Hauptmann's Ladder: A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping

Chapter 1: "They've Stolen Our Baby"

“They’ve stolen our Baby” in 1932, Charles lindbergh was the most famous man in america, if not the entire world. his successful solo flight across the atlantic ocean in 1927 catapulted him from relative obscurity to the front pages of every newspaper in the world. From that moment on, his every move was followed by reporters, well-meaning admirers, and crackpots. every event in his life seemed to generate more and more publicity. he was given numerous awards and commendations, including a commission in the united states army as a colonel and the Congressional medal of honor. While lindbergh enjoyed the various honors bestowed upon him, he greatly resented the intrusion and near elimination of privacy. on may 27, 1929, lindbergh married anne morrow, daughter of dwight morrow , ambassador to mexico. The press could not get enough of this event. in fact, lindbergh even mentioned the media coverage of his wedding in his memoirs, which were published shortly after his death. he wrote, “after our wedding, we spent a fortnight trying to avoid the press in a small motor launch cruising off long island and new england Coasts.”1 When Charles and anne lindbergh began searching for a place to build their home, privacy, seclusion, and freedom from the press were substantial considerations . during the search, the lindberghs first lived in rented rooms in an uptown new york hotel and then in a rented farmhouse near princeton, new Jersey.2 Various sites were considered in new york, new Jersey, and Connecticut. ultimately, the young couple decided on a remote location in new Jersey that Charles and anne had seen while flying over the sourland mountains. The property they selected was 390 acres overlapping the hunterdon and mercer County lines. it was rocky, unfertile, and wooded; however, the view was spectacular from many different points of the property and there were numerous trails for hiking. of particular interest to Charles was the fact that the property was situated well for flying an airplane and had limited access for cars. in addition to a house, the lindberghs intended to build a small airplane hangar and landing strip so Charles would be able to fly almost to his doorstep. part of the house would include a library, and the basement would have a biological laboratory.3| 1 || 1 | | 2 | hauptmann’s ladder Construction began on the lindberghs’ dream home in the summer of 1930. however, something else wonderful happened that same summer. on June 22, 1930, the lindberghs’ first son was born. he was seven pounds six ounces and his parents named him Charles augustus lindbergh Jr. There was little doubt that daddy lindbergh was the most popular man in america. now Baby lindbergh became the most famous child. admirers sent thousands of gifts, telegrams, and letters at the announcement of his birth. The media gave the child nicknames before his real name was even made public. in recognition of his father’s accomplishments, the child was called “The eaglet,” “Baby eagle,” and “little lindy.” There was even a song written entitled, “hello, young lindy.” The media’s interest in the child was so great that a standing offer of $2,000, a tremendous amount of money in those days, was offered for any “secrets of the household.”4 The lindberghs became very secretive about their son as they felt the constant media exposure was not a positive influence. unfortunately, the attempt to protect him led to numerous rumors that the child was somehow deformed. The media speculated that they were being kept away from the child because Charles lindbergh was embarrassed about his son’s imperfection. it never occurred to the reporters that they were the real reason for the lindberghs’ overprotectiveness of their child. a famous picture of the lindbergh baby taken at his first birthday party. “They’ve Stolen Our Baby” | 3 | Time magazine issued an article in response to a rumor in late 1931 that the child was deaf as the result of exposure to loud airplane noise immediately prior to his birth. The rumor was so rampant that Will rogers himself wrote a column to try and put the baseless allegations to rest. The rumors were so out of control that Charles felt compelled to call a press conference . Five newspaper chains were not permitted to attend as they had actually published stories claiming that the child was deformed.5 lindbergh specifically addressed the media...