Frank Sinatra 1938 Premium Cotton T-Shirt
Mugshot Story
On November 26 1938, 23-year-old Francis Albert Sinatra was hauled into the Bergen County, New Jersey jail on the then-serious morals charge of seduction—accused of promising marriage to a “woman of good repute” in order to sleep with her.
He posted a hefty $1,500 bond and walked free the same night. Weeks later, detectives learned the woman was already married, which invalidated the seduction statute; undeterred, they re-arrested Sinatra on December 22 for adultery. That second rap cost him another $500 bond, but he spent only a few hours behind bars before prosecutors quietly dropped the case altogether.
The twin front-and-profile photographs snapped during those bookings—filed under arrest No. 42799—outlived the forgotten charges; they became pop-culture icons that branded the young crooner with a hint of danger long before he was “Ol’ Blue Eyes.”
In hindsight, the mugshot is less a record of wrongdoing and more a time-capsule of Depression-era “morals” laws colliding with a future legend just months before his rise to radio stardom.
