So many criminals created images of legitimate individuals, who in turn never did any work but not all of them were like that since many gangsters enjoyed in their legitimate enterprises, such as the infamous Aiello brothers. These guys represented a huge immigrant family, meaning they were 9 Sicilian brothers followed by an army of cousins and relatives and the so-called leader was Joe Aiello, who in turn was a Mafia member with underworld connections all around the country. The interesting thing was that by the late 1910’s, the brothers’ or the prime family business was food and at the same time, many Italian immigrants already opened up their own bakeshops or bakeries and sold all kinds of Italian products such as breads, pastries, cannoli, wedding cakes, cuccidati, etc. and so the Aiello’s quickly joined in. Since Joe Aiello was the man in front, he began operating as a cheese-maker and grocer by opening his own company which was known as Grocery Importing Co. and imported all kinds of cheese and also olive oil. So obviously business was going quite good for the Aiellos, since they allegedly extorted many innocent citizens around the city’s North Side and on top of that, many merchants were forced to buy their products from the Sicilian brothers.


When Prohibition became the law of the state, the money hungry Joe Aiello quickly ventured in another operation by selling pure sugar which was meant for the making of any kind of alcoholic beverage. In fact, at the time there were two main crime bosses who controlled the sugar market in the city of Chicago, including Aiello on the North Side and Joe Esposito from the West Side. It is quite possible that Aiello imported his sugar from the east coast, obviously with the help of his Mafia connections, and as for Esposito, he allegedly imported his product all the way from Cuba. In fact, Esposito was quite the competition for the brothers in the booze making business, who after the death of Colosimo, became the next in line, big time Neapolitan crime boss, and also quite flashy one, in the “Windy City”. The reality was that the Sicilian Mafia at the time was trying to maintain an illegal network on national level but the problem was that some of the Neapolitan factions began ruining their plans in some territories, like for example by the mid 1920’s, the Neapolitan factions controlled much larger territory around Chicago, including the Near South Side and Loop and also the southern and western suburbs, and as for the Sicilian clans, they mainly operated around the North Side but they also had a large operation on the Near West Side with the help of another clan, known as the Genna crime family, who by that time switched sides to the Neapolitans. So my personal belief is that both ethnic criminal groups made huge money from bootlegging at the same time, which in fact wasn’t much of a huge problem, but things began complicating when the Neapolitan faction began gaining influence within the Unione Siciliani, which in fact was a quite influential organization during that period, and was reserved only for the Sicilians. The scheme was simple, and that was extorting the huge membership within the organization. So this obviously began creating a conflict between the two groups and greatly affected their food businesses.


To be honest, even in the world of food, the Sicilians are a little bit different rather than the Neapolitans. For example, since the liquor business was going pretty good, Aiello opened up another food establishment and this time it was a bakery called Pasticceria Bella Palermo (some sources say it was named Aiello & Co.), which was located at 473 West Division St. on the city’s Near North Side. He produced all kinds of Italian food products such as Sicilian foccacia, pastries, cookies, arancini, breads, cannoli, Sicilian style pan pizza, cuccidati and wedding cakes. Since he was also involved in transporting sugar, near the bakery, Aiello opened up another legal business, which in fact was a candy store called Aiello and Aliotto, located at 516 Oak Street, and from there he sold all kinds of sweets to the neighbourhood children. Now, just to compare the two groups, Joe Esposito also had his own and quite famous joint which was known as the Bella Napoli Café, located at 850 Halsted and his place looked more like social club for hoodlums and politicians, rather than a restaurant. Since his roots were from the Calabrian region, Esposito served one quite famous and tasty type of red wine known as Ciro, named after the same region in southern Italy, and on the side, there was usually one slice of Neapolitan pasteria or Pitta, which is a traditional flatbread with a crunchy crust and a soft inside, usually stuffed with peppers, tomatoes and herbs, or maybe with sausage and cheese. Story goes that during the holydays, no one felt hungry, for in Esposito's famous Bella Napoli Café there were mountains of spaghetti and tons of hot Pitta, which was all given for free mainly to the needy and even to the greedy.


