Why didn’t Harold Hill have fake credentials he could show? OK, obviously it’s because the quest to see his credentials is elemental to the plot; but really, wouldn’t such an experienced scamster have documentation he could show? It’s not as if anyone could google them in 1912.
He may have some fake papers, but the longer he puts off actually showing them, the less time the townsfolks have to do something like sending a telegraph message to the fellow whose name is given as the Dean of the Gary Indiana Musical Conservatory and asking about Hill’s record there. Hence the delaying tactics.
Harold Hill wasn’t a great con man, and he really didn’t do anything illegal. The boys got the instruments they paid for, as well as the uniforms. At worst, Hill promised lessons that he didn’t provide, but he never charged for them, so no one lost money on that.
A real con would be to take the money for the instruments and uniforms and run off with it.
But he doesn’t really teach the kids to play so the instruments and uniforms(theoretically) go to waste. Plus, we don’t know how much he’s marking up the items.
I also suspect that his usual MO would be to disappear as soon as the uniforms and instruments arrived. This time, he had a reason to stay.
He got his foot caught in the door. He could have sued Ms. Paroo!
And Giuseppe Creatore doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page! Try to verify that reference!
But he did get caught by the 1912 version of Google – the public library! Didn’t Marian the librarian find out that he was a fraud him by checking the records in her library? She discovered that the conservancy he claimed to have graduated from did not exist in the year of his supposed graduation – or something like that. Right?
Yes; he claimed to have been somewhere in 1905, that didn’t exist until 1906.
First of all, he did teach the kids to play using his Think System. And what difference does it make how much his markup is? Salesman generally don’t tell you how much commission they make, and you shouldn’t believe them if they do tell you.
He delivered what he promised, just as any good salesman does. There was no scam or con, just good old fashioned salesmanship.
I think Marian taught the kids in secret. Hill was quite surprised when the kids actually played the tune.
His markup was probably well beyond what would be normal. And he probably never stuck around long enough to teach the Think System.
Well you sure are the negative Nellie aren’t you? I’ll bet you wouldn’t even buy meat from the back of a truck.
But he doesn’t know the territory!
StG
You can talk, you can talk, you can bicker, you can talk, you can bicker, bicker bicker, you can talk, you can talk, you can talk talk talk talk bicker bicker bicker…hey, it’s almost like they knew about us! 
Of course not, the good meat is in the cab. 
Remember, in the opening scene on the train, how the salesmen are having trouble at stops because of Hill’s shenanigans.
Hill played a long game. Remember how ill-fitting and cheap the uniforms were when they arrived. The scam went like this:
- Hill promises uniforms, instruments and instruction, allowing the parents to pay in easy installments.
- He orders the cheapest stuff but charges so much that their initial deposit actually pays for everything, but hangs around collecting weekly payments until the stuff shows up. For good measure, he orders the instruments first, to keep stringing the town along for another week or two.
- The uniforms eventually show up, the townspeople wise up, but by then Hill has caught the train out of town. Overpriced stuff and no lessons.
It’s as clear as a buttonhook in well water!
And to get back to the specific question, when the townfolks get suspicious enough to demand credentials, Hill gives them the fake papers, and flees with the cash while the mayor is checking with the Conservatory. The papers won’t hold up to any serious scrunity, but serve to cover Hills escape - which is why he resists showing them as long as he can do so (in the movie his plan is foiled only because he is exposed by the other salesman (and because he’s fallen in love of course), depriving him of the chance to use the papers for their intended purpose).
P.s. I think Tommy was secretly a musical genius who managed to teach the boys all by himself)
If you think the Minuet in C, you can play the Minuet in C. All together: dada dada dada dada daaah, dada daah, dada daah…
I support this theory. It shows both Tommy’s faith in the Perfessor and his desire to overcome the prejudice against his Nithulanian heritage.
What did Shakespeare say? “Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave man… only 500”?
That’s good, because he never did get the hang of perpetual motion.