14. When New Yorkers Were Not So Cynical
Conman William Thompson capitalized on people’s instinctive desire to avoid awkwardness and avert a faux pas. After a few minutes of shooting the breeze with somebody who did not know Thompson from Adam, while acting as if the two knew each other, the conman would make his move. He would ask his mark if he had the confidence to trust him with his watch or a small amount of money until the next day.
It was a simpler America back in the nineteenth century, and New Yorkers must have been quite different in those days: it worked. The mark, hesitant to give offense, often obliged. Unsurprisingly, the money or watch were never returned after Thompson walked away, leaving behind a bewildered mark wondering at what had just happened.