@@joelocascio Thank you so much. I really enjoyed researching his story, as quite a few people who knew him were still alive. What they said contradicted so much that had been written about him. A former O'Banion employee said he had an amazing singing voice.
@@rosekeefe7353 It is a beautifully researched book. O'Banion is, without doubt, the most interesting character from that era. Your book on George Moran, "The Man Who Got Away" is outstanding as well.
@@joelocascio Thank you. Moran's family was very cooperative with that book. They were the ones who revealed his French ancestry and the fact that he was fluently bilingual.
Better With A Drone LoL you mention the punk rock club, I use to party in that area in the late 1970s and remember it. It had a bit of a notorious reputation.
Very interesting that you're covering the 'forgotten' mob history of Chicago and the US! Everyone knows Al Capone, and it's good you put this "Florist" in the spotlight.
That's why I enjoyed "boardwalk empire" when an obscure name would pop up and it would make me look'em up. As well as a few prohibition era documentaries.
The driver for the st. Valentine's Day Massacre had a book about his life called 'Devil Driver 'cuz his nickname was 'devil'. He served 40 to 50 years in prison, became a Christian and one thing I'll never forget he said. He said when drugs became more prominent in prison there was no longer code of ethics. deception went to another level no longer could you say 'keep your hands off my stuff' cuz it wouldn't work when drugs came into prominence. Well that's true in our society as well, people used to see leave their houses and cars unlocked. Drugs or what it's called in the Bible 'magic Arts' is on another level of deception. Greek word for drugs is pharmakeia where we get the word Pharmacy.
It would have been nice to see a short clip, but I guess they could not be published. In exchange, kudos to the History Guy for the plentiful contemporary pics, newspaper titles and videos, making this video very well done.
I love all your “history snippets” and often pass them on to relatives and friends, who also have become delighted with your channel. We often find incidents that you cover that lead to further reading. Like you, so many of us do love history! Just thought you’d like to know how much your channel means to a fairly large, and growing, circle. 😊
My grandfather did the hit with my Godfather, Claude Maddox. They also took out Henryk Wojciechowski on the same street corner where the flower shop was.
XxSwagMoney69xX served in World War 1 and World War 2. Only dying 12 times out of 3000 kills. His final words were. "DICE made a pretty cashmoney game."
While Mt. Carmel Cemetery is located in West suburban Hillside about ten miles from away from downtown Chicago and not close to his shop, O'Bannion's grave is in good company. It's located on the ring road surrounding the "Cardinal's Mausoleum" in the center of the cemetery with another mobster involved in the St. Valentine's Day shooting. Al Capone and Frank Nitti (Nitto) are also in Mt. Carmel along with my grandparents.
Yes, native Chicagoan here and a rare piece of inaccuracy. Mt. Carmel is indeed at least 10 miles from O'Bannions shop. Some of my friends are buried at Mt. Carmel. I believe shop was very near Holy Name Cathedral, very convenient since all the politicians, sports figures, gangsters and VIP's had their funeral masses there and still do to this day. Some day look up a little known piece of Chicago history, the Greek gangs on the near south and south sides. Although not as violent as the Irish and Italian gangs, they had considerable influence on the restaurant and food distribution businesses which continues pretty much to this day. Many of the privately owned restaurants in Chicago are owned by Greeks and the food distributors that service many of the others are owned by Greeks. And I hate to tell you this, Greeks do not eat Gyros.
Yeah, the History guy gets his facts or terminology wrong often. He refered to a "magazine" as a "clip" episode. Why let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Mt Carmel is still associated with violence! Now, the Chicago gang members buried there are West Side and South Side gang-bangers, and a recent news story said the burials are followed by celebratory running gun battles along the east-bound Eisenhower Expressway. Too bad, I have relatives buried there, but I'm not going to risk visiting their graves these days.
The Church Leaders look away, the Politicians manipulate the sheeple as they take bribes, the Cops are oblivious to the abuse meted out to law abiding citizens, until one of their own is hurt... and the Thugs dominate and prosper... As it was , it shell always be.
