Line #45 Main/PinkertonDetective


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8	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pinkertonDK_9834.jpg]]
9	[[caption-width-right:350:''And neither will you [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown by the time we're done]], union-man...'']]
10
11	->''"We Never Sleep."''
12	-->-- '''Motto of the Pinkertons'''
13
14	An agent of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, "Pinkertons" for short, "Pinks" to their enemies.
15
16	Founded in the 1850s by Allan Pinkerton, the Pinkertons were often hired by corporations such as the railroad companies to investigate crimes against them and the activities of labor movements. Made famous by their protection of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln from an assassination attempt prior to his taking the oath of office. In the 1870s, they added government work to their portfolio, as the Department of Justice did not have the infrastructure to do massive investigations on its own. (This work dried up in 1893 with the passage of the "Anti-Pinkerton Act", which prevented the US government from directly hiring Pinkerton agents.)
17
18	In addition to their notorious and much-reviled strikebreaking work, the Pinkertons were also active in chasing down outlaws who had pulled {{train job}}s or major [[BankRobbery bank robberies]]. And if you were wealthy enough, you could hire them for regular detective work as well. The Pinks were well known for [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner brutality and ruthlessness]] in their methods; in fiction, even when they are pursuing more laudable goals, this tends to give an unfavorable color to their portrayal.
19
20	It's believed the phrase "private eye" comes from the Pinkerton Agency's symbol, an open eye (which rather hilariously came to look like the Creator/{{CBS}} eye in later years). Creator/DashiellHammett was a former Pinkerton agent, and used his experience to inform his stories.
21
22	After the 1930s, the Pinkerton Agency largely concerned itself with security services. They were bought and merged with a [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] security company called Securitas AB, and they are now known as Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. Poetically, Securitas is now the subject of unionization attempts. But that still hasn't stopped companies like Amazon from using Pinkerton operatives to [[https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dp3yn/amazon-leaked-reports-expose-spying-warehouse-workers-labor-union-environmental-groups-social-movements spy on workers and labor unions]].
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24	Compare and contrast with PrivateIntelligenceAgency, which is what the company does nowadays after Securitas purchased the company and its assets. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Hilariously unrelated]] to RealMenWearPink.
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26	No relation to the Music/{{Weezer}} album ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'', though the agency did file a FrivolousLawsuit against the band, accusing them of trademark infringement. (The case was thrown out immediately.)
27	----
28	!!Examples of Pinkerton detectives in fiction:
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30	[[foldercontrol]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
33	* In the spinoff arc of ''Manga/GunkaNoBaltzar'', a FantasyCounterpartCulture detective agency is used to suppress a strike.
34	* The Pinkertons appear as villains in the [[{{Cancellation}} short-lived]], [[OELManga Original English-language manga]] ''[[https://www.goodreads.com/series/82390-no-man-s-land No Man's Land]]'' by Jason [=DeAngelis=]. [[WeirdWest They try to harness the power of]] LegionsOfHell.
35	* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' spins ''UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid'' of all people as a Pinkerton detective on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice after he's legally declared dead. He ropes Sherlock Holmes into the organization as well and even tries to recruit Professor Moriarty.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Comic Books]]
39	* A ComicBook story of ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'' (the dog) had him as a Pinkerton agent relentlessly and ruthlessly protecting a carpetbag of gold from a thief.
40	* Pinkertons have appeared frequently (usually as antagonists) in ''ComicBook/JonahHex''.
41	* In the Creator/{{Elseworlds}} comic ''ComicBook/JusticeRiders'' (The ComicBook/{{Justice League\|of America}} [[RecycledINSPACE in the Old West]]) [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Guy Gardner]] appears as a Pinkerton agent.
42	* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'':
43	** In the book "Jesse James", two bumbling Pinkerton detectives appear. Might be a ShoutOut to [[Franchise/{{Tintin}} two other bumbling detectives]] from FrancoBelgianComics. They travel incognito, oblivious to the SigilSpam that betrays them.
44	** In a post-Creator/{{Morris}} album of the series, Lucky Luke finds himself going against Allan Pinkerton himself.
45	* Caleb Hammer, a Western character in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse.
46	** Fellow Marvel character [[Characters/{{Wolverine}} Cyber]] was one, as well.
47	* They sometime show up in ''ComicBook/TexWiller''. Being this a western comic book set before the start of the unions, they only show up chasing major criminals or doing investigative work. The agency is also noted to have some ethics, as they'll fire with prejudice any agent caught doing something illegal (as freeing a criminal after being bribed), and if asked about them will quickly denounce whatever they're doing now.
