Sal Facciacattiva's '33 Cadillac ca1936
From the 1920's and throughout the prohibition years and later, a certain individual named Salvatore Facciacattiva, aka "Sally Southside," ran the rackets in Chicago's South side. All illegal operations whether it was prostitution, drugs, gambling, loan sharking, or bootlegging were run and controlled by him, and control he did. If you happened to have stepped out of line you only did that once. There were no second chances with Sal. I can't say ask the few who tried because they are no longer reachable to ask.
As a young man Sal was a WWI conscript and spent a few months fighting in Europe but all that ended for him when a German mortar round landed within feet of where he was positioned. The shrapnel tore into him badly and his face was permanently scarred from it. By the time he was able to leave the military hospital the war had concluded. He already was a tough street fighter, and his time spent in the military made him even tougher and meaner!
But, in spite of the life he had chosen Sal was Catholic, and he attended 11 o'clock mass at St Barnabas Church every Sunday. You would see his shiny Cadillac sedan parked in the first spot next to the side door of the church. Everyone knew that that was Sal's parking spot, and no one dared park in it on Sunday mornings. And when inside the church he would sit at the end of the pew right next to that side door in case he had to leave in a hurry for "business reasons!" And, like the parking spot, everyone knew that that was Sal's seat, and no one dared sit in it!
It was alleged that Sal had orchestrated the St Valentine's Day massacre where 7 member associates of Chicago's Northside gang were brutally machine gunned and murdered in 1929. Although the police had brought him in for questioning they had no proof that they could link him directly to the crime, and let's say the police "accommodated" him and released him.
Northside revenge did come, but it was in 1938. and nearly ten years after the massacre had occurred on St Valentine's Day. At 2 AM in the morning, on June 12th, Sal was leaving one of his favorite clubs with a female acquaintance when a black sedan rushed by, shots rang out, and both he and she were gunned down and perished from their wounds.
I hope you weren't hoping for a happy ending!
Sal Facciacattiva's '33 Cadillac ca1936
From the 1920's and throughout the prohibition years and later, a certain individual named Salvatore Facciacattiva, aka "Sally Southside," ran the rackets in Chicago's South side. All illegal operations whether it was prostitution, drugs, gambling, loan sharking, or bootlegging were run and controlled by him, and control he did. If you happened to have stepped out of line you only did that once. There were no second chances with Sal. I can't say ask the few who tried because they are no longer reachable to ask.
As a young man Sal was a WWI conscript and spent a few months fighting in Europe but all that ended for him when a German mortar round landed within feet of where he was positioned. The shrapnel tore into him badly and his face was permanently scarred from it. By the time he was able to leave the military hospital the war had concluded. He already was a tough street fighter, and his time spent in the military made him even tougher and meaner!
But, in spite of the life he had chosen Sal was Catholic, and he attended 11 o'clock mass at St Barnabas Church every Sunday. You would see his shiny Cadillac sedan parked in the first spot next to the side door of the church. Everyone knew that that was Sal's parking spot, and no one dared park in it on Sunday mornings. And when inside the church he would sit at the end of the pew right next to that side door in case he had to leave in a hurry for "business reasons!" And, like the parking spot, everyone knew that that was Sal's seat, and no one dared sit in it!
It was alleged that Sal had orchestrated the St Valentine's Day massacre where 7 member associates of Chicago's Northside gang were brutally machine gunned and murdered in 1929. Although the police had brought him in for questioning they had no proof that they could link him directly to the crime, and let's say the police "accommodated" him and released him.
Northside revenge did come, but it was in 1938. and nearly ten years after the massacre had occurred on St Valentine's Day. At 2 AM in the morning, on June 12th, Sal was leaving one of his favorite clubs with a female acquaintance when a black sedan rushed by, shots rang out, and both he and she were gunned down and perished from their wounds.
I hope you weren't hoping for a happy ending!