Dan Blanco (far left).  Courtesy Chicago Tribune.

For most of Prohibition, Dan Blanco and Club Alabam successfully skirted the law, particularly the local police.  A crackdown in 1929, however, brought the aging Blanco and other club owners from the Near North Side to the East Chicago Avenue Police Station.  There, the newly installed Capt. Charles Essig let them know he meant business.  The so-called “Woppee Belt,” would be cleaned up!

~

If you enjoy local history, especially the world of entertainment, follow me at joannelyeck.com or on the Facebook page: The Blackest Sheep.

The Blackest Sheep: Dan Blanco, Evelyn Nesbit, Gene Harris and Chicago’s Club Alabam is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other online bookstores.