You may have seen most of them all before, but this is an excellent collection of them in one place, with good details about the circumstances.
Cue up “The Way We Were” for this story:
Frank Sinatra was initially arrested for “seduction,” which in the 1930s meant convincing a single woman of good reputation to have sex under a false promise of marriage. (Apparently there was no crime if the single woman had a bad reputation. Contrary to what your racist uncles tell you at Thanksgiving, there were no “good old days.”)
The charge was later changed to “adultery,” when it was revealed that the woman was already married. Both charges were dismissed: the former charge was invalidated when it was discovered that the woman was married; the latter was resolved after he paid a $500 “bond,” which is the New Jersey word for “bribe.”
Sinatra spent the night in jail. His mugshot and fingerprints were taken the following day. The fingerprint record lists birth date and age (22), weight (125lb), height (5-8), hair color (black), eye color (blue), and occupation (singer).
By the way, adultery was a crime in New York State until last year!
