Friday, November 9, 2018

Frank Rizzo's Nightstick Goes On Sale (and Maybe His Cummerbund, Too)

















In the pragmatic words of Alexander "Clubber" Williams (July 9, 1839 – March 25, 1917), NYPD Police Inspector, "There is more law in the end of a policeman's nightstick then in a decision of the Supreme Court."

Now, fans of police nightsticks can bid on the possessions of the legendary Philadelphia Police Commissioner, and later Mayor, Frank Rizzo: Hundreds of items belonging to legendary 1970s Philly mayor Frank Rizzo are up for grabs on Black Friday.
Anyone who has ever wanted a piece of Frank Rizzo is in luck.

The home of the loved and loathed former Philadelphia mayor and police chief is for sale, and so is just about everything inside.

Rizzo's estate sale starts Black Friday, November 23, and will feature hundreds of items both large and small, including his billy club and Rolodex, Italian-made furniture, and a signed picture of Richard Nixon, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday.

It's not clear whether the billy club up for grabs is the same one the tuxedo-clad former police commissioner stuck into his cummerbund during a disturbance at a housing project in the 1960s, immortalized in a photo.

Sadly - to me, a modest collector of police memorabilia - it looks like the nightstick for sale is not the same one Rizzo equipped himself with in that immortalized photo. I dunno, maybe I'll bid on the autographed photo of Richard Nixon instead.   

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