Bruno Richard Hauptmann Trial: 1935 - The Circus Comes To Town

The trial shaped up as one of the great news stories of the century. To cope with the demands of the press, the largest telephone system ever yet put together for a single event was created—adequate to serve a city of 1 million. Thousands of sightseers, 700 reporters, and hundreds of radio and telephone technicians converged upon Flemington, New Jersey. Hucksters sold models of the ladder used by the kidnapper to get into the baby's nursery, locks of "the baby's hair," and photographs of the Lindberghs, supposedly autographed by them.

On Sundays, tourists trooped through the courtroom, posed for photos in the judge's chair, carved initials in his bench, and tried to steal the witness chair. On Sunday, January 6, the invading army of curiosity-seekers was estimated at 60,000. The next weekend, the local Rotary Club took charge of protecting the courthouse from virtual demolition by the souvenir hunters.