Legacy
Though no longer in wide use, the phrase "to pull a Crater" means to disappear. For many years following Crater's disappearance, "Judge Crater, call your office" was a standard gag of nightclub comedians and was often heard on public address systems.
In order to promote the 1933 film Bureau of Missing Persons, Warner Bros. advertised they would pay $10,000 (equivalent to about $179,537 in today's funds) to Crater if he claimed it in person at the box office. In the third season episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, "Very Old Shoes, Very Old Rice", the character of Rob Petrie mistakes a judge named Judge Krata for the missing judge. A 2010 novel, The Man Who Never Returned by Peter Quinn, investigates the Crater case through the lens of a 1955 fictional detective.
Judge Crater's last letter, possibly written on the day of his disappearance, was sold at auction on June 22, 1981 for $700. The letter was marked "Confidential" and began, "The following money is due me from the persons named. Get in touch with them for they will surely pay their debts." It was incorrectly reported that this letter was Crater's will.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Force Crater
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)