The Chicago Mob by CoreyBlack
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Description
Walter Wenchell voice:
"In a town where the ghost of Al Capone still hangs heavy in the air, old timers recall the distinctive bark of the 'Chicago Typewriter ; the blazing Tommy guns that cut down anyone who dared challenge the Mob's iron rule."
I think I've been watching too many reruns of "The Untouchables", and it's begun to rub off on me. Of course, as a long time Chicagoan, who has seen the city change, and spent the last X-number of years researching its history, I can't help but see the past everywhere. Despite the dull gentrification of the last two decades, enough of the old town remains to keep things interesting. In certain areas, the past is alive and well, and almost seems to be oozing out of the surrounding landscape. On this stretch of Kimball Avenue for instance, outside of the blandly functional 1980s strip mall, most of the houses and apartment buildings date to the dawn of the last century. An era of terra cotta gingerbread curlicues and stone cherubs playing harps. I hear this spot may have been a speakeasy once, across the street from a movie theatre where the train station now stands. So, that begs the question, is this simply a malfunctioning Team Mobile sign, or is the past trying to tell us something?
Photographed in the Albany Park area of Chicago on November 12, 2012.
Comments (12)
Chipka
I love the writeup and the photo is so Chicago normal. Of course when I saw that, I just laughed, but you took the photo. It came out perfectly and now it has me wondering if THAT is the place you go in order to buy all of your Chicago mob stuff. Are they running a Two Gangsters for Ten Dollars sale? Are the selling mob nicknames? If so, I want mine to be Chip The-Iron-Woodlouse Howell...or something like that; and what kinds of rackets do they sell? Do they sell brass cupcakes, too? Most importantly, do they sell short piers for long walks? That's what I really wanna know. And aside from all of that, this is such a nice shot. I love the whole thing of MOB and a truck with an identity-theft deterrent product emblazoned on its side. How 21st century is that?
NefariousDrO
I love the combination, the Iron-Mountain truck and all that it says is so masterful. this could so easily be re-interpreted as a political/social commentary, but you take it into Chicago's history which gives it such a rich and amusing feel.
brewgirlca
A great capture of a moment whose words and meanings would otherwise have meant nothing if seen apart.
beachzz
This just proves it!!! Though when I was there, I saw a group of highly suspicious men having lunch---they all wore black pants and white shirts--obviously they were having a "meeting". I simply averted my eyes and walked on.
netot
Great capture and text! You made a great find in the appropriate place!
durleybeachbum
Well seen, and I enjoyed your narrative and Chip's musings.
auntietk
Do you know what's inside that truck? (I've hired Intermountain in the past, so I know exactly what this is.) You open the back of the truck, and there's the biggest shredder you've ever seen. I mean, you can throw phone books in there and they get chewed up and cross cut and blown into the truck in itsy-bitsy-confetti pieces. (That's a saw blade on the side of the truck.) Does the mob call Intermountain to have their ... ummm ... shredding done?? What a way to dispose of a body! You could turn your outdated hit men into mulch with a thing like that. Holy cats! Dear one, it's been a beautiful experience to have known you, and I wouldn't trade if for the world. You have snuggled into a warm place in my heart, and my life is richer than it was before I met you. When they come for you in retaliation for this picture, I will mourn you forever.
MrsLubner
love it, love it, love it.
flavia49
excelelnt
kgb224
Amazing photography my friend. God Bless.
sandra46
COOL CAPTURE
anahata.c
lol...great shot. But not just for the "MOB," but for the shredding truck. (Tara and Chip got that too.) I've dealt with Iron Mountain, and yes, they have a huge shredder inside for not only documents but hard drives, discs, you name it. There's something utterly fitting about it being in front of the "mob" sign---destroying evidence. It's a great part of the shot, just great. You just find these types of juxtapositions, your eye tells you where to turn and when, and you get it. Love the eerie red, the blur of the car in front, and all that black sky (this could be a town way out in the middle of the state), with the unreal yellow-neon---it's really a terrific shot. And I agree with tara about you, even if I'm the most anti-social creature around. The mob would rejoice in the way you showed them off, to which I say, let 'm if it means they'll leave you be. You're a jewel and a real delight... And as for the history of our fair city, I know the mob's still around, but I also know that corporations have become the modern mob, and probably are a lot worse at their worst. They don't have scars on their faces, they just leave scars all over the earth. Terrific shot, and a lot of fun. (I had a customer in the record business in the 70s, in Newtown---Hear Here Records---who came to me for opera. Opera wasn't a big seller there---they were one of the biggest Disco outlets in the city, then. He almost sounded like Brando in the Godfather which, at first, I thought was a put on; till police told me he was big in the chicago mob. He offered me a job because he loved the lps I gave him (for his wife). I turned him down. He had 3 guys with black suits standing by his car---a big black caddy---and sounded like he ate people like me for lunch so I said, "no, this job's fine...really..." He said all this to me in the alley, which is where you wanna be when a big burly mob guy is making you an offer you can't refuse. Remember the scene from Goodfellas where Pesci does that "what's so funny 'bout me?" speech---"it it the way I talk, like I'm a clown, I make you laugh? What's funny about me, tell me, what's so fkin' funny 'bout me???" Supposedly that actually happened to Pesci---with a real mob guy---and they guy was so terrifying to Pesci, Pesci asked Scorsese if he could use it on Ray Liotta for that scene. It was improvised. Well, the terror Liotta's character felt from that speech is what I felt when that mob guy pulled me in the alley. He slapped my cheek and said, "you don't want my money? What---it's not good enough for ya?" He gave me a stare that could stop a truck, and then smiled and squeezed my cheek and said, "don't worrrry! I wouldn't hurt ya." And he walked to his car. I truly thought I'd be in a dumpster by dawn. I met the guy in Evanston some years later, btw: He drove up to me, rolled down his window, and---in that same raspy voice---said, "Maaaark! Marone! How the f ARE ya!" He had, like, four 20 years old girls in the car, and a driver. I was petrified. We talked, he said it was great to see me, slapped my cheek---HARD---and drove off. That's my only mob story. Sorry, it's a long diversion. But since you brought it up...)