48	** At the start of the "Death Cell" storyline Tex is framed for murder and it's mentioned they've been contacted to help find information to prove his innocence and catch the culprit before he and his accomplice can start an Indian war and have the Navajos evicted from their reserve. By the end of the storyline Tex and his pards have identified the culprit and found enough evidence to convict him and prove Tex' innocence on their own... And the Pinks reveal they have identified ''every single other member of the organization and provided enough evidence to arrest them'', [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome without even appearing on-page until one of their agents shows up to reveal what they've done in the meantime]].
49	** The "Pinkerton Lady" storyline chronicles Tex' first encounter with them, as he, then young and wanted for murder, found himself involved with them saving Abraham Lincoln's life from an assassination attempt. At the end of the storyline the Pinks feign not having identified him in gratitude for his help, laying the groundwork for their later collaboration.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
53	* The Hollywood western ''Film/ThreeTenToYuma1957'' and [[Film/ThreeTenToYuma2007 its 2007 remake]] feature Pinkerton agents escorting an armed stagecoach filled with bank notes through Arizona. Pinkerton agents are seen throughout the 2007 version, and it's worth noting that in the remake the main Pinkerton is both a badass and deeply unpleasant character.
54	* A couple of Pinkerton's Detectives pursue the eponymous characters in ''Film/BadGirls''. They never catch up with them.
55	* In ''Film/{{Blackthorn}}'', Butch Cassiday remembers his old friendships with the Sundance Kid and Etta Place, and how they escaped from Pinkerton Detective Mackinley.
56	* They pursue ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'' to Bolivia (both in real life and in the film).
57	* ''Film/{{Hammett}}'': Creator/DashiellHammett (reflecting RealLife) worked for Pinkerton alongside Jimmy Ryan. This is also how he knows Eli the cab driver, an old Wobbly whose IWW meetings he used to bust up.
58	* In an early scene of the 1992 movie ''Film/{{Hoffa}}'', corporate-hired Pinkerton personnel assault early 20th century union organizers.
59	* The 2005 movie ''Film/TheLegendOfZorro'' has Pinkerton agents extorting the wife of Franchise/{{Zorro}} to help them investigate a secret society trying to prevent the 1850 admission of California to the Union. Rather anachronistically, since the Pinkertons weren't formed until after that event.
60	* The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency (also a real company historically) engaged in similar strikebreaking actions in the [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory semi-historical]] film ''Film/{{Matewan}}''.
61	* The 1970 film ''Film/TheMollyMaguires'' recounts the real-life story of Pinkerton detective James [=McParlan=], alias [=McKenna=], played by Creator/RichardHarris, as he infiltrates a gang of railroad saboteurs led by Creator/SeanConnery as Black Jack Kehoe.
62	* In both ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress1974'' and ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress2017'', [[spoiler:Cyrus Hardman]] is a Pinkerton agent. (In the original novel, he worked for the fictional [=McNeil=] Detective Agency.)
63	* Spicer Lovejoy, Cal Hockley's valet in ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' was a former Pinkerton.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Literature]]
67	* In ''Literature/TheCoronation'' and the novella ''Dream Valley'', it is mentioned that Literature/ErastFandorin worked for the Pinkertons during his stay in the US (though mostly as a freelancer rather than a full agent).
68	* Pinkerton toughs occasionally appear as secondary characters throughout Creator/HarryTurtledove's series of ''Great War'' and ''American Empire'' AlternateHistory novels. As the USA in those novels is much more "Europeanized" than ours, with a strong Socialist movement, they ultimately end up being defeated by the organised strikers and unions.
69	* ''Literature/HolmesOnTheRange'': The Amlingmeyer brothers spend the first several books trying to join the agency and getting turned away, before setting out to make their own agency.
70	* ''The Isaac Bell Adventures'': Creator/CliveCussler's character Isaac Bell is an investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, a fictional organization modeled after the Pinkertons.
71	* Felix Leiter in the ''Literature/JamesBond'' novels became a Pinkerton detective after being medically discharged from the CIA, for the rather good reason of losing a hand and a leg in ''Literature/LiveAndLetDie''.
72	* The protagonist of Creator/AnthonyHorowitz's Franchise/SherlockHolmes story, ''Literature/{{Moriarty}}'', is Detective Chase; a Pinkerton agent seeking to track down an American Crime-boss before he can replace Moriarty after his fall from the falls.
73	* [[spoiler:Cyrus Hartman]] in ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'' is an employee of the [=McNeil=] Detective Agency, a fictional counterpart of the Pinkertons.
74	* ''Literature/TheOutlawJoseyWales'' includes a brief chapter wherein a Texas Ranger and a Pinkerton Detective team up to search for Josey Wales.
75	* Sebastian Becker, the protagonist of a detective series by Stephen Gallagher, is an ex-Pinkerton.
