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In the order in which they are received, the books will be read, then reviewed, and subsequently, cited in upcoming editions of the series. We ask only that our book donors remain patient.
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Tuesday, October 18, 2005
In Today’s column: "One Hundred (100) Candles and Criminal Glorification;" " Al “Scarface” Capone (1899 - 1947), Criminal Celebrity;" "Chicago Amnesia;" "Al Capone's Legendary Sense of Loyalty;" and "Al Capone On The Rock."
One Hundred (100) Candles and Criminal Glorification
On January 17, 1999, a surviving Al Capone (1899 neé) would have become one-hundred-years-old. Did anyone notice? Did any party (-ies) conduct an AL CAPONE DAY event? Al Capone collectors? Historians? Organized Crime buffs?
Of course, Al Capone lead a criminal lifestyle and good citizens don't commemorate anniversaries in honor of men life the BIG FELLA. Politicians, however, are good citizens PLUS. They need a tangible, domestic boogey man, who they can prosecute, convict and imprison as an example of the ultimate victory of law and order. Herbert Hoover, for example, vowed to bring Al Capone to justice.
The BIG FELLA really was a BIG GUY. His criminal life encompassed the emergence of crime as big business, the American Mafia, the Prohibition era, the Great Depression and World War II.
Yes, I, for one, heard the name, “Al Capone” mentioned in the news media on January 17, 1999 when the BIG FELLA turned 100-years-old. But, I am certain that no “AL CAPONE DAY” event was ever held anywhere in the United States on January 17, 1999 or, on any other date.
Why not? Too many organized crime observers are opposed to what they refer to as the “glorification of the criminal.” In Chicago, it was suggested to make Al Capone’s 7244 S. Prairie avenue home historical. What an uproar of opposition there was!
Alphonse Capone is, arguably, the most notorious gangster in United States history. The criminal empire he built in Chicago in the 1920's became the prototype for present-day organized crime operations.
Born to poor Italian immigrants. some writers argue that "Caponi" is the original spelling of the family's surname. This is an erroneous notion, however. Al Capone came to Chicago about 1920 to work for Johnny Torrio, a criminal mastermind of the twentieth century.
As Robert J. Kelly (April 30, 2000) tells us in the Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States: From Capone's Chicago to the New Urban Underworld, Greenwood Press, ISBN: 0313306532,
"Al Capone was born into a working-class family in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899...Al was a bright pupil but had little use for school. Minor squabbles with the law and working as a bouncer in a saloon-whorehouse produced the scar on his left cheek. As a young man, he learned the way of the streets in Brooklyn and joined a gang run by a slightly older man, Johnny Torrio, who would later play a fateful role in Capone's life in Chicago.
Torrio and his partner Frankie Yale operated a brothel in Brooklyn and hired the burly young Capone as a bouncer. Within two years, Capone was facing murder charges, and Torrio had relocated in Chicago to join his uncle "Big Jim" Colosimo to fend of Black Hand extortionists who wanted a piece of Colosimo's profitable prostitution empire" (pp. 48-49).
Al “Scarface” Capone (1899 - 1947), Criminal Celebrity
Al Capone was one of the first of a new variety of American criminal, the millionaire gangster. This status was compounded by the fact that Al Capone was also a celebrity. Robert J. Kelly (April 30, 2000) elaborates,
"Capone belongs to a handful of successful criminals who have enjoyed public admiration during their careers. Among that group, Al Capone as a master criminal stands second only to Jesse James. And just as Jesse James's popularity benefited from the Civil War tragedy, Capone's celebrity derives in large part from the war between the government and the people over Prohibition" (p. 47).
Because many of his escapades are unprecedented, Al Capone occupies a singular position in the history of organized crime in the United States. In the words of Robert J. Kelly (April 30, 2000),
"It is hard to imagine now the fame and success Capone achieved. Estimates are that in 1927 when he was only 28 years old his organization took in some $105 million; he was able to demonstrate his power publicly by humiliating his handpicked mayor, Joseph Klenha, on the steps of the town hall in Cicero, Illinois----a small outlying suburb of Chicago----while a police officer looked on" (Ibid., pp. 47-48).
