Vintage Chicago

The gang wars of Chicago began with a simple, fair plan. In 1920, John Torrio had taken over the biggest organized crime outfit in Chicago by taking out their leader “Big Jim” Colosimo. Torrio saw the prohibition as a great moneymaking opportunity and began bootlegging. He and the other crime bosses of the time held a meeting, laying out a very lucrative deal. They agreed to split the city so that each gang had sole rights to sell beer and liquor in their territory.Torrio, with the help of Al Capone held the biggest piece, eventually expanding into the suburbs and Cicero. The gangs began to see large profits and they wanted more. This greediness caused them to go into other territories. The “Gang Wars” began in November 1924 with the killing of O’Banion from the O’Banion Gang by the Gennas Gang. After being shot in 1925, Torrio left the city and Al Capone took charge.Being on the losing end of shootings forced most gangs to eventually surrender to Capone. The wars peaked in 1929 with the “St. Valentine’s Massacre”.In 1931, the prohibition came to an end and Capone moved towards other rackets until arrested for tax evasion in 1932.The mafia has never again been able to match the prestige and power it held during the prohibition era and Chicago is the heart of all it once held.