Alphonse Capone born on January 17, 1899 was one of the most notorious gansters in America during the early 1900s.  Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York to unwealthy Italian parents.  While living in New York, Al became very close with gangter Johnny Torrio.  Johnny was a very wise businessman who later moved to Chicago.  Al grew up talking and interacting with the wrong people, like gangsters and was exposed to violence at an early age.  When Al was in his early twenties, he moved to Chicago and got back in contact with his buddy Johnny.  Torrio ran a business that involved a lot of illegal acts, such as gambling, bribary, brothels, selling illegal alcohol, and racketeering.  Through time, Al went from being a bartender at a bar where gangsters would hang out at, to becoming Torrio's partner and running their illegal business as well.  Al was taken to trial for murder, evading taxes, and for many other reasons.  He spent many years in jail and died of syphillis when in 1947 at the age of 48.

    The picture shown above was chosen for many details I noticed as soon as I saw the photo.  I aslo chose this picture because Al Capone really fasinates me because he was a very powerful and respected man back then.  In the darkest suit stands Al Capone well dressed with his left hand in his pocket.  Al is very clean cut and looks very professional.  It looks as if he is reaching for something from his pocket because his jacket pocket does not look smooth, but the imprint looks as he is either clenching his fist, hiding something, or pulling something out for someone.  Everyone appears to be looking to the left, except the man in the light colored suit on the far left.  He too has his hand in his pocket maybe either relaxing, or putting something in his pocket that capone gave to him.  The man next to him is holding a piece a paper in his right hand.  Is it some vital information?  Why are 4 men just standing around one of most powerful gangsters in the country.

    One aspect of the picture that really stood out are the two hats on the table.  The two hats remind me of hats worn during a campaign election.  Maybe the men represented some sort of political campaign and were conversating with Capone over some political issues.  The third man from the left, is standing to the left of Capone.  He is holding a book in his left hand which could be a book of laws or a journal of events leading up to this day.   This photo was taken in a Chicago room, but from the view of this photo, I cannot make out what kind of room the photo was taken in.

There are two men standing in the background.  One of them is blocked from the picture because he is standing behind the three gentlemen in suits.  I think maybe he was someone important and did not want his face in the paper.  Or maybe, he simply was just unintentionally blocked by the three men.  The last man in the photo who looks totally misterious to me is the man wearing a white shirt and bow tie.  He looks asian but he was probably caucasian.  He may be a member of Capone's mob but he looks kind of old.  Maybe he is working for another gang lord and posing as a helper or bailiff or some other form of security.

This entire picture looks like some sort of bribery executed by Capone maybe dealing with political issues.  Capone had a great deal of money and used it to his advantage as well as using the method bullying and intimidation.

Al Capone was very wise in knowing how to act in different situations.  He seemed like a polite, respectful man who treated other how he would like to be treated.  Then when other were not looking he would take over and have it his way.  He became so respected that when he served time in jail, security treated him the best out of all the inmates.  He would recieve more socks, underwear and got a couple more priviledges other did not.

    Gangsters today are looked in a totally different way then in the early 1900s.  Back then, Gansters were more known for wearing flashy suits, smoking cigars, wearing hats, dealing with a lot of money, gambling, running whorehouses, racketeering, bribary and many other issues.  Today gangsters are more into wearing the color of their gang and joining gangs for support purposes.  Many gangsters today join gangs because they see the gang as their family who will have their back through thick in thin.  Guns still do exist and violence will always exist in gang life, because rivalry is always an issue.  For example, In California there are two gangs that exist which are the bloods and the crips.  The bloods' gang color is red while the crips' color is blue.  These two gangs have been around for years and have always been rivals.  Gangsters are focused more on being tough, and watching over their other members.  Dealing drugs are more popalar ways of earning money now instead of running illegal casinos, or selling illegal alcohol, or evading taxes.  Gangs then and gangs now are two totally different generations but the main thing that they both have in common is Gangsters of every generation always deal with violence at sometime during their time in the ganglife.