Way Back When: No Honor Among Thieves!

Al Capone, courtesy of the FBI

Dateline: April 1924

Al Capone was not in Santa Barbara, but this was starting to seem like a film noir movie in our fair city. It was clear that bootleggers were not playing nice with each other during the Prohibition Era.

“A war between rival bands of liquor dealers is expected to break out within a few days between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles factions, which may develop into a serious clash . . . A truckload of liquor was stolen from several rum smugglers north of Santa Barbara several days ago.

“Monday, two young men, alleged to be rum dealers, appeared in Santa Barbara to locate the men who were responsible for the theft. One of these men is alleged to have left a card at the home of the suspected man warning him to ‘pack a gun today and to stay away from the ”plant” if you value your life.’ ” – Santa Barbara Morning Press, April 3, 1924


Betsy’s books are available in local bookstores, and at Amazon.com.
(Shop local if you can.) Learn more at betsyjgreen.com.

 

bjgreen

Written by bjgreen

Betsy J. Green is a Santa Barbara historian and author. Her books are available in local bookstores, and at Amazon.com. (Shop local if you can.) Learn more at betsyjgreen.com.

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    • This article was printed in Santa Barbara’s “Morning Press” on April 3, 1924. It’s available online at the newspapers.com website, which is subscription based. The SB Public Library has this website available on computers at the library. (There is a lot of information in old newspapers, but only a fraction of it is interesting. I go through it, page by page — so you don’t have to! — and pull out the best stories for my posts and my books.) Glad you enjoy them.

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