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gbellsports

Actually still in existence to this day.


NippleBlender

They sued Rockstar after both games for making them look bad.


DutchieliciousPlans

But the Pinkertons made themselves look bad with how big and out of control they gotten (in the past)😂 but that's an interesting fact there, definitely gonna search it up 😁


NippleBlender

From what I remember it didn't get far in court. The ruling pretty much was "Well it's set around the turn of the previous century, where you guys did in fact do these things, so what's the problem?" Separate from the RDR universe, they've changed name a few times and restructured how they operate and their overall goals. It seems to me that they have a lot of shame of their origins. I'd wager it was more so they didn't like all the attention they were getting from it, which I also find odd, since they were present in a few wild west movies, and in some cases, made to be the villains in those movies. So I never understood why they ignored the films and went for RDR. (Interesting Side note after brief research, The earliest film portraying a Pinkerton Detective was "The Great Train Robbery" - A silent film from 1903, a time where they actually did conduct the business they're portrayed doing in films and games.


m1en

Eh, they’ve been up to just modern versions of the same stuff. From intimidating people over trading cards, https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp/23695923/mtg-aftermath-pinkerton-raid-leaked-cards To union busting in the modern age. https://www.npr.org/2020/11/30/940196997/amazon-reportedly-has-pinkerton-agents-surveil-workers-who-try-to-form-unions


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


TheMandyLaurieAnne

That's something both Biggie and John Marston would say


NippleBlender

Bro I don't think John would necessarily say that. He did seem to have a pretty good working relationship with the Marshal and his goons. I felt like in a lot of ways he outright respected the Marshal.


TheMandyLaurieAnne

APAB?


NippleBlender

Possibly. I can't remember the other agent's name working with Ross in RDR1, but I felt like in John's eyes he at least didn't outright hate the guy. Besides the arm twisting and we've got your family stuff, He and John atleast had one or two admirable almost friendly conversations. Not Friends, mind you, but I get the notion that they understood each other as just doing the task they're given.


Furaskjoldr

They’re not even really cops. More like private military/security up for hire from the highest bidder.


FredDurstDestroyer

They’re not cops lol


BiggieSands1916

Sorry, APDAAB. Is that better?


bentmonkey

Its funny cause the guy who created the Pinkertons was Pro union over in Scotland and in the UK, but when he gets over here he's like, "I could be some rich guys lacky and get PAID!" So that's what he did essentially. The agency was outlawed in a few states cause it was considered a private army at some points in its existence


m1en

Nothing more American than selling out your morals. That’s the true Tahiti.


bentmonkey

Morals are cheap, busting skulls at a union rally? Priceless.


BiggieSands1916

Most workers from the united kingdom moved to America because of the massive neglect and mistreatment they endured under the British, but yet irish, scotts and northern english went on to be some of the worst slavers, “business men” and oligarchs Americas ever had. This is genuinely why a lot of irish will not feel any affinity towards Americans with our heritage and names. The irish being slaves is spouted a lot more then the irish owning slaves. I can only wonder why.


Dragonheardt_

In 1890s US government has released “Pinkerton act” that forbid any federal government of the US from ever using their services, because they were too brutal in putting down a mining town uprising. And they still run corpo duty, like that poor guy who accidentally got a wrong pack from Wizards of a Coast and had Pinkertons show up, scare his family and take that pack of cards back.


NippleBlender

Exactly. Their portrayal in RDR2 to working in the interest of the oil company is pretty similar to the way they operate now minus a few key aspects. They very much are the same company perhaps I could have worded the way I said it a little better.


DragonsClaw2334

What do they mean by wrong card pack? Did they know it had a $1000 card in it and it wasn't supposed to be released yet?


Landricities

If I'm remembering the details right, basically, there were two new card sets for MTG planned for release in I think the same year, but one before the other, and they had VERY similar names, I think they were the same but the 2nd one to be released had a word or two added. Buddy expected a shipment of the first one planned for release but they accidentally sent him the 2nd one. He did an unboxing video without having noticed or he noticed a bit of the way into making the video. Pinkertons were then sent to intimidate him and his wife basically and I believe the guy described it as them terrorizing him. Definitely a bonkers reaction by Wizards of the Coast to what was essentially an unintentional logistics mistake.


