Guns and Roses Review

Guns and Roses: The Untold Story of Dean O'Banion (2003) by Rose Keefe

True gangster stories always spark my interest and who can resist the early years of Prohibition with Chicago gangsters Al Capone and his forebears Big Jim Colossimo, Johnny Torrio, Dion O'Banion, Hymie Weiss, and Bugs Moran.

Most of the literature that has found its way down to the present was sensational, based as it was on the sensational newspaper accounts of the day.  As you know from present news reporting, you can never separate the truth from the fiction as the writers were just interested in selling a story, and the more sensational, the better.

Recently, I read Guns and Roses, which concerns notorious gangster Dean O'Banion. The old pulps spelled his first name Dion, because that's how the newspapers did - so that's the same guy we are talking about.  The author discovered his name was plain old Dean, so that was something new to me. The book's title comes from the fact that the notorious gangster had a flower shop as a front.

Rose Keefe's book paints a vivid picture of Old Chicago before Al Capone took over. She explains the O'Banion era was akin to feudalism, with strong barons like Dean O'Banion holding down his fiefdom on the North Side, while raiding into neighboring territories.  This changed once Capone established himself as the successor to Johnny Torrio, making himself the one and only king of the rackets.  

Ms. Keefe asserts that "Capone remade Chicago according to his specifications," integrating the various independent gangs under his leadership, or rubbing them out as the case might be. According to the author, Dean O'Banion was a product of the Chicago that was, and thus his story is an historical walk through old Chicago.

Author Keefe goes into all the sociological factors that made Chicago what it was. Built on swampy ground, the streets and buildings were elevated, making an underground warren of tunnels, tailor made for thieves and cutthroats. Successive waves of immigration populated the shanty town neighborhoods - Irish, Swedes, Italians, creating opportunities for gangs and extortion.

Politicians early realized the value of gang connections as a way of insuring they would be voted in, the gang members loitering around the polling places and intimidating voters who would dare vote against their patron. This relationship with the politicos gave the gangsters immunity from the law, allowing them to perpetrate their crimes with impunity. This gives the thoughtful reader insight into the unique brand of politics Chicago and Illinois practices to the present day.

Dens of iniquity of all descriptions - saloons - a natural political gathering place - gave the saloonkeepers "boss" status, or kingmakers, consistent with the beliefs of the immigrants who were used to that system from Europe. Brothels - one ward had over 2,000 cathouses at one time - gambling parlors, etc. This hotbed of vice existed long before the foolish Volstead Act came into effect. 

Prohibition came in 1920 and some gangsters recognized it for the golden opportunity it was. O'Banion was a small fry hoodlum as the decade opened, cracking safes and doing whatever crimnial enterprise seemed easiest. Prohibition meant gang connections in Detroit gave him access to hard liquor shipments coming across the river from Canada. Crime Czar Johnny Torrio supplied O'Banion with beer and O'Banion supplied Torrio with hard stuff, and O'Banion flourished, becoming a gang lord in his own right. O'Banion's fatal flaw was to seek excitement, and he continued to participate in dangerous activities like burglary and safecracking long after he was a boss.

When a reform mayor was elected, the criminals fled to neighboring Cicero, Illinois, outside the jurisdiction of the Chicago police. The territory was formerly turf of a suburban gang, but the Chicago gangsters soon had them running for their lives.

O'Banion also persuaded some Northside saloon owners to relocate to Cicero, and also cultivated new drinking establishments in his area. This created more problems as he was cutting into the beer concession of a rival mob. Characteristically, O'Banion refused to cut them in on the proceeds, despite urgings from Torrio, peacemaker of the criminals.

The handwriting was on the wall but O'Banion failed to read it. The Italians were moving to organize criminal ventures and Al Capone, the toughest Italian, would be the ultimate victor. O'Banion died in a blaze of gunfire as he tended his flower shop.

Rose Keefe has written a compelling biography of the early days of prohibition with well chosen words. Well researched, with citations of contemporary newspapers and interviews with the few survivors of those long gone days. There is too much to tell more in this short review, but I urge those with an interest in the Roaring Twenties, Organized Crime, or the history of Chicago or Prohibition to read this interesting non-fiction book.