Prohibition Gangsters

Woodrow Wilson

Definition and Summary of the Prohibition Gangsters
Summary and Definition: The Prohibition Gangsters were mobsters and 'bootleggers' who profited from the illegal sale of liquor during the Prohibition Era (1920 to 1933). Until 1920 Mobsters and the Mafia had mainly limited their activities to prostitution, extortion, gambling, and theft. Prohibition provided Gangsters with the opportunity to extend their activities in the illegal, and highly lucrative crime of 'bootlegging'. The Prohibition gangsters dominated various cities and the huge profits associated with illegal liquor resulted in the rise of organized crime and the introduction of the 'Speakeasy'. Prohibition Gangsters built vast illegal empires that operated through violence, bribery and corruption. The most notorious of the Prohibition gangsters was Al Capone. Gang warfare was rife and the hostility between gang leaders Al Capone and George “Bugs” Moran led to the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929.

Prohibition Gangsters
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th American President who served in office from March 4, 1913 to March 4, 1921. One of the important events during his presidency was the rise of the Prohibition Gangsters and organized crime.

     
   

Al Capone

Famous Prohibition Gangsters - Al Capone
 

Prohibition Gangsters Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) about the Prohibition Gangsters.

Who the Prohibition Gangsters? The Prohibition Gangsters were violent mobsters who extended their illegal activities in the 1920's through the sale of intoxicating liquor.

What items were the Prohibition Gangsters associated with? The violent Prohibition Gangsters favored the Thompson submachine gun, or the "Tommy Gun" as their weapon of choice. The profits from organized crime led to a lavish lifestyle of Prohibition Gangsters with expensive silk suits, automobiles and diamond jewelry.

Where was the names of Prohibition Gangsters? The names of famous Prohibition Gangsters included Charles “Lucky” Luciano, Al "Scarface" Capone, George “Bugs” Moran, Dutch Schultz and Jack "Legs" Diamond, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Vince Mangano, Frank Scalice and Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia.

1920's Prohibition Gangsters Facts for kids: List of Gangsters Names
Many of the names of 1920's Prohibition gangsters and bootleggers are detailed on the following list, a description of each of these mobsters can be found in the facts file.

List of Prohibition Gangsters Names

Al "Scarface" Capone ● Dutch Schultz ● Jack "Legs" Diamond ● Meyer Lansky ● Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel ● Charles “Lucky” Luciano ● Vince Mangano ● Johnny "The Brain" Torrio ● Frank Costello ● Frank "Wacky" Scalice ● George “Bugs” Moran ● Louis "Lepke" Buchalter ● Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia ● Joe Adonis ● Abner "Longy" Zwillman ● Joseph "Doc" Stacher ● Umberto Valenti ● Giuseppe "Clutch Hand" Morello ● Joe Masseria ● Willie "Two-Knife" Altieri ● "Wild Bill" Lovett ● "Lupo" Saietta ● "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn ● Frankie Yale ● Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila  ● Earl "Hymie" Weiss ● Paul "The Waiter" Ricca  ● Big Jim Colosimo ● Frankie La Porte ● Tony "Big Tuna" Accardo ● "Joe" Morello ● "Mad Hatter" Maranzano ● Vince "The Executioner" Mangano ● Carlo Gambino ● "Mad Hatter" Anastasia ●

List of Prohibition Gangsters Names

1920's Prohibition Gangsters Facts for kids
The following fact sheet contains interesting facts and information on Prohibition Gangsters for kids. Additional facts can be found in the article about Al "Scarface" Capone and the Chicago Mafia.

Facts about the Prohibition Gangsters for kids

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 1: The American branch of the mafia is called "La Costra Nostra" (LCN)

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 2: Many of the Crime bosses and Prohibition Gangsters bought legal immunity by administering bribes to police, government agents and politicians

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 3: Wealthy Prohibition Gangsters favored expensive status symbol automobiles such as Cadillacs, Packards, Chryslers, Duesenbersgs and Rolls-Royce cars

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 4: Customized cars with armor and devices such as false floors and smokescreens were made for mobsters by crooked auto dealers such as Joe Bergl and Clarence Lieder.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 5: Clothes worn by mobsters and Prohibition Gangsters included Trilby Hats (Fedora), well-tailored pinstriped suit, Silk shirts and handkerchiefs, Suspenders, Gun Holster, Spats, Black patent leather Wing Tipped Shoes and a Gun Holster

