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Forty-Two Gang
Forty-Two Gang
Forty-Two Gang
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Forty-Two Gang
Founded1925
Years active1925–1934
EthnicityItalian-American

The Forty-Two Gang was a teenage street gang in Chicago that started during Prohibition. Like Brooklyn's Italian and Jewish street gangs of Brownsville and Ocean Hill, the Forty-Two Gang served as a "farm team" for future members of the Chicago Outfit. Forty-Two Gang members included future syndicate members Sam Giancana, Sam "Teets" Battaglia, Luigi "Cockeyed Louie" Fratto, Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio, "Mad Sam" DeStefano, Charles "Chuckie" Nicoletti, Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri, William "Smokes" Aloisio, Frank "Skids" Caruso, William "Willie Potatoes" Daddano, Joseph DiVarco, Marcello Caifano, Mario DeStefano, Bruno Tassione, and Joey "Cowboy" Miletta.

In 1931, sociologists at the University of Chicago determined that of the original members, over thirty had been killed, seriously wounded or imprisoned on a variety of charges, including murder, armed robbery and sexual assault.[citation needed]

Early history

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The Forty-Two Gang started in 1925, with twenty-four members (some as young as nine years). The boys supposedly named their gang after Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, claiming they were one better than their fictional namesakes. The gang came from Chicago neighborhoods known as "the Patch" and "Little Hell", located to the northwest and near north of the loop.

From the beginning, the gang became notorious for a number of different crimes: vandalism, petty theft, car stripping, stealing of carts or horses from the stables of local fruit peddlers (sometimes reportedly killing stolen horses to supply horse meat), burglary of cigar stores and staging armed holdups of prominent nightclubs. The Forty-Two Gang soon emerged as one of the most violent gangs in the city; however, they suffered heavy losses as the result of wars with rival gangs. The gang also had a high rate of arrests for murders of robbery victims, suspected informants and police officers.

Rebelling against authorities

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In 1928, a number of Forty-Two Gang members were being held at the Illinois state boys' reformatory[1] in St. Charles, Illinois. One day, Major William J. Butler, commander of that facility, received the following threat from a gang member. "Unless you let our pals go, we'll come down there and kill everybody we see. We've got plenty of men and some machine guns." Butler was inclined to dismiss it; however, Chicago police officials advised him to take it seriously. After arming himself, Butler called up the Illinois National Guard to defend the reformatory.

Several days later, three juvenile gang members, led by "Crazy" Patsy Steffanelli, were caught outside the reformatory walls. Once taken into custody, the boys bragged that they were a scouting party sent to infiltrate machine gunners into the facility.

The St. Charles incident was widely covered by the Chicago press. Many critics called for a tougher stance against juvenile offenders; the Chicago Tribune declared that the only decision facing authorities was whether to sentence gang members to Joliet Prison or send them to the electric chair.

The Forty-Two Gang & the Chicago Syndicate

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The press coverage and media attention on the 42ers caught the notice of the city's bootlegging gangs, specifically Al Capone's Chicago Outfit. Gang members frequently committed robberies just so they could blow wads of money in the Outfit's speakeasies and other underworld hangouts. The Outfit would occasionally hire gang members as beer runners or truck drivers; however, they were generally considered too risky to have around.

However, one Forty-Two Gang member did stand out--Sam "Momo" Giancana. Giancana had built a reputation as a skilled wheelman who was calm under pressure. Giancana became the first Forty-Two member to join the Outfit. He eventually became a protégé of Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo and Paul "The Waiter" Ricca. With his induction, Giancana was able to eventually bring a number of his fellow gang members into the Outfit. Giancana became operating head of the Outfit in 1957, and many of the former Forty-Two members would go on to rule the Outfit well into the 1970s.

While the Outfit welcomed Giancana and other Forty-Two members, it was less hospitable to some others, such as Paul Battaglia, an early gang leader who robbed many illegal horse betting rooms and handbooks during the mid-1930s; the Outfit eliminated him in 1938 due to his interference in their operations.

References

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Further reading

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Forty-Two Gang

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The Forty-Two Gang, also known as the 42 Gang or the 42s, was a loose-knit juvenile street gang of teenage boys and young men based in Chicago's Near West Side Italian immigrant neighborhoods, active primarily from the mid-1920s through the early , and notorious for graduating its members into professional criminal careers via prolific petty thefts, burglaries, auto thefts, and armed robberies. Originating from informal neighborhood play groups in areas like West Taylor Street, the gang emphasized early recruitment of impoverished youth—sometimes as young as six—through peer networks and shared hangouts such as poolrooms and basements, cultivating a tight-knit culture of solidarity, a , and hands-on training in crime techniques like stolen goods and evading police. Typical operations involved hijacking trucks for cargo like butter and eggs, stealing dozens of vehicles for resale, and conducting stickups that generated weekly earnings of $100 to $300 per member, often supplemented by routine bribery of totaling thousands of dollars. The gang's defining legacy lies in its role as a feeder system for the , with prominent alumni such as —who started as a getaway driver and enforcer linked to multiple murders before ascending to Outfit leadership in the —exemplifying how its violent apprenticeship propelled individuals into organized syndicate positions.

Origins and Early Development

Formation in Chicago's Near West Side

The Forty-Two Gang originated in Chicago's Near West Side, particularly the Italian immigrant enclave around Taylor Street between Halsted and Morgan Streets, an area characterized by dense overcrowding, poverty, and limited legitimate opportunities for youth amid the influx of Sicilian and other Italian families in the early . This neighborhood, often referred to as , featured a mix of tenement housing, small shops, and institutions like the Hebrew Institute, but systemic failures in political leadership and education contributed to by neglecting recreational and vocational alternatives for boys. The gang's roots lay in the everyday interactions of local teenage boys, who initially formed loose play groups engaging in neighborhood sports and minor mischief, reflecting a natural progression from unstructured childhood camaraderie to organized defiance in an environment where family oversight was strained by immigrant labor demands. By the early 1920s, these play groups coalesced into a more defined juvenile gang, drawing primarily from Italian-American youths aged 10 to 15 in the West Taylor Street vicinity, including areas near Sibley Street and hangouts like basement delicatessens. The group's formal identity as the "42 Gang" emerged around 1924–1925, named after the address or capacity of a local poolroom and restaurant operated by a figure known as Figlio, which served as a central gathering spot for emerging leaders and members such as Marcantonio, Pete, Louie, and others from Rees Elementary School. This consolidation was driven by territorial instincts and mutual protection against rival youths or outsiders, fostering loyalty through shared experiences rather than hierarchical imposition, though older criminals occasionally influenced the periphery. The gang's early cohesion stemmed from the insularity of the Italian district, where ethnic solidarity and street codes provided a surrogate structure amid absent formal institutions, setting the stage for escalation beyond play.

Initial Petty Crimes and Group Cohesion

The Forty-Two Gang initiated its criminal endeavors with small-scale thefts in Chicago's Near West Side, primarily targeting everyday items accessible to young boys. Members, often starting as preteens around 1924, stole silk shirts from clotheslines, which they sold for $1 to $2 each, along with roller skates, coaster wagons, toys from department stores, milk, pencils, and books from school. These acts extended to robbing pushcarts, local shops, and peanut vending machines along Roosevelt Road, where groups would smash machines with sledgehammers to extract pennies, hitting four to five per evening. Bicycle thefts followed, with stolen bikes dismantled and sold from a basement clubhouse in a neighborhood delicatessen for $4 to $15 apiece. Such vandalism and minor burglaries reflected the gang's opportunistic exploitation of unsecured property in impoverished, ethnically Italian enclaves like Taylor Street and Little Sicily. These early crimes fostered group cohesion by providing shared economic incentives and rituals of delinquency among the original 42 members, who had coalesced from neighborhood playgroups at Rees Elementary School under founders Rocco Marcantonio, Pete Gallichio, and Louis Pargoni. Collective raids built trust and mutual reliance, as proceeds funded group hangouts at places like a delicatessen basement or Figlio’s poolroom, where members shot , watched games, and pursued relationships with local girls. Solidarity deepened through defense against external pressures, including pooling resources for or legal support when members faced for or , reinforcing a code of loyalty amid frequent police scrutiny and reform school stints. Socioeconomic deprivation in the Near West Side's slums—marked by abandoned industrial areas and limited legitimate opportunities—further cemented bonds, as ethnic homogeneity (predominantly Italian heritage) and common experiences of poverty channeled adolescent energies into a delinquent rather than fragmented rivalries. By 1925, membership had expanded to 58, with cohesion sustained by informal hierarchies where older boys mentored younger recruits (as young as age 6) in techniques, offering and in exchange for participation. This structure evolved petty crimes into a proving ground for reliability, where "stand-up" behavior under interrogation distinguished core members, laying the foundation for later escalations while minimizing internal betrayals.

Criminal Activities and Operations

Escalation to Armed Robberies and Thefts

As the Forty-Two Gang's members aged into their late teens and early twenties during the late , their operations evolved from opportunistic petty thefts and vehicle stripping to more systematic robberies targeting commercial targets for higher yields. Automobile theft continued as a staple, but the group frequently supplemented it with holdups involving firearms, such as smash-and-grab burglaries and assaults on delivery personnel, reflecting a pragmatic pursuit of profitability amid Prohibition-era opportunities. By 1930, Chicago authorities linked the gang to over a dozen armed robberies, including specific strikes on the Everett Company and Company, where perpetrators used weapons to seize cash and inventory from these firms. These incidents typically involved small teams overwhelming guards or employees, marking a departure from non-violent toward confrontational tactics that risked injury or fatalities to maximize loot. The gang also targeted hat shops and bank messengers in similar fashion, exploiting urban vulnerabilities for quick gains in merchandise and currency. This escalation peaked with attempts at institutional heists, exemplified by a 1934 bank robbery executed by Louis "The Louse" Clementi and nine fellow members against Chicago's Main State Bank, yielding around $10,000 in proceeds before the group dispersed. Such ventures underscored the gang's growing sophistication in planning and execution, though they invited heightened federal and local pursuit, as the inherent in armed confrontations amplified evidentiary trails like spent casings and witness accounts.

Involvement in Hijackings and Bootlegging Support

The Forty-Two Gang escalated its operations during the mid-1920s by targeting hijackings, primarily focusing on shipments of , eggs, and other merchandise across . These activities, which began around 1924–1925, involved using pistols to intercept vehicles, with gang members averaging approximately $150 per week in profits, though individual hauls could yield up to $300 after splitting shares. Older members initially hijacked proceeds from younger recruits before integrating them into larger theft schemes, paying off local police with $10–$15 monthly to evade arrests. In parallel, the gang provided logistical support to Prohibition-era bootleggers, particularly Sicilian operators in Cicero, by stealing and selling automobiles for use in alcohol . From November 1926 onward, members stole at least 32 cars, reselling them for $75–$200 each after altering license plates in a dedicated Cicero garage, which facilitated evasion during deliveries. This vehicle supply chain extended to furnishing cars for broader bootleg rackets on Chicago's Near West Side. As Al Capone's expanded bootlegging into the gang's Taylor Street territory during the late 1920s, many Forty-Two members were recruited as "militia men" to provide armed protection and enforcement for syndicate alcohol operations, bridging street-level crime with organized enterprises. Figures like Diamond Joe Esposito, linked to the gang, oversaw deliveries of bootleg to saloons, underscoring their role in distribution networks amid intensifying turf conflicts.

