CHAPTER 39 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS (If you haven’t read the earlier “Joe and Jack” chapters, start with Part 1 of this four-part story.) Joe Lewis was released from the hospital sometime in December, but he… Continue reading Joe and Jack, Part 4: “The Man the Gangsters Couldn’t Kill”
Author: Robert Loerzel
Joe and Jack, Part 3: The Attack
CHAPTER 38 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER (If you haven’t read the earlier “Joe and Jack” chapters, start with Part 1 of this four-part story.) A man appeared at the Commonwealth Hotel’s front desk on… Continue reading Joe and Jack, Part 3: The Attack
Joe and Jack, Part 2: “Guerrilla Warfare” and Green Mill Gigs
CHAPTER 37 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER (If you haven’t read the earlier “Joe and Jack” chapters, start with Part 1 of this four-part story.) The Joker Is Wild does not say when Joe Lewis… Continue reading Joe and Jack, Part 2: “Guerrilla Warfare” and Green Mill Gigs
Joe and Jack, Part 1: Showman and Hit Man
CHAPTER 36 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER It’s one of the most famous stories about the Green Mill: Entertainer Joe Lewis was performing there in 1927 when he decided to take his show to another… Continue reading Joe and Jack, Part 1: Showman and Hit Man
The Aragon Ballroom, Dance Watchdogs, and Weird Echoes
CHAPTER 35 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER Just 12 days after the Uptown Theatre opened amid a burst of hoopla in August 1925, the city issued a building permit for a dance hall down the… Continue reading The Aragon Ballroom, Dance Watchdogs, and Weird Echoes
Ted Newberry, Alleged Green Mill Mob Boss
CHAPTER 34 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER In the Prohibition Era, a mobster summoned a Chicago Daily Tribune reporter to sit down for a meeting one afternoon inside the Green Mill. The reporter, James L.… Continue reading Ted Newberry, Alleged Green Mill Mob Boss
The Uptown Theatre, a Palace of Dreams
CHAPTER 33 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER “It outdoes your dreams,” the advertisements declared. “IT WILL HUSH AND THRILL YOU. It throbs with beauty—lovely enough to hold the heart of a woman all her life.… Continue reading The Uptown Theatre, a Palace of Dreams
The Montmartre Years: Secret Gambling, Benny Goodman, and Girls Who “Salute”
CHAPTER 32 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER On July 14, 1923, the Chicago Daily News reported that a new nightclub was opening in Uptown. The cabaret formerly known as Green Mill Gardens would reopen on… Continue reading The Montmartre Years: Secret Gambling, Benny Goodman, and Girls Who “Salute”
Capone-Adjacent Guys and Shady Land Deals
CHAPTER 31 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER On July 10, 1922, Catherine Hoffman found herself facing a federal lawsuit.1 The United States government said alcohol was being sold on a piece of property she owned,… Continue reading Capone-Adjacent Guys and Shady Land Deals
Green Mill Gardens’ Showdown With “Count” Yaselli
CHAPTER 30 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER In the spring of 1922, an Italian man wearing flashy clothes showed up in Chicago, spending his nights at the city’s hottest cabarets and cafés, from Colosimo’s on… Continue reading Green Mill Gardens’ Showdown With “Count” Yaselli