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Vtg 1937 PA Motor Police Mugshot Fingerprint Card Scranton Trucker Butch Penn
This listing features a compelling original 1937 true crime mugshot and fingerprint identification card, issued by the Bureau of Criminal Identification in Harrisburg, PA. The subject is 23-year-old Joseph Glomboski (alias "Butch"), a 244-pound truck driver from the hard-coal region of Scranton/Dunmore, arrested on August 19, 1937, under a general "Investigation" charge.
Visually, this piece is a striking example of Depression-era Americana. The attached original sepia-toned gelatin silver mugshot captures Glomboski in classic 1930s working-class attire: high-waisted trousers, suspenders, and an unbuttoned work shirt. Adding to the gritty realism of the period, the police clerk specifically noted "Brush burns R. cheek and chin" under the Marks and Scars section, injuries clearly visible on the prisoner's face in the photograph. The reverse side features a pristine, high-contrast set of rolled ink fingerprints for all ten digits, along with the bold, original ink signature of the prisoner.
Historically, this card captures a highly specific transitional moment in Pennsylvania law enforcement history. On the front of the card, the printed text PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE has been modified, with "STATE" crossed out by type and "Motor" hand-stamped above it. On June 29, 1937, the Pennsylvania legislature merged the State Police and the State Highway Patrol into a new agency called the Pennsylvania Motor Police. Because this arrest occurred just weeks later in August 1937, Troop "B" in Wyoming, PA was still using older State Police stock forms and manually stamping them to reflect the brand-new agency name.
The combination of the subject's quintessential 1930s aesthetic, the alias "Butch," the full set of ink fingerprints, and the documented agency transition makes this a premium piece of law enforcement ephemera. It crosses multiple collecting genres, offering immense appeal to collectors of true crime history, Depression-era photography, and Pennsylvania State Police archives.
