Here is a 1930s photo of the entrance of Anton's, Cicero, Illinois on Route 66. This was Al Capone's headquarters during his days in that area. "Capone came to Chicago in 1921 to manage the Four Deuces Club, casino, and bordello. During the 1924 municipal elections, Capone turned the town of Cicero into a war zone: He bullied voters, kidnapped pollsters, and threatened news reporters into voting for the people who supported his criminal behavior. It’s hard to believe that Al Capone spent less than 10 years ripping and running through Chicago streets, but Capone’s brazen, ruthless, and outrageously violent behavior left such an indelible mark on the city that many people believe it lasted longer than it did." But, Al Capone started one of the first soup kitchens in the U.S. in Chicago. The kitchen employed a few people but fed many more. In fact, preceding the passage of the Social Security Act, “soup kitchens” like the one Al Capone founded, provided the only meals that some unemployed Americans had during the Great Depression. But an article online states "Even though Capone's soup kitchen helped to support desolate residents of Chicago, there was a dark side to the endeavor. Capone used the soup kitchen to boost his public image and invested little of his own money into it, choosing instead to threaten local businesses or bribe them to fund it. The kitchen closed in 1932 and eventually became a parking lot."
