What did John T. Thompson invent and lend his name to, a notorious feature of the Prohibition era that earned nicknames including the "Chicago Typewriter" and "Trench Sweeper"?
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John T. Thompson John Taliaferro (pronounced "tolliver") Thompson (December 31, 1860 – June 21, 1940) was a United States Army officer best remembered as the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun.
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Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1918, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals. The Thompson submachine gun was also known informally as the "Tommy Gun", "Annihilator", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", "Chicago Style", "Chicago Organ Grinder", "Trench Broom", "Trench Sweeper", "The Chopper", and simply "The Thompson".
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Ned Lyons Edward "Ned" Lyons was a New York City gangster in the 19th century. A burglar, he learned his trade in the property market around South Windham, Connecticut. From there, he quickly became a notorious hustler and conman.
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Joseph Cheesman Thompson Joseph Cheesman Thompson (1874–1943) was a career medical officer in the United States Navy who attained the rank of commander before retirement in 1929. His foes called him ‘Crazy Thompson’, but to friends he was known as ‘Snake’, a nickname derived from his expertise in the field of herpetology.
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Harry Thompson (spy) Harry Thomas Thompson (born 1908) was a former United States Navy yeoman who spied for Japan against the United States in 1934–35. He was the first American to be convicted of espionage since World War I.
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Thomas Draper (criminal) Thomas "Shang" Draper (1839–1883) was a criminal shanghaier, saloon keeper, and criminal gang leader in New York City along the city waterfront.
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Jack McManus Jack McManus Born Thomas McManus on March 1864 in Boston MA(died 1905), also known as "Eat 'Em Up", was a noted New York City gangster around the turn of the 20th century.
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Dustpan A dustpan, the small version of which is also known as a "half brush and shovel", is a cleaning utensil. The dustpan alone is commonly used in combination with a broom or long brush. The small dustpan may appear to be a type of flat scoop. Though often hand-held for home use, industrial and commercial enterprises use a hinged variety on the end of a stick to allow the user to stand instead of stoop while using it. This latter improved dustpan design was patented by African-American inventor Lloyd Ray on August 9, 1897, while the first patented dustpan was by T.E. McNeill nearly 40 years prior.
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Kansas Saloon Smashers Kansas Saloon Smashers is a 1901 comedy short film produced and distributed by Edison Studios. Directed by Edwin S. Porter, it is a satire of American activist Carrie Nation. The film portrays Nation and her followers entering and destroying a saloon. After the bartender retaliates by spraying Nation with water, policemen order them out; the identities of the actors are not known. Inspiration for the film was provided by an editorial cartoon which appeared in the "New York Evening Journal".
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John T. Clancy John Thomas Clancy (April 11, 1903 – May 14, 1985), also known by his nickname Pat Clancy, was a lawyer, Democratic politician and surrogate judge from Queens, New York City.
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Jim Thompson (writer) James Myers Thompson (September 27, 1906 – April 7, 1977) was an American author and screenwriter, known for his hardboiled crime fiction.
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John Thompson Dorrance John Thompson Dorrance (November 11, 1873 – September 21, 1930) was an American chemist who discovered a method to create condensed soup, and served as president of the Campbell Soup Company from 1914 to 1930.
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J. T. Murphy J.T. Murphy, best known by his nickname of "Jack," was born in 1888 and was born in Wincobank near Sheffield and became a metal-worker. He became active in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and was active in the Sheffield wing of the Shops' Stewards Movement, which emerged in engineering factories during the First World War.
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George Roby Dempster George Roby Dempster (September 16, 1887 – September 18, 1964) was an American businessman, inventor, and politician, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the first half of the twentieth century. Dempster is best known for the invention of the Dempster-Dumpster, a now-commonly-used trash receptacle that can be mechanically emptied into garbage trucks. During the 1910s and 1920s, the Dempster Brothers Construction Company, operated by Dempster and his brothers, built a number of roads and railroads across the Southern Appalachian region. Dempster also served as a city manager and mayor of Knoxville, where he became legendary for his political battles with eccentric Knoxville businessman Cas Walker and "Knoxville Journal" editor Guy Smith, Jr.
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Prohibition in the United States Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages that remained in place from 1920 to 1933. During the 19th century, alcoholism, family violence, and saloon-based political corruption prompted activists, led by pietistic Protestants, to end the alcoholic beverage trade to cure the ill society and weaken the political opposition. One result was that many communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries introduced alcohol prohibition, with the subsequent enforcement in law becoming a hotly debated issue. Prohibition supporters, called drys, presented it as a victory for public morals and health.
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Joseph Saltis Joseph "Polack Joe" Saltis [Soltis] (1894 in Hungary - 1947 in Winter, Wisconsin) was an early Prohibition gangster who, with Frank McErlane, controlled bootlegging in the Southwest Side of Chicago, Illinois.
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Pat Hearne Patrick L. "Pat" Hearne, also spelled Hern, Hearn or Herne, (died July 4, 1859) was an American gambler, sportsman and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-19th century. He was the first man, along with fellow gambler Henry Colton, to open "first-class" casinos in the city during the 1830s. His self-named resort in lower Broadway was especially popular in the years prior to the American Civil War and regarded in the city as "perhaps the most famous gambler of the era".
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Red Light Lizzie Red Light Lizzie (fl. 1860 –1875) was the pseudonym of an American madam, procuress and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. She was known as the most infamous of the city's procurers and controlled much of its prostitution along with Jane the Grabber during the 1860s and 70s. Like her rival, Lizzie employed a number of men and women to travel to rural communities in Upstate New York and New England to lure young girls to the city with promises of well-paying jobs. Some men were paid by Lizzie to bring girls into dive bars and, similar to Shanghaiing, would be given drugged alcohol. The victims would then be forced into prostitution, either by working in her brothels, or being "sold" to similar establishments. Both she and Jane the Grabber specialized in procuring women from wealthy families. She, in fact, owned at least twelve such "houses of ill-repute" and was so successful as a procurer that she sent a monthly circular letter to all of her clients.
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Gangsters of the Frontier Gangsters of the Frontier (also known as Raiders of the Frontier in the United Kingdom) is a 1944 American film directed by Elmer Clifton. One of Producers Releasing Corporation "Texas Rangers" film series, the film is regarded as a metaphor for World War II as a fascist-type gang enslaves a town.
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Chicago-style politics Chicago-style politics is a phrase which has been used to refer to the city of Chicago, regarding its hard-hitting sometimes corrupt politics. It was used to refer to the Republican machine in the 1920s run by William Hale Thompson, as when "TIME" magazine said, "to Mayor Thompson must go chief credit for creating 20th Century Politics Chicago Style."
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John Allen (saloon keeper) John Allen (1823–1870) was an American saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City during the early-to mid-19th century. A former religious student, Allen was considered one of the most notorious criminals in the city and was known as the "Wickedest Man in New York". A public crusade against him, headed by lawyer and journalist Oliver Dyer, resulted in a reform movement known as the "Water Street revival".
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The Levee, Chicago The Levee District was the red-light district of Chicago, Illinois, from the 1880s until 1912, when police raids shut it down. The district, like many frontier town red-light districts, got its name from its proximity to wharves in the city. The Levee district encompassed 4 blocks in Chicago’s South Loop area, between 18th and 22nd street. It was home to many brothels, saloons, dance halls, and the famed Everleigh Club. Prostitution boomed in the Levee District, and it was not until the Chicago Vice Commission submitted a report on the city’s vice districts that it was shut down.