Seven books concerning Al Capone's criminal career were published, during Al Capone's lifetime. Interest in his criminal career never seems to wane, authors continue to write and publish books about Al Capone. Robert J. Kelly (April 30, 2000) notes,
"Countless films, melodramas, and books have been written about Capone. He was among a handful of criminals who could use the media to entertain and mislead the public. He also knew that he symbolized the public's discontent with social and cultural policies (Prohibition) and economic trends (the 1929 Wall Street collapse) in the country" (Ibid., p. 48).
Although it was well known to be his nickname, no one called Al Capone “Scarface” to his face. His friends called him "Snorky" and "Big Al." Despite his criminal reputation, he was treated as a celebrity. He was often seen riding in an armored limousine to theatres and sports arenas, where he entertained guests in private boxes.
Robert J. Kelly (April 30, 2000) demonstrates the ways in which Al Capone's unique position in the history of American organized crime was related to his milieu.
"The public ambivalence toward Capone certainly had much to do with the phenomenon of Prohibition. By 1927, Prohibition was entering its tenth year and had turned hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens into lawbreakers. Because of Prohibition, a casual disregard of the law became part of the American way of life. Capone and others like him exploited this cultural sickness.
There were those who recognized Capone as a creature of bad law and uniformed social policy but feared him; others loved him----especially when he boisterously claimed, fully aware of the ironies and hypocrisies of Prohibition. that he was a businessman giving the public what it wants. Many, perhaps most, despised his coarseness and brutality but rooted for him nonetheless because he keenly felt the contradictions and conflicts Prohibition created and acted accordingly.
Capone was both Robin Hood and Public Enemy Number One, the villian/hero who fed hungry out-of-work citizens from soup kitchens operated by retail food suppliers "encouraged" by Capone to provide the bread and soup. Was he a big-city Jesse James? A bandit with a conscience, stealing from the well-to-do to help the poor? Or were all his stunts and generosity carefully calculated to rehabilitate his image and to ingratiate himself with the public who were his customers, clients and victims? His maneuvers gave his reputation a temporary boost, but he missed the opportunity to go beyond the hoodlum label when the horrendous St Valentine's Day Massacre occurred. His political power, which was crucial to his racketeering enterprises, was based solely on corruption. As his trial for tax evasion and the detailed newspaper accounts would suggest, although he did an efficient job of redistricting for wealth, it was also true that Big Al stole as much from the poor as he did from the rich----possibly more from his control of unions and extortion activities of small businesses. Indeed his natural victims were the same people and the glittering wealth that he displayed came largely out of the pockets of the working people who were tempted into his speakeasies, gambling dens, and brothels" (Ibid., p. 52).
A series of gangland shootings soon left the violent and clever Capone in control of much of the city's large-scale criminal activities. In 1925, when he became the boss of the criminal organization that would one day be known as the Chicago Outfit, Al Capone was only 26-years-of-age. His gang dominated prostitution, liquor, and gambling rackets. It fought rival gangs with submachine guns, and corrupted police and politicians with bribes.
Robert J. Kelly (April 30, 2000) points out,
"Gang wars were bad for the image of the bootlegger and bad for business. So in 1926, a truce was arranged among the warring gangs, principally between Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci, Bugs Moran-----the leaders of the North Side gang----and Capone's forces. When the shooting subsided, at least for the time, many in Chicago began to realize that they needed Big Al despite the mayhem and violence. No longer just a goon but the head of a powerful and lucrative business enterprise (albeit an illegal one), the "Big Fellow" embraced the role of "boss" and public figure whose outlandish costumes and gratuitous charity enthralled the nation. His rackets employed hundreds, if not thousands, of people caught up in the freeze and misery of the worst economic depression of the nineteenth century. Indeed, the entire city of Chicago required the services of the Capone organization, one way or the other. The police needed his payoffs because they could not survive on their civil service salaries, nor could they be expected to keep order; newspapers needed the image of "Scarface" with his bodyguards, armored-plated limousine, colorful suits, and big-spending ways to sell papers; and the city's numerous speakeasies needed him to keep them supplied. Most of all the political machine needed Capone's money and vote-generating ability to stay in office and keep the peace among the murderous gangs. Al Capone, the gangster, bootlegger, gunman, and corrupter, became, paradoxically, a force of public community stability, doing more perhaps in maintaining law and order than the police" (Ibid., pp.51-52).
