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#Post#: 7111--------------------------------------------------
Clubber's Brother & Hungry Joe
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: July 31, 2026, 4:26 am
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Joseph "Hungry Joe" Lewis (born Joseph Elzas around 1850–1854,
was a famous 19th-century
American criminal, confidence man, and bunco operator who
targeted wealthy elites and prominent visitors in New York and
Chicago.
He is widely credited with popularizing the famous adage,
"There's a sucker born every minute."
Alongside peers like Charles P. Miller, Hungry Joe ran massive,
sophisticated parlor-game
confidence scams (principally rigged dice and bunco games)
designed to fleece wealthy
gentlemen out of thousands of dollars.
The Oscar Wilde Scam: In 1882, Hungry Joe famously lured the
renowned Irish playwright
and poet Oscar Wilde into a rigged game at the Brunswick Hotel,
fleecing him for over $1,000
before Wilde caught on and stopped payment on his checks.
Origin of the Nickname: He earned the moniker "Hungry Joe" due
to his legendary, prodigious
appetite, often eating multiple massive multi-course meals or
entire spreads meant for dozens of people in a single night.
This death notice for Inspector Alexander 'Clubber' Williams
brother finds Joe getting lumped up by Clubber
New York Tribune
July 22, 1891
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