Texas Guinan and the Birth of Celebrity Crime Culture She Wasn't Just Famous—She Was Useful PROHIBITION • NEW YORK UNDERWORLD • SPEAKEASY CULTURE By the time federal agents began raiding…
The First Crime Influencer Texas Guinan and the Business of Making the Underworld Look Good Long before celebrities built personal brands on social media, long before nightclub owners hired publicists…
The Mob Without the Mob Boss Texas Guinan, the Underworld, and the Business of Staying One Step Away In the Prohibition-era nightclub business, the person standing beneath the spotlight wasn't…
Celebrity as a Legal Buffer When Publicity Became a Form of Protection In Prohibition-era New York, an arrest could ruin a nightclub owner. It could frighten customers, scare away investors,…
"Hello, Suckers!" The Greeting That Turned Prohibition Into a Performance There were plenty of ways to announce your arrival in a New York speakeasyduring Prohibition. You could knock on an…
Bootlegging in Heels: Female Smugglers of the ProhibitionEra They Never Fit the Description Federal agents were looking for men. Men with hats pulledlow over their eyes, men driving trucks loaded…
Why Enforcement Looked the Other Way: Gender, Prohibition, and the Limits of the Law During Prohibition, federal agents and local police faced an enormous challenge: enforcing a nationwide ban on…
Corsets, Carriages, and Concealment: The Everyday Objects of Prohibition SmugglingDuring Prohibition, the difference between an ordinary errand and an illegal liquor delivery could be as small as what a woman…
What Arrest Records Reveal: The Women BehindProhibition’s Liquor Trade An arrest record might capture a moment of failure, but acollection of arrest records can tell a much larger story. During…
The Courier’s Disguise: How Female Bootleggers Hid in Plain SightDuring Prohibition, the most effective disguise might not have been a false mustache, a stolen uniform, or a forged set of…
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