Capone gunmen were blamed for the murder of seven members of ther Bugs Moran gang in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929, but this charge was never proved.
According to the Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime, by Eric Hickey, Ph.D. (Editor) ( July 22, 2003), SAGE Publications, ISBN: 076192437X:
"The event received national attention and expanded Al Capone's celebrity image, demonstrating the lengths to which the Mob would go to control the bootlegging industry during Prohibition" (p. 446).
Public outrage made the perpetration of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929 a cause célébré among the nation's lawmen. The massacre marked the beginning of the end of Al Capone's criminal career.
Although part of the federal government's Get Al Capone Campaign was the characterization of Big Al as "Public Enemy Number One," he was to remain a unique variety of public enemy. What other public enemy had an elder brother, who ran away from home at age 16 and went west to become a Prohibition agent known as Richard "Two-Gun" Harte?
In the words of Marie J. MacNee (1998) in Outlaws, Mobsters & Crooks: From the Old West to the Internet, Volume 1: Mobsters, Racketeers & Gamblers, Robbers, U.S.A.: U X L: An Imprint of Gale,
"Law officers were never able to prove that Capone was directly involved in any of the murders he planned----including the bloody Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. But the previous year, after extensive investigation, U.S. Treasury agents uncovered evidence that Capone had never filed income tax returns on his vast earnings. In June of 1931, the gangster was formally charged with income tax evasion. Although he reportedly offered authorities a $4 million bribe, he was tried in October of that year. Before the trial ended, the original jury had to be replaced; Capone had bribed them (p. 19).
Al Capone's Legendary Sense of Loyalty
Al Capone was known for his loyalty to friends. Hymie Weiss, Dean O'Bannion's immediate successor as the head of Chicago's Northside O'Bannionites, asked Capone to give him Albert Anselmi, John Scalise and Joseph "Hoptoad" Giunta, O'Bannion's murderers, as a condition for a negotiated peace. What was Al Capone's reply? "No. I wouldn't do that to a yellow dog!"
But a couple of years later, Al Capone discovered that Anselmi, Scalise and Giunta were leaders in a Sicilian plot to violently take control of the Capone mob. Here's what happened on May 7, 1929:
"Savage Al Capone refused to tolerate betrayal. On May 7, 1929, he threw a banquet in honor of three of his top gunmen, Albert Anselmi, Joseph "Hop Toad" Guinta, and John Scalise. The three killers attended, unaware that Capone had discovered they were plotting against him. Before the evening was over, Capone clubbed the three men to death in front of his horrified dinner guests" (Ibid., p. 19).
Al Capone then had the three traitors shot for good measure.
Chicago Amnesia
Amnesia struck no where like it struck in Chicago during the Prohibition era. "Chicago amnesia" they call it.
The onset of Chicago amnesia is the fear of reprisal. Chicago amnesia was apparent in the aftermath of the murder of small time bootlegger Joe Howard. All the evidence pointed to Al Capone as the perpetrator. But, the prosecution had to drop its case. Somehow, overnight, every witness lost his memory.
Today, throughout the continental United States, Chicago amnesia is endemic. But, during Al Capone's 1931 income tax evasion trial, the impact of Chicago amnesia,----in its natural habitat, the Windy City,---- was too weak to restrain the damning testimonies of witnesses for the prosecution. Why?
The people of Chicago were feeling the effects of the great depression. They began to hate the what they perceived to be the gangster type, e.g. his high living, while citizens struggled to put food on their tables. The prosecution put heavy pressure on citizens to go against Capone.
Frank “The Enforcer” Nitti, Murray "The Camel" a/k/a "Curly" Humphries and others in command didn’t mind if Al Capone had to depart and leave Chicago Outfit power in their hands.
Instead of hiring a lawyer who dealt with income tax law, Al Capone used the law firm that had represented him in previous cases. This turned out to have disastrous results. Al Capone lost the court appeal to overturn his sentence. He had argued that the statues of limitations had run out during his tax trial, but it was too late and overturned.
"Bootlegging dragged the gangsters to center stage. As Capone himself noted, manufacturing, importing, and serving alcohol brought him into contact with virtually every level of society, from the spacious penthouses along Lake Shore Drive to the crowded shacks on the South Side. The visibility proved, in the long run, to be a tremendous liability, exposing him to unrelenting law enforcement scrutiny. It was as if Prohibition had been a lure and a gigantic trap to ensnare the racketeers. For these reasons, many racketeers were relieved by the Repeal. Those who wished to remain in the business were legitimate; others returned to their core businesses in gambling and vice" (pp. 49-50).
Al Capone was sent to the federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia where he still had some control by spending money here and there. He hired himself bodyguards. He spent money on sports equipment for the prison base ball team.
According to his cellmate, Morris "Red" Rudensky, Al Capone went berserk when he was told that he would be transferred to Alcatraz Island, i.e. "The Rock." It was at The Rock that Al Capone lost all of his privileges.
Al Capone On The Rock
As Mario Gomes tells us, in Alcatraz one day, Al Capone was seen drooling from the effects of the paresis that was kicking in from the syphilis he had contracted as a younger man working as a roper/bouncer in brothels. On The Rock Al Capone was assigned to workshops or the library.
Carl Sifakis (July 1999), in The Mafia Encyclopedia: From Accardo to Zwillman, Checkmark Books, Second Edition, ISBN: 0816038570, notes,
"In 1934 he was transferred to Alcatraz and within a few years his health started to deteriorate. Released in 1939, he was a helpless paretic, a condition brought on by the ravages of untreated syphilis contracted in his early whorehouse days. In Alcatraz Capone also exhibited signs of going "stir crazy," not uncommon with prisoners on "The Rock" (p. 67).
Mario Gomes says Ralph "Bottles" Capone (1893-1974) was justifiably worried about his brother, Al. After all, the average prisoner at Alcatraz was a criminal plebeian; Al Capone, a criminal patrician. Frank Capone was worried that jealousy might lead to violence against his brother. In prison there are only wolves and sheep and one's social status is constantly subject to challenge. Some of Al Capone fellow prisoners already referring to him publicly as "the wop with the mop."
Ralph and Mae Coughlin Capone, Al's wife, were concerned that Al's illness might foster "loose lips." Ralph and Mae convinced the upper echelon of the former mob he lead to allow them to bring Al Capone home. If Al Capone was allowed to return home, Mae and Ralph promised, there would be no "Al Capone" media conducted interviews. Al Capone would live his remaining years in his mansion near Miami, Florida with the warmth and protection of his nuclear family. Al Capone's post prison life was a private one.
Ralph and Mae convinced the authorities that his continued incarceration was a threat to Al Capone's longevity.
"But Bottles, who received a handsome mob-subsidized income, was responsible for more than soda pop operations. Among other things, he maintained Al's Palm Island estate in Biscayne Bay off Miami Beach while Al was in Alcatraz. Ralph dutifully opened the estate to the mob for meeting purposes and the like while permitting the boys to soak up the sun. Although most of Al Capone's wealth reverted to the Mafia, Al was nonetheless well provided for" (Ibid, pp. 68-69).
Before his health deteriorated, Al and Mae would go to restaurants in Florida. In his last few years, Al Capone became childlike, behaving like a thirteen-year-old. By this time, Al Capone became highly excited whenever visitors dropped by his house. He would sometimes speak fast and whistle at the same time. He would become extremely upset when the visitors would leave.
Eric Hickey, Ph.D. ( July 22, 2003), tells us:
"With good behavior and work credits, Capone served 6 years and 5 months of his 11-year sentence. He spent the final year being treated in the medical section of the prison after the syphilis he'd contracted as a young man moved into the tertiary stage. Al Capone died at the age of 48, from cardiac arrest, 8 years after his release
from prison" (p. 69).