Imagine finding this batch of vintage mugshots in an old timey police identification book at a junk shop! Ooh, my! The smart hats. The ruffled ties. The identifying marks — deep scars, empty eye sockets, off-camera missing fingers. Look at this gent, the one guilty of being a “general thief and a bad character.” And that one who “steals from motor cars.” With the crimes relatively innocuous-sounding and the photographs taken so many decades ago, we don’t get the usual unsettled twinge of guilt we get when posting more recent mugshots, like we’re leaking family secrets. Rather, just looking at them sets a little period film rolling in our mind, scruffy tales of criminal mischief in the streets of Newcastle. So, go on, flip through them, courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums via Retronaut. And… action!

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image source: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums