WEBVTT - How Did Al Capone's Mobsters Start a Milk War?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Florin

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum here. Al Capone, sometimes known as Scarface, is perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>the most recognizable and infamous figure in American organized crime.

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<v Speaker 1>His life as a gangster was highlighted by a series

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<v Speaker 1>of racketeering schemes, tax fraud, violence, and bootlegging. But a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of that was hard to stick to the so

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<v Speaker 1>called teflon Dawn since somehow the federal government only managed

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<v Speaker 1>to put him in prison for eleven years on charges

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<v Speaker 1>of income tax evasion. He served out his sentence in Atlanta,

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<v Speaker 1>then later in Alcatraz. But there's one story about Capone

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<v Speaker 1>you might not have heard. It has to do with

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<v Speaker 1>the Chicago dairy industry and several farmers and delivery drivers' unions.

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<v Speaker 1>It was nineteen thirty three and Capone was already in prison.

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<v Speaker 1>Fairy prices were fixed by law, but independent dairy farmers

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<v Speaker 1>wanted more money for their milk. Representatives from the dairy

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<v Speaker 1>trade group the Associated Milk Dealers said that the public

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't pay more, as so the farmers, who were union

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<v Speaker 1>members of the Pure Milk Association walked off the job. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>Capone and his gangster proteges needed money because it was

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<v Speaker 1>clear that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was preparing to repeal prohibition.

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<v Speaker 1>Once bootlegging and speakeasies became a thing of the past,

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<v Speaker 1>it would put a dent in the Mob's major revenue sources,

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<v Speaker 1>so they targeted the dairies for the article this episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on as toff Work spoke with Claire White,

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<v Speaker 1>the director of education for the Mob Museum in Las Vegas,

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<v Speaker 1>who explained that there were two reasons why the dairies. First,

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<v Speaker 1>the dairies lacked regulation, and second, the mafia already controlled

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<v Speaker 1>other food products, including artichokes, yes really, and Wisconsin cheese.

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<v Speaker 1>Capone's Mob bought meadow More dairies intending to bully its

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<v Speaker 1>way into the milk business. Bottling milk and metal Moore's

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<v Speaker 1>facilities would allow them to bypass the fixed dairy pricing

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<v Speaker 1>and to stop unions from distributing only local milk. A

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<v Speaker 1>metal Moore distributed milk through stores exclusively, rather than using

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<v Speaker 1>drivers for home deliveries. The dairy bought milk from farmers

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<v Speaker 1>at a flat price, an aggressively exploited store distribution. This

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<v Speaker 1>allowed metal Moore to underprice other distributors who were bound

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<v Speaker 1>by contract to pay union prices to union drivers. These

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<v Speaker 1>mob tactics pitted the gangsters against union officials and the

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<v Speaker 1>dairies that were legally obligated to deliver milk directly to

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<v Speaker 1>consumers homes and those delivery drivers. But the mob wanted

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<v Speaker 1>the union's help. A story in the Chicago Tribune recounts

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<v Speaker 1>how Capohne's political fixer, A Murray the Camel Humphreys, went

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<v Speaker 1>to one Steve Sumner, who was the union leader of

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<v Speaker 1>the Milk wagon Drivers Union Local seven fifty three. Humphries

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<v Speaker 1>asked him to lay low so that metal Moore could

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<v Speaker 1>hire non union workers to undercut the other dairies. Then

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<v Speaker 1>Sumner and his union drivers could protest Meadow more, which

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<v Speaker 1>would give metal Moore reason to raise milk prices again.

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<v Speaker 1>All of this was in exchange for the mobs of protection.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, A Sumner wanted no part of it. He

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<v Speaker 1>declined the mob's security and said no to all of

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<v Speaker 1>their demands, which led to the beginning of Chicago's Milk Wars.

