Chicago Greaser Gangs

Capone Lords

Capone Lords and Insane Pimps
    RICE BOYS:
    were on Rice and Pine, Chicago and Central, and on Kostner and Wabansia.
    VENTURES:
    Crystal and Long under the PVR's
    PLAYBOYS (Also referred to as Polish Viking Playboys):
    Wrightwood and Laramie in the mid 80's.
    Cragin Park Playboys/pvr's (Playboys/Ventures/Rice Boys unity), they lasted up until the early 90s. The Playboys also had sections on Division Street. There was a big set of PVR at Galewood Park.

Logan Square Heads

Logan Square Heads
    STONED YARDERS
    DRUMMOND BOYS
    GUZZLERS
    CORTLAND STACYS
    PREATORIANS
    MEDILL MADMEN
    MONKS

Coal Yard

Almighty Coal Yarders
    COAL YARD GANG:
    Ex-Coal Yard Bob said: The Coal Yard Gang was at Lakewood and Wolfram, near Southport and Lincoln Avenue. Just a local white gang originating in the early 60's. Mostly just taking care of local business. I was mostly a partier. I was too small, and often found myself in over my head way too many times.
    We had some associations with SCR at Fullerton and Southport, Wrightwood Boys and PBC's, Paulina/Barry Corp, and Insane Unknowns from Lincoln/Wrightwood area. Our colors were Black and White.
    Drugs f*cked everything up. That brought in guns. few people remember the true meaning of respect. I remember Lennies across from Lane Tech. I can still taste that greasy bag of fries, ten cent pin-ball games. It was neat place. Everyone was safe there. Even girlfriends could meet you there.
    SAYRE SCHOOL BOYS
    SAYRE PARK BOYS
    KEELER AND IRVING PARTY PEOPLE
    LELAND AVE PARTY PEOPLE
    INSANE HOODS
    WILSON BOYS
    PARK 9ers
    WHITE KNIGHTS
    BYRON AND KOSTNER BOYS
    HELLS DEVILS

Stooge Brothers

The Stooge Brothers Party Crew Clubs of Chicago
    TOKERS
    GREENVIEW BOYS
    HEADS
    ARISTOCRATS:
    at Barry and Seminary.
    UNKNOWNS
    MARQUEE'S: Mid 1950s
    Their corner was Fullerton and Cicero.
    SAXON'S: Mid 1950s
    Their corner was Belmont and Cicero.

Young Destroyers

Young Destroyers Bell Park
    JCLs
    BELL PARKERS
    RIIS PARKERS
    MONROE BOYS
    LECLAIRE AND GEORGE
    HOWARD STREET GREASERS

Furies

Almighty Furies

    BYRON AND KOSTNER BOYS
    TWELFTH STREET PLAYERS
    EVANSTON SAINTS: late 70s, early 80s
    There was a gang called the Saints from Evanston. They hung out at the Main street Metra station at about that time.
    PULASKI PARK
    DOVER LORDS
    ABOs
    LOCAL 13
    SHABONA PARK BOMBERS
    ELMWOOD PARK BOYS
    HARLEM PLAYERS
    PARK BOYS
    FURIES
    LATIN SOULS
    MIGHTY GRAND
    LAZY GENTS
    GRAND AND NOBLE BOYS
    DEVON BOYS
    A-BOYS
    ASHLAND AND ADDISON
    HAPPY GENTLEMEN:
    Humboldt Park Jewish.
    BRYN MAWR BOYS
    HARRISON GENTS: 1970s
    The Harrison Gents original corner was Flournoy and Western, Harrison just west of Western to Damen. They were originally a White greaser gang up until 1969 when they became Irish and Hispanic. One of their rivals was the Taylor Street Jousters. The HG's were also in the Uptown area of Kenmore and Sheridan to Montrose to clark in the 70's.
    BANKERS:
    The bankers were a bunch of Italian guys from North and Linder.
    MASONS
    a bunch of guys that hang at the church steps at Lemoyne and Mason. Most went to St. Petes, St Angelas and Young school. Most were good fighters, alot fought out the park at Hirsch and Laramie.
    ROYAL CAPRIS
    Hung out in the Foreman H.S. parking lot.