The legend goes that Joe Aiello deeply resented the opposite side and began mingling mostly with Sicilians and also non-Italians. In 1925, he allegedly eliminated his own “blood”, meaning the Genna clan, as punishment for their alleged betrayal by stepping in with the Neapolitans, such as Esposito and one John Torrio, who was “imported” during the previous decade from Brooklyn, New York and obviously, the elimination of the Gennas was a first sign for Aiello’s downfall. So one day Aiello joined forces with another Sicilian grocer known as Tony Lombardo and together they opened up another importing company which was known as Lombardo & Co., located on Randolph St. Their friendship was quite “lethal” for several reasons, including Lombardo being the president of the Unione Siciliani with huge political influence and also, both of them were grocers. Now I know that sounds quite funny but the truth is, during Prohibition, the so-called grocers played a vital role in the production of bootleg booze, since they were the ones who could’ve easily and legally purchase large quantities of distilling ingredients, such as grapes and sugar, and both Aiello and Lombardo imported those same ingredients and constantly provided the bootleg gangs with it. In addition, by 1927, the Italian population in Chicago owned no fewer than 500 grocery stores and over 200 pastry shops, with generations of families which continued to play substantial roles in the city’s food scene.



Old grocery store from the 1930’s


The thing is, after a while the Neapolitans saw the bigger picture, meaning grapes, sugar and beer was for the middle and lower class of citizens and bootleggers, and so they began smuggling more expensive alcoholic beverages such as European whiskey, rum and champagne, which was obviously meant for the higher class of individuals. So story goes that this was all like one huge race in Aiello’s mind which made him quite envious, thus creating problems even with his new partner, which was Lombardo. In no time, their business friendship went down the toilet and the food importing company was no more. To make things even worse, Lombardo decided to join in with the non-Sicilian faction, which by now was still led by Esposito and one Al Capone, another Neapolitan who succeeded Torrio. In fact, Lombardo became quite close with Capone and together they allegedly ordered the machinegun destruction of Aiello’s bakery on West Division St. which occurred on the evening of May 28, 1927. The hit squad managed to produce over 200 bullets, thus transforming the joint into something completely unrecognizable. During the process, Aiello together with his two brothers Tony and Dominic were present in the bakery, and luckily only one of them, meaning Tony, received a bullet in the neck but survived. The next year, the Capones again destroyed Aiello’s bakery by shooting it up from the inside, thus placing an end of Aiello’s main legit income.



Interior of the Aiello bakery after the shootout there and two of arrows point to bullet holes in the walls and ceiling (thanks to Chicago Crime Scenes Project)


Facing the mirrored back wall which was shattered by bullets (thanks to Chicago Crime Scenes Project)


By 1930, all of the “old” problems such as Aiello, Esposito and Lombardo were buried six feet under the ground, and as for the Capone Mob, slowly it became a national criminal force. They became so powerful, it was like they even controlled the weather and gave the “ok” for it to rain or not, in figurative speech. Since they were deeply rooted within the political and judicial system, the Mob at the time was also aware for the huge problem which was coming their way, and that was the repeal of Prohibition. Even though it occurred two years later, still the boys already began investing their bootlegging cash and also began creating new sources for illegal income such as gambling and loan sharking. These younger gangsters, who now worked for Al Capone, did not posses any kind of tradition within them but instead they were all about loyalty and cash and they did not care with whom and how they made it. Meaning most of them did not care about operating their own restaurants in their own traditional ways, but instead they saw a bigger picture. It was very hard for anyone to see Capone or Paul Ricca sitting all day long in some of their joints, while waiting for guests or tasting cooked meals in the kitchen, mostly because these fellas were constantly hiding from their enemies and the government. That is why former bosses such as Colosimo and Esposito were easy targets. Now don’t get me wrong, Capone loved to eat and story goes that his favourite dish was spaghetti with olive oil and walnut sauce which in fact is a quite tasty vegetarian dish or Ricca who allegedly loved all kinds of fruit together with few glasses of red wine, same as the ancient Roman emperors. My point is that the new generation also controlled their own bars, restaurants or bakeries but they began using these places mostly as fronts for their illegal schemes such as bookmaking, card and dice games, prostitution or narcotics but the thing is, these weren’t the criminals with the bigger picture in their minds, but instead it was one new and specific criminal breed which turned its sight at the big industries, or in this example, the ones which produced or transported food around the whole state.


