In Timothy J.Gilforlye’s A Pickpocket’s Tale, The Underworld Of Nineteenth Century New York his chapter “‘The “Guns’ of Gotham” discusses the history of thievery in New York in the late 19th Century, with focus on the story of George Appo. The thieves under examination in this chapter were called “Pickpockets”, a particularly notorious type of thief that stole wallets and other valuables from their victims in public places. They were known as “profession thieves” and by some even “artists” since they displayed skill and had sophisticated rules and regulations within their own circles. For example, Appo described some other pickpockets as “good fellows”, an insider term meaning they always kept their mouth shut when interrogated. “A good fellow valiantly accepted the consequences and punishment of an arrest, even if the crime was committed by another. A good fellow was a member of a fraternity of thieves.” From building their own language, to their extreme loyalty and avoidance of violence, pickpockets were clearly a unique class of criminal.
Even more interesting is that for a time pickpockets actually made a lot of money, such as in the area around Wall Street before 1880 and during county fairs in places as far away as Toronto. Apparently businessmen, often in a rush, were extremely careless in where they put their wallets or other valuables. Pickpockets in those areas could be successful at stealing up to sixteen thousand dollars, as in the case of J.H Higgins, a market manufacturer, who was carrying that amount as wages for his workers when he was pickpocketed. Female pickpockets were just as successful, if not more so, than men. By being sexually suggestive to attract and distract their targets, female pickpockets often managed to leave their male targets not only unsatisfied but also cash-free.
In 1883 the newspaper Truth described pickpockets as “the meanest of criminals…the sneaking weasel of society”. Headlines and increased attention to pickpocketing generated ever greater anger and opposition to the predations of pickpockets, which over time were reflected in increased prosecution and harsher sentences, “Between 1859 and 1879 the number of pickpockets brought to trial by the district attorney nearly quintupled, increasing from 52 to 242.” Harsh punishments became a primary tool in fighting the war against theft. For only stealing 90 cents one nineteen year old was sent to Sing Sing prison for 5 years. Judge Henry A. Gildersleev was a judge known for his hard and inflexible view toward pickpockets. When George Appo stood before him, convicted of larceny, he sent him to prison for two years and six months of hard labor, all due to the theft of a gold watch.
Nowadays penalties for minor crimes like these are not nearly as harsh. Enforcement has increased substantially and technology like credit cards has made carrying around lots of cash unnecessary, so there are also far fewer pickpockets. Nonetheless, it is well known that places such as Times Square in New York City or the Champs Elysees in Paris have many pickpockets and there is no alternative to being very careful with your wallet. Yet despite its large decline, pickpocketing is a classic example of an extremely well organized criminal community that for a time made it possible for men and women to steal large sums of money with little fear of getting caught.
Dirty Dealings: The Margins of American Capitalism in the Nineteenth Century 
I like that you brought up credit cards… credit cards are pretty much the main source of paying now-a-days, and you’re right this means less to pick pocket due to the fact that people don’t carry around physical money. But what’s interesting to me, is that people will still find a way to pick pocket even though there is no money. There is a new scamming software going around that’s able to steal someone’s credit card information just by holding a “magnet” of some sort next to a person(s). They don’t even need to steal the psychical credit card, just stand a couple steps behind you. Granted this type of technology is extremely hard to get ahold of, but it just proves that if someone is desperate enough, they will do anything to get what they want. That was also the case in the 19th century, but I also felt like in the 19th century pickpocketing was more so a “sport” than it was a way of subsistence.
Here’s an article about the credit card theft: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2948212/Will-victim-digital-pickpockets-Hacker-reveals-easy-steal-credit-card-numbers-air-SECONDS.html (I know Daily Mail isn’t an amazingly reliable source, but it’s still an interesting read!)
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