South Side Gangs

Racine Boys

Racine Boys 18th Street and Racine South side of Chicago
    CORNELL DUKES:
    Were a pretty large gang from the mid 60's to mid 70's. Their turf was 4700 South to 5100 South, and Ashland west to the Railroad tracks at 2200 west.
    MAD LADS:
    (very large, very active, and very short lived). The Mad Lads were predominantly white, and wore gray sweaters and berets.
    59TH STREET SUPREME RULERS
    KINGSMEN:
    they were from around 59th Street.
    NIGHTINGALES:
    (Midgets were LITTLE NIGHTINGALES) They hung by the grammer school on 52nd and Rockwell.
    BURGER KING BOYS:
    They hung at the Burger King that used to be on 55th east of Ashland.
    63RD STREET IMPERIALS
    63rd STREET BEER CLUB
    EMERALD KNIGHTS
    55th and Emerald.
    V's:
    They hung around behind Gage Park High School.
    EVERGREEN PARK GANG: 1957
    93rd Street and Chappel

69st Loafers

    69ST LOAFERS:
    Mostly Italian from 69th and Hermitage. This includes: 68th and Wood Street Lil Loafers and 68th and Damen Lil Loafers
    67th STREET BOYS: Italian
    From the same area as the 69th Street Loafers
    BEHIND THE FACTORY GANG: West Englewood 1950s
    JIVAROS (headhunters): 69th-Laflin, 1950s
    DUKES OF HERMITAGE.
    Hung around Hermitage Park and 59th and Hermitage.
    SAWYER BOYS:
    They hung at Sawyer school at 53rd and Sawyer.
    WHIPPLE STREET BOYS
    ARTESIAN COBRAS:
    (a greaser gang who evolved from the 59 Street Supreme rulers, and most of whom were weightlifting fanatics)
    THE SETTLEMENT (1966-1968)
    GREEKS and STIFFETTOS:
    1950 girl gangs in the Gage Park area of 55th and Western.
    WHITEY'S BOYS GANG:
    Harrison High School greaser gang. In 1967, their leader was shot and killed by the leader of the Villa Lobos.
    LATIN COUNTS:
    Started out as a White gang, 1961 (Polish Counts), in the area of 23rd and Whipple, the Harrison High School area.
    NORTH SHORE GREASERS a.k.a PRATT AND SHERIDAN GREASE:
    Hung out in Rogers Park at Pratt and Sheridan. They were friendly with the Howard Street Greasers and the Thorndale Jagoffs. Two of their popular hangouts were the Crystal Cue and Howard and Paulina Billards.
    A North Shore Greaser had this to say: I was just a kid hanging out at Sliver Sues pinball parlor on Farwell & Clark street in the late 70"s, i remember all the gang bangers that use to hang out there, lots of popes, Simon city royals, Latin kings, I remember all the fights, they would be like brothers to me because I was a pinball wizard and win games for them, so they wouldn't be kicked out of Silver Sues. guys like Tony, red, Timmy, Frenchy, ace, Twat, Ids, etc. They always smelled like peppermint schnapps, or pot, even though I was a jock they were always cool to me, respected for helping them in a sense, felt safe around them and in the neighborhood, they were all cool guys, like you see in the gang movies. These guys were real though. Me and my sister were leaving Silver Sue's one the night Arvella Thomas was murdered. She was a friend of ours and asked us for money to get home, but we didn’t have any. Next morning we went to Silver Sue’s and found out she was killed. So sad she was so nice. I was just 11 years old, but felt older hanging around all those older people.
    The gangs from Amundsen were different because just about everyone had a mutual friend or a friend period in another gang. A prime example would be Waters Park on Campbell and Wilson. On any summer night you could easily see 100 plus hanging out including guys from "Grubb"(Welles Park), TJO, Blacktop (St. Mathias), Maniac Drifters, Unknowns, PVP, and a host of others. Gangs were respected for their "Truce Ability". Waters Park is now a forest.
    THE TURF:
    The Turf was big in the sixties. Most of them were jocks on the football team. They hung out at Hayt Elementary School on Granville and St Gertrude’s. TJO was another big one. There were some decent guys in it that finally grew up and got jobs and moved. Some like Gary and his brother Dave and others went to prison or died of drug overdoses. You knew what gangs hung where. Turf was at Bob's, the green and white had mostly black kids and black athletes at the time, I went there. There were a few girl gangs as well, the Chicago Sisterhood, not well known, hung out at Sifties or this restaurant on Clark and Granville Most of these "gangs" were mostly social clubs but towards the mid sixties, there were a lot of throw downs involving racial lines or someone entering the wrong territory. I nearly missed having a young TJO beat me up because I was on Thorndale and he didn’t know that I was dating one of the old boys in TJO. Initiation for the boys was a paddling by the members but even that got more violent. A guy I knew joined TJO and came to school the next day with both eyes blackened, a tooth missing, and fractured ribs. Dave enjoyed these initiations. Even with the girls, if you left or crossed the sisters, you would have to face each of them in a fight and usually all at the same time.
    THE PATCH
    BLACKTOP
    VIENNA BOYS
    TAU GAMMS:
    A huge group of guys mostly from Senn HS known as Tau Gamms gathered around Randl's Restaurant at Devon and california Aves nearly every night between 1958-61. A few of the names associated with the crowd were Danny Lonnegan and Freddy Glickstein. Following Tau Gamma's departure, various groups from Mather HS began to locate at the corner from '63 -66. The primary enemies were the Monks from Amundsen and Turf and TJO from Senn High School. Comments by classmates members and newspaper accounts of the time corroborate the existance of group at Devon and California.
    CHEETAHS: all girl gang 1957-1960
    white jackets with black Cheetah and trim and members club name. about 10-15 members. Janet, bonnie, Lovey, Pat, Barbara, Mary where a few of there names.
    EL PHIDERO'S: Girl's gang 63-65
    I went to school at Schurz one year then to foreman in the early 63-65 and in 66 to note damn catholic girl’s school. I was in a group called the El Phidero's white jackets and purple sewed on lettering.
    SNOWFLAKES: 70s, Foreman H. S.
    The Snowflakes were a girl gang that hung around with the Gaylords in the early 70s.
    DYRANS: 1963-1965
    Schurz High School: All had to have blonde hair and wore white from head to toe.
    SAINTS: 1963-64 - Winthrop Street, Senn H.S.
    DURELL'S: 1963-64 - hung out around the Goudy schoolyard
    KENMORE BOYS
    C-NOTES
    SIMON CITY ROYALS
    INSANE POPES
    PALMER BOYS
    BLACKHAWK PARK ASSASSINS
    TAYLOR STREET JOUSTERS
    ALMIGHTY GAYLORDS
    MAGNIFICENTS: 1950s Lane Tech H. S.
    ICOs
    ARMOUR HITMEN
    DEVON BOYS
    SIMON CITY:
    Hung out at Almira Simons Park in the 1960s. In 1965, Simon City fought against their rival - the Septers. In one incident, leader of the Septers was shot.
    CICERO COBRAS: 1964
    Operated on the West Side, Congress and Cicero, on the West Side of Cicero Avenue. Their rivals were: Egyptian Cobras, War Lords, Casa Novas, Racketeers, and the Independents, all which were Black gangs.
    CICERO NOBLE KNIGHTS
    CICERO ESQUIRES: 1967-1972
    They went on to found the 12th Street Players. The Esquires were an all white, mostly Czechloslovakian. They had meetings at Circle Park, on 23rd and Oak Park Ave. Colors: green and black.
    DEFIANT ONES
    GUIDO-YONDER GANG: 1962-1965
    Known for robberies, home invasion, and torture of North Shore residents during that time period.
    GENTS: 1963-64
    Black jackets with white lettering, and the cane and top hat. I think this set was led by a guy named Dale S. Mostly southern guys, they hung out in the park between Foster Ave. and Lawrence.
    SPANISH COUNTS: 1959
    Latino gang in the Fillmore District. Their turf was Springfield Avenue and Fillmore Street.
    YOUNG LORDS:
    Became the Paragons. The young Lords started in the late 1950s in Lincoln Park. Their original club was located at 2512 Lincoln Avenue. Cha Cha was the big leader of the Young Lords and was part of the group that took over the McCormick Theological Seminary around 67 or 68 in an effort to get a playground at Halsted and Armitage.

Old School Black Gangs

    The Black gangs listed were very street active from the 1950s through the early 80s. These gangs would eventually merge making up the Main 21 and Main 25, the Black P Stone and the Black Gangster Disciple Nations, respectively. Some of the West Side gangs merged with the Vice Lords.
    IMPERIAL CHAPLIANS: 1950s
    Imperial Chaplians Juniors and the Imperial Chaplian Seniors were located on Homan and 16th Streets. Their members were credited for starting the Vice Lords and the Imperial Knights. Most of the Black Filmore District 1950 gangs were suppose to be offshoots of either the Chaplians or the Egyptian Cobras.
    SUPREME GANGSTERS: 1960s
    Englewood. Larry Hoover's first gang prior to the merger and the formation of the Black Gangster Disciples. Their rivals were the Blackstone Rangers, Jive Five gang, and the Eastside Disciples. Later on in gang history, a merger between the Disciple sets and the Supreme Gangsters produced the Main 25, otherwise, known as the Black Gangster Disciples.
    JIVE FIVE: late 60s, early 70s
    They took their name from a legendary Chicago Jazz group - the Jive Five. Their turf was on the West Side, west of Cicero at Congress parkway. They fought the Supreme Gangsters, Mad Black Souls, and other local gangs.
    ENGLEWOOD DISCIPLES: 1958s
    A.K.A. Eastside Disciples, their turf was around Halsted and 63rd Streets, and their leader was David Barksdale. There rivals were the Supreme Gangsters and the Blackstone Rangers. Colors: black berets.
    BLACKSTONE RANGERS: 1958
    Started in Woodlawn by Eugene "Bull" Hairston around 63rd and Blackstone. This was Jefferie Fort's original gang which ended up growing into the largest gang in the City of Chicago, making Jeff Fort a legendary leader. One legendary item to note: the old Blackstone Rangers escorted Martin Luther King while marching through Marquette Park. Colors: red berets. The Blackstone Rangers also had a presence in the Uptown area: Winthrop Avenue.
    KING CLOVERS: 1950s
    West Side. Rivals: Egyptian Cobra's.
    EGYPTIAN COBRA'S: 1950s
    Filmore District - West Side. The oldest Black West Side gang in Chicago. Their original hang out was Bryant School on West 13th Street and Kedvale, and Franklin Park. Their rivals were: Vice Lords (Douglas BLVD and Springfield Avenues), Spanish Counts (Filmore and Springfield Avenues), Imperial Apaches (Cha Cha Girls) (Douglas BLVD and St. Louis Avenue), and the Imperial Chaplians (Homan and 16th Streets).
    IMPERIAL ROMAN COBRA'S" Mid 60s
    Their turf was on Keeler, South of the Congress Expressway. They boasted 600 members. There rivals were the other Black West Side gangs, the Cicero Cobra's, and the Spanish Cobra's. The gang consisted of Pee Wees, Juniors, Seniors, and Royal Imperial cobra's who were in their late 20s.
    COBRA STONES: Late 1960s
    Their turf was Cabrini Green. Their main rival was the Gangster Disciples. The Mickey cobras considered themselves part of the Main 21 - Black P Stone Nation.
    Their turf was Seward Park, Elm and Orleans Streets.
    AFRICAN SNIPER GANGSTERS: late 1960s
    Their turf was the Cabrini Green housing project on the North Side. Their rivals were other Black gangs and the Harrison Gents. They eventually became Black Gangster Disciples.
    DOUBLE SIX KINGS: 1960s
    69th Street and Normal Avenue on the South Side. In 1969 they turned into a Blackstone Rangers sets.
    SIX TREYS: 1960s
    Their turf was on the west side of 63rd Street and Ashland Avenue. They eventually became Disciples.
    SATAN LOVERS: 1960s
    Their turf was east of 63rd Street and Ashland Avenue. Their main rival was the Six Treys. The Satan Lovers would eventually become Blackstone Rangers.
    MAD BLACK SOULS: early 70s
    Their turf was Pulaski and Congress Parkway. Their rivals were the Jive Five and the Four Corner Hustlers.
    CICERO STREET TRAVELERS: 70s
    ROMAN SAINTS of Douglas Park: 70s
    The Roman Saints of Douglas Park boasts 700 to 800 members, from ages 9 to 25 years old, in a 1970 Chicago Tribune article. Their turf was between Albany and Foyler Streets.
    Their main enemies were the Cicero Vice Lords and the Casanova Cobra Stones. Many battles were fought on the West Side between these three gangs that the Lawndale Community called for a truce and had each gang come up with a treaty.
    GOON SQUAD of Douglas Park: 70s
    A Douglas Park gang consisting of members from the age of 11 to 18 years old.
    FOUR CORNER HUSTLERS: 1972
    Started in the Filmore District by a King Freddy, the Four Corner Hustlers branched out to 35th Street and Michigan Avenue. Their main rival was the Vice Lords. Later on the Four Corner Hustlers would merge with the Vice Lords and become VL 4 CH.
    BLACK ASSASSINS: late 60s, early 70s
    Waller High School/Lincoln Park area/Cabrini Green. Their rivals were the Young Lords, Blackstone Rangers, Deuces Wild, and the Cobra Stones.
    DEUCES WILD: late 60s, early 70s
    Their turf was Cabrini Green. Their rivals were the Cobra Stones.
    MAD LADS: 1969
    They were around 72nd Street and Racine Avenue, not to be confused with the Mad Lads - a White gang from Gage Park High School.
    MUSCALEROS: 1959
    Their turf was Wolcox Street and Pulaski Avenue.
    SATAN HELPERS: 1959
    Madison and Kedzie Avenues.
    IMPERIAL KNIGHTS: 1959
    Their turf was Homan Street and Douglas BLVD.
    SOUL KINGS: 1970s
    A.k.a Mad Black Souls and Black Souls. They had sets at Maxwell Street and Halsted Avenue, and Cabrini Green, Hermitage Manor CHA (1700 West Lake Street), and had a presense at Cooley High School. They were once busted for stealing a WWI water-cooled machine gun. Their rivals were Black P Stones, Vice Lords, Jive Fives, and numerous other West Side gangs.

Aces

Aces Patch from the 1970's