Nine Houses

 

I’ve heard this story told several different ways. An Internet search didn’t come up with a clear winner, so I’ll tell you a few and you can decide for yourself. The stories all end the same way: the famous American gangster, Al Capone, fought hard to have “sell by” dates stamped on containers of milk. Some say he’d hated sour dairy as a child, so when he was grown, he donated a million dollars to provide milk for school children, so long as the beverage was certified fresh. Another version has one of Capone’s relatives falling ill after drinking expired milk. Big Al’s grandniece suggests a different motive: Capone was looking for a legitimate income stream after prohibition ended (he did, after all, have a lifestyle to maintain) and the all the stamping equipment was under the gangster’s control. My favorite Capone quote: “Capitalism gives us each a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it.”