As I already stated at the beginning of this story, that during this period, most of industries, which represent a national collective of diverse businesses, began supplying on a general level most of the food consumed by the national population. Various chains of food or grocery stores began opening around town which in fact represented a huge problem for the Italian gangsters and their own independent food companies or restaurants. But the so-called problem was easily solved mainly because all of these industries were controlled by some unions. In plane words, when a legit guy began investing his savings in a small retail store or became a president of some union, it was quite likely to be visited by some Mob enforcer with some unpleasant "or else" predictions. For example, you’re walking down the street and minding your own business, but suddenly a car pulls along- side, two hoodlums step out and press you against the wall and say "We want into the bakery drivers' union." Obviously not all of the victims were the same but 9 out of 10 businessmen at the time, got scared and were forced to buy an expensive sign of a certain make for his establishment, and on top of that, he had to join a certain "trade association" which collected dues and gave him nothing in return, or maybe even his employees joined some union, whose funds were again controlled by mobsters. Thru those same labor unions, in which the mobsters already have installed their own front men as officers, they successfully muscled into legitimate businesses on daily basis. If one honest businessman or chain-store owner decided not to pay tribute, he was likely to find his workers, who in turn most of them were members of the Mob-controlled unions, refused to make deliveries or denied him services which were necessary for him to stay in business. In the end, the added costs of doing semi-legit business, plus the fat payments to the racketeers were all of course passed on to the consumer. So the mobsters usually tried to avoid any actual physical violence only if the victim was easily scared, but in some situations they were forced to act violently so they can achieve their main goal.


Murray Humphreys, corner stone for the Chicago Mob and at the same time, one of the most important individuals within the organization. He wasn’t Italian but instead he was a Welshman who operated same as any other Mafia boss from around the country. It seems like he was in charge of the union rackets since day one, by belonging to a special crew which was mainly involved in the same illegal activities. But do not forget that this was Cosa Nostra, meaning only Italians were in charge or at least oversaw the operations, including Capone members Charles Fischetti and Frank Maritote. According to the testimony of one Mob informer which occurred two decades later, under Capone, this particular group of Italian and non-Italian gangsters began forming a criminal network for dominating all teamster union locals in Chicago but their reputed aim was to gain control of the delivery of all common stuff which the city depended on, particularly food. So one of the most important food products in those days was milk and yes, for those who did not know, milk is considered food instead of beverage mainly because when consumed by individuals with normal health, it provides the necessary nutrients for growth and maintenance of the human body in all ages. In those days, milk was placed on every doorstep, every morning by the milk drivers, who in turn worked for some legit company, which in fact belonged to some union. And in reality, even though they are not considered the same thing, the milk business was way better than bootlegging booze, mainly because it was legal and in those days it represented a product which everybody wanted it on daily basis. Now I know that most of us would say that booze is more expensive and was being drunk in those days in quite huge amounts, thus also creating huge amounts of cash but the truth was different. I mean, for example just think about the thousands of huge Italian families at the time who numbered more than a dozen family members and were forced to buy a couple of gallons of fresh milk every day for their children and everyone else in the family. So my personal belief is that at the time the number of milk consumers was much higher rather than the people who enjoyed alcohol.