Internal Structure and Key Figures

Leadership Dynamics and Membership

The Forty-Two Gang operated without a centralized or formal , functioning as a decentralized network of small cliques typically comprising 3 to 8 members each, which specialized in various rackets such as thefts of shirts, tires, trucks, and automobiles. This loose organization evolved from informal neighborhood play groups among Italian-American boys in Chicago's Near West Side, evolving into criminal enterprises through shared hangouts like poolrooms, restaurants, and basement delicatessens that served as planning bases and storage for stolen goods. Leadership emerged organically from experience and longevity rather than appointed roles, with older members—often in their late teens or early twenties—guiding and sometimes exploiting younger participants by directing them toward riskier tasks in robberies and thefts. These dynamics fostered cohesion through peer influence and mutual participation in crimes, but also led to internal tensions, as evidenced by the gang's reliance on fences and occasional payoffs to police (ranging from $25 to $100 per incident) to sustain operations without rigid command enforcement. Membership primarily drew from Italian immigrant families in the Taylor Street area, peaking at approximately 40 to 50 active participants during the late , many of whom were teenagers recruited as young as age 6 and inducted through neighborhood traditions of petty delinquency. The group maintained exclusivity tied to ethnic and territorial bonds, with younger boys often inheriting roles after older members faced arrests or transitioned to adult syndicates, resulting in over 50 incarcerations for crimes from to by the early 1930s.

Notable Members and Their Roles

Sam Giancana, born Salvatore Giangana in 1908, joined the Forty-Two Gang as a teenager and primarily functioned as a getaway driver and enforcer, leveraging his early involvement in auto theft—his first occurred at age 17 for this offense—and violent activities that included suspected responsibility for at least three murders by age 20, though he faced no convictions for them. By 1926, Giancana was ed and charged with murder in connection to gang operations, but the case collapsed after a witness's violent death. Sam "Teets" Battaglia emerged as a burglar and muscle within the gang starting around age 16 in the early , contributing to thefts and tactics that honed skills later applied in the after his transition in 1924. His role emphasized physical enforcement and break-ins, aligning with the gang's escalation from petty thefts to armed robberies. Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio, born in 1912, participated as an early member focused on and enforcement, activities that foreshadowed his later Outfit specialization in hits and , though specific gang-era incidents remain sparsely documented beyond his association with Giancana and others in Near West Side operations. Rocco Marcantonio exemplified the gang's operational foot soldiers through his documented progression from juvenile thefts—such as stealing shirts, bicycles, and tires—to organized truck hijackings of butter and eggs, auto theft rings selling to bootleggers, and armed stickups yielding $100 to $1,100 per job, often coordinating with older mentors like Vito and Salvi for training and racket expansion. Marcantonio's activities, detailed in his 1933 life history account, highlight the gang's reliance on versatile thieves who bridged petty and violent crimes, managing loot distribution and police payoffs of $10–$25 monthly.

Conflicts with Authorities and Rivals

Clashes with Law Enforcement

The Forty-Two Gang engaged in repeated confrontations with police, primarily through arrests for auto thefts, tire thefts, and armed robberies, with members often subjected to beatings during interrogations but frequently released after paying bribes ranging from $25 to $100 per incident. One member's account details being stopped two to three times weekly between 1925 and 1929 at stations including Maxwell, Desplaines, and detective bureaus, accumulating payoffs estimated at $7,000 to $8,000 over four years to evade formal charges. Federal involvement escalated in 1927 when agents arrested several members, including future Outfit figures, for violating the Dyer Act through interstate auto theft, resulting in sentences such as 18 months at the St. Charles Industrial School for Juveniles. Deadly violence marked several encounters, with gang members implicated in the deaths of at least four officers. On November 23, 1927, Chicago Police Sergeant Thomas Henry Lynch was fatally shot during a pursuit of suspected Forty-Two Gang members linked to a , dying at 5:05 p.m. after wounds sustained in the chase. In 1929, member Willie Doody killed Berwyn Police Chief Charles Levy after Levy observed Doody driving a stolen . On December 13, 1931, Patrolman Michael W. Oakley was killed in a confrontation tied to gang activities, amid broader police efforts that seized 65 members in a declared "war" on the group. Further escalation occurred in 1933 when member Tony Rocco shot and killed Officer Maurice Marcusson during an attempted dress shop robbery in downtown , as Marcusson intervened to halt the crime. Police responses included raids and killings of gang leaders; for instance, leaders such as "Babe Ruth" Colaro and "Jit" Pargoni were slain by officers in separate incidents. By December 1932, the publicly estimated the gang's membership at 500, including recruitment of boys as young as six, prompting intensified scrutiny and operations against their operations in the Near West Side. Individual arrests continued into the , such as that of members and on August 18, 1943, during a routine that uncovered weapons. These clashes underscored the gang's resistance to suppression, with members like facing his first arrest at age 17 for auto theft, fostering a cycle of evasion, , and lethal retaliation.

Territorial Disputes and Violence

The Forty-Two Gang's operations in Chicago's Near West Side during the 1910s and 1920s frequently involved violent confrontations arising from their expansion into hijackings, stickups, and thefts, which encroached on established criminal territories controlled by other groups. Members routinely armed themselves with revolvers during butter-and-egg truck hijackings in 1924–1925, threatening drivers at gunpoint and firing shots to intimidate resistance, as recounted in the personal history of gang member Rocco Marcantonio. These acts escalated tensions with competing thieves and bootleggers, contributing to the gang's reputation for ruthlessness, though specific rival factions were often unnamed opportunistic criminals rather than formalized syndicates. By the late 1920s, the gang's aggressive tactics led to broader clashes, including "wars with rival gangs" that inflicted heavy casualties on its ranks, weakening its cohesion amid mounting police scrutiny. Incidents such as the September 9, 1930, shooting death of a gang member in an automobile highlighted the perils of these disputes, with victims dumped or ambushed in retaliatory strikes. Further violence marked robberies, like a 1928–1929 stickup of a joint yielding $1,100 after armed threats, and a later dope cache heist where Marcantonio was shot in the back, underscoring the reciprocal brutality in contested urban rackets. Such losses, combined with internal betrayals over stolen proceeds, eroded the gang's territorial hold by the early 1930s.

Transition to the Chicago Outfit

Recruitment by Syndicate Leaders

As the expanded its bootlegging operations during , targeted the Forty-Two Gang's territory on the Near West Side to secure dominance over alcohol distribution networks. Capone personally recruited numerous senior members of the gang, leveraging their established reputation for violent thefts and robberies to bolster the Outfit's enforcement capabilities. This integration occurred primarily in the mid-1920s, as the Outfit sought reliable "militia men" familiar with local rackets, with recruits including future leaders like , who transitioned from street-level crimes to Outfit operations around 1925. The recruitment process emphasized the gang's Italian-American composition and street-honed skills, aligning them with the Outfit's hierarchical under Capone's direction following Johnny Torrio's partial withdrawal after a 1925 assassination attempt. Forty-Two Gang members were absorbed as enforcers and operatives, receiving shares of bootlegging profits in exchange for territorial loyalty and muscle against rivals. By the late , this influx formed the nucleus of the Outfit's Taylor Street Crew, one of its primary subunits, with recruits like Sam "Teets" Battaglia rising to prominence through demonstrated ruthlessness in syndicate tasks. Capone's strategy capitalized on the gang's pre-existing criminal , transforming independent into disciplined Outfit assets without the need for extensive . This absorption minimized internal resistance, as many gang members viewed alliance with the Outfit as an elevation from sporadic thefts to structured revenue streams, evidenced by the rapid decline in independent Forty-Two Gang activities post-recruitment. Historical accounts from Prohibition-era investigators, such as those compiled by John Landesco, confirm that at least a dozen key Forty-Two figures, including enforcers with records of over 100 combined arrests, were directly enlisted for rackets by 1928.

Integration and Long-Term Influence

The integration of Forty-Two Gang members into the occurred primarily in the early , as the syndicate sought to incorporate skilled young operatives experienced in violent crimes such as armed robberies and hijackings to enhance its bootlegging, , and rackets. Connections with Outfit underboss , who maintained familiarity with gang figures like , expedited this absorption, enabling dozens of former gang members to transition into roles as enforcers and crew associates. A prime example is , who joined the Outfit in the 1930s after early arrests for auto theft in 1925 and suspected involvement in three murders by 1928 while with the gang. Giancana rose through the ranks to become Outfit boss from 1957 to 1967, during which he eliminated internal rivals, expanded illegal lottery operations, and represented the syndicate at the of leaders. This influx provided the Outfit with a reliable cadre of aggressive personnel, contributing to its consolidation of power in following the decline of Prohibition-era rivals. Long-term, the Forty-Two Gang functioned as an informal feeder system, infusing the Outfit with street-honed talent that sustained its hierarchical structure and territorial control through the mid-20th century, as evidenced by the elevation of gang alumni to leadership amid ongoing federal scrutiny.

