This haunting dossier—anonymously assembled and found in a thrift store—gives an unprecedented and intimate lowdown on the Chicago mafia
Writer, curator, and gallerist John Corbett struck thrift gold at a going-out-of-business Chicago junk shop when he stumbled onto a browned and brittle manuscript intimately documenting the Chicago mob of the early 1930s. The tone of its typewritten and hand-annotated pages immediately grabbed him—sensationalistic and funny, they read like an embellished police blotter, naming names, listing addresses, and recounting crimes. For all of the dossier’s texture and personality, however, Corbett could find no clues as to the identity of its author.
Presented here in facsimile in order to capture its distinctive materiality, Bullets for Dead Hoods: An Encyclopedia of Chicago Mobsters, c. 1933 offers a detailed rundown on the Chicago Outfit through 140 noir character sketches, which range from the infamous—Al Capone, George “Bugs” Moran, the Everleigh Sisters—to their lesser-known aiders and abettors. Whoever dared to put this testament together was clearly someone with access to information—a cop? a reporter? a bitter mafioso?—but who would’ve risked sharing these particulars, and why, is a mystery that will likely never be solved. What we are left with is this idiosyncratic introduction to a storied chapter in Chicago history that knits the city together in a new way.
In addition to the full-color manuscript, Bullets for Dead Hoods includes related documentary material, an introduction by John Corbett, a compilation of more than 400 locations referenced in the manuscript, and a pull-out map of Chicago that pinpoints hundreds of street addresses.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Bullets for Dead Hoods.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Chicago Tribune
John Warner
“Bullets for Dead Hoods” is gorgeous — a coffee-table book that you’ll also compulsively read. The result is a combination of history, puzzle, narrative and work of art, and every time I’ve picked it up since its arrival, I find a grin on my face […] As a primary text of mob history, it must be invaluable to historians and scholars, but Soberscove has made it accessible, and literally fun for everyone.
WGN TV
Larry Potash
Books are written, illustrated, bought, sold, and loaned, but this one was salvaged, and assembled several decades after it was written. It’s a special kind of encyclopedia, which usually offers answers; this one contains a mystery.
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Not long ago, Chicago curator and gallerist John Corbett was poking around at a local junk shop's going-out-of-business sale, when he came across an old, hand-typed, anonymously-authored manuscript filled with detailed first-hand descriptions of all the key players in the 1930s Chicago mob. He brought the dossier to our friends at Soberscove Press, and the gorgeous facsimile from which this entry on "(West Side) Frankie Pope" is reproduced is the result. It begins: "If anything rotten goes on in the west side, this Pope (and don't let the North Side one ever hear you confuse the two) either has his fingers in it, or knows all about it. Mike De Pike Heitler gave him his tutelage. Jack Zuta and Jack Gusick polished it off. Now at 36, there isn't a lousier whore monger or cheap chiseler in the city limits." This is both an historic document and an easy read—the perfect gift for the crime reader on your list! continue to blog
Bullets for Dead Hoods An Encyclopedia of Chicago Mobsters, c. 1933
Published by Soberscove Press. Introduction by John Corbett.
This haunting dossier—anonymously assembled and found in a thrift store—gives an unprecedented and intimate lowdown on the Chicago mafia
Writer, curator, and gallerist John Corbett struck thrift gold at a going-out-of-business Chicago junk shop when he stumbled onto a browned and brittle manuscript intimately documenting the Chicago mob of the early 1930s. The tone of its typewritten and hand-annotated pages immediately grabbed him—sensationalistic and funny, they read like an embellished police blotter, naming names, listing addresses, and recounting crimes. For all of the dossier’s texture and personality, however, Corbett could find no clues as to the identity of its author.
Presented here in facsimile in order to capture its distinctive materiality, Bullets for Dead Hoods: An Encyclopedia of Chicago Mobsters, c. 1933 offers a detailed rundown on the Chicago Outfit through 140 noir character sketches, which range from the infamous—Al Capone, George “Bugs” Moran, the Everleigh Sisters—to their lesser-known aiders and abettors. Whoever dared to put this testament together was clearly someone with access to information—a cop? a reporter? a bitter mafioso?—but who would’ve risked sharing these particulars, and why, is a mystery that will likely never be solved. What we are left with is this idiosyncratic introduction to a storied chapter in Chicago history that knits the city together in a new way.
In addition to the full-color manuscript, Bullets for Dead Hoods includes related documentary material, an introduction by John Corbett, a compilation of more than 400 locations referenced in the manuscript, and a pull-out map of Chicago that pinpoints hundreds of street addresses.