Milk bottles


At the beginning of 1931, rumours began floating that the first union which was believed to have been selected by the gangsters as the first point of penetration in their racketeering program was the Milk Wagon Drivers’ Union Local 753, with headquarters at 220 South Ashland Avenue. The union was officially organized back in 1903 and by this time it counted more than 7,000 members, a treasury of $1,000,000 and an annual income of $935,000, which obviously were the prefect reasons for the racketeers’ taste. Since then, the delivery of milk in Chicago was completely unionized and out of their funds the union paid benefits for sickness, unemployment, and other troubles that came to working people. However, this particular union also proved to be quite a “tough nut” for the crime syndicate and their violent tactics. At the beginning, some of the top union officials began noticing sudden “outsiders” who were mixing among their men at union’s headquarters and in no time, a delegation of top Chicago hoodlums descended at the location, which in fact represented a solid old brick mansion. They threw open the door and confronted Ray Bryant, the union cashier, who in turn had to face Humphreys, Jack White, Klondike O'Donnell, James Summons, Marcus Looney and Frank Maritote. “You tell that old son of a bitch," announced Humphreys, "that next time we come loaded for bear, we're taking over this joint." The gangsters’ demand for extortion of the union for hundreds of thousands of dollars was followed by a constant refusal, and so the first move was the murder of William Rooney, who in turn was one of the main architects of the union and was shot to death on the streets in March, 1931. As I previously stated, that the Mob at first rarely used such violence, but obviously they were in fear because their main financial income was about to be finished forever and milk was the new future for them. Next on the list was Patrick Burrell, the vice-president of the Teamsters Union, who in turn was taken for a ride and also shot to death.


Obviously the kidnapping of the union’s president Robert Fitchie, which occurred in December that same year, was again orchestrated by Humphreys and his gang and this was in fact something different than a murder, meaning this time they wanted for their demands to be taken quite seriously and sent a final warning for the rest of the union’s administration which now was led by one Steve Sumner, a business agent and also secretary for the milk drivers. You see, Sumner was in his mid 70’s and was an old man, but still the guy was very tough and wasn’t afraid from the Mob. So the gangsters contacted him and demanded a $50,000 ransom for the release of Fitchie, or else. The next day, Sumner was told to wait on such location which in fact was a public school on the city’s South Side and according to him, an automobile slowly approached behind him which was allegedly driven by Humphreys, George Barker and also Jack White, a known union racketeer and murderer from the West Side. The kidnappers planned the transfer at the exact same time when it was closing hour for the school and hundreds of children were pouring out through the doors, across the street and along the sidewalk. Obviously this was only a tactic of the kidnappers so no one would even think of making a move, meaning a shot could not have been fired because of the many nearby children. The first two who got out were Barker and White who in turn were carrying sub-machine guns and waited while Humphreys went to Sumner's car, opened the rear door, took the ransom money and they went back into their car and hurried away. That same night, the union president was returned to his home unharmed, but a shaken man. During that period, no Chicago prosecutor ever bothered Humphreys about the alleged snatching, which shows the Mob’s power at the time and infiltration within the city’s system. In addition, few weeks after the money transfer, George Barker was shot to death by Jack White and one Johnny Moore a.k.a. Claude Maddox. Story goes that he wanted a bigger share of the ransom money and after he was killed, his share which now was covered in blood, went straight into Maritote’s pockets.


In June 1932, the Mob decided to pay a personal visit to Sumner, in which he witnessed from a close range one shotgun, one sub-machinegun and three pistols, all pointed into his face. According to the report, Sumner identified the racketeers as Murray Humphreys, George Barker, Marcus Looney, Robert O’Malley and Klondike O’Donnell, all belonging or being in alliance with the Capone syndicate at the time. According to Sumner’s testimony, the guy who did the talking was Humphreys and he sounded like a well educated fellow, but his language was tough and he allegedly started the conversation by saying "Steve, in your time it was brass knuckles, now it is machine guns and bombs.” After that Humphreys told Sumner that his days were long gone and did not know anymore on how to make some real money out of the union. But when Humphreys found out that there was no reasoning with the old man, he got mad and offered him a $100,000 “buyout” cash and on top of that he even told the truth in which he was planning to get involved in the milk business and demanded an approval from Sumner to operate for six weeks with non-union drivers until he, meaning Humphreys, could get organized. "Tribute?" Humphreys asked, "If you want it from the milk companies a few sticks of dynamite will do the trick. If you want it from the mugs out driving the wagons, a pair of brass knuckles and a blackjack will get it. We'll get the tribute all right and if you don't want to split with us, we’ll give you a hundred grand to get out." Later Humphreys added that Prohibition was soon going to end and he had to find some business to take care of his beer runners and that is why, he intended to force the larger companies to buy milk from his future company. Sumner told him that he wasn't interested and that he wouldn't supply union drivers for hoodlums and he, meaning Humphreys, was wasting his breath for the talking. Then Humphreys said that he would cut in Sumner for a share of all the profits and that he would run the drivers' union along with the Mob. In the end, Sumner again showed his fearless tactics by saying to Humphreys that beer and milk don’t mix together and again refused the proposal. When the gangsters began leaving his office, while standing at the door, Humphreys strongly reminded Sumner to think over his decision.


