When did JtR become a gentleman?!

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

Many of the documentaries about Jack the Ripper, that I've seen, seem to make pretty often the following statement:

"...Had Jack the Ripper been a gentleman with a top-hat and a high-society suit, he'd been identified right away..."

Anyway, this is the basic idea...

So, when did this model of him appear?!

All the best
Jukka

[John Bennett]

I wrote an article on this for Ripper Notes 27.

The 'popular' myths of JTR are quite a big subject. The first example I've seen of JTR as 'Top-hatted man' is the illustration from 17th November 1888, (Illustrated Police News, I think), leading Mary Kelly into her room.

[Mitch Rowe]

I think it probably all started with Phillips and the doctor theory. Then there was a report of a gladstone bag. Then finally Hutchinson sealed JTRs fate.

Plus the tendency for people to believe the Ripper enticed the girls with money and that they would more easily go with a man of means as opposed to a regular.

[John Bennett]

I think it probably all started with Phillips and the doctor theory. Then there was a report of a gladstone bag. Then finally Hutchinson sealed JTRs fate.

Yes,

The Phillips insinuation that the murderer of Annie Chapman had anatomical knowledge was seized upon quite early on, I think. The bag adds to it, in fact there were several reports of men with Gladstone bags at the time (one by Albert Bachert).

Unfortunately, the top hat - bag - cloak stuff survives to this day.

JB

[Mitch Rowe]

Check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloak_and_dagger

So the term cloak and dagger were around for a while. Maybe somehow people started to think of Jacks crimes as a mystery and associated the term with Jack?

[John Bennett]

Thanks for the link, Mitch.

It's notable that JTR does not appear in the article!

If you're looking at 'cloak and dagger', then I guess the Ripper has always been the one. The Whitechapel Society used to be the 'Cloak and Dagger Club' and 'Ripperologist' was also their newsletter for a while.

[Malcolm X]

when HUTCH made up his description of LA DE DA

he's more of a JECKYL and HYDE to me

[Mitch Rowe]

Thanks for the link, Mitch.

It's notable that JTR does not appear in the article!

If you're looking at 'cloak and dagger', then I guess the Ripper has always been the one. The Whitechapel Society used to be the 'Cloak and Dagger Club' and 'Ripperologist' was also their newsletter for a while.

yeap..I can just imagine one PC saying. "Look at this it seems the murderer may have been a guy posing as a doctor and carrying a gladstone bag!"
And the other PC saying: "Sounds like a real cloak and dagger affair."