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Three items: a vintage matte-finish 4 x 6 portrait photo of J. Edgar Hoover early in his career with the Department of Justice, signed below in fountain pen; a TLS, one page, 8 x 10.5, personal Director of the FBI letterhead, January 13, 1956, addressed to J. D. Allen, chairman of Brink’s Inc., in full: “Many thanks for the very kind telegram of yesterday afternoon from Mr. H. Edward Reeves and you. You may be sure that my associates and I most deeply appreciate your thoughtfulness in sending this message concerning our investigation of the Brink's Boston Robbery. Your confidence in our organization is most encouraging, and your generous comments mean a lot to all of us in the FBI”; and the referenced two-page Western Union telegram, 6.75 x 4.5, sent by Allen and Reeves to Hoover on January 12, 1956: “Our congratulations and appreciation for the work you and your fine organization have done in apprehending the robbers responsible for the Brink's Boston holdup. Only through the untiring efforts and tenaciousness of your entire staff could this difficult task have been accomplished. Our country is indeed fortunate to have so efficient an organization and splendid personnel protecting the safety of its citizens.” In overall fine condition.
On January 17, 1950, 11 men stole more than $2 million ($29 million today) from the Brink's Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was nearly the perfect crime as the culprits weren’t caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft expired. The robbery’s mastermind was Anthony ‘Fats’ Pino, a career criminal who recruited 10 other men to stake out the depot for 18 months to determine when it held the most money. Pino’s men then managed to steal plans for the depot’s alarm system, returning them before anyone noticed they were gone.
Wearing navy blue coats and chauffeur’s caps–similar to the Brink's employee uniforms–with rubber Halloween masks, the thieves entered the depot with copied keys, surprising and tying up several employees inside the company’s counting room. Filling 14 canvas bags with cash, coins, checks, and money orders—for a total weight of more than half a ton—the men were out and in their getaway car in about 30 minutes with more than $2.7 million—the largest robbery in U.S. history up until that time.
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