As I previously stated that Sumner was a real tough guy and Humphreys might’ve been wrong because during Sumner’s days, there wasn’t only brass knuckles but instead, there were also many bombings, which was sort of a signature of the old guard. Proof for that is during that same year, or during the opening of Humphreys’ company which occurred on May 19 and became known as the Meadowmoor Dairies Inc., located at 1334 South Peoria St. on the city’s Lower West Side, suddenly a bomb exploded in its premises but luckily no one was hurt. Obviously this was Sumner’s way of saying “no” and the Mob got the message and in a short time period, they responded with the bombing of the Dairy Association plants, thus creating a literal “Milk War”, which lasted until the end of the year. For example, in August that same year, the old brownstone union headquarters has been transformed into a fortress in expectation of an attack by the Mob. From an attic room across the street a police squad covered the head- quarters throughout the daylight hours with a machine gun, ready to open fire at a prearranged signal from the fortified house. The front doors stood ajar, but the offices within were covered with armour plates, the windows were shaded with steel mesh screens and as for the union officials they received their guests only after inspecting them through peepholes set with bullet-proof glass. Also in the back yard there was a remodelled taxicab, painted black, armour plated with bulletproof glass, while Sumner rambling all day long that he was in a fight against the Mob to the finish. From that point on, war was declared and all of the city’s attention was turned on the situation, which quickly filled the newspapers. In more than a dozen of these occurrences, involving window-smashing, bombings, burnings, the wrecking of trucks, shootings, and beatings, there were many testimonies regarding the identification of the wrongdoers as union men and hoodlums.



Steve Sumner behind a steel door while pointing a gun as he looks through the peephole


So all of the attention wasn’t good for the Mob and so they decided to go to battle in a different kind of way. You see, Humphreys had another and quite smarter solution mainly because he was different from the rest of his criminal cohorts by knowing something about economics, politics and the law and he had the whole thing planned since the start of it. When Humphreys requested for the murder of the vice-president of the Teamsters Union one year earlier, after that he quickly installed his own people thus creating the union in something which resembled like branch of the Mob. So with the help of the Teamsters, the Mob managed to create close contacts with Cook County State’s Attorney Investigator Tubbo Gilbert, who in turn, knowingly or unknowingly, helped the Capone Mob through his contacts to infiltrate Chicago’s City Council and lobbied for laws so they can create their own favourable market conditions. The trick was in Humphrey’s secret lobbying for the grading of all dairy products, including milk, which obviously the point was for the Mob-controlled Meadowmoor firm to begin selling Grade “A” milk only in city limits and to destroy all competitors which supplied lesser grade of the same product. On top of that they also used the City Council to fix prices, meaning by that time Chicago paid 12 cents a quart for milk, whether delivered on credit at the doorstep or sold on a cash and carry basis in stores, but later the Mob allegedly managed to fix the price at 8 cents a quarter, thus eliminating the competition and began creating a monopoly. The so-called “scheme” also involved individuals of the Chicago board of health such as Dr. Herman Bundesen, as well as officials of the Milk Drivers Union, who later switched sides or in other words, were possibly paid off.



Grade “A” cap