Snorky

     In an attempt to study the various businesses present in America from 1900-1929, one must not forget a very profitable enterprise opened up by the nationwide ban on alcohol- running a gang. While there were many gangs in America at the time, none remain so renowned as one run by Al "Scarface" Capone, a man who would have much rather been called "Snorky", hence the title of this article.

    Al Capone was born in 1899 to Italian immigrant parents, and promptly got involved in organized crime the moment he finished puberty, first as a bouncer, then as a bodyguard, and finally as the leader of the Chicago Outfit gang. While this gang was by no means the only gang, nor the most powerful, what it did have was a leader who absolutely adored the attention he got by being a gang leader. In a situation where illegal activity is taking place, it is customary for the leader of said illegal activity to keep a low profile. Al Capone, instead, used celebrity status, bribes, and threats to ensure that he was unpunished for his various crimes. 

                Capone became the boss of the Chicago Outfit gang at the ripe old age of 26, and died at 48. He had only 22 years in the spotlight, and only 10 of those occurred during prohibition, but that was also the period in which he had the most economic influence. Prohibition cut the supply of alcohol in America heavily, but did less to cut demand- the consumption of alcohol was not illegal, the production was. If someone was willing to risk jail time for the upfront cost, as Al Capone and the Chicago Outfit were, they could profit heavily from the results.

                Al Capone was not frugal with his money. He sold extravagantly and purchased extravagantly, traveling from luxury hotel to luxury hotel, while he kept a permanent residence in Palm Island, Florida. One place that he frequented was Hot Springs, Arkansas. The city was famous for its namesake, hot springs, which Al Capone believed would cure his Syphilis. He contracted Syphilis before the discovery and distribution of penicillin, but in 1942, when penicillin started mass-production, Capone demonstrated a willingness to try new medicine to cure his disease. It did not reduce the brain damage he had suffered through the years, but did extend his life somewhat.

                Capone was finally apprehended for tax evasion, a sentence that would prove to end his criminal career. He was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment, starting in 1931, shortly after alcohol was made legal. Upon entering the prison, Capone was diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhea, cocaine addiction withdrawal symptoms, and a perforated nasal septum from excessive cocaine use. He was put to work stitching soles on shoes, but his mental faculties deteriorated. He was given parole in 1939, not because of good behavior, but because he was so mentally damaged that his wife asked to simply take care of him for his final years. He was rejected by Johns Hopkins due to his reputation of murder and illegal activity, but was accepted by Union Memorial Hospital, and eventually left to spend his last days with his children and grandchildren in Palm Island. He had a stroke in 1947, then contracted pneumonia, then finally died of cardiac arrest.

                Capone demonstrated, more than anything, the failures of prohibition and the corruption in America’s justice system at the time. He gained a great deal of money, spent it in tremendously unhealthy ways, and lost his career and power as quickly as he gained them. While it would be very difficult to call Capone a good person, and very few would even consider it, he was a profiteer from a poorly planned law, and in a roundabout way, managed assist in the effort towards repealing prohibition entirely.

 Bibliography

 

Bousquet, Stephen C. 1998. “The Gangster in Our Midst: Al Capone in South Florida, 1930-1947.” Florida Historical Quarterly 76 (3): 297–309. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=45884517&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Mitchell, John G. 1979. “Said Chicago’s Alcapone: ‘I Give the Public What the Public Wants….’” American Heritage 30 (2): 82–93. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=20848267&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Grossner, Isabel S. 1975. “The Legacy of Al Capone.” Chicago History 4 (4): 260–61. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=45989950&site=ehost-live&scope=site.