Racket Slang (NY Sun, 1935)

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   From the NEW YORK SUN, 19 February 1935, pg. 28, col. 1:

   _Racket Slang Explains Itself_
_Odd Phrases That Are Ingeniously Devised to Trap_
   _the Unwary Customer._

   The slang of gangsters is treated more with amusement than personal interest by the average man, who sees in it no practical application to his own affairs.  The chance that he will ever be taken for a ride is remote.  But the commercial underworld has a language of its own that is worth learning.  The man who understands it has some insurance against the risks of losing his money on bad merchandise or financial rackets.
   Living on the fringe of legitimate trade are merchants and salesmen who find profit in ignoring copybook ethics.  With special words and phrases they can even discuss the details of the crime in the presence of a sucker without alarming him.
   To the prospective buyer of an automobile from a disreputable second-hand dealer there might seem to be nothing sinister in a remark about "hushing him $100 on the smacko," but this should be the signal to leave in a hurry.  A smacko is a badly wrecked car that has been rebuilt.  The process of bushing is to get the customer "in the bag for a d. p." (signing up with a down payment), and then, when the final contract is to be signed, to raise the price above that which was set originally.
   The price-raising is not disclosed until after the dealer has picked up the original receipt, leaving the buyer with no evidence of either the agreed price or more important, the down payment.  The chances of getting the $100 back therefore, are negligible, and the car at the new price is obviously no bargain.
   "Iron" is the dealer's name for an obsolete model.  "Cuffing" or "macing" a car is the term for a purchase by the dealer from an individual upon a small cash payment and a series of notes which he has no intention of meeting.
   Better Business Bureuas have developed their own slang for some common rackets.  The "residence dealer" is a retailer who pretends to be selling his personal goods from his home, which would be a "stuffed flat."
   "Hearse chasers" are vultures who prey on the estate or relatives of dead men by presenting false claims or selling biographies at exorbitant prices or in dozens of other ways.
   A "pass-the-hat society" is an insurance company that collects death benefits for members by assessment of survivors.
   "Puff sheets" are magazines generally having a name closely resembling some reputable publication but depending upon the sale of extra copies to gullible business men who are written up in extravagent phrases or praise.  "Mug books" serve a similar function but specialize in photographs.
   "Charity rackets" are merchandizing or soliciting schemes depending upon an appeal to the pity of the customers, whether they are buying goods supposed to be for the benefit of an orphanage or contributing to a fake synagogue.
   The sucker has many names among the crooks.  "Lily," "mug," "pushover," and "mooch" are the most common.  After a "pushover" has been sold he is a "wrap-up."
   Real estate developers use the "lunch and lecture" system, carrying the prospects by bus or train to the property, feeding them and subjecting them to a talk by a "spieler."
   Checks are "maps."
   Financial racketeers have been less active since the securities act of 1933 and securities exchange act of 1934 were passed, but plenty of "dynamiters" (high pressure salesmen of stock) are still out of jail.
   The "dynamiter" may use a "bird dog," a tout who furnishes (Col. 2--ed.) prospects and talks up the securities among his acquaintances; a "coxy," an inexperiences salesman good for small sales; a "boiler room," in which a group of salesmen work by telephone, disregarding expense of long distance talks and probably settling bills every day; a "tip sheet," a phony financial publication to boost stock issues, and a "reloader," who can sell more stock to a sucker who already has made a small investment.
   In the "one-call racket" a prospect is dropped unless he can be sold on the first visit.
   The "dynamiter" may be a "hundred percenter" or a "converter," one who trades something worthless for a marketable security previously owned by the sucker.  To establish confidence the racketeer may sell a good stock first and induce an exchange for worthless paper.  This is the "sell-and-switch" method.
   The "razz" is the selling talk.
   An "advance fee" operator is an underwriter who gets money from the issuer of securities before he sells them.  "Front money" is advance commission to a salesman.
   "Hot stuff" is the literature effective in selling.  A "kit" is a fancy portfolio to help the salesman.  It may include a letter purporting to be from bankers approving the deal or the sponsors.
   "Scenery," a board of directors with impressive names, is helpful.  The "reloader" uses the same term for dividend checks to be waved under the eyes of prospective victims.
   Complaints that stir up the "three B's" (Better Business Bureau), or the "P. O." (post office inspectors), or "Sec" are "squawks."
   The most important interruption tothe activity of financial racketeers is "tagging," or indictment.