Swindling

“Castle Garden, the Place Where Emigrants Land – Sharpers Trying to Swindle Them,” from James McCabe. The Secrets of the Great City. Philadelphia: National Publishing Company, [1868].

Employment agencies, also known as “intelligence offices” (shown here under the sign of “Labor Exchange”), were lifelines for those living in 19th-century urban America, particularly newly-arrived immigrants unfamiliar with local geography, mores, and language. Proprietors promised to match qualified employees with the right employers, taking a cut of prospective wages or, alternatively, charging a flat fee to applicants. The fee, typically fifty cents, was a significant amount, especially for new arrivals and those who were unemployed. Financially desperate, people had no choice but to seek them out, even though proprietors often took the money while providing no service, or hired out young women to the brothels.