The gangsters dress alike and acted the same to keep their image in the 1920’s because the gangsters had a protocol to follow to fit in. The gangster image became very popular during the 1920’s. In the article Gangster Criminal, it states “ the popular image of the gangster was formed during the prohibition era” (Britannica). Gangsters have to keep a certain image to obtain street creed, such as commit murders, stealing, had to be ruthless. Murders were more common in New York and Chicago, for some murders, gangster would dress up as policemen so they wouldn’t be recognized. The gangsters would rarely get caught because they had local politicians on their side, so the gangster wouldn’t be convicted of murder. To keep a victim from …show more content…
using his gun, the gang member would reach out to shake his hand. In the meantime another gang member would shoot the victim. They practice and directed special techniques for stealing. They designed their getaway cars, so the cops wouldn’t be able to track them, the car would be unrecognisable. After they would use their getaway cars they would destroy the car, with all the murder weapons in the car, so it couldn’t be traced back to the gang. The gangsters outfits were considered costumes, because the gangsters had the money to buy stuff, like booze, cars, and women, and commit crimes.
“Men would wear dark suits, not black, striped, with vest and pants matching, with a black or white fedora, a tie and a cigar in the mouth.” (vintage dancer). The suits, the gangsters wore were usually a three piece suit, and the jacket would button up to their necks. The pants to the suits were high waisted meaning the button to the pant were either at the belly button or right above the belly button. The matching vest to the suit had six buttons on the vest, if they didn’t wear a vest, the gangsters would wear suspender, the suspender were also called “braces”, the suspenders were either made of leather or a strong cotton, on special occasion, the gangster would wear white silk suspenders. The tie, “the gangsters would wear had to contrast the shirt they were wearing, gangster would never be caught wearing a bow tie”(vintage dancer). The kind of shoe they were called ”spector shoes”. The color of shoe they wore were brown and white or black, depending on the suit they wore. On a formal occasion, they would wear black shoes, with white spat. Spats are a short cloth that covers the instep and ankle. The movie The Great Gatsby has actually brought back the trend of two toned shoes, which were mostly black and white, or brown and white, and for special occasion, the color …show more content…
blue. In the book “ The Great Gatsby”, a gangster named “ Meyer Wolfsheim” , who was a character named after Arnold Rothstein, who actually fixed the 1919 world series.
Meyer was known for fixing the 1919 world series, in the book, Meyer was Gatsby’s friend and business associate, but Gatsby said he was just a gambler. Meyer had paid the White Sox to lose against the Cincinnati Reds. Nick had asked Gatsby why Meyer wasn’t arrested yet and Gatsby had said because he couldn’t be caught, and Meyer was too smart to be caught. The image of the gangster in the 1920’s, were to be ruthless, and use their money to buy anything they wanted. The gangsters knew how not to get caught, by the
police. The gangsters dress alike and acted the same to keep their image in the 1920’s because the gangsters had a protocol to follow to fit in. Citation: Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Gangster.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 11 Aug. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/gangster “Gangster Suit - The Birth of Men's Style.” 1920s Fashion: Styles of The Roaring Twenties, www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/gangster-suit.html. “1920s Gangster - How to Dress Like Bootlegger Al Capone.” VintageDancer.com, VintageDancer.com, 23 Jan. 2018, vintagedancer.com/1920s/1920s-gangster-al-capone-suit/
Nick overlooks the wrongness of Gatsby's bootlegging, his known associations with speakeasies, and with the character Meyer Wolfsheim, a man rumored to have fixed the World Series in 1919. Yet he is disapproving of Jordan Baker for cheating ina golf game. He also says that he is prepared to forgive this sort of behavior in a woman, "It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you cannot blame too deeply, I was causualy sorry, and then I forgot" it seems like he can't accept her for being "incurably dishonest" and then he says that his one "cardinal virtue" is that he is "one of the few honest people" he has ever known.
Let me tell you about the “Gabardine Gang”. My father was the leader of an organized crime gang in the city of Hartford Connecticut. Far enough away from New York, New Jersey and Boston crime circuits. Yet, we lived close enough to know what the big guys were doing.. These small gangsters are nothing like you would see on TV or in the movies. My father ran his operation that worked in gambling, burglary, prostitution and bribery. You will never see films or books on these types of gangsters. They are not the glamorous expensive suit wearing types. They don't live in mansions, have maids or servants. These are the ‘blue’ collar types, or as I call them the 'lower-level' gangster. While you may not hear much about these types of gangsters,
The Gangster Disciples is a violent gang which began in the Chicago, Illinois area. In the 1970's, the leaders of two different Chicago-based gangs, the Black Disciples and the Supreme Gangsters, aligned their respective groups andcreated the Gangster Disciples. Once united, the Gangster Disciples recruited heavily in Chicago, within Illinois jails and prisons, and throughout the United States. The Gangster Disciples are active in criminal activity in approximately 24 states. The Gangster Disciples employ a highly structured organization. Members are organized into geographic groups; each called a "count" or a “deck." Members in good standing are considered to be ”on-count" or ”plugged in." A meeting of a particular count may be referred to
The gangsters we know and love today are much different from what they were 40 years ago. From the way they talked, dressed, and went about their business, the idea of a gangster has changed a lot. But they have one thing in common and this is the fact that they both had and have a huge impact on our society. One gangster in particular, Henry Hill, contributed to a huge turning point in the methods of American criminals. Henry Hill’s accomplishments as a mobster and an FBI informant helped change the ways of organized crime and how the government tried to stop them.