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 6: Woman who associated with an American Prohibition Gangster of the 1920s and 1930s were called gangster molls or gun molls. An Italian American mafioso moll were referred to as a comare (Italian for "godmother")

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 7: Gangsters Molls wore Fringed Beaded Flapper dresses, short skirts with a hemline above the knee and wore their hair cut as a bob. Accessories included Charleston pearl beads, cigarette holders, and feather headbands and feather boas. Silk or rayon stockings were held up by garters.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 8: Weapons: Prohibition Gangsters and Mobsters used knives, razors and guns. Their weapons included bombs, machine-guns and the pineapple, the gangster adaptation of the WW1 hand grenade. Threats of being 'taken for a ride' were made who did not agree to the demands of mobsters.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 9: Labor racketeering: Labor racketeering involved the infiltration of gangsters into legitimate business, commonly workers' unions, from which Prohibition Gangsters gained power over politicians.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 10: Territorial disputes between the gangs often transformed America’s cities into violent battlegrounds

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 11: Mobster slang: An informer was called a stool pigeon or rat. A Machine gun was called a typewriter, tommy or grind organ. A Lawyer was called a Mouthpiece, mouth, lip or front.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 12: Members of the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate included Johnny "The Fox" Torrio, Lucky Luciano, Al "Scarface" Capone, Meyer Lansky, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Dutch Schultz, Abner "Longy" Zwillman, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Vince "The Executioner" Mangano, Frank Scalice and Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia.

Continued...

Facts about the Prohibition Gangsters for kids

Prohibition Gangsters for kids
The info about the Prohibition Gangsters provides interesting facts and important information about this important event that occured during the presidency of the 28th President of the United States of America.

Facts about the Prohibition Gangsters for kids
The following fact sheet continues with facts about Prohibition Gangsters for kids.

Facts about Prohibition Gangsters for kids

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 13: The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the newspapers to a an organized crime syndicate established at a meeting to coordinate the activities of bootleggers. It later became known as Murder, Inc.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 14: The Five Points Gang was founded by Paul Kelly, born as Paolo Antonio Vaccarelli, and was based in the Sixth Ward (The Five Points) of Manhattan, New York City. Kelly recruited violent hooligans who later became prominent criminals, such as Johnny Torrio, Al Capone and Lucky Luciano

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 15: The rivals of the Five Points Gang were the Eastman Gang founded by Edward "Monk" Eastman that was taken over by Arnold "the Brain" Rothstein a Jewish-American racketeer who became a kingpin of the Jewish mob in New York. Waxey Gordon who specialized in bootlegging and illegal gambling worked as a rum-runner for Rothstein during the first years of Prohibition.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 16: The Black Hand gang, ‘La Mano Nera’, were violent extortionists known for bombings and murders. The Black Hand gang was New York's first Mafia family, run by Ignazio "Lupo" Saietta and Giuseppe "Joe" Morello, sprang up in Manhattan and gradually evolved into the group now known as the Genovese Crime Family

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 17: The White Hand Gang, first run by Dinny Meehan and then "Wild Bill" Lovett, operated on the New York, Brooklyn, and Red Hook waterfronts from the early 1900s to 1925 and were bitter rivals of the Italian gangsters.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 18: Meyer Lansky was major organized crime figure known as the "Mob's Accountant" and was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate"

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 19: Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was a Jewish American mobster who started as a New York bootlegger and a boyhood friend to Al Capone. He became highly influential in the development of the casinos in the Las Vegas Strip. He was known to associate with movie stars and celebrities such as George Raft, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant and threw lavish Hollywood parties at his Beverly Hills home - Hollywood in the 1920s

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 20: Frank "Wacky" Scalice was an Italian-American mobster from New York City who started as a bootlegger in the Bronx and helped Bugsy Siegel open the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 21: Frank Costello, the "Prime Minister of the Underworld," became one of the most powerful and influential mob bosses closely linked to the Genovese crime family.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 22: Abner "Longy" Zwillman began smuggling whiskey into New Jersey through Canada during Prohibition and dated Hollywood actress Jean Harlow.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 23: Jack "Legs" Diamond was an Irish American mobster in Philadelphia and New York City during the Prohibition era. He organized bootleg sales in downtown Manhattan. His main rival was Dutch Schultz. He was murdered on December 18, 1931, his killers were never found.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 24: Johnny "The Brain" Torrio brought his protégé Al Capone from New York City to Chicago in 1919

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 25: George Remus was known as the "King of the Bootleggers" and reputedly made $40 million in under 3 years

