Chicago Alderman & Vice Lord "Hinky Dink" Kenna's Bars

Any student of Chicago's rich history of corruption and vice should be familiar with the names Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna and his partner in crime "BathHouse" John Coughlin. As aldermen of the 1st ward they were political powerhouses and since there ward was the center for vice they were also known as the Lords of the Levee. The Levee being the largest and most famous of a series of sin strips that moved steadily south from Chicago's loop over the years.From 1897-1923 they worked with a succession of crime bosses; Mike McDonald, Jim Colosimo, Johnny Torrio and Al Capone to organize vice the windy city. In this clips we see Michael kenna's two bars that served as his headquarters. They were located in another notorious sin strip known as "Little Cheyenne". The first at 105 Van Buren was called "Hinky Dinks Place" and as you can see a hundred and twenty years later still operating as a bar. Can you imagine how many drinks have been served here? In 1897 the Hink needed larger quarters so he moved around the corner to 427 S. Clark and opened "The Workingmans Exchange".It became one ofthe most famous bars in history. A center of vice and corruption that served over 10,000 drinks a week and that's just on the first floor. These days the thirty foot walnut bar is gone replaced by the pawn shop while the upstairs is still a mens flophouse.




This clip is part of the series "The Outfit Now & Then" produced by MindsiMedia and presented on ChiTownView's YouTube station. We show a mixture of crime scenes and homes associated with different Chicago mobsters and tell a little history with each clip. On our blog we have started posting a history of this organization that for many years had an incredible amount of influence and power over the second largest city in the country. While there was corruption in most of the big cities the level of influence in Chicago and many nearby suburbs was much stronger. For those who enjoy "Boardwalk Empire" & Ken Burn's "Prohibition" will find a lot to like here.

We also have a Google map that presents all our videos.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=
205025820167711924956.000482ac20b44d698e23e

This link is to our blog post.
http://mindsimedia.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/the-outfit-a-look-at-big-jim-scar...

In researching our information we have come across some great sources. MyAlCaponeMuseum is a one.
http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/index.htm
Another is The Chicago Crime Scenes Project:
http://chicagocrimescenes.blogspot.com/

Theme Music: Villainous Treachery by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons
"Attribution 3.0"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"

MindsiMedia is an Internet broadcaster with a series of YouTube channels under development that cover a broad range of topics; history, music, art, politics and much more. Visit our web portal http://www.mindsimedia.info/

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