Pretty Boy Floyd

Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934) was an American bank robber and killer, romanticized by the press and by folk singer Woody Guthrie in his song "Pretty Boy Floyd". Floyd got his start at age 18 when he stole $3.50 in pennies from a local post office, according to an issue of Time magazine, published 22 October 1922. Three years later he was arrested for a payroll robbery, September 16, 1925, in St. Louis, Mi... more

Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934) was an American bank robber and killer, romanticized by the press and by folk singer Woody Guthrie in his song "Pretty Boy Floyd". Floyd got his start at age 18 when he stole $3.50 in pennies from a local post office, according to an issue of Time magazine, published 22 October 1922. Three years later he was arrested for a payroll robbery, September 16, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri and served five years in prison. When paroled, Floyd vowed that he would never see the inside of another prison. Entering into partnerships with more established criminals in the Kansas City underworld, he committed a series of bank robberies over the next several years; it was during this period that he earned the nickname "Pretty Boy". When the payroll master at one robbery first described the three perpetrators to the police, he referred to Floyd as "a mere boy — a pretty boy with apple cheeks." Like his contemporary Baby Face Nelson... less