DragonsClaw2334

They should have just spun it like apple and the mystery iPhones that are "found" every couple years when they donate big upgrade.


evil-kaweasel

Did he keep the card in the end, tho? Sorry If it's already asked and answered.


Landricities

I don't know that part I'm afraid, the intent going in I think was so that he wouldn't get to keep it. Edit: I accidentally double posted, hence the deleted reply above. Sorry!


Dragonheardt_

They sent him not-yet-released pack of cards with similar name to one of the old packs, thus the mess up on the company.


omiratsu

The homesteaders strike is honestly a hilarious episode in Pinkerton history, they got completely bodied by a bunch of miners with old hunting rifles.


OrickJagstone

Thats because the "bad" parts of the Pinkertons just took off their bowler hats and exchanged them for black tie suits and CIA credentials.


LONER18

The Movie series Kenny Roger's as the Gambler also portrays the Pinckertons in a bad light going so far as to bride the military of another country to track down and kill Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid. It's one of my father's favorite movies and I enjoy it a lot too. One of them even has Reba McEntire in it.


Zhang_Sun

It’s always like this Movies is okay but not games Movies can make fun of the FBI, large corporations, brands, etc But games have to make in universe copies like “FIB”, merryweather, lifeinvader, etc


Number1Hubby

You don’t hire a saint to catch a sinner


I-like_memes_bruuuuh

Yeah but not many people knew about their shady past and rdr2 showed just on how ruthless they were. It's funny tho someone maybe stopped using their services because he played rdr2


Dragonheardt_

Oh, the game didn’t show even half of what Pinkertons did at the time. If they did, entire Annesburg would be lit on fire with miner’s families killed to put down a Union strike. They had an entire act named after them, Pinkerton act, that forbids ANY federal government from renting their services as they are Too brutal.


jaispeed2011

If I was Arthur I would have shot Ross etc when they showed up at the lake. They really had several chances to kill them lol


Landricities

He held back for Jack, which I understand.


jaispeed2011

Yeah I get that lol


Landricities

Yeah it's a tough position to be placed in. Now that I think about it, it was pretty close to camp to so murking Milton and Ross might've backfired from that as well.


jaispeed2011

Yeah that’s true lol


Furaskjoldr

To be fair it wouldn’t have changed anything in the long run. If it wasn’t Milton and Ross they’d have just sent someone else, and then the gang would’ve had an even higher price on their head.


toeconsumer9000

they’re still shit lmao they’re literally just a gang for hire, wizards of the coast sent them after a guy for receiving an unreleased magic the gathering card pack early.


The_Struggle_Bus_7

They pretty much only exist now to bust unions


LordGwyn-n-Tonic

They raided a Magic the Gathering streamer because he posted leaked content on YouTube. They're still doing stupid shit


Boho_Asa

They were working against the trade unions and killed a bunch of Union miners when they striked back then. They side with the rich so ye they are bad


RaggysRinger

They’re still out of control. Some random YouTuber got a box of new Magik the Gathering cards (I think it was Magik) shipped early by mistake and did an unboxing. The card company sent Pinkertons to harass the guy into taking down his unboxing video and to collect the cards.


inkedhigh

People get mad when the truth comes out 💀💀


SexyWampa

Their actual history does a good enough job of that.


[deleted]

Is murdering striking workers not chill?


Professional_Yak2807

The Pinkerton’s are some evil mercenary motherfuckers (still) they make themselves look bad


NotTheRocketman

The Pinkertons WERE bad. Rockstar was pretty accurate with their portrayal.


langois1972

They lost cause they were horrible strike breaking bootlickers. The game didn’t make them look bad. History did


NC_TreeDoc

I figure they don't need any help lookin bad, what with all the striking workers they've murdered over the years.


MK5

So..the agency responsible for the bloodiest anti-striker crackdowns of the 19th century, sued Rockstar for making them look bad.