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<v Speaker 1>Over an eighteen month campaign of violence and intimidation, there

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<v Speaker 1>were numerous bombings, dozens of windows smashed, damaged trucks and

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<v Speaker 1>drivers and mendors beaten a striking dairy farmers and drivers

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<v Speaker 1>bombed metal More just after it opened in nineteen thirty two. Undeterred,

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<v Speaker 1>the dairy sold its milk at nine cents a court,

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<v Speaker 1>two cents below the regular price at other distributors. Capone's

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<v Speaker 1>mob also extorted New York pizzerias to use only Metamore cheese.

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<v Speaker 1>There's even anecdotal evidence that Capone is responsible forgetting the

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<v Speaker 1>practice of printing expiration dates on milk bottles officially implemented.

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<v Speaker 1>There's no clear proof, but Metomoor dairies did help set

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<v Speaker 1>the standards for Grade A milk, if only because the

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<v Speaker 1>dairy knew that its milk would pass the requirements while

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<v Speaker 1>others would not. As the battles raged between the unions,

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<v Speaker 1>the mob, home delivery drivers and retail sellers, Sumner and

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<v Speaker 1>the Milk Wagon Drivers Union attempted to organize the companies

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<v Speaker 1>and convert them to an employee wage system, but the

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<v Speaker 1>Associated milk Dealers refused, and the dairy farmers continued to strike.

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<v Speaker 1>Even those Supreme Court handed down injunctions against union picketing.

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<v Speaker 1>A fast forward to November of nineteen thirty eight, when

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<v Speaker 1>a grand jury indicted forty three individuals with violating the

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<v Speaker 1>Sherman Act for trying to fix the price of milk.

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<v Speaker 1>Fourteen corporations and forty three people were indicted in total,

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<v Speaker 1>including Sumner and several unions, but not Copones Associates. In

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirty nine, the antitrust case was thrown out by

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<v Speaker 1>a district court judge, but later reinstated by the u. S.

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<v Speaker 1>Supreme Court. However, instead of going to trial, the Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Justice offered the parties the option of signing a

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<v Speaker 1>consent decree to agree to the following. The farmers organizations

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<v Speaker 1>and unions pledged that they would not stop independent producers

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<v Speaker 1>from marketing milk. Distributors vowed to end price fixing, and

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<v Speaker 1>the Driver's Union promised to not hamper store sales of milk,

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<v Speaker 1>and thus the milk Wars officially ended in nineteen forty.

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<v Speaker 1>By then, Sumner was already voted out of his job

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<v Speaker 1>as leader of the Milk Wagons Union. He seemingly took

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<v Speaker 1>it with grace. The Chicago Tribune quoted him as saying,

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<v Speaker 1>the young fellows wanted to move in, so we'll have

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<v Speaker 1>to step out, But what about Capone and his connection

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<v Speaker 1>to the Chicago milk wars. Most likely there wasn't much

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<v Speaker 1>of a direct one. Claire White noted that both Al

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<v Speaker 1>and his brother Ralph were already in prison when it

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<v Speaker 1>kicked off, and unlike in Hollywood movies, they probably weren't

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<v Speaker 1>pulling too many strings from behind bars. A Capone essentially

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<v Speaker 1>retired from the mob after his first imprisonment in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>thirty one, but the Chicago crime syndicate that he created

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<v Speaker 1>continued under the leadership of several of his mafia disciples.

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<v Speaker 1>By the time Capone was released from Alcatraz in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>thirty nine, he had complications from a severe case of syphilis,

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<v Speaker 1>including progressive dementia and paralysis. Doctors noted that he had

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<v Speaker 1>the cognitive processing of a twelve year old child. He

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<v Speaker 1>never returned to Chicago and instead lived out his last

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<v Speaker 1>years with his family at his Florida mansion, where he

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<v Speaker 1>died in nineteen forty seven at the age of forty eight.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article how Alcpohone's mobster's

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<v Speaker 1>outmuscled Chicago milkmen on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Schrese Cunningham.

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<v Speaker 1>Brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot

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<v Speaker 1>Com and is produced by Tyler Klay. Four more podcasts

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