1920`s Gangsters

1920’s Gangsters
by: Natalie, Andrea, Lizzy-2nd Hour
Prohibition
On January 17, 1920, Congress passed a law to ban the consumption,
transportation, and sale of alcohol. The era of prohibition (1920-1933) is
what created gangsters and filled their pockets with millions of dollars.
For most gangs, bootlegging was the most important business.
Bootlegging was the making, distributing, or selling of
illegal alcohol. Gangsters supplied most of the liquor to
nightclubs, or “speakeasies.” Because liquor was so
limited, gangsters charged steep prices and profited
greatly. In result of prohibition, gangsters took control of Chicago and many
other cities’ underground businesses.
Leaders
Al Capone:​
Al Capone, or “Scarface”, was the master gangster of Chicago in the 1920’s.
​
During the early 1920’s, many Italians immigrated to Brooklyn in search of
better jobs and living conditions. Many were unskilled and suffered from
unemployment. Al Capone grew up a poor in a poor, Italian, and gang ridden
neighborhood. By age 11, Capone had joined an Italian gang called the South
Side Rippers. This gang rivaled a neighboring Irish gang, and a war over the
turf caused street fighting, vandalization of street carts, and arson. After a few
years, Capone moved up to the 4o Thieves Junior gang, and then later to the
Five Point gang of the lower east side. Frankie Yale, the leader of the Five Point
gang, favored Capone because he was not only big and strong, but smart.
In 1919, Capone moved to Chicago because of indictments for
attempted murder. He then joined the South Side gang run by James (Big Jim)
Colosimo and worked directly under Johnny Torrio. Under Torrio’s wing, Capone acquired a
taste for the finer things in life. He wore expensive suits and smoked cigars, and drove luxury
vehicles. Capone called himself “snorky,” which
meant elegant, high class, and fashionable. In 1920,
in response to Colosimo’s resistance to bootlegging
which was costing his men millions of dollars they
could be earning, Torrio ordered Capone to kill Colosimo. During Torrio’s takeover, Capone
became the “right hand man” of the South Side gang. After jail time and being shot at, Torrio
escaped the gang life, leaving the South Side Operation empire (worth approximately 105
million dollars per year) to 26- year old Capone.
As the boss, Capone promoted Jack Guzik, a large, sloppy, penguin-shaped man
nicknamed “Greasy Thumb,” to first lieutenant.
Following an assassination attempt where
Capone’s car was shot at by the North Side gang,
Capone bought a car that contained bulletproof
glass windows, a steel armoured exterior, police
sirens, and a police radio. In 1925, Capone’s family,
including his wife, son, parents, and brother,
moved to Chicago from Brooklyn. During much of
the time that he was the boss of the South Side
gang, Capone stayed in his vacation house in
Florida, giving him an alibi when police got suspicious and a place for relaxation. In 1928, Tony
Lombardo, one of Capone’s allies, was shot by the North Side gang. Tired of his close friends
being taken out by the north, Capone decided to get rid of the gang and their leader, Bugs
Moran, through the St. Valentine Day Massacre. Even though Capone was never convicted of
the crime, all of Chicago knew it was his plan. However, despite all the violence and murdering,
Chicagoans loved Capone.
In 1931, Capone was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to ten years in federal
prison. After a few years in an Atlanta prison, Capone was transferred to Alcatraz, where he
became very ill from a long time case of syphilis and was released for health reasons two years
before his sentence was up. In his last few months, Capone suffered from dementia and was
seen talking to the “ghosts” of his enemies. Some believe that this was his way of apologizing for
all the murdering and wrong doings he committed during his life. Capone died of heart failure
in 1947.
Dion O’Banion:​
Dion O’Banion was the leader of the North Side
​
gang in the early 1920’s. He was an Irish Catholic, a choirboy and
loved flower arranging. Unlike other gangs, under Dion, the North
Side gang did not partake in
prostitution or gambling-just
bootlegging. The meeting place
for O’Banion’s gang was his
flower shop, “Schofield’s,” in a
posh neighborhood in northern
Chicago. Aside from his job as the boss, O’Banion worked as a
safe cracker, strong arm, and made expensive flower arrangements for gang funerals.
O’Banion was also very dedicated to his wife, Viola. Despite his seemingly kind nature,
O’Banion was a cold-blooded killer. It is estimated that he killed over sixty people during his
time as a gangster. In 1923, O’Banion planned to peacefully take out his enemy Johnny Torrio of
the South Side gang by having him arrested. In retaliation, Capone called in some friends from
Brooklyn to take out O’Banion. Posing as customers, the assassins shot and killed O’Banion
while pretending to go in for a handshake. Dion O’Banion had the largest funeral in gangster
history.