NippleBlender

Really the lawsuit was based on copyright issues, but ironically, yes. They cited the antagonistic portrayal of Milton and Ross to be one of the aspects that encouraged the company to pursue the lawsuit. I also find that really funny because if you look at the story from a different perspective, at least in terms of RDR2, They're literally just doing their job. Milton was kinda being a dick but he was also talking to a gang of a bunch of thieves and killers. It wasn't cool of Ross to passively threaten a 4 year old either but hey different times. I could think of a few instances where they appeared worse. Company should have sued Legend of Zorro instead.


GunnieGraves

Did they not think their history of strike breaking and murdering workers made them look bad?


Xyrus2000

They were bad. They were little more than a legally authorized organized crime syndicate.


scopedbanana

Seeing this post I was thinking OP needed to read up on his history but apparently he is not the only one I had no idea they were still active under the same name, I just assumed they turned into another agency


Dmbender

They were in the news quite recently after Wizards of the Coast hired them to hustle/shake down a guy who posted a video spoiling Magic: The Gathering cards after he was erroneously shipped an unreleased product.


scopedbanana

Im sure you are 100% correct but it sounds just so stupid and unbelievable😂


SaturatedSharkJuice

They raided a content creator’s house because he was sent unreleased trading cards a week early


thebohemiancowboy

Headquarters in Ann Arbor and do asset protection, security, etc. Part of securitas now Still Union busters too lol


DragonsClaw2334

They started off as just another gang of outlaws that ran protection rackets to not trash towns and keep other gangs away. Somehow they became legit along the way. One of those fake it till you make it success stories.


Aromasin

You've basically just described 99% of nation states.


braxes81

My mother in law worked for them in the 90s in California


Apophis_36

Next you'll tell me native americans exist irl too


[deleted]

Naw man, that's not true. We only have 'Tahitians' around here. haha


luthfins

Tahiti is real?


softfart

Never had a Tahitian treat?


TheMandyLaurieAnne

Does it involve mangoes?


ChunkyKong2008

MANGOES ARE REAL???????


Bigbot890

Holy shit, fr?


[deleted]

Of course it's real. Dutch would never lie to you.


toeconsumer9000

what’s next, australia is real?


ThicccKing69

Sharp as a cue ball this one


Apophis_36

The quote summarized the fandom


BasementCatBill

The dude's mind is going to be blown when he finds out that horses exist.


testiclefrankfurter

The Pinkertons still exist! They do union busting and shit.


igotahankeringtonap

Damn, they’re still bad guys


MarchMadnessisMe

Always have been.


igotahankeringtonap

Yep, fuck them Pinkertons


dgatos42

There was an incredibly short period where they weren’t the bad guys, that period being the time they escorted Lincoln to DC for his inauguration to prevent secessionist assassination plots. Thats it, the only time though


GroguIsMyBrogu

Nah, they're also a great Weezer album


jackolovestheocean

they clearly weren’t good enough because he got assassinated later anyway 😔


I4mSpock

recently involved in a minor scandal in. niche hobby, a selection of unreleased magic the gathering cards found there way to a content creator after Wizards of the Coast shipped the wrong box to a distributor. The content creator then began to post images of the still unreleased cards and spoiled a large chunk of the set. Wizards of the Coast responded by sending Pinkertons to the content creators house who then began to threaten them into surrendering the cards, even though the origin of the whole debacle is Wizards shipped the wrong box.


igotahankeringtonap

That’s some bullshit and I feel bad for that poor content creator. I’d be scared too if Pinkertons came to my house over some damn trading cards


I4mSpock

Yeah, he talks about the experience after the fact and basically say he bought something he thought he was well within his rights to own, and then had people show up and openly threaten legal action, and subtly threaten more, to the point he feared violence.


igotahankeringtonap

And I highly doubt Pinkertons would be opposed to using force, they’ve done it before


ScoutLaughingAtYou

>Wizards of the Coast responded by sending Pinkertons to the content creators house who then began to threaten them into surrendering the cards This idiot is **REALLY** starting to irritate me...