Decline and Historical Legacy

Factors Leading to Dissolution

The Forty-Two Gang's dissolution was primarily driven by severe attrition of its core membership, with over thirty of the original members killed, seriously wounded, or imprisoned by , as documented in sociological studies of Chicago's criminal . This decimation eroded the gang's operational capacity, as returning members found the group fragmented and unable to sustain its previous cohesion and activities like and auto theft. The loss of experienced operatives through violent rivalries, such as clashes with the Circus Gang, and frequent incarcerations further weakened internal structures, leading to a gradual breakdown by the early 1930s. Parallel to this attrition, the gang's viability diminished as many surviving members, including key figures like and , were systematically recruited into larger, more structured criminal organizations such as the under and . This absorption redirected talent and resources away from the Forty-Two Gang's informal street-level operations toward syndicated rackets, effectively hollowing out the group as Prohibition-era opportunities favored professionalized syndicates over adolescent-led gangs. By , these recruitment dynamics contributed to the gang's abrupt end, marking the conclusion of large-scale independent criminal gangs in Chicago's Near West Side. Intensified law enforcement responses also played a role, with improved police tactics targeting the gang's activities more effectively than in prior decades, including coordinated raids and that disrupted operations and deterred new recruits. Combined with the shift toward organized syndicates, which offered better protection and profit-sharing against such pressures, these external forces rendered the Forty-Two Gang's model obsolete, preventing regeneration despite attempts by younger emulators. The interplay of internal depletion and external professionalization thus sealed its fate, transitioning its remnants into broader criminal enterprises rather than allowing independent persistence.

Enduring Impact on Organized Crime

The Forty-Two Gang exerted a lasting influence on primarily by functioning as a talent pipeline for the , channeling skilled young offenders into the syndicate's ranks during the era and beyond. Active from approximately 1925 to 1934, the gang's members, hardened by frequent burglaries, armed robberies, and violent confrontations, demonstrated a level of audacity and cohesion that appealed to Outfit leaders seeking reliable enforcers. This integration helped sustain the Outfit's territorial control and operational efficiency in Chicago's underworld, where the syndicate dominated rackets such as bootlegging, , and labor extortion through the mid-20th century. Prominent survivors of the gang ascended to key leadership roles within the Outfit, embedding its aggressive ethos into the organization's structure. Salvatore "Sam" Giancana, an original 42 Gang member, transitioned to the Outfit in the late 1930s and eventually became its boss from 1957 to 1966, overseeing expansions into Las Vegas casinos, political influence operations, and nationwide extortion networks. Similarly, Sam "Teets" Battaglia, another 42 Gang alumnus, rose to become a high-ranking Outfit enforcer and acting boss in the 1960s, leveraging his early experience in brazen heists to manage violent disputes and union rackets. These transitions exemplified how the gang's informal apprenticeship model—mentored by adult gangsters—facilitated the professionalization of street-level crime into structured syndicate activities, with 42 Gang veterans contributing to the Outfit's resilience against federal prosecutions like the 1960s Kefauver and Valachi hearings. The gang's legacy also manifested in the Outfit's recruitment strategies, which prioritized youthful, loyal operatives from Near West Side neighborhoods, perpetuating a cycle of intergenerational criminal continuity. By the early , while over 30 of the original members had been killed, wounded, or incarcerated, those who evaded dissolution brought tactical expertise in evading and executing high-risk operations, influencing the Outfit's adaptation to post-Prohibition economies. This pipeline model contrasted with less committed modern street gangs, underscoring the 42 Gang's role in forging a cadre of dedicated professionals who elevated Chicago's from episodic youth delinquency to enduring institutional power.
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