So glad to see this channel growing and getting more recognition for the amazing "snippets of history" we all crave and deservedly remember. Thank you for the excellent work put into these videos, and giving us new angles on history we might not have enjoyed otherwise.
I used to work for Wienhoeber's Florists on Michigan Avenue when I was in the 8th grade at Holy Name Cathedral School. O'Banion's shop had been where the parking lot across the street from the Cathedral was. It was the Holy Name Cathedral Reformatory School for Boys in Dean's time. When I went there it had become co-educational. By coincidence, we both were altar boys. But since they paid me 90 Cents an hour for being a flower boy -- delivering flowers on foot, sweeping up the shop, wiping those massive Michigan Avenue glass windows, etc -- I never felt like I was a *made guy.*
Your presentations are just wonderful! I thoroughly enjoy them! Are you familiar with the Epping Baseline in Maine? One of eight used to map the US and instrumental in the accurate establishment of Longitude. I believe that it is also the only original baseline left intact. I would love to see a piece on this and or The Great Lakes Survey!
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Well sir, Thank you for taking time to make all these wonderful videos. If its only a taste of what your class was like then we are all truly blessed.
Thanks for the great video. One minor correction, Mount Carmel cemetary is nowhere near O'banion's flower shop. It's not even in Chicago, but in Hillside Illinois.
According to an online inflation calculator $575 dollars in 1924 is the equivalent of almost $8500 dollars. Thas alot of cash to just walk around with.
@Despiser Despised The only reason that money was report was to stay alive. Chicago cops where part of the mob problem but stealing from them might have had you in a funeral as well.
Mario Balotelli was pulled over by British cops for driving a sports car while black. They searched him & his car, and found £5,000 cash in his pockets. They asked him why he had a sports car and five grand in his pockets. He replied in his Italian accent, _"because I am rich."_
I just discovered your channel this morning. I was never a great fan of History or Politics while in school. It was basically by the book learning by disinterested teachers. It wasn't until later in life that I discovered an interest in the subjects. I wish that computers, the internet and websites like youtube(early youtube, that is) had been available during my "formative years". I won't tell you which decades those were as to not expose my geezerness.(If I revealed that as a youngster I lived in a tiny two room log cabin in the boonies, you would accuse me of spinning a yarn.) I went on a binge of several of your videos this morning then went to your homepage. I wanted to see if you had uploaded any information regarding two tidbits of American History not commonly known. I saw that you had not, so I decided to comment on your most recent. First let me say that you do an excellent job. You personally present the information very well and the production quality is the bee's knees. I am looking forward to catching up with all you have posted. I know that you are very astute regarding little known or washed over facts, regarding what has happened so far on planet earth. I wonder if you might be able to bring others attention to my favorite historical subjects. Both are not only American in nature, but also have a presence on the world stage. One I stumbled across in the 1950's, that I couldn't believe possible. The other in the 1970's when I heard whispers in the Washington, D.C. area of the improbable and thought...why not!? Two "secret" programs that mean very little. Or so 'they' would want you to believe. You know who 'they' are, don't you? So I don't have to don my tinfoil fedora, I'll ass/u/me you do. *nudge, nudge...wink, wink...know what I mean, eh!? A wink is as good as a nod to a blind man.* Seriously, however. I am referring to: "Operation Paperclip"(1950's) and "Operation Grillflame" (1970's). Careful with the second one...it could lead to witchcraft and devil worship. The human mind is a delicate thing. Can snap at the utterance of a single word. And that is absolute truth. History is full of examples, isn't it? Come to think of it, the first one is real horror story, also. To think one would ingest poison into one's system and think they're normal from that time on. Like The good Dr. Jeckyll. What one will do to win races. As I write this, it just dawned on me. That's the why behind both. You learn something everyday IF you keep your mind working and open. Sorry for such a long comment, but once my two fingers go on a hunt and peck, I can't shut them up. As if I am under some kind of demonic mind control...does everyone have a high pitch squeal in their ears...like this? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--hqokrn5oO8.html I'll shut up now. No need to be accused of being a carrier of insanity. I know I don't suffer the symptoms, only the causes.
