5 Real-Life Robin Hoods Who Singlehandedly Redistributed Wealth
John Dillinger
Probably the most famous name on this list outside of Hood himself, John Dillinger is a little more complicated than the other entries. Maybe part of that is because he hasn’t had as much time for his story to get embellished and smoothed out into a nice little poem. When he was active, though, there’s plenty of evidence that a good part of the country would have given him a high approval rating.
Now, it’s not like people are shedding tears for banks even in the best of times. If you’re robbing them in the early 1930s, in the heat of the Great Depression, the population probably looks at it more like you’re lancing a boil than committing despicable crimes. The classic rootin’-tootin’ method of bank robbery is a little less prominent today, and I sure as hell don’t condone it, but I’m pretty sure if somebody cleaned out JPMorgan Chase, they’d pick up a couple quiet thumbs-ups from passers-by.
Robin Hood
Pedants and the people who seem to be auditioning as a proofreader in the comments, you may have tasted blood seeing that title, so let’s nip that in the bud. There’s at least some solid belief that Robin Hood is not entirely a work of fiction, and that he, or a series of people who eventually melded together into the modern image, really did exist. It’s also thought that “Robin Hood” was a mantle taken on by a number of honorable criminals, a shared alter-ego that eventually grew its own arms and legs.
Eli Yudin is a stand-up comedian in Brooklyn. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @eliyudin and listen to his podcast, What A Time to Be Alive, about the five weirdest news stories of the week, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts.