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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A PEEK INTO AL CAPONE'S PARK AVENUE CELL

It's Tuesday Travel once again.  Care to join me inside a prison cell?  Today, we'll take a peek into where the infamous mobster, Alphonse Capone, was once confined for a short time.

Al "Scarface" Capone was an American gangster who led a crime syndicate during the Prohibition era.  His gang, The Chicago Outfit, was notorious for illegal activities such as smuggling, bootlegging, bribery, and prostitution.  He was involved in the famous St. Valentine's Day Massacre when seven rival gang members were killed.  In May 1929, a few months after the massacre, Al Capone was arrested on a concealed weapon charge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was given his first jail sentence served in the Eastern State Penitentiary.

Last year, I had the chance to visit the Eastern State Penitentiary and see Al Capone's Park Avenue cell.


Al Capone lived a "high life" in his prime.  His ill-gotten wealth afforded him to indulge in fine things including custom suits, gourmet food and drink, cigars, jewelry, and female companionship.  True to that, even in prison, he paid his time behind bars in relative comfort and luxury:


Al Capone's cell had lamps, oriental rugs, fine furniture, paintings, and a cabinet radio.  My initial reaction when I saw this was, "Is this a prison cell or a bachelor pad?"  I could just imagine how the other inmates felt towards his fancy cell then.  Al Capone did not stay here long, though.  He was released after eight months, and his subsequent years were remarkable for his conviction and imprisonment ultimately in Alcatraz.

The Eastern State Penitentiary is a US National Historic Landmark.  If you happen to be traveling in Philadelphia, I strongly suggest you check it out.  In the future, I will share other interesting stories behind the walls of Eastern State Penitentiary, as well as pictures of my visit there.  Ciao for now!
Source:  Wikipedia

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14 comments:

  1. teinks girl. i wanted to chika you about the blogger conference you attended ;) will message you in your blog!

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  2. Ooooh, very cool! Interesting story: My uncle (Mom's brother Denis) did some research on our family history, and guess what?? I am distantly related to the infamous Mr. Capone!!! It was SO funny - when he told us, Mom started quoting lines from The Godfather and threatening to "whack" people! *snicker*

    Cool pics, girlie!

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  3. oh my gosh, Crystal, for real? ooppps, i hope i didn't offend you or anything with those things i said about Mr. Capone.

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  4. awesome! that cool that you got to visit that cell. my hubby is all into history, including gangsters & mobs. i bet he'd totally love to visit that place :)

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  5. Cool and interesting facts out here, KM. Ang tindi naman ng escapades mo, pati prison cell, hehe. Very interesting.

    BTW, I tried to leave off a comment sa blog ng Dad mo pero nAhihirapan ako. Merong pop-up na lumalabas. Gustong-gusto ko mag comment don especially sa poem na ginawa nya for you ;-)

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  6. @ Janel, replied at your blog :)

    @ Lainy, i grew up in Muntinlupa, so laking preso talaga ako. lol.

    thanks for checking out my father's blog. matutuwa yun pag sinabi ko sa kanya yan. hehe! i'll let him know that you tried to leave a comment but wasn't able to, so he can check his settings and all that. sometimes talaga nag-g-glitch ang blogger eh.

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  7. Hahahaha! Natawa ako sa comment mo, KM!

    I love reading your Dad's posts. Ang galing-galing nyang sumulat. Alam ko na kung san ka nagmana :-)

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  8. Lainy, si Papaleng ang nagmana sa'kin. Hehe!

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  9. Hahahaha! Sige na nga. Napaniwala mo nako ;-)

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  10. Very informative :) Loved reading your post and looking at the photos. Dropping by for TT :)

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  11. great pictures, looking great Sis KM, thank you for sharing the information, very educational. Visiting from Tuesday Travels, hope that you can return the favor too.

    http://www.tropical7107islands.com/2012/01/3366-photo-challenge-lumbia-airport.html

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  12. Great information, KM! I have learned a lot, because I only knew Al Capone as a gang leader. Now it feels like really journeying on his life. Thanks for taking me there! ;-)

    Visiting for last week's Tuesday Travels as a host. Thanks for joining! TT for this week is now up and running! Inviting you once again! :)

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  13. was here paying visit :)

    that's really cool and interesting. it looks like those prisoners were well treated because they seem to have nice cell and comfortable crib right there hehhehehe.

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