Product Details

Original early-1900s Bertillon police identification and mugshot card issued by the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Department of Public Safety—Bureau of Police Detective Service. The card features original frontal and profile photographs of a young man identified in period handwriting as “Fred Keunfurt” or a similar spelling. His listed offense is larceny, and his police identification number is 549. The officer’s signature appears to read D. J. Davis. This card comes from the documented era of Scranton’s Department of Public Safety mugshot collection, approximately 1903–1909. Bertillon cards were an early criminal-identification system that used standardized photographs and detailed body measurements before fingerprints became the dominant method. The surname is difficult to decipher and may have been recorded phonetically or misspelled by the police clerk. Research has not conclusively identified the subject, so buyers should review the photographs and form their own conclusions.