanx y mike
thanx mike
Hi Cole, Mike never said that Pinkerton coined the phrase. He said that Pinkerton came up with the concept of the mug shot, which is a big difference. And he is right. It is Pinkerton who came up with the idea of distributing mug shots of criminals on wanted posters. He also started by saying that in the late 18th century mugs were shaped like human heads. This suggests that the word mug could have been coined in the 1700′s.
Mike–No one gets a mug shot for an infraction. An infraction is something like 67 in a 55, exceeding safe conditions, failure to burn headlights, etc. In other words, things that don’t involve jailtime–just a fine.
A DWI is in a class by itself, but you can definitely do jailtime for that. You can do time for a hit and run, assault, wanton destruction of private property, and the other crimes done by celebs (I don’t pay attention to them). I am a North Carolina attorney.
Very interesting. Also explains the early 20th century slang term “mug” (e.g.: “Listen here ya mug, you aint’ got a chance with a dame like that”).
Dude, your avatar is creepy and scary looking
Must be the 5:00 shadow and the smirk you’re wearing
Cheers
Ethslan, Mike said ” I decided to research how the term “mug shot” came to be. Here’s what I found out.” Yet, he never explained how the term came to be, only the concept. I was a bit bored while Y!A was down so I used the time to fill in that gap.
the thing is that “mug shot” that actual phrase didn’t exist in Pinkerton’s time. The wikipedia article states that Pinkerton a massed the largest collection of mug shots. In reality what he collected was the largest collection of wanted posters or mugs of crimals. In Pinkerton’s time any photograph was called a mug.
Jerry, I think “listen here ya mug” is equvalent to “listen to yourself speak” because mug is also slang for month as in the phrase “hold your mug”
thanks
All I have to say is the “mugshot” of Phil Spector looks a lot like “Moe” from the Simpsons
let me get one for meself Miky..
(thanks for the nice post)
That’s some interesting, in-depth research you did. I’ll apologize for the abusive person who said your avatar was creepy, maybe he/she didn’t get the point of your blog post.
mug1
mug [mug]
(plural mugs)
n
1. drinking cup: a large round straight-sided cup typically made of earthenware and having a handle
2. contents of a mug: what a mug has in it, or the amount of liquid it can hold
a mug of hot soup. Also called mugful
[Early 16th century. Origin uncertain: possibly from Scandinavian .]
mug2
mug [mug]
n (plural mugs)
1. somebody’s face: somebody’s face or mouth (informal)
2. vt violent man: a rough and violent man
3. mug shot: a photograph of a suspected criminal’s face (informal)
4. U.K. unintelligent person: somebody who is unintelligent or easily deceived (slang)
v (past mugged, past participle mugged, present participle mug·ging, 3rd person present singular mug)
1. vt rob somebody: to attack and rob somebody, especially a pedestrian in a public place
2. vt photograph suspected criminal: to photograph a criminal or suspect in a crime
3. vi make faces: to make exaggerated facial expressions when performing or posing for a camera
The actors were playing it for laughs, mugging in every scene.
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
I know the answer. Please visit my blog and see the answer. Thank You.
Don’t forget about “mugwumps”
Wikipedia has an article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugwump
Im sorry to hear that they’ve stopped causing the criminal to hold up their prison name/number. I thought it added some humor and humility! Thanks for sharing.
cool =)
who is mike ?
I actually did know that Pinkerton was on Lincoln’s Security Detail; but the bit about faces on mugs was interesting… It’d be interesting to see some of those.
right, what is with that mike? scary it’s a person that answers questions, right