Thanks, History Guy. Can you make a video about Maskelyne and his camouflage successes, please? He was a fascinating character whose ideas saved many lives during WW2. A related subject, albeit from the previous Great War, would be Dazzle ships.
History Guy , I luv the way you narrates the shorts of the subjects in forgotten history, you make them very interesting and informative to listen to, In my opinion, you out did yourself in this one. Being for Chicago, I was interesting in the one about the infamous gangster, Dean O’ Banian is reputation preceded him, but I didn’t realize he was from Illinois and is bury in Mt Carmel Cemetery in Illinois, and other known facts about his life.
Your bringing up of Dean O'Banion during the flagrant crime years in Chicago. Who I wasn't aware of. Makes me wonder how many history stories ,in all the times that history has been written, have "slipped under the rug" so to speak. History is an intriguing topic no matter how you look at it. Yet I often wonder how much we've missed. As always, thanks.
All episodes are great. Suggestions for future episodes: Leopold and Loeb and the murder of Bobby Franks 1924 Eastland ship disaster 1915 Iroquois Theater Fire 1903 Cocoanut Grove Fire 1942 The Hollywood Museum in the Max Factor Building, 1660 N Highland Avenue, Hollywood, CA I love history!
The infamous handshake murder. Frankie Yale shook O'Banion's hand and wouldn't let go so he couldn't draw his gun. John Scalise and Albert Anselmi aka the Murder twins drew there guns and killed O'Banion. They were Genna gunmen loaned to Torrio/Capone with their old partner Yale from NY. Merlo had kept the peace his death removed the only obstacle for Torrio's revenge for the brewery arrest he had to serve time for that O'Banion had planned. Love the content it's bringing back the knowledge I learned of the history of the Chicago Outfit. Fascinating stuff had a much larger influence on the country than one could imagine.
History Guy In case you didn't know, feeding mechanisms using springs to feed rounds are properly called 'magazines'. Clips are devices to allow multiple rounds to be loaded manually, as in the 'stripper clips' used to charge the rifles of WW1 and the enbloc clip used on the M1 Garand of WW2 fame. If you did know, and just using the term colloquially, as many do, then my apologies for the assumption.
Every time I hear a story like this I wonder if my great-uncle Bill Sullivan was involved. He was Canadian (as am I) during prohibition he was a rum runner across the great lakes and spent a great deal of time in the US. When he came to visit he was forbidden to come into my grandmothers house unless she was home to supervise (they were brother and sister). She did not approve of his line of work and did not want him to have access to my dad and his brothers if she was not there. I never knew the man but apparently he was a rough, hard-drinking and very racist man. My father told me a few of the stories that his uncle Bill had told him, I wouldn't want my kids to be around him if I wasn't there either... Being Irish when I hear the stories of the Irish mob during prohibition, I wonder, was my great-uncle there?
The mention of Al Capone reminded me of his older brother James Vincenzo Capone AKA Richard "Two Gun" Hart who served as a lawman. Might make an interesting episode.
Please consider doing a video on "Big" Alma Spreckels, "The great grandmother of San Francisco". The former artist's model turned philanthropist who brought art California. And her inspiration can still be found in various parts of the city.
I was just watching Boardwalk Empire season 4 today with Dean O'Banion in it another funny thing is I used to work at Mount Carmel and Queen of Heaven Cemetery is Lotsa Chicago gangsters buried at Mount Carmel
Yes, most of them are there or across the road at Queen of Heaven. Including the Capone brothers, the Genna brothers, and Jack McGurin, it's well worth to wander through.
My grandfather, on the Irish side of the family, had a saloon on west Jackson Boulevard in Our Lady of Sorrows Parrish. O'Banion was his supplier during prohibition. Bugsy Malone used to come around to the saloon to get my grandfather's liquor order. He would come around noon and sit in the family room. He always asked my grandmother to make him a steak with fried potatoes. He lover her steaks. My mother would bring the tray down from the apartment, and pick it up when Malone was finished. She said he always put 3 or 4 $100.00 bills underneath the plate for her when he returned it.