As more and more immigrants began to spread throughout the US, more and more gangs of people began to emerge. Gangs were usually made up of people of a common ethnicity, whether it be Irish, Italian, or Hispanic. These gangs were usually victims of anti-immigrant policies and looked for strength in numbers. As gangs became more and more sophisticated they realized they could make profits from the power they were accumulating. One of the most recognizable examples is the bootlegging of alcohol during the Prohibition. When federal officials attempted to enforce legislation such as the Volstead Act, there was a surge of illegal sales and profits. In 1927, Al Capone and his gang racked up over $60 million from bootlegged alcohol. With all of this money came tons of violence, people were getting murdered in broad daylight just so others could have a sum of all of this wealth. Soon Mob families would own clubs or casinos to increase their wealth. The attendees weren’t only made up of rich mob bosses, the alcohol, dancing, and gambling attracted many ordinary
During the 1920s, the social scene was gradually changing because of the Prohibition Law; with the influence of prohibition, new waves of modern gangsters were created, and they were primarily involved in such crimes as “bootlegging” and “bank robbery.” The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote the novel of The Great Gatsby, which focuses on the unachievable love affair between Gatsby and Daisy. In this novel, Jay Gatsby confronts death by getting shot on his back by flaming pistol triggered by Mr. Wilson. However, Mr. Wilson is not the only person who is responsible for Gatsby’s death; Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan are also accountable.
Being a highly know and revered gangster was a big business. Money was made fast and very easily. Bootlegging alcohol was by far the most profitable in the 1920’s; this was because of the prohibition of alcohol. Gambling was another business that paid off; stations sanctioned for gambling were set up all over cities. Prostitution and murders were also crimes that made gangsters quick and easy money.
Mainly government agents and people with high political status such as: Mayors, Judges, Police Chiefs, Senators and Governors, found their names on gangsters payroll. To some surprise, the consumption of liquor in the years before prohibition, was actually very lower than that of the years throughout prohibition.... ... middle of paper ... ...
There is a thin line that exists between the depiction of a villain and a gangster that Hollywood has mastered walking on. While villains and gangsters may do many of the same things in movies, like stealing and killing, they each do them for different reasons. Villains enjoy crime because that is what gets them off; some may feel they are doing society a favor, like Uncle Charlie in Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, and others are more simply portrayed as naturally evil or mentally ill. But Gangsters are doing what they do for something American society can relate to—to make a living and, ultimately, get to the top.
Despite the reality of being a “real gangster”, there was a time in America where many people were willing to make a pretty penny by selling alcohol during Prohibition. A book that captures time period quite well is Scott F. Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. The character Jay Gatsby represents the overindulgences of 1920s fortune. Gatsby’s fortune is reinforced on top of his mansion and carefree spending habits by the wild parties he throws:
...ough with the times. The men in those gangs were willing to die for the people they worked and many of them did. They would also kill someone in an instant if ordered to or if they crossed their family or gang. Lives were alway in danger during the prohibition era because of the measure people would take to ensure their own safety. it was survival of the fittest and the gangster of the era and organized crime were at the top of the food chain.
It was a known as a colorful time, the jazz age and the dollar decade. As World War I (WWI) came to a close many Americans wanted to simply forget about the Europeans and the war and live life to the fullest. Some chose to amuse themselves with soaring stock profits, illegal liquor, short skirts, and what many would look upon as shocking morals. This was a time of dramatic social and economic change. Many people were uncomfortable with this sometimes-racy “mass culture.” The Roaring Twenties was a time filled with youth hosting wild parties. Everything had a feeling of carelessness to it. People from all around the world were doing the same type of things as Americans were. As for the economic change, the total wealth of the U.S. nearly doubled from the year 1920 up until the great crash in 1929. Most African Americans knew this period to be the Harlem Renaissance. Many famous Jazz artists, playwrights, and sculptures came from the Harlem Renaissance. Some of which were Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes and Augustus Savage. Many other discoveries included sports legends, writers and gang life. Some of which were Babe Ruth, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Rudolph Valentino.
In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a main character. Jay is a man with a lot of money and no one knows how he came to be so rich. Jay claims to have gotten a large inheritance, but most people believe he was a bootlegger. “He’s a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and flowers (Fitzgerald 41). A bootlegger is a person who smuggled alcohol around the United States during prohibition. This is how many people made money during this time. Bootlegging and organized crime went hand-in-hand in the 1920’s. “Finest specimens of human molars,” he informed me (Fitzgerald 48).
They were gangsters that caused problems for the community. These gangsters would go up to kids and try and jump them into their gang. For them, the more members they had, the more “territory they had.” One problem that major cities around the world have is gangs. Most of these gangs are made up of juvenile delinquents looking for trouble.
Luxurious car, magnificent mansion, and a plethora of food and alcohol, this was what came with being a part of the Mafia in the 1920’s. People in the Mafia lived luxurious, cushy lifestyles, while also being able to provide for their family, but as the saying goes, “With every positive there is a negative”. The Mobsters lived well, but that came with the risk of being killed or imprisoned. Jay Gatsby, in the book The Great Gatsby, experienced some of these fears as well the luxurious lifestyle that came with being in the Mafia. Overall most people stayed out of the Mafia due to morals and fear, but the wealth certainly resulted in appeal for some.