A bleak Valentine

Valentine’s Day is a happy, traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine cards or giving flowers and candy. But in 1929 during the time of prohibition the city of Chicago experienced a different kind of Valentine’s Day. The mob of Al Capone wanted to get rid of George “Bugs” Moran, who was the leader of a rival gang in Chicago. To get into the garage where “Bugs” Moran was supposed to be, a plan was devised. The story goes that a Cadillac like the one on this photo was fitted out in Chicago Police specification. With this Trojan horse the members of Al Capone’s mob could easily drive into the garage without being recognized as gang members. The men in the car didn’t know “Bugs” Moran by sight, so they took no chances and gunned down all seven men in the garage. Moran himself miraculously escaped death by arriving late at the warehouse. Afterwards this act became known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (wikipedia.com but don’t click if you can’t stand bloody photographs). (RB)

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