ipl-logo

Dean O Banion Biography

414 Words2 Pages

Dean O’Banion was born July 8th, 1892 in Maroa, Illinois. When he was nine his mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis. O’Banion loved his mother very much and would bring her flowers as she was dying. After his mother 's death his his family moved to Kilgubbin, Chicago, also known as “Little Hell” (Gomes). When he moved here he became part of the youth branch of the Market Streeters, a group of shoplifters and muggers. In this gang he met Earl ‘Hymie’ Weiss, Vincent ‘the Schemer’ Drucci, and George ‘Bugs’ Moran who then became his lifelong friends (Dean). In 1908 he got a job at a bar. Most of the people who went to the bar were criminals who admired O’Banion for his safe cracking skills. The people at this bar got him into his life of crime. In 1909 he went to reformatory for stealing post stamps. Then two years later he was sent to jail for assault (Gomes). In 1920 O’Banion started a bootlegging operation. He asked Canadian alcohol distributors to send alcohol to America. In February of 1921 O’Banion got married to Viola Kaniff. She made him get a real job so his crimes didn’t seem as noticeable, so he bought half a share in Schofield 's Flower Shop and worked long hours there because he loved flower arrangements (Gomes). Then in December of …show more content…

Dean O’Banion made the roaring twenties roar by running a gang in Chicago. During this time the Prohibition Act was in place and alcohol sale was illegal. O 'Banion saw this as an opportunity to make a profit. He hijacked a whiskey truck and sold the alcohol illegally to people who wanted it. He was also the reason a gang war started. After he was murdered his friends tried to avenge him and a five year gang war started (Dean).
O’Banion connects with the great The Great Gatsby because two of the main characters got their money from bootlegging alcohol. O’Banion hijacked a whiskey truck and sold alcohol illegally. In the book Gatsby and Wolfsheim were both bootleggers who sold grain alcohol at their drugstores (Fitzgerald

Show More
Related

  • Dean O Banion: Rum Runner In History

    1574 Words  | 7 Pages

    Dean O’Banion is one of the most notorious Rum Runners in history, but that's not all his life had to it. O’Banion was involved in gangs, murders, and a life fit for a mobster. As a child O’Banion had many hardships which lead to his involvement in crime. The area he lived in was called “little hell” and that vibe spread to him quickly with him getting in gang related trouble left and right as a young adult. O'Banion's rum runner days were the first to exist where he lived by his pioneering Chicago’s first liquor hijacking.

    Read More

  • Dutch Schultz Research Papers

    514 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dutch Schultz (born as Arthur Flegenheimer) was a burglar turned bootlegger of alcohol in the prohibition era. Born in the Bronx, New York City, Arthur’s parents Herman and Emma Flegenheimer had immigrated to America in the late 1800’s during the great wave of immigration. They were German-Jews, searching for a new life in a different country. They settled in the mainly German part of New York. Arthur’s father Herman found work as a baker.

    Read More

  • Billy The Kid Research Paper

    469 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Irish tycoons were also know as “the house” after they threatend him thats when he hired The Kid and some

    Read More

  • Was Rand Kelly A Hero Or A Villain

    578 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to historian John Molony, "Kelly grew up in a time when the law was seen to be arbitrary and when people like himself, who were poor, Irish and Catholic, were treated harshly by the authorities" (Molony, 2001, p. 1). Kelly's criminal career began in his teenage years, and he soon became known as a horse thief and

    Read More

  • 18th Amendment Pros And Cons

    1455 Words  | 6 Pages

    As the roaring twenties reached their end the battle against alcohol in the United States is just arising to a turning point. With serious controversy over the Volstead Act the country was greatly divided. There was also the extreme rising occurrences of crime, the creation of gangs and a newly established, unorganized criminal justice system. Prohibition was a disaster across America and the more reforment from the government just made things worse.

    Read More

  • Resilient American People In The 1800s

    896 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, in the 1920s, because alcohol was a part of people’s daily lives, people didn’t stop consuming it. Alcohol consumers with no respect for the law simply decided to buy, sell, and drink alcohol illegally. People who sold alcohol made a lucrative business out of it. Al Capone, for example, who was a famous American gangster, earned $60,000,000 annually by selling illegal liquor (Al Capone). Prohibition did not stop people from drinking, and criminals were making the money the sale.

