  Klingon Member Username: Klingon Post Number: 46 Registered: 04-2005 |
I am trying to do some research of the purple gang ..its hangouts and some of its members. I am looking for some comments about them, some pictures ..any of the Cream of Michigan their hangout? Lists of members? Isadore Bernstein? Any help or comments would be great. Thanks | ||
Ggores Member Username: Ggores Post Number: 51 Registered: 10-2007 |
yes, they were the rhythm section in Jailhouse Rock. sorry :-) | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6115 Registered: 10-2003 |
I have been told that the old Mama Mia's building out in the White Lake/Commerce area on Cooley Lake Rd. used to be a Purple Gang joint. I'm not sure if it's the building itself, or just the location. What I heard was that it was possible to get a boat all the way up there via all the lakes and rivers in the area, and that allowed them to smuggle to that location. All of this is word of mouth, so don't take any of it as fact. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 154 Registered: 04-2005 |
Here's a link. http://www.crimelibrary.com/ga ngsters/purple/purplemain.htm | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1209 Registered: 12-2006 |
Maxie Silk of Maxie's Left Field Deli near the old ballpark was a Purple Gang alumnus, was he not? He died just a few years ago. Hell of a guy, in his later years at least. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 2179 Registered: 12-2005 |
I had a friend who just died last year at the age of 101. She was their neighbor and took in wash from them. I talked a little bit about the Purple gang with her (her mind was sharp up to the end) and the most she would say was that they came and went at odd hours and that they were always nice to people in the neighborhood, despite the terrible things they did to the competition. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 679 Registered: 12-2007 |
They had a safehouse in Southfield...somewhere on 9 Mile | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2821 Registered: 10-2003 |
Have you picked up a copy of The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit, 1910-1945 by Paul Kavieff? It's the only book on the subject that I'm aware of. Dr. Philip Mason's book Rumrunning and the Roaring Twenties: Prohibition on the Michigan-Ontario Waterway (Wayne State Press) also provides some coverage of The Purple Gang. | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 147 Registered: 08-2006 |
They had a long run but towards the end decent management kept dying somehow so the ones who were left weren't criminal masterminds & got real sloppy. They all hung out @ the Oakland Sugar House which sold fermenting supplies & was right near Eastern Market, probably their most famous hang inb their existence was Boesky's Deli run by the father/role model of insider trader Ivan-across from the $5,000 Lounge? | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 1066 Registered: 08-2007 |
don't forget The Schvitz on oakland. Still there. I had forgotten about little Ivan. | ||
Walkerpub Member Username: Walkerpub Post Number: 206 Registered: 12-2003 |
http://info.detnews.com/redesi gn/history/story/historytempla te.cfm?id=8 | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2155 Registered: 07-2004 |
My favorite story about them was that they built a 150-yard tunnel underneath Gratiot, connecting what's now the Busy Bee Hardware Store with what's now the Busy Bee warehouse. No idea if it's true, but I love those kinds of tales.  | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 680 Registered: 12-2007 |
DN...I know that there was a tunnel under 9 mile that collapsed when they repaved the road in front of the house. | ||
Bigb23 Member Username: Bigb23 Post Number: 1216 Registered: 11-2007 |
I did a quick search on things I've heard in the past about the Purple Gang in Mt. Clemens and it might put some rumors to rest: Q. I have heard that downtown Mount Clemens had an underground network of tunnels that was used by Twenties-era gangsters and rum runners. Is this true? A. Not really. The facts about the tunnels under Mount Clemens have been romanticized and exaggerated a bit over time. An inspection of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Mount Clemens in August, 1921, indicates three separate tunnels in the downtown area. These were service tunnels built by the bath houses to allow access from the main buildings to the wells and pump houses. One tunnel crossed S. Front St. (now known as Northbound Gratiot) just south of Cass Avenue, and connected the Medea Bath House to its mineral water tanks and pump houses. Another connected the main building of St. Joseph's Sanitarium (now St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital-East) with the well house and mineral water tanks located elsewhere on the Sanitarium's property. The third tunnel belonged to the Colonial Hotel, and ran from the west side of the main bath house across Greiner to the mineral well and coal houses. In addition to these three, evidence was found in 1972 that a tunnel or cellar existed south of Cass near the Clinton River for cold storage of beer produced by the Mount Clemens Brewing Company. Although it is entirely possible that these tunnels may have been visited by a few colorful characters of the Roaring Twenties, the tunnels did not really constitute an underground network for criminal activity, but were merely service passageways for local businesses. http://www.libcoop.net/mountcl emens/mtcfaq.htm | ||