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 26: Charles “Lucky” Luciano operated in New York.  “Lucky” Luciano made $4 million per year. He was famous for setting up the Five Families (who originated out of New York City Sicilian Mafia gangs - Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese) to rule New York and establishing a National Crime Syndicate.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 27: Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a major labor racketeer in New York City. In 1927, Buchalter was arrested for the attempted murder of bootlegger Jack Diamond but the charges were dropped. In 1944 Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was the only major mob boss to receive the death penalty in the United States after being convicted of the murder of a Brooklyn candy store owner named Joseph Rosen

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 28: Joseph "Doc" Stacher was a longtime associate of Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello who started his life of crime in the 1920s running truckloads of bootleg liquor

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 29: Joe Adonis was a New York mobster who became an enforcer for Frankie Yale, the boss of some rackets in Brooklyn. Joe Adonis started a bootlegging operation in Brooklyn supplying alcohol to the show business community along Broadway in Manhattan.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 30: Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was an early Mafia mobster, one of the New York Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 31: Giuseppe "the Clutch Hand" Morello, aka "The Old Fox", was the first boss of the Morello crime family and later top adviser to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 32: Umberto Valenti was a Sicilian-born New York City gangster and the boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 33: Frankie Yale was a violent Brooklyn crime boss and one of Brooklyn's biggest bootleggers. His rivals were the Irish White Hand Gang and his top assassin was Willie "Two-Knife" Altierri.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 34: William "Wild Bill" Lovett was an Irish American gangster and boss of the White Hand Gang and murdered by gangsters working for Frankie Yale in 1923. His murderer was believed to be Willie "Two-Knife" Altierri, who was said to have killed him with a meat cleaver.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 35: Willie "Two-Knife" Altieri was a New York gangster who served as the chief enforcer for Frankie Yale's Italian-American "Black-Hand" gang

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 36: Vincenzo Gibaldi, aka Jack "Machine Gun Jack" McGurn was a Chicago gunman of Al Capone and became famous as a chief organizer of the Saint Valentine's Day massacre, although this association has not been proven

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 37: Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila was a New York City mobster and the first boss of the Gambino crime family. D'Aquila was shot to death in Manhattan on October 10, 1928

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 38: Vince "The Executioner" Mangano joined the Brooklyn Mafia and earned a fortune on the waterfront during Prohibition. His hated rival was Salvatore "Mad Hatter" Maranzano. He replaced Frank Scalise who was dethroned due to his supportive connections with Maranzano.

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 39: Carlo Gambino came from a Sicilian family that had been involved in the Mafia for centuries and started in the bootlegging business and became a founder of the American Mafia

Prohibition Gangsters Fact 40: Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia was one of the most ruthless, brutal and feared Cosa Nostra mobsters in American history. He worked with Meyer Lansky, Louis Buchalter and Frank Costello and became a hit man and enforcer for Lucky Luciano. He was a labor racketeer and also allied himself with Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria

Facts about Prohibition Gangsters for kids

Facts about Prohibition Gangsters for kids: Prohibition
For visitors interested in the history of Prohibition refer to the following articles:

Prohibition Gangsters - President Woodrow Wilson Video
The article on the Prohibition Gangsters provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following Woodrow Wilson video will give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 28th American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1913 to March 4, 1921.

Prohibition Gangsters

● Interesting Facts about Prohibition Gangsters for kids and schools
● Key events and Prohibition Gangsters  for kids
List of Prohibition Gangsters names
● Woodrow Wilson Presidency from March 4, 1913 to March 4, 1921
● Fast, fun facts about the Prohibition Gangsters
● Foreign & Domestic policies of President Woodrow Wilson
● Woodrow Wilson Presidency and Prohibition Gangsters for schools, homework, kids and children

Prohibition Gangsters - US History - Facts - List of Prohibition Gangsters - Major Event - Prohibition Gangsters - Definition - American - US - USA - Prohibition Gangsters - America - Dates - United States - Prohibition Gangsters Names - Kids - Children - Schools - Homework - Important - Facts - Issues - Key - Main - Major - Events - Prohibition Gangsters Names - History - Interesting - Prohibition Gangsters - Info - List of Prohibition Gangsters - Information - Prohibition Gangsters Names - American History - Facts - Historical - List of Prohibition Gangsters - Major Events - Prohibition Gangsters

ⓒ 2017 Siteseen Limited First Published Cookies Policy Author
Updated 2018-01-09 Publisher Siteseen Limited Privacy Statement