The Emergence of the Purple Gang
As mentioned earlier the gang got its start in simple robbery and low-level nuisance-like crime. They soon moved on to expanding their criminal careers by engaging in petty crimes such as theft and extortion but would graduate to more lucrative and dangerous activities. One of these extremely dangerous activities was a Jewelry raid charged to members of the gang.1 This raid did happen later into prohibition but is still representative of the early crimes of the gang. Their criminality and famed skyrocketed with the so-called Dryer Cleaners War of 1926. During the War, the Purple Gang and their rivals, the Little Jewish Navy, used a variety of tactics and weapons to gain control of the lucrative laundry business in Detroit. The conflict involved multiple incidents of violence and intimidation, including drive-by shootings, bombings, and arson attacks.2 Theses were just some of the intimidation tactics used by the Purple Gang throughout their run. These accounts of violence are supported by the secondary account of Robert Knapp. "not much that would separate them from the normal riff-raff of Detroit’s underworld at the time. The situation changed drastically with the beginnings of Detroit’s Cleaners and Dyers War around 1924. Abe Bernstein (that spelling became the accepted one for their original last name, Burnstein) had a brother-in-law, Charles Jacoby, who owned a large laundry and drycleaning business in Detroit. Competitors attempted to undercut his prices. Jacoby was furious and determined to drive those competitors out of business if they did not charge the same prices he did. He pressured them to do so. The competitors retaliated by hiring men to attack Jacoby’s delivery trucks and generally harass his operations. So, Jacoby in turn sought strong-arm help. He brought in Abe, his brother-in-law, and Joe Bernstein, who was already employed as a driver for the firm. They arranged for their friends to ride shotgun on Jacoby delivery trucks. As the conflict escalated into a war, plants and shops on both sides of the
dispute were terrorized with stink bombs, dynamitings, and arson."3 These accounts all go to show the criminal underworld developing in Detroit during this time. An industry that would cement Detroit as a key part of smuggling and make the city synonymous with crime to this day.
Primary Sources
1News, Detroit. “Jewelry Raid Charged to 3.” Info Web News Bank. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/apps/readex/doc?p=EANX&docref=image%2Fv2%3A143B808DB2B45FAC%40EANX-1646AB7ECB9459E7%402425540-164690B9CE622E17%400-164690B9CE622E17%40.
2“Purple Gang (Aka Sugar House Gang) Part 1 of 4.” FBI. FBI, December 6, 2010. https://vault.fbi.gov/Purple%20Gang%20%28aka%20Sugar%20House%20Gang%29/Purple%20Gang%20%28aka%20Sugar%20House%20Gang%29%20Part%201%20of%204/view
Secondary Sources
3“Encyclopedia of Detroit.” Detroit Historical Society - Where the past is present. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/cleaners-and-dyers-war