Collection of artifacts taken from the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, including: a single lightbulb fixture; a framed assemblage of a swatch of Capone’s office wallpaper (depicting Florida flora to remind him of his new estate there), and two small pieces of his iconic Nile green and purple bathing facility; a terra-cotta fragment of exterior decor; and a piece of interior ornamental plaster decor. Also includes a .45 bullet fired from the Thompson submachine gun used by Geraldo Rivera at the time of his infamous live TV special, ‘The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults,’ which took place at the Lexington Hotel in 1986. The bullet is mounted on a stand along with a numbered button issued to members of the television programming team, including crime researcher Bill Helmer. Also includes a few laminated newspaper articles, modern prints of photos of Capone, a DVD, a small plaster bust of Capone, and some other ephemera. In overall very good condition. From the collection of well-respected gangland historian Bill Helmer.
After a brief mayoral ‘clean-up’ campaign drove Al Capone from his Near South Side operations to the neighboring suburb of Cicero, he returned to the Metropole Hotel in 1925 while the nearby Lexington was brought ‘up to spec.’ The Lexington had been built in time for the city’s world’s fair, the Columbian Exposition in the 1890s. Capone took it over in 1928 and established his ‘Outfit’ there until his conviction for tax violations in late 1931. A unique and historic collection of Capone memorabilia.