I’m a big history nerd myself so I love this channel. I went to school at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I was a history major there. While looking for a subject for a paper in my history research class, I learned that the last bareknuckle boxing championship took place less than 15 minutes from the college campus. That’s what I ended up doing my paper on. The story of John L Sullivan and Jake killrain. I feel like most people who aren’t diehard boxing fans don’t know anything about them. I think that would be a great idea for one of your videos.
At mentioned O'Banion is buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, IL His grave is near Bishops's hill where the Mausoleum for the Chicago Archdiocese Cardinals is located. It's a fascinating cemetery with quite a few elaborate private Mausoleum's on the grounds. The grave sites closest to Bishop's hill are considered to be more a more prestigious location. There's another guy buried in Mt. Carmel except he & his family are buried alongside Roosevelt Road that runs alongside the cemetery's South side. He gets a lot more visitors than O'Banion as most people have forgotten about O'Banion. That would be Al Capone & his family. Arch rivals to the end but I guess you could say O'Banion outdid Capone one last time for eternity,
I'm stunned! For all of these years now I understood his first name to be "Dion" Which, to me anyway, has a much cooler ring to it than Charles Dean O'Banion. Thanks for clearing that misconception up for me but, despite now knowing better, I will always think of him as Dion. Many thanks for all of the great history lessons and please keep them coming.
@John Barber I now believe that I originally had it wrong. According to Wikipedia and other online sources, his given name was Charles Dean O'Banion and that the Chicago newspapers of the day gave him the name " Dion ". He apparently never went by " Dion " during his lifetime.
I really enjoy hearing about this. I recently found out that my mother's family are the ones that rented their cabin to Capone when he went up to the UP. My great grandfather was a bootlegger and ran a brothel up there also. My mother hated it because she and my grandmother had to clean the rooms in-between uses. My family sure has a colorful past, but I was wondering if you can get anymore information than that?
Thanks History Guy. You're making the world turn a little smoother. If I could suggest: William Hemsley Emory deserves to be remembered. He had a significant role in the opening of the American West.
The driver for the st. Valentine's Day Massacre, his nickname was "devil." I read his book 'Devil Driver', where he spent the majority of his life 40 plus years in prison. He became a Christian but one thing I do remember he said, when drugs became more prominent in the penitentiary, then there was no longer a code of ethics 'keep your hands off my stuff'. That went out the window as another level of deception came in. And that's exactly what we see today, but back then, people used to keep their houses and cars unlocked. Bible calls drugs 'magic Arts' but in the Greek it's called 'pharmakea', the same word where we get our word 'Pharmacy.'
great video. I am a gangster history nut and new much of O'Banion and Chicago gang history, but once again you have educated me a little more! Thank you I look forward to your videos and this one was very good. I live in Denver and although not as violent the history of the Denver crime families is a colorful story. Also you mentioned the Tommy guns might have been bought in Colorado. any elaboration on that part of the story? thanks again
This video states that Mt Carmel Cemetary where O'Banion is buried would have been just a few blocks from his old florist shop. However his old florist shop was located across the street from Holy Name Catheral on Wabash in downtown Chicago. Mt Carmel Cemetary is in Hillside, IL miles away from the location of his old florist shop. I've been to his grave many times as it's not far from the Bishop's Mausoleum where Cardinals Bernardin and Cody are interred and it's also not all that far from the graves of Al Capone, the Genna Brothers, Hymie Weiss, Frank Nitti and also Sam Giancana. It's a very interesting cemetary.
Nobody gives a crap. The misuse of "clip" is so common it's not worth mentioning. Some 45 years ago I asked for a couple 45 magazines at a gun store and the clerk looked toward a magazine rack. Were you even born yet? The world doesn't need your born yesterday corrections.
I just love your little spots on history. I am not a scholar but have a special & diverse interest in American history. Murder suicides, illegal booze all in my family history. All my family was here before Ellis Island.
Hello History Guy good episode ! How far back in time do you have to go to make it history ? You did the beer wars in Chicago how about Cocaine and crack cocaine wars from South America ?
My husband's family is from Chicago, lived on Archer Ave. & ran a small grocery store. Moved to Michigan in 1946. Supposedly, one of Al Capones hideaways was nearby in sw Muchigan.
