Tag: green mill

The Lounge Lived On: The Green Mill After Prohibition

CHAPTER 44 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS There’s a legend about how Steve Brend got his first job at the Green Mill. Brend, who eventually became the owner, said that he’d landed his first job at the… Continue reading The Lounge Lived On: The Green Mill After Prohibition

Bullets, Flames, Lawsuits, and Votes: The End of an Era

CHAPTER 43 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER Five months after he vanished from Chicago, Ted Newberry finally turned up. The North Side mobster, who was said to be the Green Mill’s boss, hadn’t been killed,… Continue reading Bullets, Flames, Lawsuits, and Votes: The End of an Era

Texas Guinan’s Bang-Up Green Mill Show

CHAPTER 42 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 was a big deal when Texas Guinan took over the Green Mill in December 1929. “If Prohibition had a queen, she was Texas Guinan,” Chicago Daily Tribune… Continue reading Texas Guinan’s Bang-Up Green Mill Show

Uptown “Hell Holes” and the Red Hot Mamma

CHAPTER 41 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER The Green Mill kept going out of business, but it never stayed dark for very long. As 1927 ended, the nightclub seemed to be in trouble. It had… Continue reading Uptown “Hell Holes” and the Red Hot Mamma

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 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”

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

Cabaret Woes, “Evilly Disposed Persons,” and the Dancing Tenor’s Divorce

CHAPTER 27 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER “Chicago’s cabaret industry was in the dumps to-day,” the Chicago Daily News remarked in April 1921.1 Aldermen were talking about a huge increase in license fees for public… Continue reading Cabaret Woes, “Evilly Disposed Persons,” and the Dancing Tenor’s Divorce

Cora Orthwein’s Trial: “I loved him and I killed him. It was all I could do.”

CHAPTER 25 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER There was much shouting and commotion at Green Mill Gardens on the night of February 28, 1921. An intoxicated man angrily threw his drink into a woman’s face.… Continue reading Cora Orthwein’s Trial: “I loved him and I killed him. It was all I could do.”