ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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I think this is the first time I've read about this panic.
By Bethan Bell,BBC News
Getty Images
A robber seizes a man from behind while his companion threatens him with a club
The 19th Century saw London became the world's biggest city. Railways, industry and immigration all swelled the ranks.
And, with the ending of transportation to Australia, criminals also increased the capital's population. Amid the turmoil caused by this, a new variant of robbers became the most feared - garrotters. Now commonly used to describe the use of an implement to kill a person by strangulation or throat-cutting, garrotting then was roughly synonymous with today's "mugging".
In a garrotting, the assailant uses his forearm to grab the victim around the neck from behind, and an accomplice pilfers the pockets of the garrotted gent.
National Archives
A design for an anti-garrotting cravat, registered by Walter Thornhill, cutler and dressing case maker, London, December 1862
Reports of garrotting soared, and social commentators began warning of "no-go" areas of London - something that's also a feature of the discourse in 2024 - through which almost nobody could pass un-garrotted. The problem with this terror was that most it was manufactured, whipped up by a media frenzy.
How did it reach such frenzied heights? Much like the suggestion that video games cause violence, or that the satanic abuse of children is widespread, it was an example of a moral panic fed in part by fear.
There are grains of truth in all moral panics - there really were more convicted criminals on the streets after transportation to Australia dwindled in the 1830s. The new system being tested was the release of prisoners before the end of their sentence, furnished with a document of parole - and at more or less the same time that these new certificates were issued, a new category of wares was being advertised.
The discerning gentleman was being asked to buy anti-garrotting devices to be worn upon the person.
Satirical publications of the day joined in with the phenomenon, with "products" becoming increasingly ridiculous.
Punch
In December 1856, a cartoon in the humorous magazine Punch suggested a novel use for the new-fangled crinoline frame, adapted to become a "patent anti-garotte overcoat"
Crime statistics (although, as ever, flawed because of underreporting) indicate that violence in the 1850s and 60s was fairly low. About 75% of offences involved petty theft. ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68797147
What was behind the garrotting panics of London?
5 hours agoBy Bethan Bell,BBC News
A robber seizes a man from behind while his companion threatens him with a club
The 19th Century saw London became the world's biggest city. Railways, industry and immigration all swelled the ranks.
And, with the ending of transportation to Australia, criminals also increased the capital's population. Amid the turmoil caused by this, a new variant of robbers became the most feared - garrotters. Now commonly used to describe the use of an implement to kill a person by strangulation or throat-cutting, garrotting then was roughly synonymous with today's "mugging".
In a garrotting, the assailant uses his forearm to grab the victim around the neck from behind, and an accomplice pilfers the pockets of the garrotted gent.
A design for an anti-garrotting cravat, registered by Walter Thornhill, cutler and dressing case maker, London, December 1862
Reports of garrotting soared, and social commentators began warning of "no-go" areas of London - something that's also a feature of the discourse in 2024 - through which almost nobody could pass un-garrotted. The problem with this terror was that most it was manufactured, whipped up by a media frenzy.
How did it reach such frenzied heights? Much like the suggestion that video games cause violence, or that the satanic abuse of children is widespread, it was an example of a moral panic fed in part by fear.
There are grains of truth in all moral panics - there really were more convicted criminals on the streets after transportation to Australia dwindled in the 1830s. The new system being tested was the release of prisoners before the end of their sentence, furnished with a document of parole - and at more or less the same time that these new certificates were issued, a new category of wares was being advertised.
The discerning gentleman was being asked to buy anti-garrotting devices to be worn upon the person.
Satirical publications of the day joined in with the phenomenon, with "products" becoming increasingly ridiculous.
In December 1856, a cartoon in the humorous magazine Punch suggested a novel use for the new-fangled crinoline frame, adapted to become a "patent anti-garotte overcoat"
Crime statistics (although, as ever, flawed because of underreporting) indicate that violence in the 1850s and 60s was fairly low. About 75% of offences involved petty theft. ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68797147