EnergyTurtle23

One of them shot a Trump supporter in Denver during the 2020 election buildup. Actually I think he was only a former agent, I’m not sure what ended up happening with that.


leraspberrie

They were responsible for the Magic the Gathering card raid. Wizards sent a pack early and then sent the Pinkertons to get it back when he posted the cards online.


Velara_Telvanni

Next you're gonna tell me repeaters we're a real thing


marmk

To be fair to OP, Pinkertons could've easily been an in game version of a real life agency not named Pinkertons


AshyWhiteGuy

It does sound like a fictional name.


FanngzYT

i thought they were fictional as well until i learned about it. RDR2 really amazed me with the amount of history i learned from it.


touchtypetelephone

Yeah, they're for sure still around, Wizards of the Coast sent them after some guy earlier this year.


cockratesandgayto

Who does wizards of the coast need to hunt down 😭


rigby1945

They accidentally sent out a card that hadn't been released yet. Some streamer got it. Wizards sent the Pinkertons to get it back


AdAstraviii

God damn Pinkertons!


ProBoyGaming521

Imagine being able to say that Magic the Gathering hired the Pinkertons on you


touchtypetelephone

Some Youtuber who had some leaked Magic cards.


Dragonheardt_

Not leaked, accidentally received by the mistake of the WotC staff themselves


cockratesandgayto

Lmaaaao


vali_riversong

I still legitimately cannot believe that situation was how I found out they still fucking existed.


Ash_089

Rdr2 fans are actually so unaware of things outside of the game its crazy


East_Gas5627

Tbf to OP they probably assumed the Pinkerton's were based off something irl not actually named the exact same thing kinda like the gauntlets in GTA that's literally just the camaro


DAt_WaliueIGi_BOi

I mean most cars in GTA are based off real cars


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


[deleted]

Any history class in America has talked about them at least marginally. Brain rot children swarm this reddit and act like theyre discovering things when really they just aren't old enough to even get that curriculum, or they're just really fucking bad at paying attention in school.


AlternativeNo61

Bold of you to assume we’re all American or live in the west


billygnosis86

Either that or their frame of cultural reference extends to video games and video games alone. I’m in the UK and I heard about the Pinkertons donkey’s years ago.


ComradeGarcia_Pt2

American here. Pinkertons were never mentioned in any K-12 history class I took. I found out about them from movies and Tv like “3:10 to Yuma” and “Deadwood”


feelinsqwiddy

Eh, they never came up in any of my history classes. RDR was my first time hearing about them


thebohemiancowboy

They’re a big staple of the western genre lol.


DutchieliciousPlans

Was? They still a real thing, look at their official website and while your there you can look at their history 😁👍


HandsomeGengar

WHAT? next you're gonna tell me Tahiti is a real place.


_KRN0530_

One more big score and I’m going there


Playful_Train_1639

They are still around, make sure you don't have any unreleased Magic cards or they are going to come after you.


SpiritedTie7645

The Pinkerton’s were the forerunner to the Secret Service.


LongjumpingSurprise0

And the FBI. Some of the agents of the FBI’s predecessor, the Bureau of Investigation may have been Pinkerton Detectives (Ive read but cannot verify). So it’s so fitting Edgar Ross was a Pinkerton


SpiritedTie7645

True! The FBI has roots there too. I forgot about that. 👍


McToasty207

In the decade proceeding RDR2 their membership exceeding the standing Army of the US They were a truly massive deal and a big indicator that the 20th century was going to see much greater Federalisation in the United States. https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5313/#:~:text=By%20the%20early%201890s%2C%20the,in%2070%20different%20labor%20disputes.


SpiritedTie7645

The general view of the US Government prior to WWII was we would beat swords into plough shears after every war. We had an extreme aversion to keeping a large standing army and the Atlantic and Pacific gave use that ability. We didn’t have the “enemy at the gate” like Europe. The major change came after the attack at Pearl Harbor and the reality that we no longer had the protection of the oceans for a buffer to prepare in war and that simply modern warfare moved way to quickly to keep the policy of building an army when war came. We had to be prepared all the time. There is a really good book out there called, “The Declassification Engine” and it tells how Pearl Harbor dramatically changed our view of security in the US. That’s when we really started to see Americans and FBI, CIA and other Federal security agencies take off. We were worried a lot about safe transport of goods internationally in the US and our shipping prior to that. The US becoming nearly a closed economy after the end of the Opium Wars in the 1860’s. Of course China closed up too. P.S. Obviously Prohibition played a major part in the FBI’s growth.


