Friend of ours, Knokaround Apparel, has begun offering underworld-themed threads designed for “individuals… with a Mob mentality.”
Determined to offer an alternative to usual t-shirts and caps, Knokaround Apparel provides a clothing line featuring themes and scenes of a time when the ‘mob’ was something of a mystery, and always diabolically fascinating. The clothing holds screen-printed images of classic mobsters, important underworld-linked locations and related news headlines.
Individual… with a Mob Mentality!
Culled from history within 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, Knokaround’s designs are more than mugshots… they are unique collages of infamous and iconic moments and characters from the American underworld. Vintage, yet contemporary; there’s a Knokaround shirt for anyone ever interested in those fancy suit-wearing, rolls of cash carrying wiseguys the press called gangsters and mobsters.
The first Knokaround line, now available, includes familiar faces such as Al, Lucky and Bugsy. (A very special Valentines Day design became available for a limited time in February.) Durable and environmentally friendly, each Knokaround design is screen printed on organic cotton shirts.
Connected: Knokaround Apparel recently began a partnership with tattoo and piercing boutique Heavy Hand Tattoo, located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Heavy Hand patrons can purchase one of the unique shirts or hats in the Knokaround line from any of their staff members. National and international Knokaround fans can go directly to the website www.knockbacks.com.
"The shadowy organization known as 'the Men of Montedoro' played an important role in the development of the American Mafia, serving as an adhesive force between the New York City and Buffalo Mafia clans, leading organized crime into the lucrative field of labor racketeering and blurring the boundary between underworld rackets and legitimate enterprises..."
April 2011 Issue Contents
An excerpt from Uncle Al Capone by Deirdre Marie Capone: "On the southwestern coast of Italy, just above the toe of the boot, lies the province of Salerno in the Campania region. Salerno is a busy port region, and it was there that they Allies landed in 1943. If you visit today, you will still find much of the ruins and destruction left by World War II. The little town of Angri, where the parents of Al Capone were born, is nestled in the heart of Salerno at the foot of the still-active volcano, Mount Vesuvius..."
It's In The Bag
April 2011 Contents
Young Al Capone by the Balsamo brothers purports to chronicle the notorious Chicago gang boss's formative years, 1899 to 1925, in Brooklyn and Chicago. The book promises previously unrevealed facts and insights into Capone's rise and an as yet untold story of how he received his famous facial scars. The book ventures away from the standard formula of previous investigative biographies address the subject of Al Capone and other organized crime figures. It makes no reference to any of the sources used to compile the facts within its covers...
In Lucky Luciano: The Real and the Fake Gangster, author Tim Newark set out to dispel myths and "tell the true story of the legendary gangster..." It was an enormous undertaking, and the author deserves our appreciation for tackling a historical record so contaminated by decades of misinterpretations, exaggerations and outright lies. Unfortunately, Newark's book fell significantly short of its goal and may have provided additional support for some inaccurate underworld legends...