76	* ''Literature/TheSecretOfChimneys'': Hiram P. Fish, the American lurking about the Chimneys mansion as murder and identity theft and all sorts of crazy things are going on, is a chance for Creator/AgathaChristie to indulge in American jokes like FunetikAksent and WackyAmericansHaveWackyNames and SeparatedByACommonLanguage. That is, until the end, when he's revealed to be a Pinkerton agent tracking the jewel thief who is only part of a complicated mystery.
77	* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'':
78	** ''Literature/TheValleyOfFear'' features a PinkertonDetective infiltrating a gang of terrorist "Scowrers" (a fictional offshoot of the Freemasons, and who were based on the RealLife Molly Maguires.)
79	** A Pinkerton named Leverton (described by Holmes as the "hero" of the "Long Island cave mystery") teams up with Holmes in ''The Adventure of the Red Circle''.
80	* Michael "Meatpacker" Moran from the ''Literature/YoungBond'' novel ''Literature/SilverFin'' is a former Pinkerton Detective investigating an incident at the BigBad's castle. At one point, Meatpacker ''does'' fall asleep, leaving Bond and his friend "Red" Kelly to continue the investigation on their own.
81	* In ''Literature/TheSpaceMerchants'', Mitchell Courtenay has a brief meeting with Commander [=MacDonald=], an intelligence officer who is also a Pinkerton man and considers himself a specialist in catching Consies. (In an aside, Courtenay admires the brand integrity of the open eye logo.)
82	* PK Pinkerton in ''Literature/TheWesternMysteries'' believes that he is a relative of the founder of the Pinkerton Detectives. His aspiration is to become a PinkertonDetective.
83	* In Jordan L. Hawk's gay supernatural detective series ''Whyborne & Griffin'', Griffin is an ex-Pinkerton, and his first encounter with the polymath Percival Whyborne relates directly to a terrifying ordeal he'd experienced while he was working with them. Later adventures often return to individuals or events from Griffin's Pinkerton past.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
87	* Pinkertons appear a few times in the TV show ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr.''
88	* In ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' Season 4, the Pinkerton Detectives are revealed to have been hired to [[spoiler: investigate the suspicious death of Jimmy Darmody, to which end one of their agents seduces Gillian and manipulates her into confessing to the murder of the random young man whose corpse she passed off as Jimmy's to get him declared legally dead]].
89	* Pinkerton agents figure in an episode of ''Series/{{Copper}}''. They are not portrayed in a positive light.
90	* In ''Series/{{Damnation}}'', one of the main characters, Creeley Turner, is a pink who is let out of jail in order to end a farmer's strike led by his [[ChummyCommies pinko]] brother. In an interesting twist, he ends up helping the striking farmers partly out of sympathy for their plight, partly out of love for his brother, and partly because [[spoiler: they end up getting attacked by [[TheKlan The Black Legion]] and EvenEvilHasStandards.]]
91	* ''Series/DeadMansGun'': In "The Pinkerton", a Pinkerton detective is called in to investigate the kidnapping of a wealthy man's wife.
92	* In the HBO series ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'', the Pinkerton Agency and its agents are occasionally referred to by several of the show's characters, often ominously or with contempt. Even ''Al Swearengren'' thinks they're [[EvenEvilHasStandards below his admittedly low moral standards!]] Miss Isringhausen, Sofia's tutor from the show's second season, is eventually revealed to be an agent of the group.
93	* On the ''Series/ElleryQueen'' episode "The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party", the victim's butler is an undercover Pinkerton, which doesn't stop him from being a [[TheButlerDidIt suspect]].
94	* "The Ten Li'l Grifters Job," an episode of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', featured the team infiltrating a murder mystery costume party and had Eliot costumed as Charlie Siringo, a real-life Pinkerton agent. Given his history as a retrieval specialist, bodyguard, occasional government operative, and mercenary who now helps take down the CorruptCorporateExecutive of the week (at least one of whom he worked ''for'' in the past), the comparison is appropriate.
95	* In Season 13 of ''Series/MurdochMysteries'', Robert Parker is introduced as a Pinkerton detective who is tracking down the killer of his brother, also a Pinkerton. When he and Murdoch discover this was a FalseFlagOperation, and arrest the Pinkerton responsible, Parker gets fired for bringing the agency into disrepute.
96	* In Book Two of ''Series/NorthAndSouthUS'', Orry Main enlists an ace Pinkerton detective to find his stray wife. Eventually, the gumshoe chafes at what is becoming a full-time assignment.
97	* One of the main characters of the short lived series ''{{Peacemakers}}'' (basically ''Series/{{CSI}}'' [[RecycledINSPACE IN THE OLD WEST!]]) was a former Pinkerton agent. One episode also featured a legendary Pinkerton agent gone rogue as the perp.
