Punishment by pillory, Delaware, USA, historical image. The pillory is occupied by an African-American man. This punishment, similar to the stocks, was used for public humiliation for petty criminals. The pillory had been abolished in the UK by 1837 but remained in use in the USA in the state of Delaware until it was abolished in 1972. This photograph is from the Bain News Service, one of the USA's earliest news picture libraries. The bulk of the Bain images date from the period from the 1890s to the 1930s.