    Read More

  • What Were The Effects Of Prohibition In The 1920's

    337 Words  | 2 Pages

    Picture this: its the roaring twenties, people were ecstatic about the war being over, but had no idea that there was about to be a cultural civil war among America starting with prohibition. From the end of nineteen eighteen to nineteen thirty three prohibition had its impractical moments and was controverted , and in the end, it became one of the most prominent moments in U.S history J.J Little explains that the Eighteenth Amendment made drinking and selling alcohol illegal(598). The meaning of prohibition was to diminish the drinking of alcohol, and therefor the crime rate would plummet, including poverty, death rates, and the condition of life would become better also boosting the economy. Sadly, this was no help at all (Addiction History 1165). The FPB (Federal Prohibition Bureau) began only to over look the Volstead Act and made sure it was

    Read More

  • 1920s Prohibition Essay

    263 Words  | 2 Pages

    The First World War had ended in the 1920’s, but a new war was beginning on the American streets. This was known as the gang war. People were committing organized crime and there were people who were known as professional criminals. Organized crime was becoming a very big thing in Cleveland. In the 1920’s, prohibition was also going on .

    Read More

  • Prohibition And Immigration In The 1920's

    630 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prohibition and Immigration conflicts in the 1920’s were linked. The Italian mafia was under attack and a lot of its members fled to the U.S.. They organized the crime in the U.S. and created the mob. The mob made most of it 's money off of running speakeasies and bootlegging liquor. This was easy money since everyone was ignoring prohibition and wanted

    Read More

  • Bugs Moran Research Paper

    677 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moran’s criminal activity started early as he was sent to Juvie three times before the age of 21, all for petty crimes(BugsMoran.net). “Bugs” Moran moved to Chicago when he was 19 to further his criminal career. Dean O’Banion accepted Moran into the North Side Gang when he arrived to Chicago. At the time, O’Banion was the leader of the Irish-American Gang, and when the prohibition began O’Banion bought out many of the distilleries and breweries and continued making alcohol and illegally selling it to the public with a massive price hike. The prohibition lead to a significant rise in organized crime, and North Side Gang was no exclusion to that rise.

    Read More

  • 1920s Organized Crime In The 1920's

    252 Words  | 2 Pages

    1920s Organized Crime This exhibit is focused on the “Roaring 20’s”, and what made the 1920s roar. The Roaring Twenties roared because of the vast amounts of spending, the crime, and people just having fun. Willie Sutton was an extravagant bank robber during the 1920s. Sutton was born on June 30, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York.

    Read More

  • What Is Daisy's Obsession In The Great Gatsby

    952 Words  | 4 Pages

    He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong.” (7.127) Gatsby earned his fortune through the illegal sale and distribution of liquor. Rumors of Gatsby’s being a bootlegger circulated with partygoers in chapter four while indications that Gatsby may be involved in criminal activity are suggested in chapter five.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Effects Of Prohibition In The Great Gatsby

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    The only character in the novel who does not drink is, ironically, Gatsby. He devoted himself to a sober life after seeing what drinking did to his old mentor. Although these characters had unpleasant experiences with alcohol in the past they, for reasons unknown to us, continue to surround themselves with the smell, taste, and temptation that alcohol provides. In conclusion, prohibition and its effects have a lasting impact on the novel “The Great Gatsby”. It is present within the lives, attitudes, and mannerisms of all of the characters.

    Read More

  • Political Issues In The Great Gatsby Essay

    862 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bootlegging alcohol was another problem in the 1920s; this is the reason why Gatsby became so wealthy. Foster explains in his novel How to read Literature like a Professor: “every story is written or inspired by the political problems around them, it contains the political reality of the time-power structures, relations among classes, issues of justice

    Read More

  • How Is The Great Gatsby An Accurate Portrayal Of The 1920s

    1493 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is mostly an accurate portrayal of the 1920s due to the references towards the historical circumstances exhibited by the plot. For instance, a significant theme depicted in the story is prohibition and its influence on the society; consequently, since The Great Gatsby takes place in the summer of 1922, prohibition is an immense aspect of the American culture of the time. Correspondingly, organized crime and prohibition share a direct correlation since consumption of alcohol was illegal, yet it was very much alive. In the 1800s alcohol became a prevalent habit due to the new businesses that produced it; therefore, drinking became a widespread epidemic. Overall, The Great Gatsby portrays the Roaring 20s using pivotal references

    Read More

More about Dean O Banion Biography

Open Document