Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2016/Spring/Section 023/The North Little Rock Thief
Overview
The North Little Rock Thief (legal name unknown) was a skilled craps dealer and gambler from Arkansas who spent most of his life playing craps. He was interviewed by the Federal Writers Project.1
Biography
Early Life
Born at an unknown date in Arkansas to a cotton farmer, The North Little Rock thief learned how to play craps as a child from a boy who dated his sister. He won $200 to $300 a game, sometimes more, and at the age of seventeen he was incarcerated for allegedly stealing $900 from a stock dealer. Upon his release from jail, he headed to the oil fields to make more money from his dice games. After making $600 to $800 and buying a car, the North Little Rock Thief headed to Oklahoma City where he would meet with a woman, spend his money, and head back to the oil fields or lumber yards of Arkansas to repeat the process again. Often after he won a round of craps, his competitors proceeded to beat him until he gave up the money, however he claimed to be physically strong despite his young age. The North Little Rock Thief decided early in his childhood that he would not become a cotton farmer like his father, and instead pursued a career as a gambler and dealer.1
Career
The North Little Rock Thief spent a year as a craps dealer in Arizona and spent some time in California running a craps table until he proceeded to travel the country with a professional boxer named Joe. The two traveled from place to place, continuing to set up craps tables. While Joe and The Thief were driving near the Oklahoma State line, Joe was killed during a police chase. The police had been chasing them because gambling was illegal in the US at the time. The Little Rock Thief received only a fine after the chase and he traveled to Little Rock where he would play craps with high schoolers on their train back from school. He continued to make his living by setting up craps tables at paper mills, pool halls, and carnivals around North Little Rock. The thief mentioned that underground casino and bar owners would sometimes pay the police in order to protect their gambling trades.1
Personal Life
The Thief referred to having a wife although her name is unknown, and he was proud of his career and success as a craps dealer and player.1
Personal Beliefs
The North Little Rock Thief believed that “a thief is anyone who cheats for a living,” considering grocers and other entrepreneurs thieves when they lied to customers about the quality of their products. He also believed that anyone who worked for a living was a “sucker,” and that they could never make as much money as he, a “gambling thief,” could. The North Little Rock Thief acknowledged that war had an impact on the number of gamblers and he supported the legalization of gambling in order to prevent people from being cheated out of their money and beaten from gambling in backroom rings. He criticized the government for shutting down bars and prohibiting gambling when farm owners at the time were allowed to beat their workers and pay them little to nothing; he explained that this was why he detested farm owners or “suckers.” The North Little Rock thief also opposed the government for trying to stop gambling when he was making a good living from it and while other people were living in poverty. He felt that the government should spend less time regulating things such as gambling and alcohol and more time finding solutions for poverty and workplace issues.1
Death
Date of death unknown.
Social Issues
The Great Depression in Arkansas
The Great Depression brought about a very difficult time for people in Arkansas as many struggled to find jobs and feed their families. Cotton farmers like the North Little Rock Thief's father struggled from drought as well, and “in 1930 Arkansas farmers harvested 40 percent fewer cotton bales than in the previous year, [and] the drop in production was matched by a 42 percent price decrease.2” Arkansas was one of the poorest countries in the United States during the Great Depression Era ranking forty-sixth in per-capita income in 1929. Arkansas had the highest amount of per capita debt in 1932, amounting to $160 million.2 With poverty being widespread and food shortages causing families to go hungry, many people looked to gambling as a potential way to make money.
Gambling & Prohibition in Arkansas
Arkansas's constitution has included a ban on lotteries since 1874, this also means that wagering games such as craps were illegal during the lifetime of the North Little Rock Thief.3 Wagering was only legal in certain cities in the United States at this time and Arkansas had strict laws; despite this, betting on horse racing and greyhound racing was legal because they were considered to be sports involving skill rather than just chance.3 Prohibition (a time when selling and drinking alcohol was illegal in the US) also influenced gambling by driving bars and casinos underground.4 Because gambling was illegal, casinos and wagering games were hidden in bars and crime syndicates invested in casinos.4 Alcohol and gambling came hand in hand during this time and proved to be popular pastimes among many people struggling from the Great Depression. Oftentimes gangsters could protect themselves by "buying up the police, the city officials...and the judges.”5 Hot Springs Arkansas became notorious for its underground casinos where dealers would rig games to make a larger profit, but despite this, Hot Springs became a hugely popular place for gambling.5
Craps
Craps gained its popularity in the US after World War I. Craps tables could be found in pool halls, bars, and underground casinos all around Hot Springs Arkansas. Kids in Arkansas had a lot of free time and would sometimes spend it playing poker, craps, or other wagering games.6
References
1. No name, no date given, no place given, white thief, North Little Rock, 12 May 1939. Folder 95. Federal Writers Project Papers, Wilson Library Collections, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
2. Johnson, Ben F., III. Arkansas in Modern America 1930-1999. Fayetteville: U of Arkansas, 2000. Google Books. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
3. Nelson, Michael, and John Lyman. Mason. How the South Joined the Gambling Nation: The Politics of State Policy Innovation. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2007. Print.
4. "History of Gambling in the United States." History of Gambling in the United States. California State Library, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
5. Longstreet, Stephen. Win or Lose: A Social History of Gambling in America. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977. Print.
6. Downs, William David. Stories of Survival: Arkansas Farmers during the Great Depression. Fayetteville, AR: Phoenix International, 2011. Print.