
On 1 March, 1929, my Great-uncle Giuseppe (Joe) Cimorelli had just been in my Great-Grandfathers restaurant, and had had a drink of whiskey. Bear in mind that this was during the days of prohibition, Elliott Ness, Al Capone, and the like.
Two fellows, Mr. Phelps and Mr.Gheseko came in to have coffee. They pulled up stools to the bar counter in the restaurant. Mr. Phelps sniffed the glass Uncle Joe had left out, and smelled the alcohol. He was a known treasury agent, and arrested my Great-Grandfather. They proceeded to bring in their buddies and tore open the sheds on the property. They found many barrels of whiskey, wine, and assorted alcohol products and confiscated them.
My Great-grandfathers trial date came about a year later, but he had since passed away, and my Grandfather was cleared of all charges.
Below is a scanned copy of the Prohibition Agents receipt.
Amazing what one can find in a box of photos.
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