So, imagine my surprise when I opened the podcast mailbox to find a message from noted baseball card and ephemera collector Robert Lifson…

I was going through old collectibles I bought 40 years ago and have a few old criminal mugshots I bought at a paper show. For fun I just looked up this Editha Loleta Jackson as I was fascinated that I had two items of her (which is probably why I bought them) and I found your article and learned she is quite infamous.

I’m really thrilled to have learned of the infamy of this long ago criminal! I bought a sampling of mug shots from the dealer that had them – he had hundreds as I recall – just because they seemed so rich in history. I found them fascinating. But I didn’t have any reason to believe that any of them featured criminals of note.

The fact I happened to have chosen these two and the group I bought was pure luck. I thought these were all obscure and long-forgotten people. I bought these I think back in the 1980s (early 1990s at the very latest) and this was long before the Internet.

I’m glad I did not sell them but I didn’t have any not buy them because I thought they were going to be valuable collectibles. I bought them as historical items that I thought were a window into the past of American culture.

Another reason I chose these was no doubt the fact that there were two of the same person from different years. To me, the pairs were prizes and I had to go through all to try to finds pairs together or if separated to match them up (I was only able to find a few “pairs”.)

I’ve been going through 50 years of accumulated “interesting junk” (well, junk to non-collectors in many cases, but all treasures to me!) as I downsize a little and have time. This is how I just came across the mugshot cards after all these years.

Robert was kind enough to send over some high-resolution photos of the cards, which are utterly amazing. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Based on context clues this card would have been issued by the New Orleans Police Department after her 1899 expulsion from the city for being a “suspicious character.” Which she then decided to ignore, only to get thrown into jail for a month.

I love the added detail that her obviously fake age is listed in quotes. (In actualtiy, she was over 50 at the time.) Her weight is noted as 253 lbs., which is right about her average weight for most of her adult life.

This card would have been issued by New Scotland Yard after Diss Debar’s release from Aylesworth Prison in 1907, where she had been serving time for running a rape cult known as “The Theocratic Unity and Purity League.”

In the eight years since the last mug shot her hair has gone from “curly blonde” to “brown turning gray.” Also note that her height is given as 5’3″, which should put that 253 lbs. weight into more context. Amazingly, Diss Debar somehow looks younger in 1907 than she did in 1899. It might be that the enforced displine of prison life was good for her. Or maybe it’s just that the upswept hairstyle is more flattering to her face. Or the neat color makes her look more put-together.

I am tickled pink that out of all her numerous aliases, the only one they thought to put on the card was “the Swami.” Probably because if they were trying to list anything longer than that they’d need three or four more cards.

Anyway, thanks again to Robert for passing these along! Go check out his blog!

Published

August 8, 2025