Spacemonkey Member Username: Spacemonkey Post Number: 396 Registered: 03-2006 |
Weren't Grimace and Barney in the purple gang? | ||
Thoswolfe Member Username: Thoswolfe Post Number: 44 Registered: 11-2007 |
7 Mile / Newburgh- They ran a golf course there. That clubhouse was another fortress. Cement, very few windows, that building stood up until sprawl ate up the golf course's acreage, in the 90's. | ||
Eric_w Member Username: Eric_w Post Number: 367 Registered: 02-2007 |
If one wants to they can drop by Lincoln Park's Fort Street Brewery & enjoy a pint of Purple Gang Pilsner while they're working on researching the gang. I heard they had a dancehall in Rose City on Ogemaw county long ago (Message edited by Eric W on April 15, 2008) | ||
Spacemonkey Member Username: Spacemonkey Post Number: 403 Registered: 03-2006 |
I heard they were hired to carry out the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. | ||
Klingon Member Username: Klingon Post Number: 47 Registered: 04-2005 |
Some great information here ...thanks ... any pics to post would be great ! | ||
Kennyd Member Username: Kennyd Post Number: 4 Registered: 04-2008 |
Klingon, you need to see Motor City Mafia, by Scott Burnstein. Tons of pics and info on Purple Gang, Sicilian, Irish. They have it at the usual book dealers. | ||
Alan55 Member Username: Alan55 Post Number: 1532 Registered: 09-2005 |
Actually, except in the generic sense, "Mafia" might be a bit of a misnomer, since the Purple Gang members were largely Jewish. | ||
Rel Member Username: Rel Post Number: 644 Registered: 02-2008 |
My grandfather ran errands for them, something my grandmother was very ashamed of so it was rarely talked about. Busy Bee was indeed a hangout that I had heard of during a Preservation Wayne tour... if you look at the 3-story white building attached, you'd be puzzled to hear it's a "hidden 3rd story". How can it be hidden when it's in plain view from the street? Because you could walk in the door and get to the second level by stairs. But the third floor was only accessible, I heard, by a hidden set of stairs in the basement. Lots of Purple Gang lore and great information in the books Kathleen mentioned! | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 235 Registered: 08-2007 |
the purple gang book is pretty good,mine went missing for a year up north. my great grandfather was a tailor. one day out of the blue my uncle tells me " grandpa carl did work for the purple gang" i said 'well he must have been good cause he lived to be an old man'. i forgot about the golf club at 7mi/newburgh. i didn,t know the purples ran that.creepy looking place from what i remember | ||
Kenp Member Username: Kenp Post Number: 1080 Registered: 03-2006 |
 sammy the gorilla. If you ever go to Bookies bar this pic stares at you. http://www.walkervilletimes.com/34/mobsters1.html | ||
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav Post Number: 506 Registered: 09-2007 |
Abe Kaminski  Sam Fleischer  Jacob Silverston  | ||
Spacemonkey Member Username: Spacemonkey Post Number: 409 Registered: 03-2006 |
SpaceMonkeystein | ||
Yaktown Member Username: Yaktown Post Number: 333 Registered: 02-2006 |
Looking at my copy of the Kavieff book right now...their up north hideout was the Graceland Ballroom in Lupton. Overall, I found the book to be a good source of info but it's poorly edited. I wonder why Hollywood never came calling? Johnlodge, I've never heard of the Mama Mia story and I grew up 5 minutes from there. Unfortunately, there's only a pond and swampy area behind there so no way for them to smuggle their goods. | ||
Detroitmaybe Member Username: Detroitmaybe Post Number: 78 Registered: 03-2008 |
There is a documentary on organized crime in the City of Detroit..but I dont recall the name. It includes Purple Gang, Mafia, YBI, and others.If u are interested I can make a call to a friend that distributes it. | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 133 Registered: 10-2007 |
spacemonkeystein, heard the same thing about Massacre...from Fleischer kin | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 201 Registered: 12-2006 |
Awesome stories, books and links. You guys rock. |
