Ralph Capone

Ralph "Bottles" Capone, Sr., (January 12, 1894 – November 22, 1974) was a Chicago mobster and an older brother of Al Capone and Frank Capone. Ralph Capone got the nickname "Bottles" not from involvement in the Capone bootlegging empire, but from his running the legitimate non-alcoholic beverage and bottling operations in Chicago. Further family lore suggests that the nickname was specifically tied to his lobbying the Illinois Legislature to put into law that milk bottling companies had to stamp the date that the milk was bottled on the bottle. He was most famous for being named by the Chicago Crime Commission "Public Enemy Number Three" when his brother Al was "Public Enemy Number One".

Born Raffaele James Capone in a small town named Angri in the Campania region of Italy, near Mount Vesuvius, he was the second son of Gabriele and Teresa (nee Raiola) Capone. He arrived in America on a ship named Werra on June 18, 1895 with his older brother Vincenzo and mother Teresa, entering via Ellis Island. His father Gabriele had come to the United States by the way of Canada, six months previously. They settled in Brooklyn, living near the Navy yards.

On September 24, 1915 at the age of 21 he married Filomena (Florence) Muscato, age 17. That marriage produced one son, Ralph Gabriel Capone on April 17, 1917.

After the death of his father Gabriel in November 1920, Ralph was brought to Chicago by his younger brother, Al. His wife did not want to move so Ralph took Ralph Jr. to Chicago where he was raised by Theresa (she Americanized her name) as her youngest child. Ralph Sr. returned to New York in 1921 and got a divorce decree from Florence on the charge of abandonment.

In 1923, he married for the second time to Velma Pheasant. That marriage produced no children and divorced in March 1938.

Ralph was placed in charge of the Chicago Outfit's bottling plants during Prohibition. The Outfit was attempting to monopolize non-alcoholic beverages and soft drinks (specifically ginger ale and soda water, commonly used in mixed drinks) during this period when the sale of alcohol was banned. Ralph Capone made large profits for the Outfit and became the dominant soft drink vendor other than Coca-Cola during the 1933 World's Fair. In April 1930, the elder Capone was included in Frank J. Loesch's Chicago Crime Commission "Public Enemies" list. He was Public Enemy #3. His younger brother Al, was Public Enemy #1.

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