Mob Map Set To Fetch Tens Of Thousands At Auction
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In London, a rare map from an infamous period in Chicago history could bring in more than $26,000 when it goes on sale next month.
CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports, it chronicles the murders and shootouts of the city's gangland wars when Al Capone was king.
89 years later, tourists still flock to the Clark Street site of Chicago's St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
But the murders were recent events when pointed out in a cartoonish 1931 so-called "Map of Chicago's Gangland" where an unknown artist crowned the infamous Al Capone king.
"It's very beautifully and humorously designed," said Lucy Garrett of Crouch Rare Books.
It features mobsters using machine guns to mow down a hedge and a fish guzzling down bootleg beer.
Crouch Rare Books in London is putting its original up for sale. The asking price: $26,000.
"They are a perfect snapshot of a moment in history," said Garrett.
Inside Chicago's Newberry Library, CBS 2 got a closer look at its equally rare copy.
It points out the South Wabash spot where mobster Big Jim Colosimo was gunned down in 1920.
Skulls and crossbones mark a death corner where mobsters frequently dumped bodies.
Luxury condos stand there today.
Planes marked Canadian Specials are shown flying in prohibition whiskey.
At the time gangster movies were Hollywood gold, the tourist map was meant to capitalize on that with the 1933 World's Fair just around the corner.
But most copies were destroyed well in advance.
The legend also features a glossary of mob terms, like pineapple for a bomb, typewriter for a machine gun, and cold meat for a corpse.
