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Lot Essay
AL CAPONE IS PERHAPS THE MOST FAMOUS MOBSTER OF ALL TIME, JOINING THE EXCLUSIVE RANKS OF LAW-BREAKERS WHO WERE SIMULTANEOUSLY REGARDED A FOLK HEROES AND PUBLIC ENEMIES. BORN IN BROOKLYN IN 1899 TO ITALIAN IMMIGRANT PARENTS, AL MOVED TO CHICAGO IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITIES AFFORDED BY PROHIBITION FOR SMUGGLING ALCOHOL INTO THE CITY. HIS CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES GREW TO INCLUDE THE CORRUPTION OF PUBLIC FIGURES, GAMBLING, PROSTITUTION AND THE RUNNING OF 'SPEAKEASIES' THROUGHOUT CHICAGO. HIS WEALTH ALLOWED HIM TO INDULGE IN A VERY HIGH PROFILE AND LUXURIOUS LIFESTYLE BASED OUT OF HIS HEADQUARTERS AT THE LEXINGTON HOTEL, TAILORED SUITS, CIGARS AND FINE DINING BEING THE ORDER OF THE DAY. BUT THIS GLAMOUROUS IMAGE WAS TEMPERED BY THE EXTREME VIOLENCE OF THE TIMES AND HIS CHOSEN CAREER PATH, PERHAPS THE MOST INFAMOUS INCIDENT BEING THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE IN 1929 WHICH SAW A NUMBER OF HIS ENEMIES ELIMINATED IN ONE VERY PUBLIC EVENT. IT WAS THIS MASSACRE WHICH SPURRED FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO ATTEMPT TO BREAK HIM WITH ELIOT NESS BEGINNING HIS FAMOUS INVESTIGATION INTO HIS PROHIBITION VIOLATIONS. EVENTUALLY CAPONE FACED TRIAL FOR INCOME TAX EVASION, A CHARGE SEEN BY THE AUTHORITIES AS A BETTER BET FOR A CONVICTION, AND DESPITE HIS BEST EFFORTS AT BRIBING THE JURY HE WAS FOUND GUILTY AND IMPRISONED IN MAY 1932. DURING HIS INCARCERATION PROHIBITION WAS REPEALED WHICH SPELLED THE END OF MUCH OF HIS OF CRIMINAL EMPIRE. WHEN HE WAS EVENTUALLY PAROLED IN 1939 HE WAS LEFT A BROKEN MAN, HIS HEALTH HAD DETERIORATED TO THE EXTENT HE COULD NO LONGER CONTROL HIS BUSINES CONCERNS. HE RETREATED TO HIS HOME IN PALM ISLAND, FLORIDA AND DIED IN 1947.
AL AND HIS BROTHER RALPH WERE VERY CLOSE. RALPH EARNED THE NICKNAME "BOTTLES" FROM HIS LEGITIMATE BOTTLED WATER BUSINESS IN CHICAGO. HIS INVOLVEMENT IN HIS YOUNGER BROTHER'S ILLEGITIMATE BUSINESSES WAS NEVER PROVEN BUT, LIKE AL, HE WAS ALSO CHARGED AND FOUND GUILTY OF TAX EVASION.
AL CAPONE HAS BECOME THE MODERN EMBODIMENT OF THE ROMANTIC IMAGE OF THE PROHIBITION MOBSTER WITH FREQUENT SCREEN DEPICTIONS IN THE YEARS SINCE HIS DEATH TO THE PRESENT DAY.
THIS LOT IS A SECTION 5 FIREARM. FOR LICENSING REQUIREMENTS AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO THE "EXPLANATION OF CATALOGUING PRACTICE" IN RELATION TO FIREARMS ON PAGE 58.
AL AND HIS BROTHER RALPH WERE VERY CLOSE. RALPH EARNED THE NICKNAME "BOTTLES" FROM HIS LEGITIMATE BOTTLED WATER BUSINESS IN CHICAGO. HIS INVOLVEMENT IN HIS YOUNGER BROTHER'S ILLEGITIMATE BUSINESSES WAS NEVER PROVEN BUT, LIKE AL, HE WAS ALSO CHARGED AND FOUND GUILTY OF TAX EVASION.
AL CAPONE HAS BECOME THE MODERN EMBODIMENT OF THE ROMANTIC IMAGE OF THE PROHIBITION MOBSTER WITH FREQUENT SCREEN DEPICTIONS IN THE YEARS SINCE HIS DEATH TO THE PRESENT DAY.
THIS LOT IS A SECTION 5 FIREARM. FOR LICENSING REQUIREMENTS AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO THE "EXPLANATION OF CATALOGUING PRACTICE" IN RELATION TO FIREARMS ON PAGE 58.