By David P. Hines, For The Herald Bulletin
DALEVILLE — When John Dillinger and his gang strode out of the Daleville Commercial Bank in 1933, nine-year-old Ruby Davis was playing nearby in the front yard of her home.
“I remember the word spreading that the bank had been robbed, and (Dillinger) was headed through town and everybody get their kids inside,” said Ruby Maddox, now 84. “We were out in the yard, and my mother said, ‘Come in! The bank’s been robbed.’”
The word passed through the telephone exchange operator who worked in Daleville, Maddox said. “Operators just rang everybody’s telephone, and that was how the word spread.”
The bank’s location made it an easy target, even for a modest haul, says Jason N. Young, the Muncie author of the recently released part-fiction, part-fact book, “Wanted: The Hunt for Dillinger and His Stash.”
“I imagine he was just getting out of town and needed some kick-around money to get the ball rolling,” he said.
“The bank’s proximity to a major road also made it a sweet spot for him. Since Dillinger preferred the fastest cars available, such as the Ford Hi-Boy, the open road was a sure sign of a successful escape.”
Young’s book tells of two boys’ attempts in 2008 to find one Dillinger’s hidden stash near Eaton.
Some myths compare Dillinger’s notoriety to that of Robin Hood, but Dillinger never robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. He stole from banks during a period when Americans had enough with the Depression. Young cites this reason as being extremely important to his popularity.
“Since the foreclosure process was much harsher in the ‘30s, the disgruntled citizen could shake a fist and crack a smile, feeling a sense of justice after being forced to leave their home.
“He (Dillinger) loved to flirt and chat with his ‘victims,’” Young added, “and many interviews proved they didn’t mind the process of being robbed by the infamous Dillinger. I would bet somewhere, someone asked for an autograph during a heist.”
Coupled with the popularity of the real bank robber, the star power and blockbuster appeal of the Johnny Depp film “Public Enemies” should lead to long lines at the box office.
“The film looks really exciting, although not 100 percent accurate,” Young said. “I will definitely be there on opening night.”
Maddox said she planned to see the film, too.
“I think I would like to see it,” she said. “I don’t know if Daleville has been included in it, from what I’ve read and heard.”
As a younger woman, she married Wilby Maddox, a local boy whose dad was reading electric meters at the time of the robbery. In 1997, a Chicago researcher came by and tape-recorded her husband telling various tales, but Maddox does not know if any of the tapes were put up for sale.
She does question Dillinger’s fame. “I’ve never understood the interest that does seem to remain in him because it was little jobs, little robberies he pulled compared to today’s robberies.”