98	* ''Series/ThePinkertons'' naturally centers around these, featuring their founder Allan Pinkerton in the pilot, while one of the main characters is his son William. Incidentally the actor playing Pinkerton, Angus [=MacFadyen=], [[ActorSharedBackground has the same background as his character]], both having been born in UsefulNotes/{{Glasgow}}, UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}.
99	* In the ''Series/{{Timeless}}'' episode "[[Recap/TimelessS2E7MrsSherlockHolmes Mrs. Sherlock Holmes]]", the Lifeboat crew travels to 1919. When a cop confronts Rufus and Flynn at a crime scene, Rufus claims that they're Pinkerton detectives named [[Film/DieHard John McClane and Hans Gruber]]. Flynn ruefully smiles at being given the name of the (European) bad guy. The cop then addresses them as a "couple of dicks", causing Rufus to take offense, only for Flynn to acknowledge that they're indeed a "couple of ''detectives''".
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
103	* In the ''ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean'' storyline in which Summer investigates the historic mystery surrounding silent comedy star "Butter" Brickle (which starts off looking like a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed "Fatty" Arbuckle, before going off in a completely bizarre direction), her interviewee, Cliff Anger, says the Pinkertons investigated, including Dashiel Hammett, but what they found wasn't conclusive.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
107	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'', the Pinkertons are the original [[TheMenInBlack Men in Black]] organisation, eventually becoming the Agency. (RealLifeWritesThePlot on this one: once the writers discovered that the Pinkerton agency was still around and active, although as a private security company, they wrote [[WritingAroundTrademarks a name change]] RetCon to avoid legal issues).
108	* Not actual Pinkertons in ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'', but the Wolfgang & Long Detective Agency shares similarities with them, running investigations across the solar system for nations who can't readily reach criminals.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Video Games]]
112	* ''VideoGame/AfterTheEndAPostApocalypticAmerica'': The Pinkertons have survived six centuries after the Apocalypse, albeit in an unusual form: they've since become a mercenary army that can be hired by feudal lords.
113	* Booker [=DeWitt=], the protagonist of ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'', is a former Pinkerton Agent who was apparently expelled from the organization due to "[[EvenEvilHasStandards behavior beyond the acceptable bounds of the Agency]]".
114	* Pinkerton Agents appear as skilled shooters armed with six-shot carbines in the ''[[Videogame/EighteenSixtySixAMountAndBladeWestern 1866]]'' Western-themed mod for ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade''.
115	* Three Pinkerton agents are hired to support the player character in the first side-mission of the video game ''VideoGame/HardWest''. They are interchangable characters simply named A., B. and C. Persons.
116	* In the computer game ''VideoGame/PostMortem2002'', the player-character Gus [=McPherson=] is mentioned as being a former member of Pinkerton, and depending on the player's actions, sends telegraphs to the agency for research.
117	* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' has Andrew Milton as one of the game's [[BigBadEnsemble antagonists]], who pursues the Van Der Linde gang. He does state that he's been seconded to the U.S. Government, but in reality, he's working for [[RailroadBaron Leviticus Cornwall]]. Pinkerton Agents appear throughout the game as {{Mook}}s. The game also establishes that [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption Edgar Ross]] was Milton's protégé before becoming a Bureau Of Investigation agent and he appears alongside Milton, [[TheSilentBob rarely speaking until after Milton's death]].
118	** Securitas AB attempted to sue Take-Two for royalties over the use of the Pinkerton name in ''Red Dead Redemption 2'', but Take-Two filed a countersuit over "using trademark law to own the past" and Securitas dropped it.
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Webcomics]]
122	* ''Webcomic/TheDreadful''[='=]s universe has the [[{{Expy}} Jackson Detective Agency]] standing in for the Pinks.
123	* In ''Webcomic/HighMoon'', a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]] {{Western}} webcomic series by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, the protagonist Matthew 'Mac' Macgreor is a Pinkerton detective.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Western Animation]]
127	* ''WesternAnimation/InchHighPrivateEye'' works at the "Finkerton" Detective Agency, an obvious pun on "Pinkerton". His boss constantly threatens to fire him.
128	* The security goons in ''WesternAnimation/ProjectGeeker'' are all named "Pinkers," a likely reference to the Pinkertons.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Real Life]]
132	* Creator/DashiellHammett, author of ''Literature/RedHarvest'', ''Literature/TheThinMan'', and ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', was a Pinkerton detective. His experience working for the Pinkertons led him to [[DefectorFromDecadence develop communist sympathies]], eventually getting involved in left-wing politics full-time later in life. Ironically, both Pinkertons and communist sympathizers are both known as "Pinks".[[note]]The latter nickname/slur being because a full-on communist is a "Red".[[/note]]
133	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PinkertonDetective