Swindler and confidence man credited for the invention of the "gold brick game".
Reed C. Waddell (c. 1860 – March 27, 1895) was an American swindler, confidence man and underworld figure in New York during the mid- to late 19th century. He was one of the most successful men of his trade making nearly a quarter of a million dollars using his "gold brick" swindle, a con game which he invented and introduced to New York in 1880,[1][2][3] and from which the term "goldbricker" originated.[4]
Waddell was also involved in schemes with other prominent confidence men, including attempts to sell the Brooklyn Bridge,[5] before his murder by noted bunco artist Tom O'Brien in 1895.[6][7][8]
^Schlesinger, Arthur Meier. The Rise of the City, 1878-1898. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1999. (pg. 113) ISBN0-8142-0835-5
^Grazian, David. On the Make: The Hustle of Urban Nightlife. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2008. (pg. 227) ISBN0-226-30567-8
^Harlow, Ralph Volney. The Growth of the United States. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1943. (pg. 156)
^Green, Jonathon. Cassell's Dictionary of Slang: A Major New Edition of the Market-Leading Dictionary of Slang. London: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2005. (pg. 618) ISBN0-304-36636-6
^Cohen, Gabriel (November 27, 2005). "For You, Half Price". New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
^Asbury, Herbert. The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1936. (pg. 233) ISBN1-56025-494-7
^Algren, Nelson. Chicago: City on the Make: City on the Make. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001. (pg. 19) ISBN0-226-01385-5
^Hyde, Stephen and Geno Zanetti, ed. Players: Con Men, Hustlers, Gamblers and Scam Artists. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002. (pg. 131) ISBN1-56025-380-0