I vaguely knew about some of this, but as usual your knitting together of a fine yarn in the spirit of the story teller historians of other times was nothing short of wonderful! Thank You Again!!
I am new come to this channel and watch two or three episodes with my meals. Eventually I will come to the end of playlist. That day will be sad, but not today oh but not today.
Lifelong Chicagoan here. Hoping you might consider doing a segment on the Haymarket Bomb Incident. Talk about forgotten, few people know that anarchists (who were innocent of the bombing) were hanged so that American workers might have an eight hour day
John Sheehan The statue near the incident site that was frequently damaged had been moved to the lobby of Chicago Police academy. There is a Haymarket memorial in Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, just past the Gypsy family section at the Des Plaines Ave. entrance.
@@wrecktech Thanks Art. I live very close to the cemetery in Forest Park (as I suspect you may, too) and you are correct about "Decenter's Row" and it's proximity to the "Gypsy" or as they prefer Romani section. Here's a bit of trivia: The reason that Communist, Socialist, Anarchist and other labor notables as well as the Romani and other humanist organizations such as Druids and Oddfellows are buried at Forest Home is that it is an unconsecrated cemetery. I'm associated with the Illinois Labor history Society who maintain the memorials and the cemetery plots. And yes, the police statue was blown up...twice. The last time reputedly by members of The Weather Underground a year after the 1968 Democratic Convention
@Despiser Despised Thanks for asking. Anarchist is the term that many of the Haymarket Martyrs and their followers called themselves. Historically Communism as a political movement would not come into being for another 50 years although the teachings of Marx and Engles would spark a social movement spawning many iterations soon after the turn of the century.
Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery is located in the Western Suburburb of Hillside, IL. Approximately 17 miles away from O'Banion former flower shop. Mt. Carmel is where also the resting place of Capone.
That's a 10:46 episode, which I enjoyed. But it took me well over an hour to get through because as soon as you started it with a Maroa freight depot photo, I was forced to turn to Google Earth and check that out. Line abandoned, but I followed the old ROW north to Clinton, passing a nice little 9 hold course, and then south to Decatur, where it connected to still active lines. Needed to check the train machine shops, golf courses there too, and the Decatur airport, Army Guard facility, the ADM plant, the distribution of various churches...well, you get the picture. A little googling on that local line history too. And this isn't the first time your fine little videos have derailed me. Just thought you--as a youngster--should sense the responsibility of a retired fellow really not getting anything done. Keep it up!
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I know the arc and life depicted of the main characters is highly fictionalized like you said. What I meant was like the day to day life of the people in general. Anyways... thank you for the videos sir. You sure can tell onel hell of a ripping yarn.
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered Agreed about Boardwalk taking a lot of liberties. My distant cousin is Eddie Cantor and I feel slightly miffed whenever I see his character on there. :).
I love your channel, I’m a History Buff and one of my favorite subjects is the History of Chicago and I have a question on O’Bannion, you give his first name as Dean but I’ve always read and heard it as Dion O’Bannion maybe your source is new at least to me but I’m pretty sure Dion is correct
www.themobmuseum.org lists his name as Dean with Dion. as an alternate (nickname?) I'm not sure if they are a good source or not. I just looked at it qquickly
If you do something on Al Capone, look up "Lloyd Johnstone's Reminiscences regarding Lakelse HotSprings" on virtualmuseum.ca. During the beer wars Al Capone and 3 other gang members had to hide out for a while and hide out they did - in a very remote spot: Lakelse HotSprings near Terrace, BC. (served by the CN Railway). They spent their time there disguised as Roman Catholic priests, though the narrator (who was 12 at the time and working at the Hot Springs) thought they drank an amazing amount of Scotch (legal in Canada a the time) for priests and, when they left they gave him an amazingly huge tip -$10.00. He found out much later it was Al Capone and other gang members.
Also he should look up little chicago...or as I know it. Mattoon Illinois where al Capone would go hide in when the police in chicago got to hot for him...and how he owned all of the police force.....al Capone house is still around and has tunnels in it