George(Bugs) Moran: ​
Bugs Moran was the leader of the North
Side gang during the late 1920’s. Moran wanted to “be the Al Capone
of the North Side” and was Capone’s biggest enemy. Moran was
considered tough, cool, and somber, but was not very smart. The only
reason Moran became the boss of the North Side gang was because
all the other leaders had been killed. The largest gang mass murder
in the world, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, was planned to get rid
of the North Side gang, but the main purpose was to kill Moran.
Moran was not killed but many of his men were, and after the fall of
the North Side gang, Moran went back to his previous occupation as
a petty thief. Moran was found guilty of robbery in Ohio some years later and sentenced to ten
years in prison. Bugs Moran died of lung cancer while in prison in 1956.
Gangster Lifestyle
Gangsters lived a unique lifestyle because they were criminals, yet they were adored by
the public. They provided the people with everything they wanted in terms of alcohol, gambling,
and prostitution. Gangsters even became screen legends. Actors like Humphrey Bogart played
gangsters on screen, making violence and killing popular and enjoyable. Even the politicians of
Chicago favored the gangsters and used them to their benefit. Big Bill Thompson, the mayor of
Chicago, allowed the gangsters to go about their business if they helped him get reelected.
Gangsters enjoyed a life of luxury. Many drove expensive cars, wore fine suits, but the
most lavish thing they enjoyed were gang funerals. After Big Jim Colosmio’s funeral, it became
popular for gangs to hold funerals priced in the thousands. Even the coffins bought were
gold-plated. The north and south competed to have the most impressive celebrations and the
most expensive coffins.
The Tommy Gun was the weapon of choice for gangsters during the 1920’s. Originally,
the Tommy Gun was invented in WWI to “clean out the trenches.” It was called the “Chicago
chopper” because it could put hundreds of bullets in a man in just one minute. Tommy Guns
were popular among gangsters because they were precise and
could be shot from a moving car. At medium range, the
Tommy Gun was deadly, but at close range, it was brutal. They
Tommy Gun became the signature weapon of the North Side
and South Side gangs.
North Side vs. South Side
Important Members (leaders in red)
North Side
South Side
Dion O’Banion
Big Jim Colosimo
Hymie Weiss
Johnny Torrio
Bugs Moran
Al Capone
Vincent Drucci (The Schemer)
Jack McGurn
Pete Gusenberg
Jack Guzik
Frank Gusenberg
John Scalise and Albert Anselmi “The Murder
Twins”
Two-Gun Louie
Fred Burk
The North Side and South Side gangs were always fighting to control their territories.
Both gangs were named after the area of Chicago they controlled. The North Side gang was
made up of mostly Irish Catholics and was always “better off.” The north side of Chicago was
home to a heavy drinking community of German, Polish, and Irish immigrants, so the North
Side gang always had a prosperous business selling beer. The South Side gang was made up of
mostly Italian immigrants. The Italian gang focused not only on selling alcohol, but on
entertainment, prostitution, and gambling.
Events
>>The violence between the gangs exploded in 1924 when Dion O’Banion tried to peacefully
take Johnny Torrio out of power by having him arrested. O’Banion sold one of his breweries to
Torrio , and they agreed to make the transfer of ownership in person. When Torrio arrived,
waiting police arrested him for bootlegging, and he spent one year in jail.
>>During Torrio’s sentence, Al Capone retaliated by having Dion O’Banion murdered in his
flower shop late one evening. Hymie Weiss led the North Side gang after Dion.
>>In 1925, the North Side gang shoots Torrio. Torrio lived but backed out of the gang business
and put Capone in charge.
>>In June 13, 1925, the Murder Twins attacked Drucci and Moran.
>>In 1925, Hymie Weiss arranges a drive by shooting, which destroys the Hawthorne Hotel
(Capone’s office of business).
>>Weiss is assassinated while walking to Schofields by Capone’s men.
>>Schemer Drucci takes control of the North Side gang, but it killed shortly after while
wrestling a police officer for his gun.
>>Moran is new leader of the north.
>>September 7, 1928, Tony Lombardo, one of Capone’s close friends, is ambushed and killed by
the North Side gang, sparking Capone’s anger.
>>Capone wants to take out his rival, Bugs Moran, and the entire North Side gang in one
stroke.
>>Capone stages an attack in Moran’s warehouse for February 14, 1929. Capone’s hired
assassins come to deliver what the North Side think is alcohol and enter the warehouse. Two
assassins dressed as cops show up and enter the warehouse. Bugs is on his way to the
warehouse but sees the cop cars and keeps walking. The seven men working for the North Side
(some were not even gangsters) hand their guns over to the cops and line up on the wall
because they think it is just an investigation. The assassins open fire and kill all seven men.
Some of the bodies were shot so many times, they were almost cut in half. This bloody murder
was called the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.”
>>After the massacre, gangs’ popularity decreased in the community.
>>Prohibition ended in 1933, and with it, the Chicago gangs lost much of their power.