Prohibition was an interesting time in American history, and not for great reasons. Ending the legal consumption of alcohol gave us things like the mafia, the government poisoning American citizens for consuming a substance they felt was harmful, and a lot of guns being shot at people.
Through it all, we learned that if people want a product, then people will seek out that product, no matter how illegal the government wants to make it.
Much of the prohibition drama, at least in the popular imagination, centers around Chicago. I mean, Elliot Ness, Al Capone, The Untouchables, it’s a story Hollywood just couldn’t leave alone.
And recently, in Thornton, Illinois, a discovery in a local distillery is of some relevance to gun folks.
They found what looks like a Colt 1903 hidden in the walls.
Those who spend time living or working in old buildings know it’s not all that unusual to find long-forgotten or lost things from long ago in the back of closets, wedged between flooring or tucked in inconspicuous corners of hard-to-reach shelves. A coin, a piece of paper, a wire hanger, a bottle or a piece of jewelry are small items that might turn up in doing a deep clean or remodeling.
At Thornton Distilling Co. in Thornton, which dates back to 1857 and remains the oldest standing brewery in the state, the owners have found their share of little treasures over the years – from old receipts to beer bottles. But, on Jan. 19 they found something quite out of the ordinary, but not all that surprising considering the building’s history as an illegal bootlegging operation that had ties to Chicago mobster Al Capone.
The building operated as a soda-bottling business during prohibition, which stretched from 1920-1933, but there’s no proof that a single bottle of soda was made during that time. Instead, German-style beer continued to be produced there and it is believed to have been distributed throughout Chicago and the Midwest under the direction of Capone.
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“It was a wild morning,” said Howell. “I found the pistol while measuring to install electrical infrastructure for our subterranean artesian well — a spot many of our wedding couples use for photos. After a photographer suggested adding a light at Sunday’s bridal fair, I was inspecting the area and noticed an old potbelly stove vent in the wall. About three feet in I discovered a void. While probing it, I felt something, shone my flashlight and saw the pistol’s chrome finish.”
Howell had the police run the serial number, and it was reported that the gun was made sometime between 1903 and 1923. Coupled with everything else known about the now distillery–it became one in 2019 and now also hosts a restaurant and wedding venue–it sure looks like this was from the bad old days of Prohibition when the brewery was still a brewery, even though alcohol had been banned.
As noted, from the photos at the original site, it looks like a Colt 1903, which likely would have been a popular enough pistol for those involved in bootlegging, as it was small and actually billed as a pocket pistol, thus easily concealable.
How did it get there? That’s a great question, since it doesn’t look like the place was ever raided by law enforcement during Prohibition.
My guess, and it’s just a guess, is that it was stashed somewhere that anyone could get to it at the time, should it be needed, but as no one ever needed it, it just stayed there until the present day.
It’s always interesting to see what all might be stashed in the walls of a place. Newspapers are common, and I’ve seen a whole lot of beer cans come out of one wall, but I’ve never been lucky enough to get a vintage handgun when I’ve ripped off the plaster of an old house.
Damn it.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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