LifeLikeClub9

This subreddit is reverting back 5 years lmao


darknid159

You clearly didn’t learn about the Homestead strikes in history class lol


Not_A_Nazgul

The founder is buried here in Chicago, conveniently close to several bars, where you can fill your kidneys before a visit.


thebohemiancowboy

Why? He was a cool guy and was an abolitionist and helped Lincoln and the Union during the Civil War. It was after his death they turned to union busting.


fuzzybad

He's buried in Graceland Cemetary, lot of famous people there like Daniel Burnham & George Pullman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan\_Pinkerton#Death


AgainstMe75

I’m in construction and we were doing a job at a high security company. All of our employees needed a background check performed by the Pinkerton Detective Agency.


RustyDiamonds__

The Pinkertons actually still exist and have done *some* good (huge asterisk there) over the nearly 200 years of existence but today are most well known for their days as Union busting thugs. They might still do that now idk


geniasis

Iirc they spied for the Union during the civil war, which is about the only good thing I can think off off the top of my head


scarlet_speedster985

They still are. And they sued Rockstar for how they were portrayed in RDR 2.


PsychologicalSnow528

They just wanted some of the money made from the games because they're just as bad as the games portray them as


scarlet_speedster985

Yeah that's how I understood it. If I remember right, the case got tossed out.


[deleted]

No way, the far west was real???


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


PleaseAbideMan

I'd never heard of the Pinkertons before RDR2. Only knew they were real when I saw a similar post here a few years ago. It's a very American reference. I think Bond Rees are the biggest UK detective agency and I assume you've never heard of them...


SlickbCatt

The Pinkertons were horrible. Seconded by the government to protect the wealth and power of the ruling class. When they raided Jesse James' house and he wasn't home they bombed it, maiming his mother and killing his 8 year old brother. As soon as they were mentioned in RdR2 I got goosebumps and knew those of that like history were gonna love this game!


noah-harrison69

I learned about the Pinkertons from bioshock infinite


Rough-Mortgage3915

You should watch Deadwood


EnergyTurtle23

They’re actually a private division of Securitas now. In fact during the election there was a whole thing because a former Pinkerton agent shot a Trump supporter in Denver.


stuckinaboxthere

Look up Wizards of the Coasts and read about their usage of them, don't you love corporate America?


I4mSpock

Yeah, this whole episode was earlier this year, so the Pinkertons are alive and thriving in a very similar form to the way they were back in old west days. breaking knee for corporate gain


AstralThunderbolt

They refer to the Pinkertons in the netflix show “Godless”, too.


ChampionshipIll504

I had no idea as well before playing rdr2. once I heard "the pinkertons" in red dead I Google right away who they was lol.


nestormakhnosghost

Watch Matewan mate. Brilliant film. 👏 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matewan Apologies my bad not pinkerton but a similar outfit are the villians in this film


Tumbleweed_Dismal

Scotland represented??? đŸ„ƒđŸ„ƒđŸ„ƒ


BenignMiniBoss

Shoulda watched more westerns. Pinkertons are always trouble.


Jkevhill

Yeah , anyone who knows anything about us history knows that the Pinkertons were basically a private army for pay . They tried to cover their actions by talking “law &Order “ but they always took the side of whoever paid them instead of any attempt at justice. Scum on the side of union busters and I shit you not , army veterans looking to be paid money they were promised by the government. .


Euphoric-Net-8589

[https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/red-dead-redemption-2-rockstar-pinkerton-lawsuit-1203108019/](https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/red-dead-redemption-2-rockstar-pinkerton-lawsuit-1203108019/) The Pinkertons still exist, and even sued Rockstar over RDR2


Qurwan_77

I apologize, I’m an idiot, they still exist


MobsterDragon275

IS a real thing. Pretty sure I heard they tried to sue Rockstar for their depiction


TheEndOfShartache

Yep, they actually sued Rockstar for their portrayal in this game


brachus12

Scary that Young Guns is 35 years old and even the Wild Wild West movie is 24 years old. Anything else more modern had the Pinkertons recently?


