Chicago has an infamous history that involves some of the most notorious gangsters of the early 20th century. Al Capone, who was unquestionably "the world's most famous criminal," had a vast empire of speakeasies, distilleries, and gambling houses. It is said that in his hay day during the alcohol prohibition of the 1920s, Capone had an income of 100 million dollars a year. In addition to his illegal operations, Capone was feared for his ruthlessness. His most notorious act of violence came on February 14, 1929, when members of his South Side Italian gang murdered 7 members of the North Side Irish gang. This blatant act of terror was the final straw and brought the wrath of the public and the federal agents upon Capone and his gang. In the end, it was not the murders, prostitution or even the bootlegging that finally put Capone away. The Internal Revenue Service arrested him for income tax evasion and he was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. One of Capone's arch rivals was Charles O'Banion, a chief member of the North Side Irish gang. Although arrested many times, he knew he could bribe judges, prosecutors, and policemen, and avoid serving time. His rise to infamy began when he intimidated newsstand operators into carrying only the Chicago Tribune. When he was offered more money from the Hearst organization's Chicago Examiner he found new loyalties. With time he added safecracking and bootlegging to his resume. His legit operation was a flower shop where he created magnificent and very expensive wreaths for his victim's funerals. Ironically it was when a rival gang came to pick up one of his custom creations that O'Banion was murdered. O'Banion had a partner in crime, Earl "Hymie" Weiss. Weiss was the only gangster that his contemporary Al Capone feared. After O'Banion was killed, Weiss became his successor and vowed to kill Capone and take over Chicago's lucrative bootlegging and numbers racket. Weiss tried twice to kill Capone, once with 8 limousines filled with gunmen who fired over 1,000 rounds of ammo from their submachine guns. Amazingly, only Capone's driver was killed. Capone got his revenge by assigning snipers outside Weiss' headquarters and had him gunned down. Surprisingly, unlike most of his contemporaries, Capone died of natural causes, a stroke, on Jan. 25th 1947 Although the days of these infamous gangsters are in Chicago's storied past, their legends live on through movies, music, and specialty tours through the city.
This color coordinated collection of fashion fabrics was first featured in our Vogue Fabrics By Mail Summer 2010 catalog of swatches. Subscribe to receive home delivery of these catalogs every other month.
This color coordinated collection of fashion fabrics was first featured in our Vogue Fabrics By Mail Summer 2010 catalog of swatches. Subscribe to receive home delivery of these catalogs every other month.
