Benny Mangano aka “Benny Eggs” – named because his mother owned an egg farm. Mickey Callahan aka “Cheesebox” Ciro Terranova aka “The Artichoke King” – named after his early years of intimidating vegetable merchants into overpaying for his artichokes. Louis Attansio aka “Louie Ha Ha” – named after his habit of laughing when he heard …
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The Molasses Gang
I left one gang out of yesterday’s post because it deserved more than an entry on a list. Active from 1871 to 1877, The Molasses Gang got its name for a rather peculiar string of robberies. They would walk into a shop and ask the owner to help settle a wager they had made about …
Favorite Names of Old Gangs
Chicago, 1950-1990 Thorndale Jagoffs Almighty Gaylords Rice Boys Cortlandt Stacys Lazy Gents Unicorns Midget Popes Ma Beefy Boys Junior Sinners Mad Lads Stimulators Lead Pipe Gang Lady Gents Wood Street Walkers (named because they didn’t have driver’s licenses) Cherry Busters Happy Gentlemen New York, 1970s Jolly Stompers Black Stabbers Black Attacks Trouble Bros Latin Secret …
Fighting World War 2 in the 1970s
For most of the world, the second world war ended in 1945. Many Japanese soldiers, however, were not so lucky. Left behind in their stations, they struggled out a harsh existence battling against hunger and disease. Some were able to find their way home eventually. But for the most famous of these soldiers, Hiroo Onoda, …
The story behind robot callers
Have you ever gotten a call from a telemarketer that’s just a little bit off? I received one like this a while back: “Hello?” “Hi, this is Robert from (somewhere). How are you today?” “I’m doing well, how about yourself?” (2 second pause) “It’s good! I just wanted to tell you about…” *HANG UP* They …
Adam Rinsky 