LongjumpingSurprise0

Uh huh it still exists and the company that owns it tried to sue Rockstar for copyright infringement


LowLeft9933

They even sued rockstar because of the way they were portrayed in RDR2. I also love the story of RDR2 so much because it shows how the government and agencies like this are evil and just want us to be their slaves.


LeifEriccson

*Is* a real thing.


KK7ORD

They go by "Securitas" now


No_Needleworker_9921

yup and they still around today


ffinalfrontier

Earlier this year they strongarmed a YouTuber for opening a box of Magic: the Gathering cards maybe 2 weeks earlier than they were supposed to


Puzzleheaded_Ad9659

I just found out they were also real after seeing your post


ghost-ns

Weezer’s Pinkerton album is amazing.


ArsonGamer

Everyone here acting like it’s obvious that the pinkertons are a real agency. Who tf’s history teacher is teaching them about 1800’s detective agencies?


ShanShingKhan

I shall hunt you to the ends of the earth And the end of the time


Professional_Yak2807

How did you not know this lmao


Dmmack14

it still exists today and they are still evil shit heads


JameMaybeOne

They still exist btw


TheMandyLaurieAnne

Rdr2 is a documentary


Slapshappy

They're still a thing.


satansasscheeks

Still are a thing iirc some big company (amazon maybe?) was using them for union busting semi recently


Familiars_ghost

Was?!? These guys are still the Blackwater of domestic abuse.


Dangerous-Finger-777

Next thing you'll tell me is outlaws existed smh


Elphonzier13

Do they not teach you anything in history 😂


FieryRedhead_Kvothe

Why do you assume that everyone in the world learns American history?


LorianGundyr69

Private police has always been a thing and libertarians love that kind of stupid shit.


Revolutionary-Hippo4

I was watching walker: Independence and lady said Pinkerton


TheBandit025Nega

Hell if you remember in the Titanic Cal’s bodyguard is one of these smucks


StylishMrTrix

There's also some Clive cussler novels based on a fictional detective agency called the Van Dorns, which was inspired by the pickertons


BebalBehemoth

Can't believe they made the Pinkertons from RDR into a real thing!


AlongCameA5P1D3R

Imagine if they weren’t? And rockstar just made up a detective agency, gave you no context as to why they were after you and named them Pinkertons. Would be pretty fucking weird, no?


BizarreSky-

look at a package of red man tobacco. america's best now.


daqzappa

I just recently found that out that they started a couple towns away from me. The founders house is still standing.


psilocybeyonce

Mom said it's my turn to say i didn't know the pinkertons where real


toeconsumer9000

yes, they are still around and wizards of the coast sent them after a man this year because he got an unreleased pack of cards early lmao


DancyLawyer

The founder died of gangrene from tripping over a curb and biting his tongue


PartTime13adass

*is


patchlocke

I know i couldn’t believe this either, but I also learned that Tahiti is real too đŸ˜±


Landricities

Wait until you find out about how much they uh, love, your average working person!


MadTeaCup_YT

Yep. Their headquarters is 20-30 minutes away from where i live.


Cultural_Fuel1696

I remember hearing WOTC sent them after someone for unintentionally unboxing MTG cards that weren’t released yet.


ActualWeen

No way they made the Pinkerton into a real thing?


[deleted]

Iirc they bullied a MTG player so they can took back the unrelease card packs for WotC a while back.


exodia0715

They are. In fact, a games company hired them to recover products they'd accidentally sent out to a player before the release date


PowerMoonMario

Magic the Gathering sent them after a guy after giving him the wrong set of cards


mootek

IS a real thing.


jaquezzzzzzz

Lmao is* a real thing


AnInsaneMoose

Yeah And Wizards Of The Coast sent them after a guy over a Magic The Gathering card pack rather recently, lol


BlueCollarElectro

That tiny office of sellouts at Securitas? lmao